Michael had to give Zeke and Kaleb another Soultrait Symbol to fill the gap caused by the chunks of the souls he and Fenrir had cut out of them. The process was not as delicate as Michael hoped, but it worked better than anything else. Filling the gaps with a 5-Star Soultrait Symbol and infusing more SoulStar Fragments into them seamlessly to tend to the woundsz. If not for that, both Zeke and Kaleb couldn't be saved. Their situation was already bad as it was. The Blood Incursion worked stronger on them because their bloodline wasn't tarnished. They were pure humans, which amplified the effects of blood incursion. Thus, chunks had to be cut out of their souls, and the Needle of Lost Memories had to be utilized more often than Michael had wished. That was not only annoying but caused some trouble as well.

The first few attempts to help his friends failed miserably. Both nearly died, and Zeke was in a quasi-dead state for three months. Michael had to take care of the pair of friends with great intensity to heal them. But simultaneously, Michael practiced Rune Vortex with a tremendous amount of energy. He'd purchased enough highly graded Energy Stones to push himself closer to Tier-5. Simultaneously. Michael had to stay informed about the movements of the Supreme Human Alliance and the Numbers. In the months he spent caring for Zeke and Kaleb, many things happened. First, the Cleaver of the Nest was still killing many of the Numbers at the border while Claerus and the rest of the planet had been conquered. The Altors Union abandoned the planet, just like they'd predicted.

Most residents of the Altors Union were shocked to lose Claerus, but they remembered that the Great War with the Supreme Human Alliance had already caused far more pain. It had just been decades since the Supreme Human Alliance succeeded with a large-scale attack like this.

Putting Clearus and the Altors Union aside, Micheal was also busy in the Nest. He was barely getting any sleep, but that was fine with his current situation. He was already at the Peak of Tier-4 and possessed enough Soultraits to decrease his need for sleep even further. Fera was still annoying, but Michael didn't mind her. She was too insignificant for him to pay special attention to her. However, he had to give her one thing: Fera was very loud and expressive for someone who took hundreds of years to advance to the 5th Tier. Michael was unsure where she got the guts to be this nasty, but that was who she was. A nasty little girl.

Putting Fera aside, Michael trained with Hesta after a short internal debate. He chose to improve his weapon mastery with Hesta's help and learn more about the Nest and the universe's powerhouses. The intel he acquired from his sister was tremendous. It outweighed the downsides of meeting his parents now and then. His mother tried talking to him multiple times, but Michael told her not to bother him anymore. If possible, he would cut ties with them. Unfortunately, everyone lived in the Nest. Ignoring each other was possible, but only if both parties actively ignored one another. That worked perfectly with his father, but his mother didn't seem to get the note. She didn't want to accept the bitter truth.

Michael ignored her, but the same couldn't be said about Daniel.

His brother chose to emerge from the Origin Expanse and expose himself to the Curses of the Nest to talk to Hesta and their parents. Daniel Fang chatted with Hesta more often, and they also had an occasional spar. It was only a short session because Daniel could still not fight Hesta head-on, but Danny improved quickly. He also talked a lot to their parents but stayed distant from them. Michael didn't know how Daniel was doing that. He didn't care too much, either. The last thing Michael wished to do was stop his brother from doing what he truly wanted. Daniel Fang was old enough to make his own decisions and to suffer once he realized that their parents hadn't improved.that they had gotten worse than before.

Instead of minding their parents and how they tried to make up for their lack of interest, love, and intimacy with Daniel only to pursue various goals for their benefit Michael focused on Zeke and Kaleb.

Slowly but steadily, Michael noticed some improvement in their condition. Over several months, his friends were saved. It required more time and resources than expected, especially the use of hundreds of thousands of SoulStar Fragments, as they had to cut out more chunks of their Souls than expected, BUT it worked.

Michael could remove the advanced healing serum and wake his friends from a coma.

They woke up and were mostly back to their usual selvesmostly.

Their condition was still not perfect, and it would take several months to get back to their peak, but they were alive and awake, and no Blood Incursion pushed their minds and Souls to revert to the monsters they'd become. Still, some of their memories were missing. Big chunks of their memories were distorted or missing entirely. That was one of the many downsides Michael discovered when he was forced to use Needle of the Lost Memories on others. He couldn't locate every memory perfectly and had to remove them more generously to ensure that Zeke and Kaleb wouldn't remember anything of their time in the SHA's control or thereafter.

There were some other issues Michael encountered but he dealt with them fairly easily. That left their memory losses as the biggest issue of the method he and the Beast Gods had used to cure Zeke and Kaleb.

One of the advantages was that neither forgot everything about their families, friends, or Michael. They had only some massive gaps in their memories but didn't forget anyone importantor they just didn't remember Michael hoped that they would not just forget someone important whom he didn't know about. If that was the case, Michael would hate himself a little. But then again, a little sacrifice might be needed to push Zeke and Kaleb away from the Supreme Human Alliance's influence.

One way or another, Michael was satisfied with himself. He was happy to have saved Zeke and Kaleb. Their memory loss could be filled with their records, files, and images he had been given by their families and friends. Kaleb and Zeke would slowly but surely learn everything they'd forgotten.

His friends were with Michael, and the thunderous storm of their emotions was clear. They hated the Supreme Human Alliance for everything they'd done to them and were unwilling to leave it at that. Zeke and Kaleb lusted for revenge. Staying by Michael helped them grow stronger and procure more Soultrait Symbols and Upgrades. Thus, they didn't even mind Michael establishing the Links of Loyalty with them. If anything, it made many things easier. Michael could help them grow even stronger.

Meanwhile, he could also help himself grow much stronger.

Michael Fang advanced to Tier-5 shortly after his friends regained their consciousness.

The Temple of the Forgotten was already waiting for him.

[End of Volume 15]