Healing System

"It hadn’t changed as much as I thought," Michael remarked as he strolled through the now clean and proper subway pathway.

It was still a subway at the end of the day; however, it seemed like people actually made an effort to make the slums a livable place to be in.

Nonetheless, Fafnir didn’t seem too talkative, as if he had a lot on his mind.

Therefore, Michael brought it up.

"What’s wrong, Fafnir?" he asked.

"You’re affiliated with the eldritch beings, aren’t you?" Fafnir asked with a sigh. "That eye, that sudden surge of power—you must’ve done something."

"I guess you could say that, but I’m not exactly affiliated with them. They are more like my contractors, and in exchange, I get a safe place to train," Michael remarked.

"That doesn’t sound like enough of a reason to get on the eldritch beings’ side. Who are you contracted with, anyway? Is it some higher being? Or an imp?"

"He goes by Pardoth," Michael said, and the moment he did, Fafnir’s fist came flying straight at his head.

Michael dodged with very little effort, but he was puzzled nonetheless.

"What was that for?" Michael asked with a tilt of his head. "Are you jealous or something?"

"Pardoth is my archenemy," Fafnir said in a grim tone. "And you are helping my archenemy—I believe you understand how I might feel."

"It’s obviously nothing personal. I only made some adjustments to the eldritch beings’ army, and that’s about it," Michael said with a shrug.

However, that seemed to only infuriate Fafnir further. "Don’t tell me they got even stronger... Do you know where they send off their armies?"

"I don’t care," Michael replied. "The only thing that matters between our proposal is that respect is held as highly as the conditions."

"Michael..." Fafnir’s eyes widened. "The eldritch army takes over worlds and devours them whole. Would you be happy if this world was devoured? Would you truly be satisfied with yourself after having inadvertently killed trillions of people?"

"Once again, Fafnir, I don’t give a shit. Life is like that sometimes, and I don’t necessarily make the rules," Michael shot back as they finally arrived at the staircase leading down to the slums.

There was a neat escalator by the side, which Michael decided to take instead.

But not before adding, "Fafnir, if the eldritch beings ever get close to worlds controlled by me, then I will kill them immediately. That is how it goes, and that’s what I plan to do after my contract expires."

"You plan to betray them?" Fafnir raised a brow. "Their armies are infinite, and if you make even a single person stronger, their entire army benefits from the strength buff."

"I can kill their entire army," Michael said with a smile.

Obviously, he didn’t blindly follow Pardoth’s contract.

It stated he only needed to make bodies for the soldiers, and nothing else.

Which was why he proceeded to arm them full of his mana, since for some reason, most individuals struggled to sense it.

But now, even if they did, it would be too late.

He could convert every single being who had his mana inside them into puppets Michael could control at will.

At the same time, he wanted to pay back a few favors as well as visit the core eldritch realm.

Since technically, if he could get the entire eldritch realm on his side, the boon would simply be massive.

"Fafnir, I don’t care what your relationship with Pardoth is, as in the very end, I will kill him nonetheless."

While Michael could understand that his intentions would be misinterpreted, the only thing that mattered in the end was his end result.

But of course, Fafnir’s look of disapproval didn’t help.

"I can’t even recognize you anymore. What has happened to you, Michael?" Fafnir asked as they reached the bottom of the escalator and stepped onto a paved, clean street.

There were kids and all sorts of people running around, having fun.

Surprisingly, the slums now also had a sky above their heads, almost as if a complete mirror of what Vivum was seeing.

It’s beautiful, Michael exclaimed inwardly with what little emotions he had left.

"Fafnir, what do you think my chances are at becoming a real god?" Michael suddenly asked as he strolled through the streets.

"God? Are you talking about that succession thing? Low. Very low, especially since you are now aligned with evil."

"Bullshit," Michael scoffed. "You’re just pissed I’m killing Pardoth instead of you."

Fafnir shrugged. "I can’t deny it, but neither can I deny the truth of what I just said. Your qualifications for becoming a god are as slim as me becoming a rattlesnake."

"What kind of analogy is that?" Michael let out a chuckle. "Though I do get where you’re coming from—I need a lot of followers, don’t I?"

"A lot is an understatement," Fafnir replied, grumbling. "I once tried my shot at becoming a god, but even after gathering a few trillion beings at my disposal, I wasn’t even among the top 10,000 people who were considered."

"...Shit," Michael exclaimed with a sigh.

Here he was, happy about his mere 8 billion.

But of course, it was a bit strange.

Even if he wasn’t exactly famous, he still felt like he was growing stronger with each passing moment.

And one thing was certain—it wasn’t coming from Earth anymore.

"S-Saint!" A voice suddenly rang out from the side, startling Michael.

As he turned toward it, he saw a scrawny, toothless kid pointing his finger at Michael while gesturing for his friends to take a look.

But that one word seemed to gather the attention of everyone present, as some turned toward Michael with hatred, while others, with adoration.

Even despite his supposed sins, he was still a hero to them.

If he wasn’t here when they needed him most, they would have all died long ago.

"Saint Michael!" A distant voice made Michael halt.

It was Alfred, the same guy who looked like a homeless monk at first glance.

But now, he was a distinguished gentleman with a full head of hair.

It felt quite funny seeing him with hair—it kind of didn’t match.

Despite that, Michael nodded at him. "Sup, Alfred, long time no see."

"Long time no see, my ass," Alfred scoffed, making Michael’s eyes widen.

He had an easygoing personality the last time the two met, but now, he was pretty foul-mouthed.

"Do you know what those people accused you of?" Alfred asked. "Bombing an entire city. Now, why would you bomb an entire city?" Experience new tales on NovelBin.Côm

Michael rolled his eyes. "I wouldn’t."

"Exactly!" Alfred jumped up. "If those fuckers couldn’t understand it, then it was their own damn fault. You helped us—saved us from everything. And yet, those people who shared the same sentiment turned against you."

"It sounds like you did something, Alfred," Michael narrowed his eyes. "You didn’t happen to kill them or something stupid?"

"Nope," Alfred shook his head. "I gave them money and kicked them out of this place."

"Sounds a bit drastic..." Michael let out a sigh. "But it’s good to be back, even if only temporarily."

"It’s fine. Do you want to take a look at the church? It has changed a fair deal since the last time you’ve been here."

"I can tell." Michael glanced around.

His senses were good enough to pick up the differences, and clearly, it was much cleaner—and for some reason, larger.

But what truly surprised him was the fact that Alfred had removed Gabriel’s statue and instead replaced it with a statue of Michael himself.

Though of course, the proportions seemed a bit off, which kind of pissed him off.

Nonetheless, despite his abs not looking as defined as they should, he was pretty happy.

It seemed like this was one way of faith income, which would explain him getting stronger without even doing anything.

But of course, he relished in that fact for way too long, as all of a sudden, he felt something approach.

It wasn’t anything near him; in fact, it wasn’t even anything in this world.

However, it seemed like Fafnir felt it too, as he looked up into the sky.

"Something has entered the galaxy," Michael stated with a hint of disbelief.

If the presence was so strong that he could sense it from all the way here, that meant his opponent was many times stronger than him.

Or perhaps the opponent simply flaunted his mana around to make sure Michael approached.

Either way, it was a trap.

Yet, as those thoughts fell and a few more minutes passed, the being’s trajectory remained on the world of Verdusk.

And then, all of a sudden, Michael felt a pulse approaching, which he immediately stretched his mana out to block.

It was a sensory type—nothing that could harm him.

However, if the being spotted both Michael and Fafnir, there was a huge chance it would run away.

Therefore, Michael glanced at Fafnir with a knowing look.

"We need to take care of a certain pest."