Supreme Lord: I can extract everything!
chapter-1014

Michael was surprised about two things. The first surprise was that the Primal disappeared just like that. Michael considered the Primal of the cosmos as beings overflowing with pride. It didn't feel like that at first glance, but Michael quickly noticed that there was more to the Primal than pride as well.

The Primal who'd attacked him had killed the Volcano God instantly while giving Michael a chance to survive. There was no doubt the Primal could have killed him with his first attack, but he didn't. He released the same attack he had used against the Volcano God and watched Michael survive and grow stronger from it.

Therefore, the Primal chose to transform their little bout into a game. In this game, the Primal tortured Michael by inflicting more serious injuries with every attack. It was almost like the Primal was trying to find out how to inflict the most lethal wound on Michael to discover what it would take to kill him.

Michael didn't do well against the Primal but was still alive. That was all that mattered.

But it was still confusing why the Primal disappeared without trying to retaliate. Was he afraid of the 100+ Gods and initiated a tactical retreat to kill Michael at a later point – because he wasn't afraid Michael could grow strong enough to kill him anytime soon – or was he just being careful and curious about what the Gods would do later?

Michael couldn't tell what it was. Maybe the Primal had been afraid, but it hadn't really looked like that. If anything, the Primal looked a little excited before he left.

[I don't care why he left. Our advantage is that the Primal left in the first place. We can make use of that and throw you into the training of the Rebels.] Fenrir commented.

'Training?' He tilted his head and turned to the Gods, who had also turned to look at him when the Primal disappeared.

"Are they going to train me?" Michael asked in surprise.

"One of my siblings must have told you about us. There is a rebellion formed by Gods who do not like the rules set up by the Primal. We do not like staying idle and doing nothing in the 'cosmic playground' – the Primal call it like that – since that restrains our movements and course of action. Even though we attained godhood, we cannot do much under the ground rules set up by the Primal. In fact, we cannot even protect our own kin against Demi Gods without breaking the ground rules of the Primal. That is nonsense and one of the many reasons we fight them." One of the Frost Giants, or what he presumed to be Frost Giant due to their glacial-blue skin and ten-meter-tall height, informed Michael.

He'd travel up to Michael and looked calmly at him.

"But that is not all," Loki, in his human-like form, approached Michael. His shoulder-long black hair was bound back, revealing his vibrant amber-colored eyes. He stared intently at Michael, almost like he was trying to look through him to see his children.

"The Primal are hunting everyone they deem too powerful. They say they want to maintain the balance of the cosmos by playing its guardian, but at the end of the day, they're too afraid to be overwhelmed by Gods with the necessary potential and strength to defeat them. It might take dozens of Gods who're stronger than the Volcano God – Gods with enough experience with their Divinity and Godly Combat – to deal with the Primal, but even with dozens of us fighting one of them, they have the chance to retaliate and kill us slowly but steadily. However, putting them under pressure takes only one or two stronger Gods."

"Like Fenrir and Beelzebub? They were too strong for the Primal to kill and were thus sealed in Soultrait Symbols. Is that correct?"

Loki winced when he recalled his son's story, but he nodded slowly.

"Most Gods with enough potential to become threats to the Primal are killed as soon as possible. However, they shouldn't be killed if they have already attained a certain power level. The Primal can still obliterate them most of the time, but the aftermath is not worth it. First, the Primal would lose a lot of Essence permanently, thus weakening them for the next big fight to come. Second, most Gods who face the Primal head-on are suicidal, ready to sacrifice everything to take them down. But there is a reason for that."

Michael listened up. He wasn't too curious about Loki and his persona, but his intel was top-notch.

"Most suicidal Gods inserted a trace of their Essence and Divinity in the bodies of other beings. Therefore, when they die, they can be resurrected in the bodies of the beings they've chosen. The chosen beings are usually great vessels and, thus, perfect picks for the rebirth program. Beelzebub is the best example for that program. He fought one of the Primal – was forced to – and died. His body was torn apart, releasing his Essence back into the cosmos. But since his Essence was still connected to one of his chosen vessels, Beelzebub's Essence didn't spread in all directions and dispersed forever. Instead, they were pulled into the vessels and integrated into the being, which triggered the requirements to revive Beelzebub. Beelzebub might not be the strongest God at this point. He was much stronger in the past. However, he is still alive, injured one of the Primal permanently by depriving him of some of his Core Essences, and he knows much better than anyone how much stronger he has to grow to defeat the Primal."

Michael nodded slowly. He heard from the God Curses that Beelzebub was likely a victim of the Primal's power like Fenrir, but Loki explained the situation much better to him. The God of Trickery was either making fun of him, which didn't seem logical in a serious situation like this, or he knew better than his children. The latter was more likely.

"Was this Primal one of the weakened ones, or is he one of the strongest Primal? In the first place…how many Primal are left in the cosmos?" Michael tilted his head in confusion. Either Michael was a lot weaker than expected, and the Primal was one of the weakest, or he'd just survived a battle against one of the average – or stronger – Primal. One way or another, Loki and some other older Gods should be able to tell him what awaited Michael in the near future.

"I…actually, I don't know. I have never seen this Primal before. However, given his physique, I can be fairly certain that he didn't fought one of the stronger Gods before. It didn't look like he lost much Essence permanently since he is still chubby. Generally, you can consider chubby Primals as more potent enemies because their bodies are bloated with Essence. Not even after compressing their Essences to their limits did the bloated belly disappear.

That being said, I don't know this one, and nobody else has claimed to have fought him just yet. That either means you fought one of the weaker Primal, who have been staying back to leave the hard work for the others, or he is one of the Sleepers, which would be bad. The former is highly unlikely because the excitement in his eyes upon fighting you was genuine. He shouldn't be a weak back-liner who lets others fight if he is on ecstasy fighting you."

Michael agreed with that conclusion to a certain degree, but he still missed some intel.

"What is a Sleeper? And you didn't answer how many Primal are left."

More Gods approached Michael. Their hearing senses were great, allowing them to hear everything that had been said until now. The Gods' interest was picked, and they got closer.

"Sleeper are the Primal, who couldn't be bothered to stay awake since the Beginning. Some Primal decided life was boring when the vast cosmos was still young. They chose to hibernate in the wide-open space and set up a few conditions to awaken in the future. Once those conditions have been met, of course." One of the Gods explained before a Beast God used a method similar to Whispering Energy to add.

[The Sleepers are also why we do not know how many Primals there are in total. We know of 20 Primal, or we have known about this man because eight of them have been killed…by fellow Primal. We are unclear why they killed each other, but we can say one thing for sure. The Rebels didn't kill a single Primal yet. In fact, nobody other than the Primal killed a Primal just yet. Since the Beginning. Never!]

That was a little problematic, especially with the Rebels and God Curses expecting Michael to grow strong enough to kill the Primal. That didn't sit well with Michael, who noticed a few problems.

"How am I supposed to kill the Primal if nobody has ever done it? Am I your guinea pig or what?" He was a little annoyed but tried to contain his emotions.

"I don't think anyone would ever consider you a guinea pig. While it is true that we did some things, we never expected to be doing. Precisely, we never expected a body to be able to contain three God Curses. That is beyond our expectations, but it worked, so we're happy about it. Furthermore, you have another Divinity within you. That being said, you are our best shot at killing a Primal, even more so with your Pure Aether. The only time we saw the Primal kill each other was with Pure Aether. That's why we have been searching and collecting more Pure Aether to kill and injure the Primal."

Loki sighed deeply.

"Unfortunately, the Pure Aeether was always only barely good enough to injure the Primal. They took us by surprise and killed the Gods wielding Pure Aether before they could accumulate enough to kill the Primal. Still, they sustained permanent wounds from our desperate attempts."

Michael was unsure what to think of this, but he nodded slowly. He had Pure Aether and could create more Aether by nourishing it through SoulStar Fragments. That was all he needed to slay the Primal – other than overwhelmingly high strength, of course.

'Is that why they sealed you away? They were afraid that killing you would pull you inside your backup vessel, which was why they chose to transform you into a Soultrait Symbol, which was going to levitate in the wide open void forever, if possible.'

[They were having a hard time killing me in the first place, but you are correct with your assumption. They didn't dare to kill me, fearing what would happen once I revive. I would have an easy time laying low, nurturing enough Pure Aether for the Rebels, and slay the Primal by wearing them down slowly and steadily.]

That was a plan, though it involved the deaths of too many Gods. Something would go wrong one way or another.

[That is why we need you. You are the reason we decided to try killing the Primal with one perfect vessel. The Lord who will kill them all!] **