The council of the Altors Union took exactly 24 hours to make their decision. A young Elder approached Michael and requested that he follow him inside. Michael had stopped infusing more True Extraction Essence into the Void Ingots a few minutes ago and got up with a smile.
“Are you satisfied with the decision?” Michael asked the Elder, who didn’t expect this question. He looked at Michael through his black button-like eyes and turned around. ‘It looks like you are not really satisfied, but your energy system is not in disarray either. You’re not sure whether to be satisfied or not. I see.’ fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cm
Michael followed the Elder and entered the large office again. The Elders were silent, while some Heads were loud, declaring how much they disliked the decision. However, the Top Head, the strongest of the Heads, silenced them with a wave of his hand.
“We came to a decision,” He said to Michael as he stepped inside.
“I see that it wasn’t a decision everyone approves,” Michael smiled in response, but the Top Head merely shrugged, “Not everyone has to agree with our decision. We fight often because our opinion differs. That is why we’ve been voted to rule the Altors Union. We represent various organizations and factions but also promote our own way of living to convince others to follow our path.”
‘Less nonsense, please. Give me your damn answer!’ Michael cursed in his mind with a bright smile on his face, “That does make sense. What did the Altors Union decide to do?”
The Top Head smiled at Michael, which crept him out, “We accept your offer and have already sent news to the Divine Lifeforms in our territory. They were told about your offer and will respond if they’re interested in becoming your Subordinates. I think some, those with weaker Soultrait Symbols or those who are already at the limit of their potential, will accept your offer. You shouldn’t expect too many Divine Lifeforms, though. Not many want to follow someone else, especially prideful Divine Lifeforms. It will be even more problematic for some to follow someone who’s not a member of the Altors Union.”
Michael nodded but thought differently than the Top Head and his people.
‘I think you’re underestimating your losses against the Supreme Human Alliance and my impact on other people. I know news of my actions has already spread. The Nest Leader, Sylth, and others have already heard about my actions, and they have continued spreading them. At this point, everyone should know how much I’ve contributed to the Altors Union’s victories and that I had nothing to do with your losses. If anything, I helped you win, but you still ended up losing. That is embarrassing!’
Still, Michael was satisfied with the situation. Getting the Heads’ approval had been easier than expected. He’d been certain the Heads and Elders would negotiate a lot with him. After all, it was possible to give 2,000 Divine Lifeforms a powerful 4-Star or 5-Star Soultrait in exchange for their subordination. [Maybe they think only 100 or so will accept the offer. If 100 accept the offer, they will have exactly 100 powerhouses with 21 Soultrait Symbols, if the Soultraits don’t tear them apart – which they will without a fully nourished Soul Sphere. Even Gods cannot handle 21 Soultrait Symbols without forming a Soul Sphere. Of course, they can seal them and do other things with them, but Soultrait Symbols are useless if sealed. There is wasted soul space.] Jormungandr hissed, but even the World Serpent wasn’t certain what the Heads and Elders of the Altors Union were thinking about.
Michael had to control his features but nodded at Top Head.
“Do you want me to stay here to wait until the prospects arrive, or should I leave and come back later? It might take a while until everyone makes their decision and finishes preparing for everything. They might have to travel all across the Altors Union to reach the Floating Union after all.” Michael asked, “How long do you think it will take before everyone has made their decision?”
Some Heads looked at him in a way Michael couldn’t really describe. It was…weird to put into simple words. They didn’t really look at him with hatred, but there were also traces of greed, disgust, confusion, and joy. The mix of emotions coming from them was confusing, to say the least.
“You don’t have to worry about bothering us. If you wish to stay here to meditate, you can do that. It might take a month or two before everyone has made their final decision, but it could also be faster. We won’t rush our Divine Lifeforms. After all, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a decision that changes everything.”
Michael nodded again, “I would like to stay here then. This place is perfect to refine my War Rune.”
‘And to infuse more True Extraction Essence into the Void Ingots for emergency situations.’
Overall, his offer was easily accepted, and he was given enough food, water, and even a small room to stay in the Floating Island. However, Michael couldn’t be bothered to use either. He stayed in the open places of the Floating Union, cross-legged and meditating – also inserting True Extraction Essences straight from his body into Void Ingot to avoid getting found out.
The weeks passed quickly, and it wasn’t surprising when Michael received a notification from the Super Awakened. They were already in position and waiting for him.
[Michael Fang: Practice with your Soultraits and your Combination of Soultraits, Soul Techniques, Soullife Arts, and so forth until I’m back. I don’t know how much longer this will take.]
Exactly two months after the Altors Union council accepted his offer, 600 Divine Lifeforms gathered at the Floating Union. The expressions on the faces of the Elders and Heads were impossible to read, but their energy systems showed how conflicted they were. Their energy systems were in disarray, and it almost felt like they were ready to attack Michael. At least, that was what he pinpointed from the energy systems of two Heads. They didn’t really like him. But…so what? It might be a little problematic if some Heads attacked him, but Michael would be fine if they were the first aggressors. Even if he attacked them first, nothing problematic would happen Michael was not afraid of the Altors Union’s council. Not even Top Head pressured him.
Read atest chapters at fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm Only.
Of course, Top Head was stronger than him, but Michael had enough means to escape. He was prepared for it if needed.
“Hello, everyone. Is everyone present willing to become my Subordinates, or am I mistaken about something?” Michael asked into the group, but all the Divine Lifeforms did was look at the council members. Top Heads nodded, which was enough for some Divine Lifeforms to step forward. The others followed silently, which earned a surprised look from Michael.
“I…take that as a ‘Yes.’…” Michael mumbled while making a mental note of what had just happened.
“If nobody has anything against the proposed Link of Loyalty – everyone present should have already seen the clauses if your council didn’t hide anything –, so we can get started right away,” Michael said, still glancing between the 600ish Divine Lifeforms and the council.
“Please provide them with the desired Soultrait Symbols right after they were bound to you. This is only fair.” One of the Heads said and the Divine Lifeforms nodded slowly, but Michael frowned deeply.
“I haven’t even shared which Soultrait Symbols I have, nor do we know which are the most compatible with everyone or what kind of combination of Soultraits we can form with the existing – fused – Soultraits. We have yet to figure out who’s going to obtain more Soultrait Symbols and who’s going to obtain less.”
Top Heads waved his hand dismissively, “You can switch everything later, can’t you? There are 600 Divine Lifeforms, and you have 2,000 Soultrait Symbols to offer. Give everyone three Soultrait Symbols, and in the first 200, you establish a Link of Loyalty, and you will be given a fourth Soultrait.”
‘That is not how it’s supposed to work, you know?!’ Michael frowned deeply, but it was true that he could switch Soultraits easily as long as they weren’t too firmly fused into the target’s Soul. That wouldn’t be the case with newly fused Soultrait Symbols, except if their compatibility was perfect. If that was the case, they might as well keep the Soultrait. Still, Michael wasn’t pleased with their attitude. “If everyone wants to do it like that…okay,” Michael looked at the Divine Lifeforms, who nodded in agreement with their council. ‘They feel like marionettes, controlled by the Heads…I wonder how much I can influence them later.’
Michael nodded slowly and approached the first Divine Lifeform. He grasped his hand and released a thread of his Lord Power to establish a Link of Loyalty. Simultaneously, Michael used Mind Watcher. Since the Divine Lifeform had to submit to Michael’s Lord Power to accept the Link of Loyalty, he didn’t even notice as the subtle influence of Mind Watcher read the Divine Lifeform’s thoughts and memories.
A few minutes passed, and Michael let go of the Divine Lifeform. He could have responded quickly and attacked the Altors Union for what he’d seen in the memories and thoughts of the Divine Lifeform, but instead of doing so, Michael proceeded. He rewarded the Divine Lifeform with four 4-Star Soultraits, which he’d retrieved from his War Rune storage and moved to the second Divine Lifeform.
The first one started blankly at the Soultrait Symbols and glanced to Top Head before fusing them into his Soul. The Divine Lifeform smiled while the others looked at him in envy. They were impatient and desired to fuse with their new Soultrait Symbols before everything went south.
The world would turn upside down once Michael was done with his business, but nobody acted like anything was wrong. Not even Michael, who read the memories and minds of all Divine Lifeforms with whom he’d already created Links of Loyalty, made a move. He established hundreds of Links of Loyalty silently. The Divine Lifeforms were happy to acquire more Soultrait Symbols, not showing a glimpse of worry as to what was about to happen to them.
After all, they were convinced nothing bad would happen. They were certain everything would be alright. The Heads had promised them that. Little did they know Michael was already prepared for what was about to happen.
[To think they would try something like that. Well, it does make sense if you think about it in a complex, shitty way. After acquiring your Soultraits, which is a once-in-a-lifetime event – something you will never do again to them, which they know –, they want to kill you to break the Links of Loyalty and acquire 600 Super Divine Lifeforms. Whether that helps them solve all issues with the Supreme Human Alliance or not…I don’t know. But it certainly removes a powerful Curse User with two God Curses from the list of potential future threats.]
Fenrir’s commentary was a little annoying, and it made everything a lot more difficult. Michael had to keep his calm and act like he didn’t know anything after all.
Still, he was surprised about one thing.
‘The Elders don’t even know what is going on. They agreed to my offer, hoping everything would be alright. It’s unfortunate that the two factions are working against each other…but it is even more unfortunate so that they decided to betray me. The Divine Lifeforms are not even checking the clauses engraved into the Links of Loyalty anymore. The first one didn’t bother and when I changed the clauses for the second one, I knew nothing would happen. To think I could acquire 600 Divine Lifeforms without any additional clauses just because the Heads decided to betray me and the Elders.’
Nice one. Good job, idiots!
He wouldn’t have done anything to harm the Altors Union if they’d silently agreed to his offer. However, now that the situation had changed, Michael would abuse every loophole possible. The Top Heads might be too strong to kill, but that was okay. Michael didn’t have to kill that bastard to turn the rest of his life into a living hell!