Immediately, Michael turned to carefully sense the energy in the air.
After advancing to Rank One, it was easy for him to sense the mana around him.
Usually, it was peaceful, making one feel whole yet overwhelmed due to how it covered everything.
However, as Michael focused, he noticed a distinct change almost immediately.
The mana in the air felt chaotic. It also felt somewhat familiar to him.
After thinking about it for a while, he figured out why it felt familiar.
For a moment, it felt like he was standing at the entrance of a crack. The lesser version.
"Did the cracks do more than just unleash monsters across the city?" Michael wondered.
He felt it shouldn't be surprising.
If cracks that filled with chaotic energy that covered the whole city, pouring out monsters, were the only destruction they caused, it would feel somewhat of a.....win?
However, knowing that the mana in the air now felt very close to a crack, it made him think that if this was from a crack, weird things might start emerging soon if left untreated.
"It's not up to me to think about. If anything happens, let the Association deal with it."
Despite his thoughts, Michael couldn't shake the sense of urgency.
Without wasting time, he left the room through the hole in the wall he'd created earlier.
Outside, some of his neighbors were peeking from their doors.
Michael ignored them and made his way to the stairs.
The moment his foot stepped on the first stair, his figure vanished in a small gust of wind.
Seeing that Michael was no longer in sight, the neighbors hesitated to approach and check inside the apartment.
They had, just like Aunt Mia, heard the scream from the building.
The sound was even more apparent to them since they lived on the same floor, fueling their curiosity.
They were also scared, as the voice of the man who had been speaking in a darker tone had suddenly gone silent, leading to several thoughts.
In the end, a few men nodded at each other and decided to check the apartment together.
They needed to know what was happening in their building during these strange times, or they wouldn't feel safe.
A few brave women joined them as well.
A few seconds later, a chorus of curses and the scream of a goat being slaughtered and beaten at the same time echoed through the building.
Michael didn't immediately return to his apartment.
He went out of the building itself.
After a few seconds of looking at the sky, he let out a sigh of relief.
"King rank Cultivators are really something."
He couldn't stop himself from expressing his relief.
The three Level 5 cracks in the air, though still present, emitted far less chaotic energy than before.
Before, they would have likely collapsed within an hour, but now, before Michael's eyes, the cracks appeared less red.
They still existed, but it seemed like they were on the verge of breaking rather than already in the process.
"So cracks can indeed be stopped... though it seems more like a reversal."
Michael took in the new knowledge.
In any case, it didn't look like the cracks were going to break anytime soon, nor did it seem like they'd be disappearing soon.
At least, for now, there was no need to worry about his family's safety.
That's what Michael thought at first, until a new thought crossed his mind.
"There should still be demonic supernaturals in the city, right?"
Now that he no longer felt an urgent need to protect his family—especially with Lucky and the others by their side—Michael began to entertain different thoughts.
His mind wandered, and a familiar greed resurfaced.
He was still shocked by the thought even now, but something within him told him it wasn't wrong.
Michael wanted a human corpse, but he couldn't bring himself to touch an ordinary human's body, even though they were more than enough in front of him.
He wanted one that didn't challenge his sense of morals, one he could still recognize as "acceptable."
And somehow, he didn't really include demonic supernaturals in that category.
For a moment, thoughts of how a human undead might evolve filled his mind.
After a short internal struggle, he finally gave up.
No, it wasn't the thought he gave up on.
It was the hesitation.
"I'm not even sure I'll be able to do that to a fellow human... but stealing a demonic supernatural's corpse isn't bad, right?"
That's what Michael decided.
He knew what he would have to do if he encountered a living demonic supernatural, but when it came to acquiring the body of one that was already dead, he didn't feel as guilty.
In fact, the thought of it didn't make him feel guilty at all.
In the end, Michael summoned two orcs who were assisting with the cleanup of the community.
With their armor on, if one didn't see their face or skin, they would appear as tall figures clad in black armor.
Michael gave them a quick glance.
Both were at high levels—Level 18, to be exact.
This wasn't just the highest level among his undead who had killed the monsters that fell from the cracks; it was also about the level range across his undead.
The weakest undead, in terms of level, was Level 16—a huge improvement compared to before the chaos, when they had all been at Level 11.
After a brief look, Michael decided to call Prince over.
He then dismissed Prince to the Netherworld and began making his way out of the community.
Though he had initially planned to go alone, he changed his mind, realizing he might need more assistance in terms of numbers or strength.
Prince, with his appearance, could easily be mistaken for a monster.
If a strong person were to attack, thinking it was an escaped monster or he a demonic cultivator, things could turn dangerous.
That's why Michael had sent Prince to the Netherworld for the time being.
With the two male undead orcs by his side, Michael set out in search of a corpse to steal.