Michael was too focused on the Curse and trying to find its true agenda, and he was too late to move when more bony hands emerged around his feet.
He tried to evade them, which mainly worked fine. The only problem was that one of the bony hands managed to scratch his calf. The scratch wasn't too bad since the bony hand barely managed to get through his skin, but the problem was that a trace of corrupted darkness entered Michael's body.
He used True Extraction right away to remove the corrupted darkness. Unfortunately, that didn't work as expected. He could temporarily contain the corrupted darkness and move it around as he pleased, but it was impossible to extract the corrupted darkness without inflicting harm on himself.
Michael considered slashing his calf to cut a piece of it off when he noticed that the corrupted darkness threatened to spread. Fortunately, he didn't do that. Michael compressed and contained the corrupted darkness before extracting it alongside a piece of his flesh. It was painful to rip a piece of flesh out of his body – even if it was the Soultrait doing the deed –, but Michael managed to remove the corrupted darkness before it could harm him seriously.
The corruption was truly bothersome, and it made Michael rethink whether he should give his Curse a chance or solve the situation differently. But what was he supposed to do? The Curse was confident that it could manage all issues with corruption. Even the World Serpent didn't seem overly optimistic about that right now.
Michael was unsure why the World Serpent had issues with corrupted curse power, but more things bothered him than that.
The Undead Pharaoh saw Michael grimacing and laughed heartily – if he had a heart, to begin with. He thought that Michael was struggling to face him head-on. The corrupted piece of flesh attracted his attention. He pulled it toward him with a wave of his scepter and put it into his bony jaw. A burst of energy flushed through the Undead Pharaoh. The energy spread through every bone in his body before spreading outward, increasing the pressure in the throne hall.
"Amazing! To think that a Lesser Lifeform can contain so much lifeforce and energy," The Undead Pharaoh exclaimed ecstatically, "Your blood will help me regain my whole power!"
He cackled for a while, only to stare at Michael, who wasn't moving. It looked like Michael was frozen in fear.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"You shouldn't have come here with your puny strength. Foolish child!"
Michael was far from low, but the Undead Pharaoh could be considered a crippled Divine Lifeform with the same strength as a Tier-5 Mythical Creature.
Michael frowned deeply. He stared at the Undead Pharaoh while his mind was going crazy. What was he supposed to do now? Should he trust his Curse?
[You might have to risk it. That bastard is a piece of shit, but he is your only chance. I'm not equipped to deal with the corruption of a Divine Lifeform without going all out. That is not something I can do…right now.] The World Serpent sounded downtrodden and frustrated.
Nonetheless, it delivered Michael useful pieces of information.
[That bastard would be better off as a fox Curse, so be careful. But I think you have to do it!]
Michael cursed inwardly. Even the World Serpent told him to accept his Curse's offer after calling him a sly fox-like bastard.
'Great. That's really great!'
Anger filled his body, and it intensified as the Curse made a second attempt to spread through it.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})'Fuck off! I didn't permit you to do anything…yet!'
The Curse retracted but remained ready to expand at any moment. The Undead Pharaoh noticed the anger in Michael's face and decided to end the farce.
"I'll grant you a quick death," He said generously while conjuring dozens of bone spikes around him. They levitated in the air and were coated in darkness. The darkness expanded explosively at the lower end, pushing the bone spikes toward Michael at an incredible velocity.
If Michael had access to Spirit Eyes, evading the bone spikes wouldn't have been an issue. Unfortunately, Spirit Eyes was sealed. Michael dove to the side and rolled over the ground with both Foundation Break and Heavenly Beast Physique activated. His skin burst open, but that didn't matter as much as the bone spike he'd managed to evade by a hair's breadth.
He evaded the bone spikes and jumped up, manifesting the Aethyr Scimitars with a thick hue of True Extraction. He also applied Soul Grimoire's Soul Tears to Sacred Constitution and Extraction, further amplifying the Soultraits. Michael then added another Soul Tear to his soul before producing massive amounts of Soul Energy. The Soul Energy was drained to empower True Extraction, enhancing it enough to cut through the second batch of bone spikes that reached him a moment later.
Unfortunately, it hardly mattered how powerful True Extraction was at this point. Michael was too slow to cut through all the bone spikes that threatened to pierce him. One bone spike pierced his shoulder, while a second scratched his thigh. The scratch was a little bit deeper than expected, as Michael found himself missing a chunk of flesh, but his movements weren't as restricted as he'd feared.
It was painful, but he could still move.
There was also no corrupted curse power in the attacks. The darkness was only used to accelerate the bone spikes. That was Michael's fortune because he would have been on the verge of death if the corruption had entered his shoulder. Maybe Michael would have salvaged the situation by containing and removing the corruption fast enough, but more barrages of bone spikes threatened to pierce him already.
The Undead Pharaoh didn't seem to care that Michael was unwilling to accept a quick death. It seemed to enjoy watching Michael's desperate attempts to survive.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Michael cured quietly while trying to find a way to deal with the Undead Pharaoh. He managed to inch closer to the Undead Pharaoh, who retaliated by manifesting a domain of corrupted darkness. The domain was small but more than enough to keep Michael at bay. He instinctively knew that he would be affected if he were to enter the corrupted dark domain. Michael couldn't afford that as long as he had no idea how to deal with the Undead Pharaoh.
He continued cursing but went silent when the Curse urged him to make a decision. The World Serpent joined the fray this time. Neither the Curse nor the World Serpent were willing to die. The World Serpent could reveal itself to the Origin Expanse, but it didn't want to do so. That would be its last resort before Michael died.
[Don't even think that I will help you. I will kill the Undead Pharaoh and eliminate you right after that. You will die a painful death if I'm compelled to reveal myself because of your selfish attitude!] The World Serpent hissed, but Michael ignored it.
An idea formed in his mind, but it was risky. Michael was not sure if the plan was better or if it would be better to trust the Curse for once.
'No, I can't trust it.' He shook his head.
[Please. I don't want you to die. Even if the Curse betrays you, I know you will regain control of your body. I will help you!] Danny exclaimed when another bone spike pierced Michael, this time piercing his gut.
Michael's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't expect the bone spikes to accelerate all of a sudden. They were furthermore faster than before. He might have been able to evade them with Cosmic Stride, but the Soultrait was sealed as well. Now, he could only rely on Sacred Consitution's exceptional natural regeneration. The Soultrait Shard of Archangel's Grace was also sealed, after all.
His condition was far from good, but he was unwilling to take the risk. He didn't want to give his body to his Curse, not furthermore for a just period. It didn't feel right to do that after realizing that the Curse might have fooled him intentionally. The Curse might have planned to play nice until he desperately needed it.
"No." He yelled out through his gritted teeth. Michael was unwilling to give his Curse the benefit of the doubt.
[So what are you going to do? Die miserably?] The World Serpent hissed in anger. It was the first time Michael felt the World Serpent's fury. Until now, it had been amiable to him. It always acted like it was on his side. Not now.
The Undead Pharaoh was pleased with the situation. Michael was desperate to survive, while it could absorb more and more of his blood through the bone spikes. The problem was in his favor.
Michael was bound to die.
Suddenly, Michael's expression lit up. He turned deadly serious, took a deep breath, and commanded the Cursed and World Serpent.
"You superior listen to me if you don't want to die or get exposed," Michael said, his entire presence switching from one moment to the next.
"If you want me to believe you, you superior give your best!" He told his Curse before transforming the Aethyr Scimitars into a long silvery spear.
He couldn't be sure whether he did the right thing or not, but Michael felt that it was the only way out of misery without granting the Curse control of his body.
Michael tapped into a set of memories he hadn't watched for a long time. He accessed memories he initially wanted to ignore.
It was the first set of memories he had obtained from a Memory Orb.
Cleave Fenrir's memories.
