951 Please be Fine


    Michael had a bad feeling about Alice''s condition, but he had to do some tests to verify whether his worries were justified or if he was just exaggerating. He started by channeling some SoulStar Fragments into her soul to strengthen it while simultaneously scanning its state.


    The portions altered by Blood Incursion were usually easy to locate. That was the case here as well. Michael had activated True Vision with Unlimited Enhancement to see through the minuscule gap he''d unraveled by infusing SoulStar Fragments into Alice''s soul. What he saw was both great and devastating.


    [More than half of her soul has to be removed.] Hel notified in a matter-of-fact tone.


    "I can see that. Thanks for nothing, Hel," Michael grumbled, to which the God Curse responded with a [No problems. I''m always there for you.]


    Sarcasm was definitely not something the God Curses were ustomed to, but maybe that kept Michael from losing his sanity. He smiled wryly and continued inspecting Alice Zenovia''s soul.


    [The small pieces shouldn''t be an issue. If you invest enough SoulStar Fragments, you can iste and remove them without issues. Investing more SoulStar Fragments once the small spots of Blood Incursion have been removed should solve most problems. Therger spots to the left are a bigger problem. Therge spots can be filled with powerful Soultrait Symbols, leaving dozens of spots around therger spots. You must cut out much more of her soul than your friends''. She is not yet a Divine Lifeform and can thus not heal properly from expansive soul damage alone. That means…] Jormungandr was deep in thought. At least the World Serpent helped him.


    "That means I have to expand her soul for the next few months using SoulStar Fragments and prepare two powerful Soultrait Symbols, probably 6-Star Soultraits, better even two 7-Star Soultraits, to fill the gaps once I cut out parts of her Soul. Expanding her Soul and preparing suitable, powerful 7-Star Soultrait Symbols will require millions of SoulStar Fragments. The good point is… I procured lots of SoulStar Fragments from dealing with the Dragys Lordess and her people, but it will probably use up myst reserves." [You have to nurture her physique and mind as well. She needs nutrients and enough energy to ovee the loss of a portion of her soul and mind. Being physically strong will help her ovee what she lost. The gap in her memories will be the most troublesome and impact her the most.]


    Michael cursed quietly but agreed with the World Serpent''s assessment. Deep down, he knew how far he would go to rescue Alice. Zeke and Kaleb had forgotten about Michael due to the Blood Incursion. They returned to being good friends, but their rtionship wasn''t as good as it used to be. Michael was much stronger than before, and both Kaleb and Zeke couldn''t help but regard him as different.


    When they first got to know him before the Blood Incursion, they had been younger. Michael was a normal, awakened person with decent skills. He was determined and had unbreakable willpower, but that was about it. However, their reunion changed everything. Michael was a true powerhouse, controlled a massive territory, and he would ascend to a Divine Lifeform in a few years. He was already strong enough to fight and kill ordinary Divine Lifeforms and could also fight Elite Divine Lifeforms head-on. Even beings like the Dragys Lordess weren''t stronger than him anymore.


    Their "first" encounter was vastly different before and after the Blood Incursion. Michael was also busy with his territories and the enemies who had been hiding all around him. He encountered more enemies in the years that Kaleb and Zeke had forgotten, and it took a while to get his friends back. It was just that the times had changed. Kaleb and Zeke considered him their friend, but Michael didn''t feel like they treated him the same way they used to. He was on a whole different level than them at this point. Michael didn''t care about that, but Kaleb Zenovia and Zeke did. It mattered to them.


    He had hoped the same situation wouldn''t happen with Alice, but from what he could tell…it would be worse.


    "At least we can rescue her. Nurturing her soul will require a few months. In the meantime, I can sort out her memories. Remove everything that could trigger and renew the Blood Incursion while leaving everything else intact."


    [At least, you can remove her hatred aimed toward you.] Fenrirmented with a growl, but Michael could only groan.


    "You mean the same hatred Blood Incursion formed from her love? Great. I will have to rip her love and hatred out of her mind. She won''t even remember me."


    [But she will live.]


    "She will, yeah." [And you can always make new memories with her. In the first ce, you can spend more time with her now than you could before. She was taken from you not long after you got together, and she is now part of your territory. You can be with her inside and outside the Origin Expanse.] Fenrir added in the same tone Hel used. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Michael forced a smile on his lips. He couldn''t tell if Fenrir was trying to help him, but the wolf''s words helped him a lot. Alice might have forgotten about him, but he would much rather start their rtionship from scratch than lose her like they had lost Lincoln.


    08:39


    "Who the hell are you, and what did you do to Fenrir?" Michael asked teasingly, but Fenrir remained serious.


    [Don''t act like that. As long as you keep growing stronger, I don''t give a damn about what you do. We need you to grow stronger, and you must grow as well. If Alice can help you stay motivated and keep growing stronger to protect your territory and the residents, I will dly talk you into spending enough time with Alice. You need power, and Alice might be the fuel you need to let loose and go crazy.]


    Michael forced a smile on his lips. He couldn''t tell if Fenrir was trying to help him, but the wolf''s words helped him a lot. Alice might have forgotten about him, but he would much rather start their rtionship from scratch than lose her like they had lost Lincoln.


    ''Even if she doesn''t love me anymore. I will do my best to make sure she falls in love with me again!''


    The corner of his lips curled upward, and he got started, awaiting his time with Alice. He had more than enough time to spare and looked forward to falling in love with her all over again. Their future was going to be bright, and Michael would do everything possible to make ite true. He gathered a small pile of SoulStar Fragments and started working. First, he infused nutrients and energy into her body to nourish her body and mind while using Mind Watcher to peek into her memories. Mind Watcher, amplified with Soul Tears and Unlimited Enhancement, showed Michael everything he needed to know.


    Some memories were terrifying, to put it simply, but Michael watched all of them at an elerated pace. He moved through her memories while strengthening her mind and body. Once her body was filled with energy and nutrients, Michael switched over to infuse SoulStar Fragments.


    The following months passed slowly. Several ns formed in Michael''s mind, but he followed his initial n until he reached the final step.


    He had to wipe out a portion of Alice''s memories. The portion rted to her time infested by Blood Incursion and a good portion of her Soul.


    "Please be fine," He mumbled and used Extraction with Beast God Essence and more than 200 Cursed Seals.