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.

lightsnοvεl 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.

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..."