Supreme Lord: I can extract everything!

Selena didn't charge at Michael when he finished the Curse Fusion. It was a delicate task that required Michael's entire attention.

Of course, staying idle for several minutes in real combat wouldn't be possible, but it was fine for the first attempt. Michael had to get used to the Curse Transformation first. Only after getting used to it would he be able to complete the Curse Fusion faster and without any issues.

The difference between the Curse Transformation Arts and Curse Fusion was that the former was a technique while the latter was the corresponding effect. Usually, Curse Users wouldn't call their transformation Curse Fusion, but it was more commonly used for Curse Users with multiple Curses. Under normal circumstances, their Curses would clash to gain more control than the other.

Fortunately, Michael didn't have a major issue taking care of that problem. The Wolf Curse and the World Serpent clashed, but their manifested body parts didn't overlap often. The World Serpent attempted to alter Michael's eyes, but the Wolf Curse took control of the transportation there. The connection to the Major Seal allowed the Wolf Curse to modify Michael's eyes, whereas the World Serpent's Major Seal focused on the tail.

One way or another, both Major Seals did an excellent job. Michael finished transforming, his presence changing drastically. Michael was wild and uncontrollable instead of his usual calm and imposing presence. He was a predator on the hunt, ready to eliminate all foes obstructing his path.

His eyes fell upon Selena, who smiled at Michael.

"You succeeded. That's good," She pointed out the obvious, "Now we have to see how long you can maintain the Curse Fusion under stress."

She cracked her knuckles, her smile widening.

"If your Curse Fusion is terminated in combat, I will give you ten seconds to rebuild it. Don't look at me like that. Do you think it's too long? We can shorten the gap to five seconds. If you cannot rebuild the Curse Fusion within five seconds, I will increase my strength and hit you harder than before. I know that your new Soultrait is not yet at its limit."

Michael wondered if he looked at the devil's smile as he eyed Selena.

"I wonder if your Soultrait can regrow limbs."

He swallowed hard and changed into a defensive combat stance. Selene kicked the ground and disappeared. A quarter of a second later, her fist crashed into his stomach, shattering several serpent scales. The remaining force was distributed across the scale armor, creating an artwork of web-like cracks. Fortunately, Michael could regrow and fix the serpent scales quickly. It required bits of nutrients, energy, and curse power, but the nutrients and energy demand could be replaced with traces of River of Vigor's healing serum.

As for the curse power, Michael had more than enough to waste. The amount of curse power in the surroundings was nearly infinite. At least, it felt like that. It was undoubtedly more than Michael could use at a time or over the years, maybe even decades.

The curse power didn't matter too much. What mattered was that Michael had enough to fix the broken serpent scales. He didn't have to fight too defensively, even though Selena's punches hurt like hell. They didn't kill him. His eyes narrowed to tiny slits. Spirit Eyes' passive effect merged with the Wolf Curse's canine eyes, amplifying his prediction skills.

He detected details in Selena's movements that he couldn't pinpoint before, which was going to help him.

Michael started counterattacking.

His tail swept under Selena's feet, threatening to pull her down. She remembered the attack before and responded accordingly, lifting one foot, ready to stomp down, and squashed Michael's tail. Michael predicted that. He twisted the tail and had it burst upward with a sudden influx of curse power. The tail accelerated suddenly, coiled around Selena's lifted foot, and used enough force to lift the woman from the ground.

Michael's claws swiped for Selena's upper body. She lifted her arms, quickly blocking the attacks before grasping his arm. His arm broke under Selena's tightened grip, but Michael ignored that. He predicted her following action, pulled Selena closer with the tail, and headbutted her with full momentum.

Selena's head was much harder than anything Michael had ever headbutted – which weren't many things. Either way, Selena smiled and kicked Michael with the leg that was forcefully restrained, or so Michael thought until a moment ago. He let go of Selena with the tail, somersaulted, and landed on the ground. His left hand grasped his wrist and pulled, fixing his already healing arm. It was a matter of seconds before the broken bone would be back at its peak.

Michael licked his lower lip and flashed Selena his sharp teeth.

He pushed forward, not waiting for Selena to charge first. His speed increased further, which was followed by a surge of power. The corner of his lips curled upward while Selena stared intently at him. The reflection of Michael's vibrant golden gaze could be seen within them. However, there was something odd about the reflection. A fraction of Michael's eyes wasn't golden. A speck of crimson merged into them.

He ignored the crimson speck and focused on Selena. His momentum skyrocketed, and he managed to execute a series of attacks quickly, inflicting an insignificant scratch on the back of Selena's right hand. She didn't even bleed, but Michael smiled from one ear to another, and he unleashed more curse power.

The curse power coursed through his body, yet Michael felt that something was wrong. His speed increased alongside his physical strength as the curse power flowed through him. He also started using Foundation Break, which was his only option to enhance his prowess further without using his Soultraits actively, but the change he awaited was still too far away.

He expected something more imposing to happen. Something that allowed him to extract Selena's blood.

He wanted more.

Michael's greed was taking over. At last, he gave in to the sensation and accessed the Essence traces of the World Serpent and the Wolf Curse.

He hadn't used them actively even though the Essence traces were part of him, but that changed now.

The instance he reached out to the Essence traces, his presence amplified once again. The ground underneath him cracked, his tail expanded, and the scales covering his body grew thicker and bigger, just like his hair and claws. His claws curved slightly and stretched further and thinner. Even though it didn't look too different, Michael could instinctively tell that his claws were several times sharper than before and that his scales and tail were far more resilient.

As for his eyes, Michael could see better. He could see Selena move when he only saw a flash a minute ago.

The wild and overflowing power of the Curses Essence traces affected Michael slowly. He could control his emotions superior than ever, but that didn't mean he had perfect control.

The Wolf Curse and the World Serpent wanted to beat the Nest Leader. Selena mashed Michael, breaking his bones more than a hundred times in the last few weeks. It was time to extract blood.

Michael shot forward, his crimson gaze preying upon Selena.