"I'm...yours??" Michael's eyes widened slightly
Alice was not like that. She was the Frozen Duchess, not a lovestruck girl.
[Oh wow. Your girlfriend is quite interesting. Is she in a hurry to become my sister-in-law, or is she marking her territory?]
'Danny...'
[Yes?]
'Please, shut up,' Michael cursed in his mind, 'Furthermore, she isn't my girlfriend...or is she?'
Given that Alice had blurted out a proposal, Michael was unsure if they were together. Was that even a proposal? Michael couldn't tell. It felt like she wanted to own him..or that he belonged to her.
Heat rose to Alice's cheeks. What the hell had she just said? What demon had possessed her just now?
She jumped up from her chair and stumbled to the ground, only to panic. Alice locked eyes with Michael for a quarter of a second, but that was already too much for her. She panicked, cursing herself for what she'd just said, and escaped.
"What is wrong with me?" She exclaimed in a whisper as she disappeared.
Michael was left alone in the restaurant, but he was not unhappy. Quite the contrary. Michael activated Spirit Eyes to follow Alice as she ran away before disappearing into the Origin Expanse.
The corner of his lip curled upward.
"Is it just me, or is Alice cuter than ever?" He mumbled to himself.
[How am I supposed to know that?]
"Nobody was talking to you, Danny. I told you to stay quiet," Michael grumbled, but his smile never disappeared.
[Whatever. Fact is she loves you. Be happy...and help me get resurrected. I don't want to witness when you and Alice start with the babymaking project!]
"Alive, you were never shameless. Or did I never know your true self?" Michael grumbled.
[Who knows?] Danny teased, causing Michael to groan once again.
He shook his head and opened the crystal watch to message Alice. Michael told her he liked the date and would love to meet her again. He added a few days when he should be free and hoped Alice would return from the Origin Expanse to message him soon. He wanted to go on another date with Alice, after all. It was fun and different from his usual troubles.
Michael noticed Kraft Viton's messages once he threw a few messages into Alice's chat. Michael recalled what Kraft Viton said about the Sacred Desert and subconsciously opened the chat with his teacher. Michael opened the reports attached to the chat and began reading with Spirit Eyes activated. Danny could read the reports alongside him that way.
[The Undead Pharaoh was probably a Divine Lifeform while he was alive. No Higher Lifeform would be given a grave like the Primedival Pyramid. However, his presence was unlike a Divine Lifeform's when I encountered him. He was probably only a 4th Tier Higher Lifeform at that time. Of course, I could be mistaken. I was on the verge of death at that time. I could hardly sense anything.]
Danny tried to joke at the end, but Michael's joyful expression distorted into anger. His blood was boiling at the thought of his brother's death and the people who betrayed him. Even if Danny returned to him, Michael would kill those who had betrayed his brother. They would feel his wrath sooner or later.
"You told me a little about the Undead fighting for the Undead Pharaoh. Maybe we can write down some information about them to help Kraft Viton. I don't really want to dash into the Sacred Desert right now, but I don't want Kraft Viton's effort to go to waste."
[That's fine with me. That old man helped you a lot. I owe him one.]
Michael smiled lightly. It was true that Kraft Viton helped him a lot. At first glance, it might seem like Michael achieved various extraordinary achievements without any help, but that was only what it looked like from the outside. In fact, Michael received lots of help from Kraft Viton, whether it was due to Whispering Energy, little whispers of advice that changed Michael's tactics entirely, or every single deal he had with the Bartholomew Corporation.
He owed Kraft Viton a big one.
"I should give him a bunch of customized Soul Techniques and Soultraits. If he doesn't want them for himself, he can give them to others," he mumbled after paying for the dinner. Michael left the restaurant and teleported back to his room, where he sat down on the bed.
Initially, he planned to return to the Origin Expanse, but there were a few things Michael had to do now that he thought about his future steps.
"Prepping for the Soultrait Auction is easy. Gifting Kraft Viton lots of things won't take long, either. That leaves...buying many things and accessing the highest level of the Bartholomew Network to research Divine Summons."
Michael spoke to himself, yet not. Danny was listening to everything he said or thought. It was just that his brother made it seem like Michael was a lunatic. He loved making fun of Michael more than anything.
[You informed me that there are some locked documents about Hesta in the Bartholomew Network. Do you want to access them?] Danny asked purely out of curiosity.
Michael frowned deeply and shook his head.
"My gut tells me that we will see her soon enough. I'm not sure if I like that or not."
[What could go wrong? Well…except her hunting you down or kidnapping you? Who knows…maybe you are too dangerous for the Nest? As a Lesser Lifeform, you have several Cursed Seals and a weird World Serpent inside you. Do you even realize how dangerous you will be once you ascend to a Higher Lifeforms?]
"Daniel Fang. You are THE BEST at motivating people. Seriously."
[Love you too]
"Oh, come on.]
Something within Michael rumbled. The Serpent Seals were triggered.
[I can hear everything you talk about. Your vessel is not soundproof.] The World Serpent hissed, [And I'm not a weir-
ass World Serpent. I'm a majestic creature, and you better respect me. Otherwise, I will no longer reinforce your connection with the Soul Sphere. You will be confined in the Soul Grimoire, unable to talk to your brother until he finds a suitable vessel to resurrect you!]
The brothers were silent for a while. Danny was the first to regain his senses.
[Sorry…]
"You sound pitiful." Michael snickered.
[Because I AM pitiful!] Danny cried out.
"Whatever, crybaby,"
The World Serpent hissed quietly to silence the brothers.
[Now that I've already used my power to scold the half-dead soul, I might as well talk to you.] The World Serpent uttered to Michael. [Researching Divine Summons won't help you a lot. I observed that you're different from your race. Your mother is similar to you, but the rest…they're not quite like you. The difference is minor, yet not. Maybe you're not a pureblood. That's nothing uncommon among Curse Users. Most of you are not pureblooded.]
Michael couldn't hide his surprise when he heard that.
"What are you talking about?"
Did he just find out that he and his family weren't humans? No, that didn't seem correct. The World Serpent uttered that they might not be pureblooded, but it wasn't sure. It didn't sound confident.
'Maybe the Curses affect our DNA? That seems logical. Cursed Children are stronger than most of their kin, which is also why Hesta and I were so powerful. Or could it be something else?
"What about Danny? Is he pureblooded?" Michael asked, curious if his theory was correct. If Danny was closer to a pureblood than he was, that could only mean that the Curse changed his DNA
But deep down, Michael sensed he was mistaken about something. He felt his ancestry was over 500 years - older than Cleave Fenrir.
Cleave Fenrir was just the beginning of the grand change.
Unfortunately, the World Serpent ignored his question.
[I doubt that you will be able to find useful pieces of information about Divine Summons and Divine Scrolls. If anything, you will discover rumors from engravings in ancient runes and other ancient places.]
The World Serpent was correct. No matter how much Michael searched, he found nothing useful about Divine Scrolls. The Tritan Alliance didn't know anything about Divine Scrolls and Divine Summors. There were merely some rumors.
The same could be uttered about the World Serpent. There were some pieces of information about it, but the thrumming in Michael's back and the ear-piercing hiss that rang through his mind were enough to comprehend that the World Serpent didn't acknowledge the information written down in the reports.
[Whoever wrote this…FIND HIM! I will eat him alive!!]
