Time passed eerily slowly, and Michael grew impatient. The longer he watched his subordinates and beloved, the more he suffered. Michael felt useless and like a jerk, as he watched his subordinates engage in dangerous maneuvers to stall the Dragys.

Hours turned into days and days into weeks. It wasn't long before the first months elapsed, yet the Heart's Choice trial was still not over.

Knowing that he was still stuck in the middle of a seemingly infinitely large body of water was infuriating. It affected Michael more and more. However, one day, everything changed. The last bits of patience transformed into uncontrollable impatience and the urge to leave the Temple of the Forgotten as the Dragys located and killed some of Michael's Untamed Awakened.

**

Everyone did their utmost to protect their Lord's territory and distract the Dragys, spreading trails in the form of footprints, scents, sounds, and complete structures to pull the Dragys' attention away from the outlier portion of the Untamed Jungle. Their tireless efforts worked for several months, but the Dragys realized Michael's subjects played with them. At some point, they changed their tactic. Some of their forces departed from the frontlines with the small Divine Alliances to locate Michael's territory.

However, before the territory could be discovered, Hiraku and the Untamed Awakened unleashed a large-scale attack on one of the Dragys' settlements. The Dragys defended their settlements well, but their strongest warriors had been deployed to search Michael's territory and deal with the Divine Alliances. More Lords of the Untamed Jungle had joined the Divine Alliances, forcing the Dragys to act more vigilant, but the Lordess didn't seem to care much about that. She was unwilling to leave Michael's territory undiscovered.

That was what Hiraku and the rest comprehended as well. Thus, they attacked one of the weaker settlements using the Golden Queen Bee and the Golden Stinger Wisps to execute a full-blown assault and destroy a good portion of the settlement using the Elemental Empress, all Elementals, and close to 10,000 overclocked elemental crystals. Once the first settlement had been bombed and nearly razed, the Golden Queen Bee and the Golden Stinger Wasps teleported everyone away.

They moved to a different settlement on the other side of the Dragys' territory and bombed it as well. Once done, they fled quickly. Unfortunately, not everyone survived the assault. The Dragys might not have as many Soultrait Symbols as any member of the Untamed Awakened, but they weren't weak. Their average Tier was one, if not two, Tiers above the Untamed Awakened. They were several centuries older than the oldest members of Michael's Untamed Awakened and were thus familiar enough with surprise attacks during war to respond quickly.

But despite acting fast and without hesitation, the Dragys suffered bigger blows than the Untamed Awakened. Michael, however, didn't care about that. He sensed the death of more than a hundred Awakened, worsening his already used-up patience. His condition was bad, but it got worsea lot.

The attack on the settlements merely distracted the Dragys and forced them to focus more on the Divine Alliances since they harmed the Dragys more than anything. The Dragys Lordess disagreed. She considered the Untamed Awakened as a much deadlier enemy. Not wanting to give the Untamed Awakened enough time to grow and advance their Tier to grow into even more dangerous threats, the Dragy Lordess drastically changed her tactic at the frontlines with the Divine Alliances. Her strategy had been to overwhelm and let her kin's flames devour everything, but that changed into a defensive war with thin defensive lines. The Dragys attacked the forces of the Divine Alliances whenever they dared to approach the borders and successfully pushed them away. At the same time, the majority of combatants traveled to the other side of the Untamed Jungle to join the search for the Untamed Awakened, their home, and Michael's territory.

The Dragys located Michael's territory and attacked. A huge battle ensued, and the number of deaths burned by the Dragys skyrocketed. But the Untamed Awakened weren't the only ones who suffered. The residents of the Untamed Jungle tried to flee, but they turned into ashes, just like the Untamed Awakened. The military forces of the Untamed Jungle burned the same.

Half of the closest Pentagon Fort was destroyed in the next two weeks, and the Untamed Jungle around was destroyed. The Dragys were overjoyed and spread in all directions to burn the outlier of the Untamed Jungle to a cinder, obliterating not only Michael's territory but also the Untamed Jungle in its entirety.

Michael was unsure when the mythical serpent reappeared, but the Azure Quetzalcoatl surfaced at some point. One of Michael's Pentagon Forts had been destroyed in its entirety, and it was only a matter of time before his military forces and Untamed Awakened would be crushed and forced to flee into the Sacred Desert.

When their morale was at its lowest, the Azure Quetzalcoatl appeared. Nobody understood why it didn't appear before. At least nobody was present. Fenrir and Jormungandr, on the other hand, understood the Azure Quetzalcoatl's sacred task very well.

[The Fallen God's pet, the Guardian of the Temple of the Forgotten.] Fenrir pointed out.

[It's not a Sacred Beast, but strong enough to stall some time for your people. But] Michael intercepted Jormungandr before he could say anything. He understood their situation perfectly well.

His people were dying left and right. They were afraid and prayed for his return. Even the Awakened, who'd survived the Dragys' onslaught, hoped for his return at this point.

Their fears, anxiety, and countless emotions reached Michael through their Links of Loyalty. Some Links of Loyalty disappeared, while others grew weaker with every day Michael stayed out of the war. His citizens couldn't understand why their Lord wasn't coming back when they were slaughtered like livestock. Did he abandon them?

Michael didn't abandon them but couldn't leave this place either. It was justnot possible. Or was it?

'Fuck this shit. I'm done here!' He cursed. After months of using Energy Vortex and the Beast God Curses' Perfect Soul Technique, his Tier had improved once again, but that mattered little. The greenish energy in his heart had also transformed, shaping intosomething in his chest. It was only a matter of time before it would be done, but Michael didn't care. He had to leave now.

That was his decision.

'Get ready to go all out!' Michael declared to his Curses while preparing everything to make his move.

He absorbed as much Essence as Fenrir and Jormungandr while unleashing all of their Seals Major and Minor while spreading True Extraction Domain through the infinite body of water. He applied Greater Enhancement on as many inactive Seals as possible as he drained the surrounding energy, which seemed to be an infinite source as well.

More Seals were activated temporarily due to Greater Enhancement's potential release.

[Are you sure you want to do this?] Jormungandr asked but Michael didn't listen. He urged the Beast God Curses to make their move.

He made his final decision and nothing could stop him. Michael wouldn't allow anymore enemies to harm his people and destroy the Untamed Jungle.

HIS Untamed Jungle!

Michael made his final choice and the Temple of the Forgotten reacted accordingly.

[Third Trial has been successfully passed. You can proceed and leave the Temple of the Forgotten or advance with the Final Trial.]