The invasion inside the Huglaiv Lord's main settlement worked out a lot better than expected. Seeds of fear had been instilled in the hearts of the defenders as the humongous azure fireball exploded, and their mentality didn't recuperate from the damage in the following minutes either.
The Huglaiv's morale kept deteriorating as the Berserkers barged through the gaping hole in the southern wall. They moved swiftly through the wide streets and utilized their superior combat prowess, advanced physical strength, and Soultraits advantage to eliminate as many opponents as possible in the shortest period.
The combat prowess advantage of Michael's team played a huge role. It allowed the Berserkers, Frederik, Tiara, and the Forest Elves to move around independently, without having to worry about each other's safety.
And then there was Michael. He didn't barge into the main settlement without a plan. Instead, he used Cosmic Stride for a short-distance teleportation before shrouding his body in raging winds. He exerted the Heavenly Beast Physique and enhanced his physical strength even further with several layers of Enhancement.
His first target was the center of the main settlement, the spatial lock, to be precise. He kicked the ground and reached top speed in no time. A few guards and Awakened blocked his path, but none of them were Higher Lifeforms. Their strength was not even close to a Descendant either. They were taken care of swiftly, their bodies riddled with deep cuts, burns, and holes.
Michael released a wave of energy to collect their corpses as he passed through the wide main street. He reached the settlement center in no time and headed straight into the wooden manor where he found two Higher Lifeforms alongside a dozen Awakened.
"Today must be my lucky day," Michael mumbled, a devilish smile blossoming on his face.
The Huglaiv Lord and the High Awakened standing next to him were probably the only Higher Lifeforms in the entire settlement. After all, Michael had yet to encounter a Lord in the Savannah with more than two Higher Lifeforms in their territory. The sole reason the Trilance managed to block the Council of Xylon's advances was the fact that they had more Higher Lifeforms than any other Lord.
The Valyr Lordess had been the strongest. She might not have the largest army, but her people were the strongest with five Higher Lifeforms serving her. By now, the Valyr Lordess was not the strongest anymore. Only two High Valyrs remained from her strongest subordinates. However, that was enough to stall most enemies or slaughter their enemies as long as no Higher Lifeform would block their paths.
Michael was more than willing to get rid of the Higher Lifeforms and Awakened standing around the table in the wooden manor's living room.
The Huglaiv Lord turned to Michael, a faint smile on his lips.
"You must be the Lord of the Untamed Jungle," He said politely, "Let me introduce myse–..."
Michael couldn't be bothered listening to the Huglaiv Lord. The raging winds around Michael burst forth, propelling him ahead as he kicked the wooden planks underneath him. The wooden planks burst apart from the tremendous force, but Michael was not in the same position anymore. He didn't notice the destruction his movements caused.
He appeared before the Huglaiv Lord, a Qi Extraction Sword manifesting from his right palm.
"Why should I listen to dead people?" Michael asked quietly, the Qi Extraction Sword descending rapidly, cutting through several thick energy shields that manifested in front of the Huglaiv Lord.
The Qi Extraction Sword managed to inflict a deep cut into the Huglaiv Lord's breastplate, but he didn't draw any blood.
Michael clicked his tongue and manifested a few dozen Qi Swords before coating them in Zeroa's mythical flames. The temperature in the living room skyrocketed all while the azure armor around Michael's body flared up. The Qi Swords shot in all directions, impaling a few Awakened while missing others by a hair's breadth. The mythical flames erupted and jumped over to set the walls, floor, and ceiling on fire.
Michael used some fire-attributed energy to fuel the mythical flames, pushing them to spread faster. The Huglaiv Lord frowned deeply, but he wasn't done speaking. He retrieved a large one-handed saber and charged at Michael. The muscles in his legs flexed and inflated as a faint membrane shrouded his lower body. He accelerated and reached top speed in the narrow living room near-instantly.
To the Huglaiv Lord's misfortune, he didn't pay as much attention to his surroundings as Michael. He used Spirit Eyes' Prognosis to determine where the Huglaiv Lord was headed and what moves he was about to make. In response to Prognosis' analyzation, Michael created several paths to eliminate his enemy.
Michael's physical strength was as high as the Huglaiv Lord's, and even his speed rivaled the Huglaiv Lord's shocking top speed thanks to the raging winds shrouding him. Adding Spirit Eyes' Prognosis and his other Soultraits to the fray, it was no surprise that the Huglaiv Lord found himself impaled by dozens of Qi Extraction Swords that had been further reinforced by mythical flames and raging winds.
The Mythical flames and raging winds acted as accelerators, adding burst speed to the Qi Extraction Swords as Michael released them. The Huglaiv Lord might have been fast enough to evade the attacks, but he didn't have much space to move. The spatial lock blocked all spatial movements whereas the confinement of the wooden manor's living room prevented the Huglaiv Lord from changing his trajectory and darting to safety.
No place was safe and sound in the wooden manor at this point. It was burning down, the crackling of the burning wood resounding through the vicinity. Michael appeared near the last surviving Awakened. He ignored the dying Huglaiv Lord and the other Higher Lifeform for a moment and stretched his hands out. His hands coiled around the necks of two Awakened, who were frozen in fear.
Michael applied some force and broke their necks in a way too simple manner. The crackling sound of breaking bones rang through his ears, but Michael's attention was already elsewhere. He eyed the Higher Lifeform who pulled the Qi Extraction Swords out of the Huglaiv Lord to use his Soultrait and heal the deep gashes.
The Huglaiv Lord was not yet dead, but it was only a matter of seconds before he would faint. After that, the Huglaiv Lord's energy and lifeforce would be sucked dry in less than a minute.
Michael appeared behind the Higher Lifeform, his attention lingering on the Healing Soultrait.
"Healing someone while your enemy is still present doesn't seem like the smartest thing to do," Michael said lightly, but he noticed that something about the Higher Lifeform was off, "Oh. Nevermind. You don't look like you want to heal him right now, in the first place. Looks like the Soul Contract with this idiot forces you to tend to his wounds no matter the situation."
Big beads of sweat trickled down the Higher Lifeform's temples and his hair stood up to its end with Michael behind him. However, even if he wanted to, he couldn't stop nurturing the Huglaiv Lord. That was what the Soul Contract demanded from him, just like Michael had guessed.
"That's unfortunate," Michael mumbled, "For you."
Michael's hands transformed, claws of Aethyr coating his fingers. He gazed at the Huglaiv for a second and finished his business. He pierced the Aethyr Claw deep into the Higher Lifeform's throat before twisting his hand. The Huglaiv's gaze widened and he twitched twice but the life in his eyes dispersed quickly. His eyes dimmed and turned hollow within seconds before a large energy influx arrived at him.
Since he was at war, Michael couldn't afford to leave any Combat Summons or Awakened alive. He had to tear all buds of potential future threads apart to ensure that they couldn't nourish and grow into powerhouses to endanger him or his people in the future.
Sometimes, that feeling wasn't great, but it would be more concerning if Michael loved war and bloodshed.
He turned to the Huglaiv Lord and transformed the Aethyr Claw into a saber and beheaded the Huglaiv Lord without any mercy.
Michael stored the lifeless bodies after making sure that everyone was dead. He proceeded to the second floor right after to deactivate the spatial lock and store everything of value in his War Rune.
Next, he burned down the wooden manor and proceeded to the Summoning Gate where he retrieved the Summoning Cores.
In the following ten minutes, Michael took care of the remaining Awakened in the settlement using the fusion with Zeroa to slay the weakest Awakened with a single strike, Cosmic Stride to jump through space, Spirit Eyes to pinpoint the Awakened's location, and Superior Constitution's Heavenly Beast Physique to overwhelm the strongest enemies with brute force.
The Huglaiv Lord was dead and his Links of Loyalty terminated. Some Awakened residing in the main settlement tried to flee, but Tiara and the others were faster. They targeted them and hunted them down long before the Huglaiv Awakened could decide whether they should flee away to anchor their Runic Gate outside the main settlement or if they should run right now.
Their decision-making skills were too slow, and they ended up wasting precious time, which could have saved their lives. But they were too slow and were killed, eliminating more potential future threats.
The main settlement was conquered in no time. After the Huglaiv Lord died it was only a matter of time before Michael and his people plundered all treasures and killed everyone holding a weapon.
They left soon after. After all, there was a much more to do. There was no time for breaks!
