1084 The End of the Beginning III
The Pure Aether armor fused into Michael's body while shrouding him tightly. Michael infused pristine Essence into the armor and did the same as two lengthy sabers made from Pure Aether formed in his hands. But just like in his last fight with a Primal, Michael wasn't done here. First, he infused the Power of Extraction, the Law of Poison, and Death onto the Pure Aether Sabers before adding the Power Authority on the Pure Aether armor and sabers.
Once that was done, Michael could activate Unlimited Enhancement to push his body and the Pure Aether to their limits and beyond. Michael severed Gluvos' arm, who was forced to catch the arm before cutting a portion of his shoulder and arm to start the regeneration and reattachment process. The Pure Aether weapons were now strong enough to pierce deep into the Primal, leaving permanent marks that had to be cut out alongside the Essence around it to avoid complications in the future.
Michael took advantage of that when he severed Gluvos' arm, and he continued doing so by inflicting a myriad of smaller injuries. The smallest scratches didn't cause a commotion, but every wound inflicted with Pure Aether pained the Primal. It showed them that they weren't invincible and that their lives could end with a few precise hits.
One mistake and everything would be over.
That fact was far worse than some measly scratches. It was enough for deep-rooted fear to blossom in the Primal's hearts of essences.
Michael had to endure a wild series of attacks as well. He wasn't the only one dealing damage. However, his damage was more consistent and lasted much longer. The Primal used similar attacks as Michael, but they relied on destructive Essence attacks to inflict as much damage as possible, hoping to decimate the Essence at his disposal. Unfortunately, Michael healed way too fast. Most of the time, he didn't even use the healing serum he'd created with Essence. There were still some leftovers of the Essence he'd created as a Demi God. They were potent enough to tend to most of his wounds.
Michael continued using Unlimited Enhancement even though it drained his lifeforce rapidly. He replaced some lifeforce with pristine Essence, which drained his Essence reserves, but it wasn't like he lacked Essence. The Primal bled more Essence than Michael, and he would make sure that wouldn't change. In the worst case, Michael would bleed as much Essence as the Primal. Even then, the Primal were bound to die long before Michael would 'bleed to death'. Michael unleashed a burst of electricity-attributed Essence into the surroundings, swallowing two Primal in the event. The electricity-attributed Essence was pulled toward them and entered their essence bodies, damaging them. But there was more to it.
Michael noticed something through Seer. Something he didn't anticipate when he first merged the expanse's essence with the weave's essence.
'They can fuse our Essence as well?' A deep frown replaced his calm smile.
'My Essence fuses more smoothly into their bodies. Why though? Because they're born from Essence, and their entire existence was created by the Essence of the weave? Or is there more to it? Wait a moment…'
Michael's eyes widened as information surfaced. Intel he had never considered important.
'The Primal were born with the universe. They're not exactly the children of the weave but the Origin. That also included the Will. But…if that's the case, the Primal were born with the Essence of both the weave and the expanse…right? So, how was it possible for the Will to separate the weave and the expanse in the first place? And why is the Essence of the Primal different now?'
Various thoughts flashed through Michael's mind as he continued the fight. He slashed the Primal a few times and lost a few limbs in the process. Or he would have lost some limbs if not for the Pure Aether Armor and the enhancements from Unlimited Enhancement and pristine Essence. The explosions of Essence Blades were as annoying as ever. However, the Pure Aether armor protected him well.
Michael regenerated rapidly, allowing him to keep fighting at full power, but his mind was elsewhere.
'The expanse and weave were separated for eons now, and the Primal never stopped using their Essence. Every motion uses Essence, no matter how little it uses. Doesn't that mean the Primal's natural essence – the mixture of the weave's essence and the expanse's essence – has been replaced and substituted by the weave's essence.' Michael didn't know whether to cry or to laugh.
The Primal had been part of the Creation, but they weren't full members of the creation anymore. In fact, neither the weave nor the expanse could be considered creations of the Origin anymore. They were only part of the creation, respectfully.
'How can I take advantage of that? Would it be helpful if I filled the Primal with the Expanse's Essence? Will that change their minds? It shouldn't, right?'
Even though Michael was deep in thought, he never slowed down. On the contrary, thinking about ways to deal with the Primal helped him accelerate. He severed a few more limbs of the Primal and beheaded one of them. However, the attacks weren't strong enough to kill them. All the attacks did were three things.
First, the Primal's Essence was drained rapidly, which was a good thing.
Second, Death, Extraction, and Poison entered the permanent wounds inflicted through Pure Aether, forcing the Primal to use up even more Essence. That was also a good thing.
Third, the Primal's bodies attracted the pristine Essence, which filled Michael's body naturally. He was still in full charge of the Essence inside his body and the Pure Aether, but the weave intercepted in his control of the expanse's Essence once it left its body.
No. Once it entered the weave!
That was not great.
The weave was doing something that harmed Michael and slowed down the battle. He was probably fast and strong enough and could have killed one of the Primal already, but the weave intercepted.
Yet, it didn't feel like the weave was trying to work against him, even if it urged him to stop killing the Primal.
'What the hell do you want from me?!' Michael roared in his mind, not expecting an answer.
However, that was exactly what Michael obtained.