Not his humanity, but the humanity of this whole place.
Michael did not know what had happened to his sister after he was executed, but seeing her right now like this, he knew that she had suffered greatly before death finally granted her a blissful release.
Her story was written so vividly all over her corpse, in her bones, on her dress, and within the ominous miasma shrouded around her.
Michael could feel it. He could hear it. See it. Her last moment, hopelessly calling out to him, to come and save and protect her like he had always have.
It was his promise. A promise that he broke on the day of his death. It was not by his choice, but it was still his fault, regardless.
Michael will not blame others for his inability to protect his sister, but the burning rage within him was unquenchable. He did not understand why he and his beloved sister must suffered constantly in life, only to continue to suffer in death.
He was a loyal friend, a diligent student, and an upstanding citizen. Yet, in the end, his friend betrayed him, his teacher executed him, and his country murdered the only person he truly loved.
It wasn't fair, but Michael already knew the world wasn't fair. It cannot be changed without destroying everything and rebuilding from scratch. He had given up on the world long ago, and he always dreamt of building a better one.
A world where he and his sister can truly be happy. A world where there was only the two of them.
With his power, that was possible, and his beloved sister shattered into countless pixels before being absorbed into himself.
Unfortunately, Michael only managed to acquire her body and only her body. Her soul was not within her body, as it had moved on like her brother had. Her brother being Eric Cromwell, not Michael who had his memory and believed him to be so.
Despite that fact, Michael was devastated. The only chance that he had left to redeem himself in front of his sister was gone, and he became utterly silence, remaining completely still for hours on end.
"Fire! Fire!"
"Take it down! Hurry!"
"Holy Aura!"
Distant voices brought Michael back to reality, and he immediately looked towards the direction that the voices had come from. There, he saw, armored men and women charging and clashing against the undead horde, killing the monsters by a dozen.
A party of heroes. Michael quickly realized.
For them to be here, it seemed that the outlying countries had finally stopped their constant wars and endless carnages to work together and summon a group of heroes. It had always been this way since time immemorial, and with his combined knowledge, Michael knew that they were transmigrator.
And they were here to find and kill the Demon King.
Only killing the Demon King would put the end to the invasion, and if the heroes failed, darkness would descend upon the world.
Luckily, the heroes had never failed before, but the demons were relentless, never giving up until this world succumbed to their will.
Just like Balthazar had told him earlier today, this was some sort of a game, being played by those who were literally Gods.
Demons would invade the world, and heroes would be summoned to defeat them and their King. The cycle would repeat again and again. This was just another cycle in an endless amount of cycles. It will never be stopped not until the world was destroyed.
Michael wondered where he fitted into all of this. He knew that he was not a demon or their minion, and he was not a hero either. Did that mean he could be either? The choice was entirely up to him?
He could join the heroes in their fight against darkness or help the demons in conquering this world.
A sane person would join the heroes since it was the right thing to do. No. It was the most moral thing to do, considering that demons were an evil existence. However, was it the right thing to do?
Considering what had happened in history, Michael knew that once the demon threat was dealt with by the heroes, the countries would return to their old ways, fighting one another, committing endless atrocities.
It did not take a genius to realize that without a world-ending threat such as the demons, the human of this world would never stand united and face the darkness together. No. Not just the human of this world, but it was the human of any world, including Earth.
Therefore, the right choice would be joining the demon, but not allowing them to win. That way, there would be true peace amongst humanity, as all their hatred would be directed at the demons. It would not have directed at him and his sister.
The right choice was not necessary the correct choice, however. Michael would never join the demons as they had killed his parents, causing him and his sister to become orphans, wandering aimless around the world until finally finding a place to call home.
Michael would never join the heroes either, considering his objective.
Dalton, should he still be alive, will be an integral part of the heroes' side. Dalton was a transmigrator himself, considering that he had been summoned and fought in the last war against the demons. The heroes would surely protect Dalton should Michael attempts to take revenge.
Therefore, considering all the facts, the correct choice for Michael would be for him to remain himself, not aligning with either side, and if he must, he would be an enemy to both side for different reasons.
The question currently was, how should he deal with the incoming party of heroes?
Michael had no desire for their lives, but he would kill them if it would come to that. Acquiring their bodies and souls as well as whatever items on their person would benefit him greatly.
It would help him reach his vision, and his vision was all that mattered in the end.