Michael glanced unsure at Alice.
He didn't know enough about Oliver Zeus to understand if he had some dirty tricks up to his sleeves. He had no idea whether Oliver Zeus was to be trusted, or if he was as annoying as his nephew.
Alice looked at Oliver in doubt and uncertainty. It looked like she had no idea what Oliver was planning either.
She turned back to Michael and shrugged. Michael had to make this decision on his own.
'I always wanted to know how strong well-trained powerhouses are.'
Oliver Zeus was one of the prime examples of the human race's cream of the crop. He might not be on par with Killian Zeus, but he was a young prodigy of the Zeus family. He was in his late 20s and already a Tier-5 Lord.
Michael was certain that Oliver Zeus was not rusty either, or that he would neglect his training. On the contrary, Oliver Zeus seemed highly competitive. He wouldn't accept that his nephew surpassed him without a fight, and he would certainly not back off at the sight of a challenge...whether that was in the Origin Expanse or outside.
"That's fine with me. Let's spar!" Michael said to Oliver Zeus, whose expression lit up ever so slightly.
"I'll probably lose myself though," Michael added, turning to Alice Zenovia with a dead-serious expression, "Knock me out when it gets too bad."
He didn't even say 'if' because he was certain that he would lose himself to the terrifying influence of the three Cursed Seals after going all-out against Oliver Zeus. Maybe, it would take a while until he lost himself, but Michael could tell that it would happen at some point.
The seriousness in Michael's voice took Kaleb and the other youthful Awakened by surprise. They felt shudders run down their spines before they realized.
Michael used some SoulStar Fragments to replenish the Soul Power he'd used up in his previous battles. Next, he retrieved one Inferior Energy Stone which he emptied in an instant using Extraction. The Inferior Energy Stone crumbled in his hands.
His Soul Power had been replenished as well as his energy storage. He was back at his peak and ready to give his all against Oliver Zeus.
The two combatants entered the arena. The atmosphere tensed up and they went into position.
Alice and the other spectators observed Professor Zeus and Michael Fang intently, whereas Michael and Oliver Zeus prepared their minds.
Nobody noticed that someone else had entered the arena a few minutes ago to observe Michael Fang's spars.
Evalynn Fang had sensed her son's fluctuations from the arena and came to observe him. She was curious how strong Michael was and how far he had gotten with the Miniature Coffin Keychain.
Evalynn Fang was certain that Michael wouldn't be able to resurrect his brother's Living Soul. That was not something an ordinary Higher Lifeform was capable of, let alone a mere Lesser Lifeform.
However, what Evalynn Fang saw surprised her greatly. First of all, she sensed that the Miniature Coffin Keychain had been stabilized. The Curse within Danny's Living Soul wasn't growing anymore...or did the Curse stop retaliating against the Living Soul?
Evalynn Fang would have to analyze the Miniature Coffin Keychain properly to find out what happened. All she could tell from the distance was that the Miniature Coffin Keychain had been stabilized and that the danger of the Hellbound Cataclysm had been postponed. The Miniature Coffin Keychain would break at some point, but there was no immediate threat from the Hellbound Cataclysm.
That was even more shocking than Michael's fights against his friends, though she had to acknowledge that Michael was stronger than she expected. His combat prowess was a big surprise. It was just that the stabilized Miniature Coffin Keychain was even more shocking.
Weirdly enough, Evalynn felt that the upcoming battle would be even more shocking than her earlier finds.
"Ready?" Alice asked standing at the edge of the arena. Her eyes lingered only for a moment on Oliver Zeus, who nodded calmly before she stared at Michael for a few seconds.
Michael gave Alice a curt nod before he changed his stance. The cogs in his mind were rattling as a plan formed in his mind.
"Set."
Michael tensed up, ready to go all-out in an instant.
"Go!" Oliver Zeus was the first to move. A thunderous shriek reverberated through the surroundings as electricity currents burst from his body. The electricity currents didn't revolve around Oliver Zeus. Instead, they gathered in front of him and shaped into a humongous eagle with a wingspan of more than 10 meters.
It was a Thynuder Eagle, a beast that transformed into a pseudo-spirit after it was struck by lightning near a Thunder Vein. At least, that was what most people spoke about the Thynuder Eagle. It was not an ordinary monster anymore because its' body was a mass of electricity currents and thunder energy, but it was not a true Spirit either.
Michael didn't waste any time analyzing Oliver Zeus' Soultrait. He used Cosmic Stride to appear above Oliver Zeus the moment Alice started the battle.
He unleashed the Heavenly Beast Physique and applied six layers of Enhancement on Superior Constitution to amplify his physical strength and speed even further. Michael unleashed the three Cursed Seals at their full potential at once. Power surged through Michael's body instantaneously and he made use of it at once.
He condensed a huge sword from Sword Qi and inserted a tremendous amount of True Extraction's power into it. At the same time, Michael conjured the Soul Grimoire to apply Soul Tears to his Soul and Soultraits. His physical strength skyrocketed at once, but he was still not powerful enough to compete against the terrifying power of True Extraction that had been compressed right in front of him.
Michael could sense at once that his arms and hands were about to be dissected, layer by layer if he kept holding onto the Qi Extraction Sword.
This time, Michael didn't bother to hold onto the Qi Extraction Sword. Instead, Michael released the sword with a mental command and a burst of energy. The highly compressed, vibrant golden sword cleaved down like a guillotine's blade. It shot down above Oliver Zeus with terrifying velocity.
The power that accompanied the Qi Extraction Sword took Oliver Zeus by surprise, but he reacted swiftly. The Thynuder Eagle shrieked loudly and unleashed a highly compressed thunderbolt at the Qi Extraction Sword.
The Qi Extraction Sword vibrated violently when the thunderbolt crashed into it, but the Qi Extraction Sword didn't shatter right away. It absorbed a large portion of the thunderbolt's energy before shattering.
Since Michael was still connected to the Qi Extraction Sword before it shattered, he absorbed the portion of energy that had been extracted from the thunderbolt. Under normal circumstances, Michael would have had some issues annexing the thunder-attributed energy instantaneously, but that was not an issue anymore.
He channeled the thunderbolt's energy into the Spheres of Thunder and Lightning, annexed the attributed origin energy at once, and coated his body in electricity currents.
He used Cosmic Stride to appear next to Oliver Zeus and unleashed a thunderbolt to his side.
Oliver Zeus turned to Michael before the thunderbolt reached him. The corner of his lip curled upward.
He twisted his body and accelerated in an instant. He sped up from 0 to 100 instantaneously and kicked Michael fiercely. Michael's Spirit Eyes pinpointed that something was about to happen, but he was too slow to defend properly against the attack.
The only thing he managed to do was to manifest Aethyr and cover his ribcage. Oliver Zeus' kick hit him hard, and Michael heard a crunching noise from his insides. Despite the Aethyr Shield protecting him from the worst impact, Michael suffered several broken ribs.
He was hurled through the entire arena and crashed into the wall of the arena.
"Oh fuck," Oliver Zeus exclaimed, his excitement replaced with worry.
He had been so excited about the spar with Michael that he forgot to suppress his strength. Oliver Zeus was just about to dash to Michael to take a look at him when his risk sense tingled.
The Thynuder Eagle moved to his side and formed a protective coat of compressed electricity currents around Oliver Zeus.
Michael appeared in front of him all of a sudden. However, something had changed.
The stigmas all over his body expanded and it looked like there were more than before either. His shirt had been dissected by the Aura of Extraction that oozed out of him uncontrollably, revealing three tremoring golden stigmata and countless blackish-gray stigmata, which suffered under the influence of the expanding Cursed Seals.
The activated Cursed Seals expanded and vibrated in fury, influencing the firmly sealed Cursed Seals and stimulating them to break out of their seals as well.
Evalynn's eyes widened in terror. She reacted instinctively and took a step forward. Several black Cursed Seals manifested all over her arm, and she was just about to reveal herself and suppress Michael's Cursed Seals when she saw something that dumbfounded her even more.
Michael raised his right hand, formed a fist, and…punched himself in the face. There was no hesitation. He punched himself with as much strength as he could muster in that second.
But Michael punched himself not once, or twice. He punched himself repetitively until his cheek burst open and the crunching sound of something breaking resounded.
"Listen to me, you little fucker," Michael growled from the depth of his body, his entire being overflowing with fury, "This is my fucking body!"
