Michael found another friend among the Numbers. He was in an alley, fighting a small unit of City Guards.

The City Guards shot at Kaleb, but he'd already used his Elemental Summon Soultrait to conjure a massive Glacia Golem using Frozen Nova as the Elemental's base power. The Glacia Golem blocked most attacks with its body and slowed others. Once Kaleb manifested a thick Frozen Nova all over the Glacia Godem's body, even lasers had a hard time inflicting damage to the summon.

The Glacia Golem healed all inflicted wounds near-instantaneously, allowing the summoned creature to protect its master at all times. On the other hand, Kaleb unleashed his Frozen Nova Soultrait to its fullest. A massive tsunami of icy energy swept through the surroundings, freezing everything in its path. The buildings and streets in an entire block were frozen at once. The City Guards screamed at the top of their lungs as the icy energy reached them. Even if they wore a strong suit and wielded powerful weapons strong enough to harm Higher Lifeforms, the icy mist of a Higher Lifeform's 7-Star Soultrait was too much to handle. The City Guards' surrounding temperature dropped rapidly, and their bodies would have followed suit, the icy energy freezing them to death when heat filled their heart and vicinity. Michael appeared before the City Guards, while the Elemental Empress used her mythical flames to work against the icy mist of Kaleb's Frozen Nova.

Since Kaleb didn't compress Frozen Nova at a simple point, the Elemental Empress melted everything around her. Her presence filled the City Guards with warmth, and they nearly collapsed in relief.

"You're in my way. How about you leave and help your people while you're still frozen?" Michael glanced back, but his expression wasn't kind in the slightest. His eyes were like a predator's. He stared at them like he was going to attack them next.

"Thank you for rescuing us. We will leave this guy to you!" One of the City Guards said in a hurry. He could not stay in the presence of these powerhouses if he could avoid it.

He saluted Michael and gestured to his people to follow him. Michael commanded the Elemental Empress to leave some mythical flames near them, ensuring they wouldn't be frozen solid by accident. At last, Michael turned to his friend, who'd already prepared a welcome gift. The Glacia Golem charged Michael while a massive ocean-blue sun conjured above Kaleb. The young Zenovia broke into a sweat, pouring a significant amount of energy into the Frozen Nova replica. 'I remember the last time you tried this. It looks much better now. You learned how to channel more energy into the nova without destabilizing it. Is that the result of ascending to a Higher Lifeform or the Blood Incursion?' Kaleb was much stronger than he used to be. He was a Higher Lifeform now and could control his Frozen Nova Soultrait much better than before. There was no comparison to his crude control from years ago. Kaleb had improved by leaps and bounds.

But so had Michael. Michael long since ceased to be the person he used to be years ago.

He didn't glance at the Glacia Golem as the Red Dragon gathered its draconic energy to melt it with one massive dragon breath. The Glacia Golem continued charging Michael even as the Red Dragon's flames engulfed the summon. It reached Michael, but the flames became stronger as the distance between them narrowed. It was the strongest right before Michael.

The Glacia Golem didn't utter a sound as it melted. Its body became liquid and evaporated, leaving behind a golem armor made from Frozen Nova's power. The armor landed on the ground with a clattering before bits and pieces melted.

Kaleb and the Glacia Golem were a dream team and probably strong enough to fight the average Tier-5 powerhouse head-on. Michael sensed some strong fluctuations within his friend. He used Soullife Arts to augment Frozen Nova's control and power output. Unfortunately, that would be of little help.

Michael conjured a small blazing lance with fire-attributed energy and the mythical flames of the Red Dragon and the Elemental Empress. Once the lance was conjured, Michael compressed it before applying a few layers of Qi and mythical flames. The layers of mythical flames and Qi fused into the blazing lance as he applied several layers of Greater Enhancement on it. Ten layers of Greater Enhancement were not cheap, but Michael drained the surrounding energy the icy energy spreading through the surroundings using True Extraction Domain to maintain his reserves. The blazing lance rotated around its axis at Michael's will and shot toward the massive ocean-blue sun. The lance pierced through the nova's first layer and cut deep into it before vanishing inside the mass of cold energy. The ocean-blue mass bulged, compressed, and expanded rapidly suddenly. Kaleb groaned in pain, but Michael ignored that. He ordered the blazing lance to explode. And that was exactly what it did.

The blazing lance exploded inside the nova, destabilizing it instantaneously. Kaleb tried controlling the nova, but the small nova was not to be controlled anymore. Kaleb didn't give up, nonetheless. He coughed up blood at a failed attempt and didn't even notice how his cold-resistant body started freezing. The nova was ripped out of Kaleb's control and exploded.

A shockwave of frozen Nova's horrifying power spread in all directions. It froze the already frozen buildings repeatedly and spread furtherdeeper. The adjacent blocks couldn't escape frozen Nova's power and were partially frozen, but the same was true for Kaleb. He couldn't escape frozen Nova's power as it swept through the surroundings. He was the closest to the explosion and would have been hit square in the chest, freezing the young Zenovia in one go if not for Michael. Michael had Seer activated with True Vision at all times in battle. He also augmented Seer and True Vision with Greater Enhancement to pinpoint the perfect timing to act. The instant the frozen Nova exploded was when he moved. He teleported behind Kaleb, who'd just suffered a mental backlash from losing control of his own power and wasn't prepared to defend against another attack. Michael unleashed Domination on his friend, attacking both his mind and soul simultaneously. Kaleb exclaimed in surprise and fainted.

Michael's energy reached out to Kaleb, shrouded him, and he used Cosmic Stride to disappear again. The entire block and parts of the surrounding blocks were frozen solid by the most potent bits of Frozen Nova's power, but Michael didn't particularly care about that.

He collected Kaleb and disappeared from the battlefield. They reappeared in his small room, where Zeke was still lying.

"Stasis should be enough for you as well, right?" Michael mumbled, looking at his old friend before shrugging. In case something unexpected happened, he inserted a trace of True Extraction Essence into the deepest parts of Kaleb's body. Once he was done, Michael infused a small amount of curse power into Kaleb to check if his body would also react like Zeke's. He discovered quickly that it was the case. Their bodies reacted the same to his curse power.

'That is good I guess. It would have been more problematic if everyone reacted differently to curse power. It would be a hassle to create several treatment methods to remove Blood Incursion's control and return its alterations to normal. It's good that we don't have to do that.' He said in his mind, putting Kaleb into a stasis-like state like he'd done with Zeke. The young Zenovia was engulfed in thick layers of healing serum from the 7-Star River of Vigor.

Thereafter, Michael had to make a decision.

"Claerus is currently at a gross disadvantage. The city will fall. The bridges of the Galactical Plaza have been altered, and no reinforcement will be received from the Altors Union. The Numbers will soon claim Claerus."

Michael had to make a decision now. Would he run with his friends and escape fighting several Divine Lifeformsin the worst caseor jump into battle, killing hundreds if not thousands of Elites of the Supreme Human Alliance while potentially getting discovered and attacked by several Divine Lifeforms?

[Don't you think the answer is obvious?] Fenrir asked.

[You know the answer.] Jormungandr hissed annoyedly.

Michael smiled, "Fighting a bit shouldn't hurt. I need more SoulStar Fragments to strengthen Kaleb and Zeke's Souls either way!"

The siblings in his head made weird sounds that resembled laughter, but the Red Dragon and Elemental Empress were also doing something to distract him simultaneously. Michael's head was filled to the brim with noise, distracting him from the task ahead.

'Can y'all please calm down a little?' The Red Dragon and Zeroa enjoyed each other's company, but that didn't mean they should chat loudly in his mind. They could do so in the Taming space without bothering anyone if they wanted to chat.

The Red Dragon squealed while Zeroa apologized repetitively. Michael waved his hand dismissively and utilized Cosmic Stride to focus on the battle. He relied on true vision to locate the Divine Lifeforms and teleported to a small area filled with Numbers far away from the closest Divine Number. He relied on Greater Enhancement on Sacred Constitution and Soul Tears applied to Extraction, Qi, Spheres of Elements, Taming, Greater Enhancement, and Sacred Constitution to increase his power level drastically. Michael followed with Heavenly Beast Physique, Foundation Break, and Curse Fusion again before unleashing the fury of the Beast God Curses and his mythical creatures upon his enemies.

The Numbers spreading through Claerus to kill the defenders and defenseless residents were surprised by the sudden power burst. They turned left to see Michael first, only to see a wild woman wielding a dagger and a longsword. The woman appeared human at first glance, but she had the eyes of a predator. Long, razor-sharp fangs glimmered dangerously in her mouth, and she shifted much wilder and less comprehensible than any human could.

The beast-like human woman was none other than Hesta, using her 8-Star Soultrait while simultaneously unleashing the fury of her Curse. She fought valiantly, her blade tearing through the enemies charging at her without hesitation. But something seemed off.

[Maybe using her as our vessel would have been easier.] Fenrir pointed out, but Michael only frowned.

'Isn't it a good thing if your vessel is stronger? Hesta cannot control her Curse and is thus more prone to die a stupid death in battle.' [Yes, but I wouldn't lose control like this Fragment. If I ever gain control of your body, you will understand what I mean.]

'You do realize that I will never allow thatright?'

[Whatever.]

Michael raised an eyebrow but focused on the battle ahead again. He released a burst of curse power, kicked the ground hard, and charged ahead. A moment later, the world around him was filled with blazing flames. Some were purple, others were azure-blue. BUt there were also black and pristine flames, released by the Elemental Empress. Zeroa and the Red Dragon were trying something. They experimented mid-battle.

Under normal circumstances, Michael would have minded that, but her experiment seemed to work. The draconic energy and the Red Dragon's natural properties to consume and convert flames worked perfectly. She could temporarily alter her natural properties, creating massive flames that fused all characteristics of the flames the Red Dragon and Elemental Empress could unleash.

The blazing flames expanded in all directions, with Michael as their center. However, instead of burning everything to cinder instantaneously, the blazing flames weakened and intimidated the Numbers instead.

Their eyes widened in terror as an abomination of what appeared like it had been human surged at them. The abomination, coated in blazing flames of various colors, acted like a predator at the top of the food chain and acted just like that.

Michael tore one Number apart and stored his body in his War Rune storage in one moment and incinerated another one to death in another second. He utilized Domination on dozens of enemies, attacking their minds and souls simultaneously, amplifying the fear that had been rooted deep in their hearts.

Michael mutated into a beast of carnage.