Sun Demos and Michael only had enough energy to maintain the Power Share function of Taming for three minutes. Adding the use of more Soultraits would reduce the active period for Power Share even further.
But that was perfectly fine because Sun Demos chose to fight aggressively against the Awakened. His entire body further strengthened through Enhancement, and Reinforced Sword Qi utilized to cover the extendable blades of his gloves. Due to that, Sun Demos had efficient means to kill his enemies.
Eagle Eyes fully unleashed acted as the icing on the cake, creating the means to predict his enemies' next moves and attack or dodge properly.
Sun Demos released several Glacicles toward the Kitsun Summons as he appeared in front of the Awakened. One of the Awakened shouted loudly, his gaze wavering as he looked at the Kitsun falling prey to the Glacicles. The Glacicles shattered on the Summons' necks, freezing them partially before the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys made their move.
The Blood Oath Demon Monkeys were already in a fierce battle with the Summons, and they used the opening created by Sun Demos to eliminate their enemies. The Glacicles shocked the Summons because they didn't expect to get attacked from behind. They were under the impression that the Awakened would have their back, but that was their grave mistake.
Despite the shock and pain, the Kitsun moved instinctively. Some stared back in horror, expecting more deadly attacks from behind to hit them. They shouldn't have done that. It was a fatal mistake.
Instead of more Glacicles attacking them from the back, the Summons were torn apart by the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys from the front.
It took less than half a minute to kill the remaining Summons. Unfortunately, not all Blood Oath Demon Monkeys survived. Some had sustained mortal injuries when the Kitsun had been invisible. All they could do was endure and kill their enemy before they succumbed to their wounds.
The rest attacked the remaining Awakened that were fighting their king. Sun Demos was having a hard time fighting several Awakened. Two were Tier-3 while the rest were Tier-2. Their Soultraits weren't strong except for Thunder Bullet but their numbers and Artifacts were impactful. They granted the Awakened and Kitsun an upperhand, allowing Pustan to drill three thunder bullets into Sun Demos' arm.
Sun Demos could evade the thunder bullets aimed at his head thanks to Eagle Eyes. Unfortunately, by closing the distance to Pustan to a few meters, Sun Demos turned into a huge target for the Awakened. He could see the thunder bullets approaching him, but the Monkey King wasn't fast enough to respond in time. The thunder bullet was almost moving towards him with the speed of lightning.
It was only fortunate that the bullet holes left by the bullet were rather small and that Sun Demos has superior regenerative abilities as well. All Blood Oath Demon Monkeys could regenerate extremely fast. As long as they didn't sustain lethal wounds, or lost a limb, they would be able to recover.
Sun Demos' left arm was rendered useless due to the bullets piercing his arm, but he ignored the wounds and pain. He achieved his goal by closing his distance to Pustan before utilizing Spirit Gaze. Most of his energy was consumed as he used Spirit Disturbance to catch Pustan off-guard with a spiritual attack. It reduced Sun Demos' Power Share period to less than 10 seconds, which was more than enough to eliminate Pustan and to get rid of Zaram as well.
The remaining Awakened were not that powerful, but Pustan and Zaram were troublesome. The Veil of Invisibility and Thunder Bullet were deadly Soultraits if used against large armies. If Zaram found Michael – or worse – barged into their territory with the reinforcement, Michael's territory would be no more. Only the Nature Spirit and the Forest Pixie might be able to sense the energy ripples caused by the Veil of Invisibility. The rest would be helpless against the power of the Veil of Invisibility.
Pustan could barely release his thunder bullet when Sun Demos' Spirit Disturbance hit him. It struck him hard, much harder than anything he'd anticipated to face. His vision blurred and it grew increasingly more difficult to stay focused to initiate an attack. For a moment he felt like collapsing on the ground, but his body didn't move anywhere. In fact, he could clearly feel that his body froze for a quarter of a second – which was just enough for Sun Demos' arm to pierce forward.
The extendable blade cut through Pustan's armor with ease, digging deep inside the enemy until the blade disappeared entirely in the Awakened Kitsun. Pustan's eyes widened, but the shock and pain grew even worse as the silver Qi covering the extendable blade was released, bursting the Kitsun's organs.
A cackle escaped Sun Demos' lips as he retrieved the extendable blade to tear through the next enemy. He released two Glacicles straight to Pustan's eyes, bursting his eyeballs before freezing the Kitsun's brain from within. By the time Pustan began to scream, he was already on the verge of death. Zaram was shocked to see his friend bleeding and injured all of a sudden, but he attacked Sun Demos nonetheless.
He was mentally prepared for everything that could happen, including mental attacks while his longsword cleaved down on Sun Demos.
The Blood Oath Demon Monkey King confused Zaram. He had seen monsters with Unique Racial abilities, even Monsters with unique powers granted from mutations. However, the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King in front of him seemed like an Awakened with numerous Soultraits – powerful Soultraits. None of Sun Demos' powers was weak. They were all extremely powerful and deadly.
It was truly frightening.
Zaram cleaved down with the aim to split Sun Demos into two. However, all Sun Demos did was to reveal a hideous grimace and cackle wickedly, manifesting a Qi Sword in front of himself. The Qi Sword broke through the tremendous force behind the cleaving sword, but the trajectory was altered.
Zaram moved back, changed his stance with a smooth motion and thrust the sword forward. His movement speed accelerated all of a sudden, taking Sun Demos by surprise. The attack was unleashed through a technique that strained the muscles in the entire upper body to the limit to create a singular, smooth thrust.
It drained a considerable amount of energy, and would leave Zaram exhausted, but the Kitsun understood that he had to kill Sun Demos right now if he wanted to survive. He had to go all out. There was no way that he could afford to underestimate the monkey just because it was a monster, otherwise, he would end up like Pustan.
His old rival had collapsed nearby, blood pooling around him on the ground. Pustan was still screaming but his voice lost power. His lifeforce would soon dry out, leaving the Awakened without any energy. He was bound to die, and Zaram didn't want to end like him.
As Zaram's sword thrust was about to pierce deep into Sun Demos' heart, the monkey king made his move. Zaram's body couldn't respond fast enough to evade the attack. He couldn't move a single finger. Fortunately, his eyes and mind were faster. Meanwhile, Sun Demos' mind responded the moment his Eagle Eyes perceived Zaram's attack. A thick Glacicle manifested right next to the sword's blade.
The Glacicle shattered at Sun Demos' will, releasing a burst of freezing mist that filled the vicinity. It shrouded Sun Demos and Zaram instantaneously, hiding what happened next from everyone's sight.
All they could hear was the sound of a blade piercing into flesh. In the next moment, Zaram cursed aloud, and the slick sound of a blade piercing through the flesh echoed again.
The freezing mist spread outward and dispersed in all directions, revealing Zaram and Sun Demos.
Zaram's longsword was stuck deep in Sun Demos' shoulder. It looked like it pierced the monkey king's heart, but Sun Demos stared at the Awakened Kitsun in amusement. The grin on his face was wide. The Kitsun missed his heart by a few centimeters due to the explosion of the Glacicle, and the freezing mist that had forcefully altered the trajectory of the sword by a few centimeters.
And to make matters worse for Zaram, Sun Demos' blade had found its target. Accepting Zaram's attack in exchange for being able to deliver an attack as well might not have been the best decision, but Sun Demos had to use the last second of Taming's Power Share to eliminate Zaram before he would lose access to Michael's Soultraits.
Sun Demos couldn't evade the attack either way. Thus, he decided to attack instead.
Zaram stared at Sun Demos with wide eyes after sensing his near-suicidal move. The moment his sword cut deep into Sun Demos, he realized that the attack was not going to kill the monkey king. It would weaken him and drain him as the fight progressed, but that was already it. Zaram had been about to pull back to get a grip over himself and prepare a second attack, but Sun Demos moved ahead, ignoring the razor-sharp blade sinking deeper into his chest.
His focus had been on counterattacking even if the injury grew worse and more painful.
But Sun Demos endured it all. He endured the pain and used it to dig his extended blade deep into the Awakened Kitsun's neck.
Cackling like the madman he was, the monkey king twisted the blade before tearing it out of Zaram.
Zaram's eyes almost popped out of his skull. In the next moment, blood spurted out of his neck, and he collapsed on the ground.
'I can't believe I'm actually dying. How can this be? At the hands of a monster at that… How…This… I…I am not supposed to end like this…It can't be…'
But before he could finish the thought, the world turned dark.
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