Chapter 550: Time to Retaliate

Even though Michael accepted that he had to talk to his mother at some point, whether it was for his brother's sake or to get the answers he had to find out after their parents abandoned both their sons, it was not like he was willing to talk to his mother right away. Michael was not willing to take the first step anytime soon. He wanted to see how she was going to behave in the next few weeks and if she was going to leave him for good yet again shortly after she realized Michael was not going to listen to her.

He entered the spaceship, went straight to the room with his room number and manifested the Runic Gate to transfer his anchor to the spaceship. It was time for them to travel back to the Saphirelake Military Academy on Kelta. The trip back was going to take a little bit longer because they had to make a small detour through the major cities in the Lumina Stellar System. They were going to visit a dozen places to pick up young Awakened from all over the Lumina Stellar System. The young Awakened were new students of the Saphirelake Military Academy, prodigies with tremendous potential to grow into great powerhouses, or highly intellectual individuals. Of course, there would also be instructors and professors from the Berserker and Warlock Centaur races. It was a good thing that they didn't have to rush back to the Saphirelake Military Academy. The next semester was not going to start until the reconstruction of the academy had been completed, either way. The Saphirelake Military Academy received various generous funds from the Tritan Alliance and countless powerful individuals who paid for the privilege of transferring their child to the Saphirelake Military Academy and ensuring that he or she received the best tutelage. Those funds were going to be used up to strengthen the academy's foundation and top-up their defenses by a large margin. The Saphirelake Military Academy would develop into an impenetrable fortress against the forces of the dark organizations and the Supreme Human Alliance.

It was only fortunate that the Supreme Human Alliance's forces weren't anywhere nearby, otherwise, mankind would have already been suppressed and forced into submission...probably.

"How long are we going to stay in space?" Michael asked Alice, while finishing the last preparations before he would return to the Origin Expanse. "If there is no delay, it will take three weeks. But the Chieftain said that we're probably going to take four weeks. Delays are not exactly abnormal when it comes to the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs," She responded nonchalantly. Michael could tell that Alice wanted to say more, but he was not willing to listen to her after their earlier talk. He was certain that she wanted to talk about his family, his mother, to be precise, again. Michael didn't want to hear anything about that.

"In that case, I will leave for a while. I neglected the Origin Expanse for too long, and I've got a lot to do, more than ever now that I found out that I have my brother's Living Soul," Michael said, bidding Alice a goodbye before he entered the Runic Gate. He returned to the Origin Expanse where life was easier, less complicated.

Alice was left behind in his small cabin all alone. She sighed deeply.

"Maybe, I shouldn't have said anything about his mother..."

Michael emerged on the other side of the Runic Gate in his small room inside the wooden manor. He stretched his body, ready to spend the next few weeks working his ass off to develop his territory.

But before he could focus entirely on his territory, Michael had to solve another issue. He had to find a way to accumulate as many SoulStar Fragments as possible.

He wanted to work on the expansion of his territory and proper development plans, but the question revolving around his SoulStar Fragments was far more important.

'If Extraction requires roughly 300,000 SoulStar Fragments to be upgraded to 7-Star, maybe even more, Soul Grimoire as a Soultrait in the outer area of the Sphere of Light will need 700,000 SoulStar Fragments.' Michael felt like cursing himself. He wanted to move Soul Grimoire to the inner area of the Sphere of Light, but something seemed to block his advances. Extracting Soul Grimoire didn't work either. Using Extraction on the Soul Grimoire was extremely painful. It felt like he had to tear his Soul into tiny shreds before he could remove the Soul Grimoire.

'But why is that the case? I could remove Spirit Whip easily as well. It was painful but it didn't feel like my soul would sustain any temporary injuries. Removing Soul Grimoire will lead to a backlash by inflicting severe permanent injuries to my soul if I continue with Extraction.'

Many theories revolved around Soultraits and their characteristics. Some people said that certain Soultraits were not compatible with their Awakened. They might have manifested the Soultrait, but that didn't mean they were suitable for each other. Michael felt something similar with Spirit Whip. He never felt a deep connection to Spirit Whip. That did not mean he was incapable of using it properly, but Michael never felt like experimenting with Spirit Whip. 'Is that why I could remove Spirit Whip, but not Soul Grimoire? Soul Grimoire is highly compatible with me, so it's anchored deep inside the Sphere of Light?' Michael wondered, 'Did I never consider removing Soul Grimoire because of that? Because I subconsciously knew that Soul Grimoire is highly compatible with me?'

Michael didn't have enough data to make a proper decision, but he felt like he was on the right path. Unfortunately, that didn't help in the current situation. It was a fact that he couldn't remove Soul Grimoire from his Sphere of Light without damaging it permanently. He couldn't even move it.

'That means I need roughly 1,000,000 SoulStar Fragments to upgrade Soul Grimoire and Extraction to 7-Star. If I can find other Soultraits that are compatible with Soul Grimoire and fuse with it, creating a more advanced version, it might be enough if Soul Grimoire stays a 6-Star Soultrait. But that means I need to find one or multiple Soultraits that can not only fuse with Soul Grimoire, but also evolve it into a suitable Soultrait to house and nourish a Cursed Soul.'

Time was ticking, especially because he had only one year to solve the problem, but it made one thing clear. Michael had to change his strategy from playing kingdom-building in an uncivilized jungle to spreading out his wings and becoming more active in the surrounding regions.

He was in need of SoulStar Fragments, and the wars brewing to his left and right were perfect locations to get just that.

That was also why the recent events in the Origin Expanse were quite helpful to make a few decisions.

First of all, the monsters in the Untamed Jungle had taken note of Michael and his territory. They didn't charge into his territory just yet but the number of stronger monsters nesting near his territory had increased over the last few weeks. There were multiple reasons for that, one being the development of his farmland. The combined effort of the evolving Nature Spirit, and the Forest Pixies gathered the ambient energy and spread it through the ground, allowing flora and fauna to flourish even more.

Michael knew that the threats looming over him would intensify once he installed the Domain of Natura. The quality of the ambient origin energy would improve whereas the nutritious soil would grow even more fertile. Even High Beasts, which were the equivalent of Higher Lifeforms for most Awakened, would travel to his territory to find a place to inhabit and mark a piece of his territory as their own. But the monsters of the Untamed Jungle were not yet a problem. The massacre caused by losing his control and rationale against the corruption of the Cursed Seals was more than enough to slow down the monsters' advances for some time. Michael and his subjects wouldn't have any issues killing more of them once they advanced further in his territory's direction.

Simultaneously, with the appearance of stronger monsters near Michael's territory, two large incidents happened in the regions around him.

Taros lost the battle against the Zentika Empire. He did not die, but his territory was destroyed, eliminating his Lord Powers. Interestingly, despite losing his Lord powers, Taros was not restrained anymore. He charged into the Zentika Empire with his Dragon companion and traversed through the large plains, causing death and destruction wherever they passed by. After a few weeks of causing terror and destruction all over the Zentika Empire, Taros and his Red Dragon disappeared. When Michael heard that Taros' companion was a Red Dragon, he felt miserable. He could tell that Taros enraged the Red Dragon in the Lord Rift by stealing its egg. Taros' action resulted in Masked Saber's death...his brother's death as his Summon. Rage filled Michael once again, but he calmed down quickly. Thinking about his brother and the possibility of bringing him back to life was enough reason to take charge of his emotions and stay level headed. He couldn't afford to lose his reasoning and mess up. Not with something as important as this!

One way or another, the Zentika Empire was weaker than ever. Michael would have considered invading the Zentika Empire if he hadn't heard that the Zentika Empire considered invading the Untamed Jungle. At first, Michael couldn't believe what he heard. He was certain that some of his scouts messed up big time and that they forwarded the wrong information. However, there seemed to be underlying reasons for the Zentika Empire to consider invading the Untamed Jungle - one of them being a lack of food and other resources.

Taros and the Red Dragon destroyed all farms and towns all over the Zentika Empire, burning them down to ash and leaving the lands scorched. The merchant routes had been destroyed and the citizens' trust was lost over the last few weeks. That was what Michael's scouts presumed after they witnessed the destruction alongside the Zentika Empire's border.

Since Michael never sent his scouts deep inside the Zentika Empire, he couldn't be certain that the news had been affirmed. However, that was going to change pretty soon. He equipped a troupe of scouts with a wide variety of new equipment, including a veil of invisibility. The veils were rare and wouldn't execution in combat, but that was not necessary for a mission similar this. "Acquire more information and use the Charms of Communication if you cannot reach me through the communication crystals!" Michael ordered, and the group of Scouts nodded their heads politely. They bowed deeply to their Lord, bid him farewell, and moved out of the way. In the next minutes, they began their journey to the border of the Zentika Empire.

The Scout's invasion into the deeper parts of the enemy's territory began.

Other than the end of the war between Taros and the Zentika Empire, and Taros' disappearance from the surface of the Origin Expanse, an even bigger event occurred on the other side of Michael's territory. While a situation in the Zentika Empire and their future actions were still uncertain, the situation in the Savannah Region was the complete opposite.

The Trilance was in a tricky situation. They were pushed back and lost a fraction of their territory after a other alliances within the Savannah region decided to combine their forces and attack them. Michael was not well informed about the happenings in the Savannah Region, but he heard that the other Alliances agreed to a temporary truce to take down the Trilance. As for why that happened, Michael was not too sure.

The combined forces of a alliances transformed the region that looked similar a patchwork of dozens of territories into one large piece of land. THe internal conflicts between the alliances didn't cease, but they had one goal in common; They wanted to eliminate the Trilance.

The Patchwork Alliances as Michael decided to call them, turned into a Quasi-Kingdom at this point. All they were missing were powerhouses above Tier-4.

"Once a Trilance perishes, the Untamed Jungle will be their next goal." Michael concluded, his eyes traveling to the Berserkers, and the Warlock Centaurs who trained diligently with Immortal Knight, the Blessed Squires and his Holy Knights. "I think it's moment for our initial expedition."