Chapter 678: Grand Finale [III]
"There are too many enemies. We cannot stay here any longer!" Lilica's voice reverberated through the surroundings.
"Retreat into the jungle. Initiate Plan Zeldron!"
She stood on a thick branch of a towering tree that separated the Savannah from the Untamed Jungle. Her eyes traveled left and right, but all she could see were the masses of enemies. They filled her entire view, fueling Lilica with intense fear and uncertainty. There were too many enemies. Even if most of them weren't powerful combatants at the 3rd Tier, the numbers alone were enough to conquer the Untamed Jungle's outer ring and reach Arx in no time.
"We don't have to kill all of them. Just kill as many as you can!" Tiara screamed from the ground, charging into the Savannah, where she engaged in a fierce battle with dozens of Summons.
All enemies below Tier-3 were killed with a simple cut or thrust. Tiara didn't have to pay much attention to them because they didn't pose a threat to her. Her current combat prowess far surpassed the limits of a Tier-2 Awakened, after all.
In fact, Silvarean Tiger fully unleashed alongside Inner Force, and Spirit Whip was enough to surpass the limits most Superior Tier-2 Awakened could attain. Even Tier-3 Summons would have severe issues dealing with the Silverfang Princess.
However, Tiara had a new Soultrait, Thrust, as well. She used her four Soultraits to kill dozens of enemies without losing any momentum by perfectly utilizing Inner Force to change her trajectory.
However, she suffered from the masses of enemies that were charging at her as well. She had to retreat, which was easier said than done. Tiara couldn't turn around and dash away just like that. Her foes would use the opening she revealed by turning around to cut her down.
Therefore, Tiara and the other Untamed Awakened fought with the Golden Stinger Wasp.
Stinger teleported Tiara back to the Untamed Jungle once the situation got a little bit trickier. She was pushed back and would soon sustain injuries. Stinger's heightened perception deciphered that and changed places. Using his tiny size and ridiculous speed, Stinger escaped the incoming attacks easily and returned to the Untamed Jungle instantaneously.
However, there was no break for the Golden Stinger Wasp. Lokai, Thaor, and the remaining Berserker Awakened charged outside the Untamed Jungle near the northern border to the Savannah Region. They avoided frontal attacks and engaged the Awakened and Summons near the Savannah force's outer forces. There were still many powerful enemies, but the pressure was a little bit lower. It was easier to slay hundreds of enemies with brute force and strive forward until the enemies encircled them.
Stinger had to intervene in the Berserkers' fierce battle to rescue them. The Berserkers didn't like that, but they also understood that they shouldn't die before repaying their debts. They might have initiated the Rite of the War Goddess with Michael, but the Oath of Loyalty was not enough to repay their debts. Their Essence screamed at them, forcing the Berserkers to put their natural instincts aside and survive rather than die in battle before all debts had been settled.
Stinger saved the Berserkers by pushing them back into the Untamed Jungle, where they retrieved a bunch of throwing spears. The Untamed Army was in the jungle's outer rings doing something similar.
The Archers bombarded the enemy forces with barrages of arrows, and the Lesser Elementals joined the forces and lobbed fireballs at them as well. However, the most important task of the Elementals was to alter the surroundings. They focused on terraforming rather than attacking. Only the Fire Elementals joined the Archers in killing the enemies by throwing one fireball after another at them.
The Earth, Wind, and Water Elementals loosened the ground in the Untamed Jungle's outer ring. They transformed the dry soil into muddy pits while simultaneously, releasing some of the flat-rooted trees to destroy some of nature's naturally created paths. The wildlife trails were blocked as the towering trees crashed heavily to the ground. The noises attracted the Savannah forces' attention, but only for a second. They had to pay attention to the incoming barrage of arrows and fireballs.
Blocking ordinary arrows and fireballs was not impossible. Even Tier-2 Summons could do that as long as they were given a metal shield and some training. However, not all arrows were the same.
Tatjana, the Tier-2 Sharpshooters, and the Forest Elven Archers came up with a simple solution to deal with the Soldier's defense. They split up into units that used different arrows to attack the incoming enemies. The Forest Elven Archers used heavy arrows with a hook attached to the soldier's shields, increasing their weight drastically.
The soldiers could still lift their shields, but it was more difficult and strained their muscles more than it used to be. The heavy arrows hooked to the shields forced the soldiers to lower their shields at some point. The moment the soldiers lowered their shields was the perfect opportunity for the Sharpshooters to jump into action.
They released their swift arrows to reap the defenseless soldiers' lives.
In the meantime, Tatjana and Lilica combined their power with the Noble Elementals and the Elemental Empress. They retrieved arrows with elemental crystals as the arrowhead and let the Elementals charge them until they were overflowing with Elemental Might.
There was no way that Michael and his people would fight the Savannah's forces head-on. There were more than three million enemies whereas their numbers didn't even reach 50,000. Even if the Untamed Awakened, the Valyrs, and Michael's army were stronger than their enemies, individual power was not everything. It meant a lot, but individual power was not always the solution.
Despite that sentiment, it was always a ginormous advantage if the fight prowess of the individuals on one side were stronger. That was also why Michael had been daring enough to leave the Untamed Jungle and his people behind to charge into the Savannah Region. He was certain that his people could stall the Savannah's forces even though everyone would have to fight more than 60 enemies simultaneously.
The overcharged elemental arrowheads weren't of the same quality as the overcharged crystals used to destroy the Heart of the Blazing Lion's military army. They were powerful, nonetheless.
Hundreds of Soldiers fell victim to the destructive power of the elemental arrowheads. They shattered upon impact, unleashing the elemental power that had been compressed within them in all directions.
Most targets in a range of five meters to the explosion died the second the elemental arrowheads shattered. Everyone else in a range of 20 meters suffered serious injuries if they were close to the explosion of elemental might, or were mildly wounded as the distance to the explosion widened.
Many died. However, compared to the massive number of enemies that were about to invade the Untamed Jungle, it was nothing.
Mika decided to use one more of his heirloom arrows. He retrieved the heirloom arrow coated in various miniature runes and began to channel energy into it. He nocked it on the Wyvernwood Bow's string, closed his eyes, and waited for Opars' Energy Imprint to reach him. He was overflowing with energy and used 5-Star Arrow Duplication over and over again.
Since the Wyvernwood Bow could hold out a lot more than his other bow, Mika didn't have to worry about breaking it. He called upon the Drake Soul within the Pseudo-Legendary Artifact as he continued to infuse his energy into the heirloom arrow.
Mika was not as weak as he used to be. His Soultraits were also stronger than ever. The same applied to Opars.
Opars continued to infuse Mika with energy using Energy Imprint until the last charge of Energy Imprint had been used up. Once all preparations had been concluded, Mika overcharged the heirloom arrow with Pierce's strongest form.
The heirloom arrow glowed brightly, the miniature runes twinkling like thousands of diamonds.
Mika pulled the bowstring back once he was ready, the corner of his lips curling upward. He aimed patiently into the sky, an image of Pheli and Liopham forming before him.
He released the heirloom arrow, the smile was wiped from his face.
"Die for me, you fucking bastards!"
**
[A/N: The author is back. It's march and we're all happy hehe. At least, I am - or I should be. After all, it's my birth month. Speaking about my birth month, I won't release many chapters this weekend because I will celebrate my birthday.
Either way, how do you like the finale chapters against the Savannah Region? It was a lil different than the fight against the Zentika Empire, right? ;D
#OPMichael]