Chapter 212: Storm

Almost all remaining members of the Jungle Expedition charged inside the Untamed Jungle simultaneously.

Many were initially afraid of the Untamed Jungle's Curse and that they might die, but with the other veterans around them they gradually calmed down.

By entering the Untamed Jungle, the Jungle Expedition was forced to spread out and split up into smaller groups. The densely grown flora and fauna forced them apart. However, nobody was too worried about this. They knew that their comrades were nearby and that they would receive support the moment something unexpected happened.

They were also prepared to battle the moment they entered the Untamed Jungle. Given the information they'd received from the battles the day before, Tier-2 Monsters might appear in front of them at any moment in the Untamed Jungle.

However, none of that happened. On the contrary, the Untamed Jungle was silent for the first few minutes. They could walk through the Untamed Jungle without any issues.

Only when they were deep enough in the Untamed Jungle did something change. The sounds of desperate monsters resounded through the Untamed Jungle's outer ring. The noises didn't come from ahead but from all directions. They overlapped and grew louder by the moment.

The warriors tensed up and changed their stance instinctively. They changed into a defensive battle stance and prepared to face the monsters of the Untamed Jungle.

At the end of the day, the Jungle Expedition members would rather fight against an opponent they could see than not knowing what awaited them and stay in the dark. That was also one of the reasons that convinced them to charge into the Untamed Jungle.

Ready for battle, the Adventurers and Mercenaries waited patiently for the first monsters to barge through the thickly grown undergrowth and lunge at them.

It didn't take long until the first monsters arrived.

However, what the Adventurers and Mercenaries didn't expect was to see hundreds of monsters charging mindlessly at them. The fear and desperation in the monster's eyes was clear to perceive. It was intense enough to cause shivers to run down their spine.

The encounter with frightened monsters didn't end with hundreds of them charging through the undergrowth. No, that was just the beginning.

Hundreds of Monsters turned into thousands, and thousands became tens of thousands, all of them running toward them.

The Adventurers and Mercenaries were not sure how many monsters were charging at them, but they could clearly tell that all of them were frightened to death.

This realization, combined with the fear and terror that had taken root in their hearts caused the Mercenaries and Adventurers to feel goosebumps all over their bodies. Nonetheless, they clashed with the desperate monsters head-on. It was too late to move away either way.

Yet, before their weapons collided with the monsters, screams rang out in the back of their groups.

Some turned around, just to see that their comrades had been pierced by an arrow. Most arrows weren't lethal, but it was not difficult to see a dark greenish substance coating the arrow. The veins around the area of impact turned dark quickly and the screams of pain and horror grew louder and more intense.

Panicked and terrified, the Adventurers and Mercenaries, who had been hit, tried to escape. However, they lost control of their body real quickly and fell to the ground where they remained. Their movements slowed down and they couldn't muster the strength to get up anymore. Slowly but steadily they lost all sensation in their bodies.

More arrows whizzed through the air silently. Their sounds were muffled by the screams of pain, the monster's desperate noises and the rustling leaves all over the Untamed Jungle.

As the arrows impacted, the desperate monsters continued their charge. They were too focused on fleeing to focus on what lay ahead of them. Thus, they either bulldozed the paralyzed Adventurers and Mercenaries beneath them, quashing them to death or they ran straight into the blades of the unscathed Adventurers and Mercenaries.

Thus, a chaotic battle began.

The fleeing monsters continued charging ahead mindlessly, and the Demon Monkeys were revealed. Simultaneously, the bombardment of arrows continued. The downpour of arrows never ceased, and more people fell victim to the poisoned arrows.

Unable to hold it any longer, the Lionhearts unleashed their blazing flames. They chose to go against the orders they'd been given and began to burn down the Untamed Jungle's outer area.

Their blazing flames spread rapidly through the densely grown undergrowth. However, instead of panicking, the Demon Monkeys merely slowed down. They slunk back behind the cover of trees and disappeared in the Untamed Jungle.

Simultaneously, a strong pulling force drained the surrounding origin energy. It pulled in the direction the Demon Monkeys had disappeared to. Moments later, a dark cloud began to form above the Untamed Jungle's outer area.

The cloud was dark like the abyss, and bolts of lightning zapped through it ceaselessly.

When Michael saw the large cloud he nodded his head subtly.

"Let's hope that we collected enough Monster Cores to feed the Storm Orb," He mumbled, staring at the dark cloud.

Michael had made a deal with the Forest Elven Elders a few days prior to the battle. He promised to increase the production of low-level armaments and to continue focusing his investments on the Forging Hall within the Underground Ecosystem in exchange for the Storm Orb.

The effect of the Storm Orb was rather simple. It could create a storm using the origin energy in its surroundings, and the energy stored within monster cores. It was a rare item that controlled the weather in a certain range.

Initially, Lilica handed him the Storm Orb to use once the Lionhearts began to use their fire affinity to destroy the Untamed Jungle. But since Michael chose to attack the camp when most members of the Jungle Expedition left, he didn't have to keep it anymore. He gave it to Lilica in addition to more than 100,000 Tier-1 Monster Cores to use.

The investment he made to obtain the Storm Orb and empower it had been quite high, but Michael knew that the Untamed Jungle's environment had to be protected to ensure their victory.

'You guys can do it! The Lionhearts' fire is useless now, and the Untamed Jungle is even muddier than before.'

Michael believed that his people could do it. He was certain that the Elemental Mages would join the battle now, and that the lethality of the arrow barrage would increase further.

But that was not all. Most of the traps they'd installed worked better on a muddy surface. It was only a matter of time before the invaders would encounter those traps, and Michael hoped that they would take down as many opponents as possible.

'Just don't die, guys!'

He patted Icarus' back afterward, signaling the Greater Eagle to dive down to the ground.

Even though he was worried about his people's well-being, he knew that they would be fine. Hence, he went out alone to fight the remaining members of the camp and destroy the camp for good.

Michael summoned the Onyx Dragon Armor Set and Seron Voulge. He used Enhancement on his Artifacts once before jumping down from Icarus' back.

Icarus stopped diving down and ascended back into the air. The Greater Eagle would observe the surrounding area and dive down to kill the weak and injured Adventurers and Mercenaries that had been left behind in the camp so that no opponent was left alive.

Meanwhile, Michael's task was to kill the Twin Lions, and hopefully extract some of their Memories to gather enough information about the Tier-3 Adventurers that had yet to arrive.

Given the Memory Orbs he had already extracted until now, the Twin Lions were the heads of the Jungle Expedition. There were a few more Tier-2 Adventurers leading the expedition, but it was known to everyone that the Twin Lions had control of everything.

Searching through the memories provided by the Memory Orbs, Michael learned a lot about the Jungle Expedition, the hierarchy, and the tactics they employed. It gave him enough insights to counter their plans with various strategies.

That was also why Michael ended up separating from his group. He left the Untamed Jungle to attack the Twin Lions to cut off the serpent's head.

On the ground, a bunch of injured Mercenaries and Adventurers greeted Michael. They looked at him with wide-open eyes, their confusion clearly visible.

Michael used his near-perfectly refined physique to burst forward with terrific velocity. He appeared in front of the opponents and slashed the voulge horizontally, cutting open the abdomen of multiple opponents at the same time, freeing them of their misery.

Michael moved rapidly. He twisted Seron Voulge, lifted the weapon and cut down diagonally, delivering the killing blow for three Mercenaries.

Their energy influx flooded Michael's War Rune at once, invigorating his body and strengthening him little by little.

During the last few days, Michael's War Rune had been constantly working on high gears to refine the energy shares and influxes. Even now Michael was receiving a steady influx of energy share from multiple subjects that were killing the invaders of the Untamed Jungle.

If he continued like this his War Rune's refinement degree would increase to the Late stage until the end of the war. However, the degree of refinement of his War Rune was not the most important.

What was important was to ensure that his energy kept being replenished with the influx of energy shares. Most of the energy he received was devoured by the War Rune, but Michael could use his will to separate a strand of the energy shares to keep refilling his origin energy storage.

That way, Michael didn't have to focus too much on his energy consumption while fighting the injured Mercenaries and Adventurers.

He used as much energy as he replenished to stay fully empowered for the battle with the Twin Lions.

Michael killed every opponent in his sight. In the past, he would have felt guilty killing so many opponents. However, by now, Michael realized that it was either killing or getting killed.

The moment he hesitated, it would be game over for him, or his people.

And Michael didn't want to witness his people's death, especially not if their deaths were caused by him.

Thus, he left a trail of corpses in his wake as he kept slaughtering his enemies. Hot blood gushed through the air. It splattered on his face and dyed the vicinity crimson.

By circulating the Sun Soldier's Breathing technique, Michael stayed in top form as he slaughtered his way through the camp.

There were far more injured Adventurers and Mercenaries than Michael initially expected. Nonetheless, they found their way to hell quickly. Michael made sure of that.

He passed through the camp and paved his way to the tent of the Twin Lions.

On his way to the Twin Lions, he encountered the remaining authorities of the Jungle Expedition.

They were leaning above a map of the Untamed Jungle and kept talking to small stones that gleamed in a faint azure tone. The stones were short-distance communication devices. They were expensive and hard to procure.

'Are they stupid? How in the bloody heaven did they not hear me slaughtering everyone?'

Deep frowns were etched on their faces, showing Michael clearly that the authorities were not satisfied with the information they received from the communication devices.

'Looks like my people cause you lots of stress....it would be a lie if I were to say that I'm sorry though.'

The corners of Michael's lip curled upward as he kept glancing in the direction of the authorities. Since he entered the camp Michael made sure to kill his opponents as quickly as possible. Nonetheless, it was surprising that the authorities hadn't noticed his invasion yet.

Either they were too busy trying to come up with better plans to deal with the problems in the Untamed Jungle, or they felt too secure in the camp.

'Or...they're just...stupid...'

One way or another, Michael closed in on the authorities without any hesitation.

He created a second layer of Enhancement all over his Artifacts and the Eagle Eyes Symbol.

His strength increased considerably in response, and his eyes began to glow golden as Eagle Eyes was utilized.

The next moment, golden streams shot out of his palms, coating Seron Voulge's blade.

Michael began to utilize Extraction. Now was not the time to think about what he should do, and what he couldn't do.

It was about time to go all-out, and not hesitate!