"Thilve!" Michael heard a wood elf cry out loud. Still, the wood elf and who seemed to be his wife, didn't dare to move without Michael's permission. It was obvious the wood elf who just fainted due to probably blood loss was their loved one, but instead of rushing to her aid, the couple looked at Michael with eyes pleading for mercy.

"Kirat, bring her to me," Michael ordered the village elder. The wood elf old man immediately signaled Thilve's parents as they carried Thilve to Michael. The man who carried the woman had a muscular body with several scars, while his wife looked gentle and kind. They both sobbed, seeing the sorry state of their daughter. Thilve had several deep claw marks on her back and a deep stab wound on the side of her chest. Blood spurted out of her wounds, resulting in her body looking pale.

Kirat and the wood elves placed Thilve on Michael's feet and knelt before him.

"Dark Lord, please save our daughter!" they cried out loud. Michael stood up from this throne and took a few steps toward the wounded wood elf. He sat beside her before taking out a sparkling healing potion. Under the wood elves' shocked gazes, he gently opened Thilve's mouth and poured the healing potion into her mouth. The wood elves were no strangers to the healing potions. They saw the Skyhall soldiers use these potions on a battlefield to heal themselves completely. It was one of the many reasons why the wood elves got decimated mercilessly by the demons.

The wounds on Thilve's body magically disappeared under their gazes. Her hands twitched slightly as she slowly regained consciousness. Any other normal healing potions would have failed to save her because of the blood loss. But Michael gave her one from his personal stash, which could supplement her blood loss and heal her completely.

"AGH!" Suddenly, Thilve rose up from the floor, gasping for air. It took her vision a few seconds to adjust to the new sight. When everything cleared up, she saw a strange face looking at her. She immediately tried to crawl back and reach for her dagger in utter shock, but Kirat and her parents grabbed her by her hands.

"Thilve!"

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"Thank the Dark Lord,"

"My precious!"

Thilve's mother and father embraced her tightly as the entire tribe looked stunned by Michael's mercy. Michael returned to his throne, letting the family have some warm moments, although he doubted this would last, judging by the wounds on her body. Thilve hugged her parents tight as she sobbed uncontrollably. A few minutes later, Kirat and her parents dropped a nuke on her head. Thilve's face paled when her gaze fell on Michael. The god she had prayed for since she was a little kid was sitting before her. Not a single day passed without Thulve praying to the Dark Lord. It was her true wish that the Dark Lord would appear in front of her one day. But she didn't know it would actually happen. The Dark Lord looked more imposing and radiant than the wood carving. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest when he smiled at her.

As much as Thilve wanted to grab his feet and cry out loud, she didn't have time to do so. Tazkin was fighting Tar as they spoke. He and her comrades risked their life so she could escape. Realization hit her as the Dark Lord may be the only person who could save her husband. Hence, she dashed at the Dark Lord and dropped to her knees before Michael. She looked up with her hands clenched against her chest.

"Please save my husband, Dark Lord,"

Michael guessed she might put a request like that after he saw the wounds. Luckily for the wood elves, Michael decided to help them. Plus, he was curious to see these demons they talked about. These people had been worshiping him, so the least he could do was help them get some peace. Besides, he felt like it was his duty to protect these people. Perhaps it was their loyalty or the fact they worshiped him, but he wanted to help them.

Michael unsheathed a dark sword as the wood elves took a step back. They trembled at the sight of Michael's black sword. He dropped it to the ground and rose from his throne. Thilve still remained at his feet, begging for his help. He stepped on the sword and turned his gaze down on her.

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"Step onto the sword and hold my hand tight," At first, Thilve was confused but eventually did as she was told. After all, she had no time to waste, and her god had ordered her to climb on the sword.

"Dark Lord, please allow us to accompany you," said Kirat, only to see Michael shake his head.

"No need. I will be back soon," as he said, the black sword slowly ascended into the air, carrying Michael and Thilve. But before Michael could shoot into the air, Vedora made a request to Michael.

"We'd like to stay with the villagers,"

Although Michael was surprised, he didn't see any harm in leaving Vedora with the wood elves.

"Hmm," Michael nodded as Vedora jumped back to his throne. After leaving Vedora on the throne, Michael flew straight through the canopy to the sky. Thilve let out a squeal as she grabbed Michael's hands tight. When he rose to the air, Michael saw a colossal tree in the distance. Even the giant bull he saw in the demon's grave would look small in front of this tree. The black smoke rising from the ground near the tree and the castle looked out of place to Michael. Even from afar, Michael could smell the metal and pollution in the air. For a few moments, Michael stopped flying and looked around the world. His blood boiled when he saw countless forest fires and dark smoke rising to the sky. Only a fool would think they happened naturally. He knew that whoever built the castle near the mother tree was responsible for all the destruction. He could only imagine how many precious plants and wildlife the fire had engulfed. Such a waste of resources and destruction of nature raised his killing intent to another level.

"You might want to hold me tighter," said Michael. Thilve nodded as she grabbed his hands tighter than before. Suddenly, everything around her blurred. Her face ached because of the speed. It was a miracle her leaf dress remained intact when she appeared directly above the encampments, where she saw Tazkin and others bleeding to their deaths on the ground.

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"There they are," Thilve pointed her fingers at the ground. To Michael's surprise, an orc was beating the life out of some wood elves. But when he looked closer at the soldiers, he was disappointed and surprised at the same time. The reason for his disappointment was they weren't demons but elves and humans in metal armor.

On the ground, Tazkin and his men tried to pick themselves up, but Tar had broken their legs with a wooden club. When the duel between Tar and Tazkin began, the orc used a pill to enhance his strength to ensure his victory against Tazkin. A fair duel would have gone in Tazkin's favor, but it was far from a fair duel.

At Least Tazkin managed to use a primitive smoke bomb that blinded Tar and his men temporarily, which gave Thilve enough time to escape into the forest. However, the Skyhall soldiers and the wolves managed almost to kill her. Luckily, they didn't know the forest like Thilve knew. Now, Tazkin and his men just hoped Thilve escaped to the tribe. They didn't even want backup because sending backup to save them was equal to sending the wood elves to their death.

Tazkin's legs looked crooked as Tar slowly walked toward him. The ugly orc had an even uglier smile on his face. Suddenly out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning struck the ground between him and Tazkin. Only then did these Skyhall soldiers look up at the sky. When they realized what just had happened, Michael landed on the ground, creating a shock wave that sent the orc flying away.

The Skyhall soldiers were terrified as the dark sword slowly descended to the ground carrying Thilve.

"Give these to them," Michael threw a bunch of healing potions to Thilve like they were candies.

"Tazkin!" She cried out loud as she dashed at Tazkin. His face was swollen and almost unrecognizable. Because she was with the Dark Lord, Thilve had no fear in her heart. Meanwhile, the Skyhall soldiers looked tense. Before they could react, Michael dashed at Tar. The big ugly orc was trying to pick himself up. Instead of waiting for the orc to stand up, Michael grabbed him by his head and cast the cloud of darkness and death range. The area immediately grew darker, which terrified the soldiers around Michael.

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The orc groaned. His big green eyes were filled with shock. Without giving the orc any time to retaliate, Michael cast the Soul Eater. Michael could have easily returned the favor by beating the crap out of the orc, but he chose to kill the orc quickly to show his overwhelming powers. After all, Michael had the reputation of a god to protect. The dark smoke shrouded the orc as everyone heard the orc's sickening cry of agonizing pain. His scream echoed through the lands. Soon, the Skyhall soldiers noticed a bright smoke leaving Tar's eyes and going into Michael's mouth. The orc's once bulky monstrous body shriveled under their shocked gazes. When Michael let go of the orc, Tar looked more like a mummy than an orc. Tazkin and the others couldn't believe what they had just witnessed.

"Who is he?' Tazkin asked with a stuttering voice. Everything that happened before his eyes was nothing short of a miracle. He even thought this was just a dream. Meanwhile, the Skyhall soldiers lost the color of their faces behind the helmets. Some of them outright fell to the ground due to the cloud of darkness's effects. Michael slowly turned his gaze to the Skyhall soldiers. Black lightning crackled around his arms, threatening to strike every single soldier in the area.

"Shall we begin?" Michael's words swept across the land and put the fear of god in their hearts.