The last few years felt like magic to Michael. So many things happened, yet it all felt like a dream.

He had been with Alice for most parts of the last few years, and he couldn't help but feel better having her by his side. But Alice wasn't the only one staying by his side. Lucia, his little princess, was also there.

It had been less than a year since Alice gave birth to their little baby girl, Lucia, but she was growing quickly. The energies of the Untamed Jungle and the minuscule portion of the Nature Heart accelerated her growth in every possible way. Her golden eyes glimmered with intelligenceat least, that was what Alice and Michael felt like.

Lucia could already walk properly, and it wouldn't take long before she could talk to them like a six-year-old. She was still a Tierless Awakened she'd manifested her War Rune a few months ago but it felt like her age and body's maturity restrained her Tier. Lucia would have advanced to Tier-1 a while ago if not for that.

Talking to his daughter felt weird at times. He never expected to become a father, but there he was with a little troublemaker in his arms. Michael was often confused than he was willing to acknowledge, yet he loved that little girl dearly. He was glad to be Lucia's father.

While Alice and Michael's history was interesting, the most interesting parts ended with Lucia's birth. Both were now busy raising a child while growing stronger for the inevitable day. They didn't like that the Supreme Human Alliance was still in existence, but it wasn't like Michael and Alice had paid much attention to it.

Michael helped the Nest occasionally to check on the Titan War between the Supreme Human Alliance and the Altors Union and gather a fortune of SoulStar Fragments.

He utilized most SoulStar Fragments to strengthen his soul. After all, his Soul wasn't prepared for what awaited them. At least, that was what the God Curses told him. They told him to hunt enough Awakened and infuse tens of millions of SoulStar Fragments into his soul.

While Michael left the Origin Expanse to hunt members of the Supreme Human Alliance alongside the Nest members, Alice and the others focused on Michael's territories and the expansion of his territory. Everyone was fully aware of the future threats and how much the Soul Power of a few million subjects could change. Thus, they focused on their Tier advancement while also supporting the expansion of the Untamed Jungle and the Sacred Desert's progress.

Over several years, the Energy Vein in the Sacred Desert finished transforming the Beginner Region into an Intermediate Region. The Sacred Desert didn't expand, but its influence on the surrounding regions was interesting. The surrounding Lords and Monster Overlords weren't pleased by the changes, however, there was little they could do.

Michael and his people were too strong at this point. One wrong step would destroy everything they'd attained over the centuries.

At the end of the day, Michael could have felt bad for the Lords and Monster Overlords, but there was no need to. The Origin Expanse was a battlefield. It was a massive realm created to form the strongest Lords. At least, that was what Michael figured. The Will turned every awakened into a Lord at the beginning of their journey. It rewarded the Lords for achieving great things and for growing stronger. It pushed countless Lords against each other, forcing them to grow stronger and push beyond their limits. Only the strongest would survive in the Origin Expanse. The rest would either submit to the stronger, combine their forces with others to keep up with the stronger enemies or die.

Michael was not sure what the Will's final goal was or if it had anything specific in mind in the first place, but there had to be a better explanation to the Will's actions than the Origin theory. Michael didn't believe the will to create Lords merely to rebalance the universe. Of course, stabilizing the universe wasn't something lackluster, but there was no need to create Lords to do so. Ordinary Awakened would have been enough to spread the origin energy through the cosmos to rebalance it. Lords weren't needed for that.

Michael had a few theories, and the Beast God Curses supported some of them, more or less at least, but none felt 'perfect.'

It was a good thing Michael didn't need a proper answer just yet. He could research the truth behind the creation of the Origin Expanse or the Will's changes and actions, but that could wait.

For now, he focused on expanding the Untamed Jungle, which had already consumed the Zentika Empire's plains. The Untamed Jungle was still expanding, slowly growing into a larger region, reclaiming the lands it had lost over the ages. Simultaneously, Michael's Energy Vortex worked tirelessly. It sucked the energy from all over the Untamed Jungle, pushing Michael closer to Tier-7. Death Call did the exact same.

As the Untamed Jungle expanded, the range of Death Call also expanded drastically. Every death nurtured Michael, not only through the energy influxes and energy shares but also through the death portion and the Nature Heart's ability to absorb the dead bodies and transform them into nutrients to grow and expand.

At some point, Michael ascended to a Divine Lifeform. He didn't suffer much since his Divine Shell had already formed and properly integrated into his body. There was no major threshold to break. Michael ascendedjust like that.

The Divine Ascension wasn't special in itself after his body was fully cleansed of all impurities and the Divine Shell formed. Even the Energy Vortex had already been formed. Still, Michael gained tremendous power from the God Curses and the Nature Heart. Ascending to a Divine Lifeform changed something. It created more space for the true extent of the God Curses and the Nature Heart's power.

Their Essences filled Michael's body and integrated into every cell of his body.

Contrary to their first encounters, Fenrir and Jormungandr supported him without hesitation. Many things happened since they first met and it was only a small surprise to feel their essence as it coursed through him en masse.

Michael had a decent understanding of the God Curses at this point and he knew how they would react to certain events and what they thought about him, his people, and the things happening around him. But that was fine. It was perfect; exactly what he needed to focus on the God Curses' Seals.

They didn't even inform him but kept channeling their Essences into Michael, thus granting him more authority over their powers. More Seals of the three God Curses formed, and new powers were unlocked, filling Michael with a weird sensation.

Something about the God Curses commitment felt weird. They helped him advance much faster over the last few years, even though they'd been trying to work against him before.

Their full reasoning was unknown, but Michael knew one thing.

The fact that their path was still the same was still why they helped him.

They needed his help and were thus heavily investing in him.