Supreme Lord: I can extract everything!

Chapter 1069  War Rune

Michael's time in the Origin Expanse was more interesting than expected. Since he spent most of his time outside with gods, who had returned to their people, Michael quickly found out that the Rebels and many civilizations decided to surrender to Michael if the Untamed Jungle were to reach their territories.

The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs were displeased when they first discovered several Lords who surrendered to them without even trying to put up a fight. The moment these Lords found out their enemy was Michael Fang, they pulled up the white flag and surrendered. They even gave up their Lord Powers, became Awakened, and established Links of Loyalty with Michael without any doubts.

Michael was confused about their attitude at first but realized what they were doing fairly quickly. The Rebels and every god Michael had talked to understood that the favors had been in Michael's favor. Primal Xerx was the weakest Primal, and countless Rebels had to sacrifice their lives to help Michael in killing Xerx. Even then, Michael had to use his greatest trump card to weaken Xerx and pull up when the Primal thought he'd won.

The remaining six Primal wouldn't be this careless. First, they wouldn't allow anyone to split them apart before Michael was dead, and second, the Primal would tear him apart until they were 100% certain Michael was dead before lowering their guard. The trauma induced by their newest experience was enough to pull them together. The only issue of the Primal was that they all wanted to lead the battle against Michael.

However, the fights of the Primal wouldn't last forever. Their battles wouldn't weaken them tremendously, either. If anything, they would come out stronger than before once all problems had been solved. Why would they be stronger? The answer was simple.

At this point, the Primal were loners. They didn't fight together and would stand in each other's way if they fought against Michael. In fact, Michael was certain he could use their lack of teamwork against them to have the Primal attack one another. Unfortunately, that would be more difficult once the Primal finished their battle. The Primal battle, as some called the bout happening in the emptiness of the Beginning, might have lasted a few years already, and it will probably last a few more years, but that was not necessarily good. The longer they fought, the more the Primal would learn about each other's combat prowess, their tactics, their weaknesses, and their strongest points.

Michael learned a lot from Primal Xerx's memories as well but it was clear that the Primal never fought each other seriously. Primal Xerx was aware of a few basic things about the other Primal but that was about it.

Thus, Michael was at a disadvantage even though he was given years to grow stronger. The Untamed Jungle expanded, and Michael's people summoned millions of subjects on a daily basis, but it was unclear if that was enough. That was why the gods, Rebels, and others instructed their Awakened to either surrender and become part of the Untamed Jungle by binding themselves to the Primordial Tree Spirit, which would retain their Lord Powers while still granting Michael some of their soul power and faith or to give up their Lord Powers altogether and have everyone establish Links of Loyalty with Michael directly.

Everyone relied on Michael's success to change the universe permanently. Therefore, it was important to strengthen him as much as possible, granting him power through the Links of Loyalty's Soul Power, but also Godly Faith. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Most believed in Michael's power, but those subjected to him in the Origin Expanse provided much more faith than others. After all, he was the strongest entity in the Origin Expanse. Nobody could rival him there since not even the Primal discovered a way to enter the Origin Expanse.

Michael's prowess increased quickly, but he was still not satisfied. He was certain his strength succeeded Primal Xerx's power, which was great given he was actually weaker than Primal Xerx when he fought the Primal, but that wasn't enough. Maybe he could beat one of the Primal, but all of them when they fought together? Michael was not that powerful. Maybe he would never be.

'No, I can do it. I can defeat them. They're already afraid of me. They fear me. I can make use of that. As long as I drain their Essence, I can do it. But that requires the Weave Seal or something to sever the weave's connection to them. Or are there places without a connection to the weave? A place I can forcefully pull them? Is there something like that?'

Michael needed to research more. There had to be a way to defeat the Primal when they fought him together. But while defeating the Primal was one of his priorities, the highest priority was – and would always be – to survive. As long as he was strong enough to survive the combined onslaught of six Primal for an unknown timeframe, Michael would be strong enough to defeat them…at some point, at least.

But that meant he needed more power for now.

'My territory is already expanding rapidly. Everyone is helping me with the Untamed Jungle's expansion and to establish more settlements. The number of Summons and subjects entering my service exceeds ten million every day, and it is above 10 billion in total now. I'm stronger than ever, but something is still missing to upgrade the Untamed Jungle back to a Primal Region. What is it?'

[What about your War Rune? How about you check it? That way, you at least get to know whether the War Rune can help you or not.]

His War Rune had been bothering him for quite a while now. It stirred inside his Energy Vortex and tugged at him. However, Michael had been certain the War Rune's tugging and stirring was because he had already accumulated more than enough energy to advance to the 10th Tier. However, the 10th Tier was usually the threshold used by the Will to throw the Awakened out of the Origin Expanse. Michael couldn't afford to be thrown out of the Origin Expanse. Not before he wasn't certain the last condition to upgrade the Untamed Jungle to a Primal Region wasn't hidden in the Origin Expanse.

What if he was thrown out only to find out way too late that the last hidden piece was actually well-hidden in the Origin Expanse for nobody but him to reach? That would crush his plans, ending the battle with the Primal before it even began!

Still, the tugging of the War Rune had been bothering him for a while now. Since the Primal Essence had been inserted into the War Rune, the tugging and stirring inside the deepest parts of the Energy Vortex had started, but it got worse when Michael began to integrate more and more Primal Essence into the War Rune. Maybe that was a sign, a calling from someone. That was what his gut feeling told him.

However, at the same time, his gut feeling told him to be careful. After all, advancing to the 10th Tier might push him toward godhood, but it would also expel him from the Origin Expanse!

"You know?" Michael murmured after he had thought about it for more than 500 days.

"This is driving me crazy."

He murmured, accessing the War Rune once again.

It reacted, but it didn't push him toward the 10th Tier. No. The War Rune didn't force him toward godhood. Something else happened.

[End of Volume 19]