Mikael's words were the final spark. The beasts lunged at him. More precisely, the three closest—each in the Body Forging Realm, including the one nearly turned to paste by a Mikae's shaped 'meteor'—rushed at him together.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
He threw three rapid jabs at the oncoming beasts, and each of them exploded in midair from the sheer force behind his punches.
Normally, what would have followed was hesitation. The other Body Forging demonic beasts should have been intimidated by Mikael's overwhelming power. While they were aggressive and not particularly intelligent, they weren't suicidal. Against someone so vastly above them, they should have backed off, at least temporarily.
But this wasn't a normal situation, and under the pack mentality of a full-scale beast tide, they were fearless. With a chorus of howls and screeches, more Body Forging Realm beasts hurled themselves at Mikael, claws and fangs gleaming, ready to tear him to pieces.
Sangrelia lashed out in a brilliant arc, cutting down three of them in an instant. At that same moment, a panther burst from behind, lunging with deadly speed toward Mikael's unguarded back. But Mikael didn't dodge. He didn't even turn.
Moments later, its fangs clamped down on his shoulder. The expected crunch of flesh and shattered bone never came. Instead—
Crack.
The panther's fangs instantly broke as they closed on Mikael's shoulder. These sharp fangs, capable of shredding steel like butter, weren't enough to even scratch his skin. This was the absolute disparity between the Mortal Phase and the Foundational Phase—a difference so vast it could only inspire despair.
And it showed again an instant later, when Mikael suddenly threw his shoulder back in a sharp motion, causing the panther's head to explode and sending its headless corpse flying at Mach 10.
The body crashed into a cluster of Body Forging Realm demonic beasts, killing or maiming them all, and only came to a stop when it slammed into an Early-Stage Spiritual Foundation silver-furred ape—who tanked the high-speed impact with ease.
The silver-furred ape let out a furious bellow, slamming its fists against its broad chest in a violent rhythm that echoed like war drums. Muscles rippled beneath its shimmering fur as it locked eyes with Mikael, nostrils flaring with primal rage.
In a blur of motion, it crossed the distance—not with flight, but through a series of powerful, loping bounds that cracked the earth with every landing. Each leap felt more like a detonation than a step, the beast's weight and strength compressing the terrain beneath it.
Then it struck. A fist, large enough to crush boulders, hurtled toward Mikael's face with terrifying force, the air howling around it as if warning of the strength that followed.
In Mikael's eyes, an intelligent glint passed. He threw a punch toward the ape, but just as the two fists seemed about to collide, he shifted his body lightly, allowing the large fist to harmlessly pass by him before crashing into the ground.
BOOM.
Dust exploded upward. The silver-furred ape blinked, confused by the missed impact. Its body turned, half-reacting.
'Now—' Mikael shifted, but his foot skidded slightly on a loose stone. For a split second, his weight was off, nearly causing him to fall. The ape took advantage of his midstep to reposition its arm, preparing for a backhand, but just before it could strike, Mikael regained his balance and attacked.
Moonpiercer Sword Art – Second Movement: Eclipsing Crescent Cut.
Lunar Qi flared around Sangrelia as her blade followed the curve of the ape's neck before cleanly decapitating it.
What Mikael did might have looked simple, but it was anything but. First, he had to bait the ape into lowering its guard, which he did with the initial punch. Then came the timing—too early, and the ape would have reacted; too late, and he wouldn't have been able to counterattack.
Only once the moment was perfect, and the ape distracted, did he execute a powerful Eclipsing Crescent Cut, allowing him to kill an Early-Stage Spiritual Foundation beast in a single strike.
There nearly was a misstep because he slipped but his mastery of timing and clever use of distraction was able to counterbalance his small mistake. It was a proof of the combat experience he'd accumulated in recent weeks fighting demonic beasts.
Thud.
The silver-furred ape's massive, now headless body collapsed to the ground—and with it came a wave of attacks from the surrounding demonic beasts.
The overwhelming majority were in the Body Forging Realm, which to Mikael posed no threat; their only danger was in how they impaired his movements and wasted stamina. Aside from that, they weren't truly dangerous.
Of course, if he had decided to go all in and activate the Weightless Wind-Explosive Style, his speed would have surged dramatically—making even their stamina-draining function irrelevant.
'But I can't. Not now. Using aura, mana, or anything beyond pure cultivation would make this opportunity vanish—I can feel it.'
With that conviction, Mikael refused to activate it. Short-term pain in exchange for long-term gain was something he could accept. And so, he continued to battle the nearby demonic beasts, gradually tiring and accumulating injuries.
Even 'limited' fighting against Body Forging Realm demonic beasts wasn' t a problem. As for Spiritual Foundation Realm demonic beasts… it was an entirely different story. Even against the weakest at the Early Stage, Mikael needed to clash multiple times before he could kill them.
Being able to instantly kill one was extremely rare. He either needed a perfect opening like he had with the ape or to land a powerful attack on a beast with especially low defense.
Without either of those two conditions, a one-move kill was simply out of the question. And because of that—and the overwhelming number of demonic beasts throwing themselves at him—Mikael gradually began to accumulate injuries.
SHRIP!
Mikael was a beat too slow to evade the claw—a deep gash tore across his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he turned on his heel and unleashed a powerful Celestial Moon's Embrace at the Early-Stage demonic beast that had struck him. In a flash, silver Lunar Qi enveloped the creature's weakest point, snuffing out its life.
Sangrelia continued to flash as she collided with claw, fang, and talon in a dance of death, where a single wrong move could see Mikael torn to pieces by the ferocious horde.
Mikael's labored breathing echoed amidst the roar of the nearby creatures as he continued to fight, his gaze fixed on a point somewhere between 800 meters to a kilometer from him.
The reason this location held his full attention was because it was the direction with the fewest demonic beasts. If he could battle his way through for that distance, he would be able to escape the deadly encirclement.
Slash.
Two Body Forging demonic beasts collapsed under his blade. Mikael stepped forward, only to feel a sudden snap at his leg as another beast lunged at his knee from below. He twisted reflexively and cleaved downward, Sangrelia's blade carving through muscle and bone in a single brutal stroke.
'At least let's see the good side of things. I wasn't dropped in the absolute middle of the tide—I'm closer to the edge, so the flying demonic beast that collided with me midair could almost be said to have aimed well…'
He thought somewhat ironically as he continued to fight. Each of the steps he took was a battle, each meter gained a small victory. Mikael could feel it in his bones—just how hard it was to cross this distance—while the demonic beasts kept attacking without giving him the slightest pause.
Normally, a kilometer was absolutely nothing for him. It wasn't even a second's worth of movement. But now… it seemed like an impossible distance to cross, with the beasts acting as chains determined to drag him down. Even under these unfavorable conditions, and despite accumulating more injuries with each passing moment, Mikael continued to push forward, meter after meter.
In his piercing emerald eyes, an indomitable determination burned. But it wasn't because he had boundless willpower, nor because the pain didn't affect him. It was because he had no other option.
A jaguar-like beast lunged at him from the right, but its movements were predictable. Mikael's blade flicked out, slicing through its neck in a blur. It collapsed in a twitching heap.
These Body Forging Realm creatures weren't a threat—not really. Not one-on-one. Their claws couldn't pierce his skin, their fangs couldn't break his bones. But they were everywhere, swarming, relentless. And while they couldn't injure him, they could wear him down and slow his steps. This was the only threat they posed.
At this moment, the expression 'back against the wall' couldn't have been more accurate. His only path to survival was to escape the encirclement. If he failed to carve through—if he hesitated, even slightly—his fate would be sealed.
Someone more 'courageous' or 'brave', as some might say, might have chosen to stay and fight. To challenge the entire tide. But Mikael would call such a person foolish, if he was feeling generous. Insane, if he wasn't.
A black-furred wolf bounded in from behind, faster than the rabble. Its aura was far more potent, signaling its power at the Early-stage of the Spiritual Foundation Realm. Mikael sidestepped the wolf's first strike, letting it graze past him, and unleashed a flurry of Lunar Shadow Slash. It took tens of them before he finally brought it down.
If the tide had been made up solely of Body Forging Realm demonic beasts—say, ten thousand of them—it wouldn't even qualify as a real battle. Just an exhausting cleanup. He'd walk through them with little more than bruises and fatigue.
Even if the number rose, if a hundred Early-stage Spiritual Foundation beasts had been mixed in, then maybe—just maybe—he could've still killed them all. It would've been brutal, blood-soaked, and there was a high chance he would've died, but at the same time, there was a chance of victory. Low, but present.
Unfortunately, reality wasn't that kind.
The tide pressing in on him now wasn't ten thousand strong, but tens of thousands. And among them, the number of Early-stage Spiritual Foundation Realm beasts wasn't in the dozens—it was in the thousands. There were also Mid-stage ones in the mix, and even a few Late-stage auras scattered deep within the horde.
In this condition, trying to kill the entire beast tide wouldn't have been brave or heroic—it would've been a mentally damaged level of decision-making.
So of course Mikael wanted to escape, but the easiest course of action, flying away, was blocked by the presence of the storm above. He was forced to stay grounded, afraid of getting hit by a stray thunderbolt and instantly annihilated.
As for the more unorthodox strategy of digging into the earth and escaping that way… Mikael had considered it. But his Divine Sense and normal senses both caught clear subterranean movement, signaling the presence of a high number of demonic beasts crawling below.
Which immediately barred that path as well. If he were stupid enough to try it anyway, he'd be torn to shreds—his underground combat capabilities were pitifully low compared to the beasts adapted to that terrain.
With the path of fighting the tide, fleeing through the air, and burrowing underground all cut off, the only option left to Mikael was to carve a bloody path through the horde.
Armed with this knowledge, and Sangrelia in hand, Mikael continued to cut down the demonic beasts that dared approach him with practiced ease.
At least, that was what Mikael would have liked to happen—unfortunately, reality wasn't nearly as kind. From the corner of his eye, he caught a sudden movement, and at the same time, an intense sense of danger erupted from that direction.
Author Note:
EnjoyingAscension Through the Records?
A quick Power Stone, short review, or thoughtful comment helps the novel rise in the rankings.
Want to read ahead? Unlock advanced chapters on Patreon—just search SDASLUMMY.
You're part of this story's ascent. Thanks for being here.
— End of Chapter —