Chapter 973 Useless Union
Creating Primordial Vessel pushed Michael's combat prowess to another level, but so did adding more Soul Sockets to his Soul Sphere. He already owned 13 Soultrait Symbols but pushed further and added two Empty Soul Sockets to the Soul Sphere, which he filled right away.
Since he'd killed many enemies, Michael procured a ton of Soultrait Symbols. Using Extraction and Insert in the most disgusting ways, Michael created two Apex Soultrait Symbols to fill the Empty Soul Sockets.
Both Soultrait Symbols were upgraded to 8-Star with millions of SoulStar Fragments, evolving them twice in quick succession.
Imperial Barrier and Beast Halo were fused into his Soul and seamlessly integrated into his Soul Sphere.
One of the Soultraits, Imperial Barrier, was a 'perfect' barrier, strong enough to block the attacks of Divine Lifeforms even at its lowest usage. It consumed a considerable amount of energy at the lowest stage, but that was to be expected from a powerful barrier. Imperial Barrier could block attacks stronger than Michael's Tier at the strongest level. Thus, he could block full-blown K.O. attacks from a Tier-8 Divine Lifeform. That was without using Soul Tears, Greater Enhancement, or even Unlimited Enhancement. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Michael wasn't quite sure how overpowered the Soultrait was at its strongest but the God Curses were satisfied with his choice and creation. That was even more true so for the Beast Halo. Michael created the Soultrait Symbols not for himself but for the God Curses. Since his encounter with the Cosmos Queen Beast, Michael had been wondering what it would feel like to manifest the God Curses and use their presence and power in different ways than by channeling them through his body.
Beast Halo might not be the strongest Soultrait Symbol as it required a beast bound to Michael, but not only did Michael have multiple God Curses to use Beast Halo with, but also the Elemental Empress, Sun Demos, and the Red Dragon.
Michael could experiment a lot with Beast Halo, which he did for a while. He used Beast Halo to manifest a replica of his tamed monsters to fight for him on the battlefield. By applying Greater Enhancement and Soul Tears on the Soultrait Symbol, Michael could unleash more than 75% of the original's combat prowess. Unfortunately, the same wasn't the case when he used Beast Halo on the God Curses.
Fenrir pointed out that Michael would have to use his entire energy reserves with Unlimited Enhancement at full power, draining most of Michael's Soul Power and Lifeforce reserves, to summon a Halo of him at 25% of its full power...for a second.
Michael wasn't so sure about that, but even without Unlimited Enhancement, Beast God was powerful. If he used his energy reserves, Michael could summon a Halo with the prowess of a Divine Lifeform. That was more than enough for Michael, who saw countless opportunities to summon the God Curses and have them use their Divinities through the Beast Halo.
[Sylth Thorn: We have heard about your tales, Michael Fang. I hope you are interested in trading Soultrait Symbols. The Supreme Human Alliance has to fall, and we want to contribute to its destruction.]
Michael was a little surprised when Sylth messaged him first after not talking for years. He would have forgotten about his deals with the Thorn Merchandise if not for the massive gains he made. The Thorn Merchandise was part of why Michael's territories expanded so quickly. He didn't owe them anything, but they deserved his respect.
[Michael Fang: I am unsure if I can deliver what you desire, but I would love to watch the Supreme Human Alliance's fall. The Altors Union is not doing...what I expected. I am not sure if the Thorn Merchandise is up to replace the Altors Union or fill the gap they leave behind.]
[Sylth Thorn: We are not strong enough to replace the Altors Union, but with your support, we can create Demon Units powerful enough to infiltrate the Supreme Human Alliance's lands and kill higher authorities. Their training camps, Divine Academies, and other places have to be removed. The Titan War with the Supreme Human Alliance will not end in a year or two. This is a war that will last several decades if not centuries. Destroying their educational institutions while slowly building our forces and empowering them with every single death from their side, we will gain the upper hand. That's why I wish to make a 'fair' trade. I am not sure if you will like it, but we prepared a vial of 5 ml of Liquid Origin. In exchange, we would like to acquire two 7-Star Soultraits of our choice!]
When Michael reached the end of the message he forget about the rest. The last sentence was all that remained in his mind.
5ml of Liquid Origin might not sound like a lot, but a quick calculation made clear that Sylth offered 100 droplets from the Origin. Michael had used one droplet for his High Ascension, and most would never have had the pleasure of using a single droplet.
Michael fell deep in thoughts at this offer. One hundred droplets of the cosmos' finest energy would be extraordinary. However, he wasn't in need of anymore Origin droplets. Michael was already fully purified and had undergone a perfect High Ascension. High Divine Ascension was thus also perfect as his Divine Shell had already formed, and his body was void of impurities. The Origin Liquid didn't give him any benefits other than the massive amount of pure origin energy. The amount of energy he could gain from the Origin Liquid was tremendous, but it wasn't worth the effort – or payment. Two 7-Star Soultraits in the wrong hands would be disastrous.
'But what if I used the Origin Liquid to start with the Super Awakened program for real. One hundred of my strongest Awakened would grow stronger rapidly, have their bodies, minds, and souls purified, and their next Ascension would be much smoother.'
While that was true, the danger of selling two custom 7-Star Soultraits was high. Did he trust the Thorn Merchandise enough? Michael was unsure about that, but he figured it might not be necessary to trust them.
'So what if they use the 7-Star Soultraits for bad things once the Supreme Human Alliance ceases to exist? I can hunt them down and take back what rightfully belongs to me.' Michael licked his lips. Hirakus and the others told him a long time ago how eager they were about joining the Titan War and that they desired to beat the shit out of the Supreme Human Alliance.
He'd rejected their pleas until now, but maybe that wasn't necessary anymore.