The smell of iron instantly assaulted Michael's nose. Regardless of which direction he gazed at, there were bodies far beyond the horizon.

With the battle over, the death toll had been so monumental that the human brain had trouble comprehending the full scale of the destruction.

"Not to mention that we got off lightly. If it hadn't been for the King's intervention, many more would have died." He shook his head in dejection.

The first thing he did was search for Richard. Michael needed clothes after all.

"Boss?" Richard recoiled backwards when he saw his Boss come out of the alien base completely naked.

Instantly the man laughed out loud, his gaze going low to a specific man's body part. "Oh! Now it makes sense why women flock to you like some kind of magnet! From the looks of it, aside from fighting, you are also gifted in the art of fuc—"

"Clothes."

Before Richard could finish, Michael interrupted.

"Do you have any to spare?"

With a scoff, Richard nodded before throwing him a spare. Fortunately, thanks to being basically the same height, the clothes fit Michael just right.

"I presume everybody is alive?" Michael asked, glancing at Richard and Victoria, who had been following him from the alien base.

They nodded in unison.

"Cyberfang has suffered some damage." Victoria replied. "But nothing too major that a checkup at a mechanic wouldn't fix."

Relieved that he hadn't lost those close to him, Michael heaved a tired sigh.

"Let's gather up and use the moment to cultivate."

Since nobody had any objections, they quickly found the rest of Michael's crew.

"HAHAHA! We won!" Enzo exclaimed with a wide grin. Several holes riddled his attire, and deep cracks ran down the man's gauntlet. Proof that he had fought with everything he had.

"You did save my life… So I guess leaving you to celebrate is only right." Amelia averted her head to the side with a slight blush.

Apparently the two had gotten unexpectedly closer during the battle.

"It seems that death still refuses to lay claim to this old body of mine." Bryce said, ruffling his overgrown beard. Most of his upper clothing was gone, revealing his cybernetic right arm, though the man seemed in high spirits.

Leo wore an exosuit that seemed seconds away from breaking on the spot.

Ava's eyes had narrowed like a cat, her body tense. She had certainly borne witness to unpleasant sights on the battlefield.

An undeniable pressure surrounded Claire due to her mecha that allowed her to view things high from the sky. It was safe to say that she had seen the worst this battle had to offer.

Victoria still felt like fainting on the spot for the crime of lying to her grandfather. Her heart felt like it was about to burst.

Even Richard, the madman, hadn't gotten off unscarred. It was almost unperceivable, yet Michael easily noticed the way the man's arms trembled, not to mention that his face was paler than usual.

"Good work." Michael praised his crew. Because he had been forced to run straight to the swarm's heart, he hadn't stayed close to them. As such, he didn't really know what they had gotten through and wasn't able to offer many words of encouragement.

Of course, any sane person would deduce that Michael himself had suffered the most, crossing the heart of the swarm and getting caught aflame, all without any kind of protection. However, he didn't have the necessary time to pity himself.

"Today will decide your fate." Michael said, his voice sounding colder than usual.

"Those that are able to get their emotions under control and cultivate would undoubtedly reach far. While if you let your state of mind control you, reaching ascension could prove out of your grasp."

The crew exchanged uneasy glances. Clearly something had changed in Michael, as he usually wouldn't place such pressure on them. However, since they felt that his words held merit, they didn't voice any complaints.

All of them settled in a circular formation and closed their eyes.

It was safe to say that cultivating had never been harder than now. The King had put a giant barrier shielding the army from the cold blizzards, yet that also meant the soldiers' cries as they removed the bodies of their companions were much easier to hear.

"..."

A few hours later, Michael was the first one to open his eyes. Wordlessly he got up and neared every member of his crew individually.

'They have entered the cultivation mindset.' He nodded in approval.

Taking extra caution to remain quiet, he summoned Devil's Tongue. Now with part of his spiritual energy recovered, he wanted to try something.

Using the Mythic technique Psychokinesis, he made the sword float a few inches off from the ground.

'Here goes nothing.'

Then in one breath he jumped onto the sword. The rate at which his spiritual energy was being burned increased exponentially. Still, he was able to stand upright on the soul weapon as it levitated.

Even if it was in short bursts, Michael essentially unlocked the ability to fly!

'Unbelievable…' Devil's Tongue remarked. When the weapon had reached the Legendary rank, it had expected its treatment to improve. But ironically, things only got worse. Now, its owner was using it as a footrest!

Not paying much attention to the protests of his soul weapon, Michael flew high into the sky, eager to inspect the full scope of the battle. Since the soldiers were either busy mourning their brethren or cultivating, no one paid any attention to him.

"Could I have done things differently?" Michael wondered out loud, seeing the trail of bodies. "Maybe I could have saved more."

'You greedy fool! What more could you possibly want to accomplish? The mere fact that you're still alive after killing a Monarch queen is more than enough!' His soul weapon reasoned.

With a shake of his head, Michael went back to his teammates. As he observed them silently, a faint smile tugged at his lips.

If there was one positive thing about such a massacre taking place, it was that his crew was greatly inspired by the tragedy all around them.

That led them to achieve an enlightenment, reaching the next realm.

Not one or two of them.

All of them…

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.