Chapter 581: Lions in the Jungle

Michael felt the loss of dozens of loyal subjects. Their Links of Loyalty had been severed. He instinctively knew that his subjects were in a deadly battle against the Council of Xylon.

The first Links of Loyalty severed suddenly...unexpectedly, but the following Links were more predictable. The severed Links followed a series of energy shares, or right before a single energy share with more impact reached Michael.

Several hours passed in the blink of an eye until Michael calmed down. No more Links of Loyalty were severed. However, almost a hundred Links of Loyalty had been cut in total, resulting in a wide variety of emotions surfacing in Michael's mind.

More subjects than he had anticipated died in the last fight. It was unexpected, though Michael could have expected it. He had been too positive about the battles against the Council of Xylon and didn't want to imagine the worst-case scenario or any scenario that was slightly worse than the best-case scenario.

He didn't rush to call Immortal Knight. Instead, Michael closed his eyes to sense the remaining Links of Loyalty. The Links of Loyalty were a direct connection to the souls of his subjects. He called for their souls and the Links of Loyalty reciprocated. An influx of information, emotions, and senses was sent to Michael, who could instinctively tell how Immortal Knight, the Forest Elves, Tiara, and the others were doing. The turmoil of their emotions and the extent of their injuries were no secret to Michael.

'Two Holy Knights sustained lethal wounds. That's all? No more severe injuries?'

Other than the two Holy Knights, everyone else who'd sustained severe injuries died on the battlefield. This was not an uncommon occurrence, but it was unfortunate. Michael's Savannah Expedition didn't have many Healers and Priests. They weren't very experienced either. It was a shame.

'The potions were not enough to secure more lives?'

Michael grunted in frustration. He received more than ten thousand small energy shares, which was great, but the loss of 100 subjects bothered him. If the Regional War continued like this, the Savannah Expedition's forces would dwindle until no one was left.

That was not acceptable, no matter how many enemies were slain for every casualty.

'Get your act together!' Michael reprimanded, slapping his cheeks firmly.

He got up from the chair, put the development plans for the territory aside, and left the wooden manor. His feet lead Michael straight to the Greater Nature Spirit. The Greater Nature Spirit's Link of Loyalty pulled him over to the spirit's main body. Something was going on again.

"Really? Again?" Michael groaned the moment his eyes locked onto the Pillar of Territorial Awareness.

A handful of red dots mixed into a batch of yellow dots appeared on the outskirts of the Greater Nature Spirit's domain. They escaped the Greater Nature Spirit's perception shortly, but Michael had seen the dots. He knew where he had to go, and could guess who to expect.

The Zentika Empire's camps were northeast from the first appearance of the dots. Furthermore, Sun Demos, Tatjana, and the Demon Monkey Unit were nearby. Tatjana and Sun Demos had informed Michael that the Zentika Empire's people made their move.

While he trusted Immortal Knight, Tiara, Zeroa, the Forest Elves ...basically everyone who volunteered to join the Savannah Expedition, Michael couldn't do the same on the other side of his territory. Sun Demos, Tatjana, and the Demon Monkey Unit were a little bit different.

They weren't weak, but the Zentika Empire was capable of sending Higher Lifeforms into the Untamed Jungle, potentially even entities at Tier-5. Of course, it was unlikely that the Zentika Empire's council members would attack the Untamed Jungle, but it was not impossible.

Sun Demos and the others were only at the 2nd Tier. They could hardly manage to deal with Tier-3 Summons by using the environment and their great teamwork to their advantage.

That was great, but it was not enough to reassure Michael. He traveled east and approached the border to the Zentika Empire once again.

Fortunately, the situation turned out much better than Michael had been hoping for. He called Tatjana, Sun Demos, the Demon Monkeys, and the Scouts back to meet up with him. Their reports contained enough information to bring Michael's knowledge up to date.

"The Zentika Empire's camp is located as far from your territory as possible, my Lord. Though, it is still near the border between the Untamed Jungle and the Zentika Empire's plains, it is nowhere near your territory," One of the Scouts said, only for Michael to interrupt.

"I heard that there is more than one camp. What about the other camps?"

This time, Tatjana spoke, "Currently there is only one fully equipped camp. There are two more camps under construction but they're right next to the other camp. Considering the three camps as a single, bigger camp seems more feasible."

Michael rubbed his chin.

"The Zentika Empire's forces are currently not a threat. Most of the people invading the Untamed Jungle are Soldiers. They're concentrated on hunting monsters. There are only a few Awakened, who accompany the Soldiers. The Awakened are very vigilant and they move around alone occasionally. It looks like they're searching for something while protecting the Soldiers."

Only the Adventurers of the Zentika Empire traveled deeper into the middle area. That didn't confirm Michael's suspicion, but by combining the red dots on the Pillar of Territorial Awareness with Tatjana's intel provided enough clues about the situation.

The Awakened were looking for something, his territory, or someone, him. Whether they desired to discover his territory to stay away from him until the issues within the Zentika Empire had been solved, or to confront him, mattered a lot. It was crucial to find out if he had to prepare for an all-out war against the Zentika Empire, or if the Zentika Empire would spend the next few months using the Untamed Jungle as a mere hunting ground to secure food.

["Master, I killed two of those disgusting Lions!"] Sun Demos intercepted in Michael's train of thought.

The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King disappeared in the woods and reappeared ten minutes later with the corpses of two Lionheart Adventurers.

Michael was pretty sure that he ordered everyone to avoid engaging in combat until they found out more about the Zentika Empire's actions. Sun Demos seemed to notice Michael's displeasure and responded swiftly.

["They found my subordinates and were about to kill them. As their King, I had to protect!"]

"Yes yes. You had to protect them, I know," Michael scratched the back of his head.

He gestured to Sun Demos to bring the corpses, which the monkey did. Sun Demos placed the corpses in front of Michael, who used Extraction on them. He concentrated Extraction on the Lionheart's Memory Orbs to procure as many useful pieces of information as possible.

Since Sun Demos killed the two Lionhearts, Michael might as well make full use of their bodies.

He extracted less than 100 SoulStar Fragments and two Memory Orbs. There was no Soultrait Symbol, but Michael didn't anticipate to procure one, either way.

He absorbed the SoulStar Fragments swiftly before his eyes fell onto the Memory Orbs. Michael devoured them with is eyes closed, his entire being concentrated on digesting the Memory Orbs.

Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and Michael's eyes shot wide open, worry glimmering in his eyes.

"That...will be quite complicated..."