Michael was not sure how much time had passed when he woke up.
It was bright outside, and his room was filled with a horrible stench.
A deep frown was etched on his face and he nearly vomited on the spot after smelling the stench of his own impurities, but he managed to wave his hand and spread out some energy to engulf the black masses of impurities that he stored inside his War Rune's storage space just a moment later.
Michael could remove the impurities later and burn them. However, for now, he had to wash up and change his clothes as the stench was too overbearing and his body felt icky.
He walked to the other side of the room where a wooden basin filled with water was waiting for him. Michael removed his clothes and stepped into the basin. He scrubbed himself thoroughly to get rid of the bad stench and put on a different set of clothes after he dried his body.
His gaze moved out of the window of his room and a faint smile formed on his lips.
He had finally done it. He advanced to Tier-1!!
The faint smile on Michael's lips turned brighter and pride filled his entire being. Outside the Origin Expanse, not even a full month had passed since he became a Lord, yet he was already a Tier-1 Lord.
He was not a rookie anymore according to the standards of ordinary Awakened even though he was barely 18 years old. It felt great!
But just as he was busy daydreaming and enjoying himself in the bright sunlight that shone through the canopy of trees, Michael noticed something that attracted his attention.
His bright smile disappeared, and confusion replaced it.
"Smoke? The campfire shouldn't be over there…a fire?!" Michael mumbled quietly to himself.
At that moment bright flames suddenly flared up, swallowing a large portion of the dense thicket bordering the clearing of his territory.
Something, or rather someone, engulfed in flames emerged from within the thicket. The being engulfed in flames took a step or two closer to the clearing of the territory before it fell over and collapsed on the ground. It stopped moving the next moment.
However, Michael's eyes widened further in shock as sharp pain pierced his chest at that moment.
A Link of Loyalty was severed when the being engulfed in flames stopped moving.
"W-wait…" Michael's voice cracked when he felt the Link of Loyalty being cut.
He noticed something he hadn't been able to feel before. His body was already sore and numb from the natural cleansing and the strengthening of the War Rune. This made it much harder to feel that something had been amiss all along.
'More than…50 Links of Loyalty disappeared!' Michael realized at last, and terror spread through his veins.
In the next moment, another Link of Loyalty burst and disappeared forever.
"My people are dying!!"
Michael was shocked. He had no idea what was going on, but he could tell that his subjects were dying miserably.
The pain and emotions reaching him, hitting him like an avalanche even after the Links of Loyalty had been severed were terrifying. They caused his hair to stand up on its end, and he felt something he hadn't felt in a while- fear/!!
Michael hurriedly rushed out of the room while putting on the last piece of clothing.
He had yet to test the limits of his power after advancing to Tier-1, but that was not important. He manifested the Boots of Taran and channeled enough energy inside them to activate the Swiftness enchantment's highest level instantly.
Michael's body turned into a flash when he kicked his feet off the ground. His speed was terrifying, and he crossed the clearing near instantly.
Just as he was about to jump into the thicket of the Untamed Jungle to find out what was going on, Michael found Blaire.
Someone was standing next to Blaire as they ran through the thicket to enter the clearing. They headed to the center of the clearing and stopped when they saw Michael.
'Lilica Balrean? What is the leader of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team doing here?'
The moment Michael saw the familiar face of the Elven woman, his danger senses tingled.
Something was definitely wrong!
He rushed over to Blaire and Lilica Balrean, who looked at him with concern and fear.
"My Lord, before you attack her or anything like that, please listen to me!" Blaire shouted loudly as she ran over to Michael.
'Attack her? Why would I do that?'
Michael furrowed his eyebrows, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he motioned Blaire to keep talking.
"It's only because of this Elf that we're not yet dead!" She shouted, which caused Michael to sigh in frustration.
"Just tell me what is going on here. I just finished advancing to Tier-1, and I have no idea what happened while I advanced. Why is the Untamed Jungle on fire, and why are my people dying out there?!?"
By now, more than 50 Starless Summons and five Warriors had died, and Michael felt that the number would increase soon. He didn't want to waste anymore time talking to Blaire or Lilica, but there had to be a reason the leader of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer Team appeared here all of a sudden.
The fire and Lilica's arrival at the same time shouldn't have been a coincidence.
Lilica looked at the back of his right hand with a trace of astonishment but regained her composure in the next second.
"Long story short, one of my teammates was in a bar, drinking enough to turn himself into a blithering idiot. Apparently, he told one of his Lionheart friends about your territory. The Lionheart told one of his people about your territory and news spread…so that's why a group of Lionhearts attacked you; they want your territory," Lilica explained hurriedly.
Michael nodded his head in response and turned in the direction of the fire. He ignored Lilica and rushed off.
The Tier-2 Elven Adventurer followed closely behind. She looked at Michael and expected a face filled with anger and wrath. However, there was none of that. Michael's face was only filled with determination to safeguard his territory and people.
"The Lionhearts attacking you are not natives from Xiltra, and their leader can only claim your territory as his own by using the item called 'Lord Seal'. It is extremely hard to procure and can usually only be acquired by true powerhouses of the Origin Expanse!" Lilica added quickly.
Afterward, she didn't say much. She looked at Michael, who ignored her and sighed deeply.
"I hope you won't hate the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team. We never wanted to tell anyone about your territory," She said quietly as they came closer to the smoke and the commotion of the battle.
Michael eyed Lilica for a second or two. The leader of the Adventurer team seemed to grow more impatient the closer they came to the battlefield.
"I know that you won't help me fight the Lionhearts. You can just leave," He said emotionlessly.
Michael felt no hard emotions toward Lilica or the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team. He had never expected them to keep his existence a secret and had already anticipated a similar scenario.
It just happened when they were not prepared, and he had been busy with other tasks. Though the timing was the worst, that was not something Michael could have prevented.
Lilica nodded her head faintly. She felt guilty because it was their fault that Michael was in his current predicament. However, she and her team couldn't afford to face the Lionhearts. They didn't want to offend the powerhouse backing them.
However, her guilt made her warn Blaire and the others half a day before the Lionhearts arrived. She only waited for Michael to alert him about the danger before hurriedly leaving.
Michael figured that the Elves had their own problems, but he didn't care about that.
It was not important who attacked him, or what kind of powerhouse supported them. Even if the Lionhearts were citizens from Xiltra, what did it matter? They attacked his territory and killed his people. The only thing they deserved was death!
The reason they attacked him instead of other Lords inside the Zentika Empire was likely to be the Untamed Jungle or to make sure that the Zentika Empire couldn't influence the Lionhearts' actions once they took over his territory.
That was Michael's guess given the few pieces of information he had.
It was quite troublesome, but Michael didn't spend his time worrying about the ifs and buts.
He was trying to keep his calm and suppress the uncontrollable anger that made his blood boil.
After all, only by keeping his calm would he be able to kill all those who were daring enough to invade his territory and kill his people!!
