Chapter 616: Retreat

Michael managed to kill the Peak Tier-4 Commander.

He was lucky.

It was luck that the Crysalis Deer survived this long against the Lionheart Commander and the Pryar Guardians.

It was also a great fortune that he managed to pinpoint the biggest disadvantages of Blood Manipulation to exploit it properly.

However, killing the Peak Tier-4 Commander came with a heavy price.

Michael had to unleash the Cursed Seals, use 10-layered Enhancement on True Extraction, and compress the power of Extraction to conjure a True Extraction Qi Sword.

Michael's arm suffered greatly due to True Extraction's power that had been enhanced and compressed. His arms were dissected layer by layer. It was painful but killing the Peak Tier-4 Commander was worth the pain.

He was drained mentally and physically due to the additional use of Enhancement ten times on Spirit Eyes to unleash the strongest form of Spiritual Domination, and 10 layers of Enhancement on Superior Constitution to reach the Lionheart Commander the instant he crashed into the tree.

Michael micro-managed the utility of Enhancement, ensuring that the effect of Enhancement would last no longer than three seconds. That was as long as he managed to endure the continuous use of True Extraction, Spirit Eyes, and Superior Constitution at such a high level.

Even then, Michael felt like his body was about to tear apart.

Right now, he was out of energy and the lifeforce that had been residing within him with great vigor was reduced to a tiny flickering candlelight.

The Cursed Seals were retracted the moment the Peak Tier-4 Commander died. Extraction continued to drain the Commander's energy and bouts of lifeforce that disappeared a moment later, but it was just enough to release a small Dome of Extraction to drain the surroundings' life and energy.

Michael's head felt like splitting apart when he used Dome of Extraction too long. He was on the brink of collapsing, but he didn't give in.

Michael grit his teeth and used Archangel's Grace once again. This time, Michael had to use Insert to insert energy into Maria's Soultrait Shard, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to use Archangel's Grace.

Archangel's Grace was not as efficient as before and Michael noticed that his body didn't respond as well as before to the Healing Soultrait's power.

That was annoying, but he endured it silently.

In his current situation, Michael wasn't able to use Heavenly Realm either. He was too drained, and he didn't have the means to keep replenishing his mental power. Absorbing the lifeforce in the surrounding plant life was helpful, but lifeforce was not a permanent solution to replenish his mental power.

He had been using his Soultraits too often and to an extent, most wouldn't be able to.

Despite the exhaustion, Michael knew that he had to join the battle again. There were still some High Lionhearts who fought valiantly against Hiraku and the Untamed Awakened. They couldn't deal with them alone.

The greatest advantage on Michael's side was that the death of the Lionheart Commander shattered the High Lionhearts' morale. Their fighting spirit was crushed and all they were hoping for was to defeat their opponent and run for their lives.

They had a bad feeling about this.

But Michael and the others felt similar. A bad feeling crept up their spines. Something in the surroundings changed.

Michael had already noticed it a little bit earlier but the pressure all around the Untamed Jungle had been growing more intense since the Heart of the Blazing Lion army invaded the middle area.

The Crysalis Deer shuddered and so did the remaining monsters that survived until now. Even the Greater Nature Spirit seemed to suffer. The Links of Loyalty shuddered.

Everyone was afraid.

**

"What is going on here?!?" The Lionheart Commander of the southern army shouted into the Communication Crystal. He had two charms attached to his armor, but one of them disintegrated a few seconds ago. At the same time, he sensed heavy pressure weighing down wherever he and his subordinates stepped.

"Commander Xaar speaking. I don't know what is happening. We dealt with the High Beast Horde and haven't seen any enemies since then. What about you, Commander Liram?" The Commander of the northern army spoke in the Communication Crystal.

Commander Xaar was heavily wounded from fighting the Supreme Thunder Tigress, a High Beast with terrific speed, destructive power, and great intellect. The Supreme Thunder Tigress succeeded to kill the Pryar Guardians and heavily injure Commander Xaar before she succumbed to the dozens of injuries she sustained in the battle.

"Commander Liram?" The Commander of the southern army asked, his expression souring as he realized what happened.

"He must be dead."

Commander Xaar frowned deeply, "I didn't expect Commander Liram to die. But if the High Beast Horde and the Lord focused on Commander Liram and his subordinates...it is possible that they would die."

"Stupid fools. They left the Untamed Jungle for us to overcome only to kill Commander Liram. I'm pretty sure that he managed to deal enough damage for us to kill the remaining forces!"

"We managed to eliminate the High Beast Horde. I doubt that the Lord has anymore powerful allies. His subordinates were 18:37

already worn out when they retreated. We can stomp them to death!"

The remaining two Commanders of the Heart of the Blazing Lion armies decided to gather and seek a fight with the Lord of the Untamed Jungle.

They encountered some monsters on their way to Commander Liram's last position and it didn't take long until they stood face to face with the Crysalis Deer.

The Crysalis Deer wasn't injured anymore and it could have destroyed Commander Xaar in his current state easily. However, instead of attacking anyone, the Crysalis Deer withdrawn deeper into the Untamed Jungle alongside the last survivors of the High Beast Horde.

An ear-deafening roar rumbled through the surroundings and the afternoon sun disappeared all over the Untamed Jungle's middle area.

The heavy pressure that had been weighing on the Heart of the Blazing Lion armies intensified all of a sudden. From one moment to the next, the Lionhearts felt like their hearts were pulled apart. It was almost like they were about to be torn into shreds.

The Lionhearts were already mentally and physically drained. The weakest of them were unable to endure the heavy pressure alongside the sensation of death that approached them from all directions. They turned around and used their last bits of strength to escape.

The terror of the Untamed Jungle was tremendous. It was enough to shake the strongest Lionhearts. Even the High Lionhearts felt like they were about to die. It was almost as if their lives could end at any moment.

The Lionheart Commanders didn't want to retreat. However, they realized too late that the fear and terror in their subordinates' hearts had blossomed. It wreaked havoc in their hearts and minds, resulting in mass panic throughout the remaining forces of the Heart of the Blazing Lion army.

Most of the remaining natives at the 2nd Tier were either about to lose consciousness or were already on their way to the outer rings. They fled from the heavy pressure and the sensation of death that seemed to come from the depths of the Untamed Jungle.

The Commanders hadn't been talking a lot with each other, but the short time they spent talking was enough to spread the fear of an inevitable death all over the battlefield. The Lionhearts at the 3rd Tier began to flee. They weren't afraid of battling enemies that they could see. However, dealing with enemies they couldn't see was not possible.

They didn't even see the enemy yet the sensation that engulfed their very existence was enough to be certain about their death.

Even the Commanders' mentality suffered under the certainty of death that shrouded them. It was terrifying.

"Retreat!" Commander Xaar ordered after the shroud of certain death intensified once again. He was not sure what was about to attack them if they stayed here, but he could tell that they had to run for their lives.

Michael and his subordinates felt the heavy pressure just like the monsters of the Untamed Jungle.

However, the certainty of death never touched them. But that made sense.

Michael looked up and stared through the burning canopy of some towering trees. He used Spirit Eyes to enhance his eyesight and smiled wryly.

"Your punctuality is impeccable."

The mysterious winged serpent was gliding above the Untamed Jungle, its towering figure casting a humongous shadow across the jungle's middle area.