Michael's entrance into the meagerly defended settlement was bombastic quite literally. He channeled his origin energy and some lifeforce into Zeroa, who conjured a massive azure fireball above the settlement. The fireball expanded rapidly, fiery whips lashing out in all directions as the Elemental Empress used far more energy than she could control. She only gained control of the fiery flames for a moment, straining her mind tremendously, but the result was as pleasant as expected.

Michael watched the massive fireball, exceeding a radius of ten meters easily, and chose to help Zeroa. He applied a Soul Tear on her the Soul Grimoire was overflowing with Soul Tears, either way and added Enhancement and fire-attributed energy.

The Elemental Empress was about to lose control of the fireball when Michael commanded her to release it. The remaining idle forces of the settlement finally reacted to the massive fireball. That was when Michael jumped into action. Zeroa's fireball descended upon the settlement, ready to swallow its center and burn everything within at once, while Michael disappeared.

Michael had already inspected everyone's energy level in the settlement, and saying he was disappointed was an understatement. There was only one Tier-5 powerhouse, and even that one wasn't a proper Tier-5 powerhouse. The amount of energy within the Tier-5 powerhouse was equivalent to most High Awakened, but the quality of his energy and energy veins was way too low. It was almost like the Lord of the little settlement skipped the High Ascension and jumped straight to Tier-5. His foundation was insignificant, and so was his strength and reaction speed when Michael appeared next to him. 'He didn't even sense Cosmic Stride's spatial fluctuations. I know there aren't many fluctuations for short-distance warps, but it's not like Cosmic Stride is a traceless teleportation Soultrait.' Michael frowned, staring at the youthful face of the Lord. Like every other Lord, the youth was a member of the Blaze family. However, Michael didn't recognize him at first. But that was only until he recalled that Olivia Blaze had a little brother. An 18-year-old brother who'd manifested his War Rune less than half a year ago.

He didn't enter the Saphirelake Military Academy and didn't appear publicly a lot, but Michael knew about him nonetheless. He had read Olivia Blaze's memories and knew enough about the Blaze household to know that it should cease to exist.

'Reaching Tier-5 in half a year is amazing, but relying solely on blood sacrifices will only bring you this far.' Michael cursed in his mind, his hand lunging at the youth, who turned around.

The young Lord watched in terror as Michael's hand transformed into a massive claw. It was coated in gold, silver, and pristine white as it descended upon him, clawing his throat and neck, transforming it into a mass of blood.

It made sense why the young Lord didn't leave his settlement. He might have enough energy to be at the 5th Tier, but his actual combat prowess was probably close to the peak of a Lesser Lifeform. Maybe it would have been easy to refine his body, mind, and soul now that he had so much energy, but his foundation would never be anywhere close to Michael's or anyone who focused on their foundation.

But Michael understood what the Blaze Patriarch had been trying to do. He wanted to create a powerhouse in the shortest time possible. Reaching Tier-5 in six months wasn't an easy feat. If he had been given another five months, most Tier-4 Awakened would have problems dealing with him. Unfortunately, he was dead now.

Michael collected the young Lord's corpse before teleporting to the next target. It was a Tier-4 High Awakened, who Michael assaulted with a True Extraction Qi Sword, Spirit Domination, and a flashbang created by compressing light-attributed energy. The High Awakened's mind was fried, and then he was dazzled by the flashbang, only for a massive sword to impale him.

Michael didn't wait until the High Awakened was dead. He grasped the kid and teleported out of the settlement center as the massive fireball crashed. Michael barely escaped the fireball. It impacted heavily and exploded, destroying everything in its path.

Michael had to teleport further away to escape the fiery shockwave, which tore the surrounding buildings apart. Many died from the fireball's impact, but even more Summons and Awakened ended up dying from the fiery shockwave, the collapsing buildings, and the sweet chaos wreaking havoc in the residents' minds.

[You're growing into a cold-blooded snake.] The World Serpent noted the death of thousands of innocent Summons. "I don't know what you're talking about. There is no way I show mercy to anyone until the settlement is conquered and all danger removed. I am sorry for the innocent residents who've been killed or injured by my actions, but that doesn't mean I should hold back my power or adjust my plans to kill as few as possible. The Blaze household is not that simple to take care of. Even if it looks like a walk in the park, I need to unleash my full strength to deal with the powerhouses as quickly as possible. The moment I hold back, I will end up dead."

[If you say so.]

Michael frowned deeply. He couldn't tell whether or not the World Serpent was happy about his transformation. In the first place, Michael wasn't sure if he had changed this much. Maybe his actions were cold-blooded, but it wasn't like he had been merciful to his enemies. On another note, Michael wasn't targeting the residents. It was just that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

'I didn't expect Zeroa's fireball to be this strong. She is not even a Higher Lifeform yet.' Michael explained, but the World Serpent wasn't listening anymore.

The Elemental Empress' mythical flames, boosted by Soul Tear and Enhancement, did a great job, especially when amplified with fire-attributed energy and bits of Michael's lifeforce. Zeroa had been working on creating living fire and live energy after seeing Michael use lifeforce to augment his energy and poison on a few occasions.

Michael hadn't been behind this a lot. After all, he had a much easier time combining energies and other things using Insert. He did not need to focus on the complex parts, such as using a specific ratio of energy and lifeforce to create living fire and the like. Insert did the difficult and time-consuming tasks for him.

The result was beyond Michael's expectations. Even the Elemental Empress was surprised.

[Michael!!! Look at what I've done! Isn't that crazy? Am I powerful now?! I am going to grow stronger and stronger. When I'm a Higher Lifeform, I can burn entire settlements to ashes!] Michael smiled. Zeroa was as excited as ever. She might not be the youngest in his territory, but she certainly had the youngest mindset. However, Michael couldn't hold her accountable for that. The Elemental Empress had been imprisoned for a very long time. She was born and raised in imprisonment. All she did was relive her childhoodin a very unique and deadly way. 'At least she is on my side. Having her as an enemy would be a tad annoying.' He thought before conquering the rest of the settlement by killing the devastated Awakened that had been left behind.