Rebels
The lives of all subjects continued in Michael's absence. The Lords and Monster Overlords in the Untamed Jungle and the Sacred Desert still respected Michael for his tremendous power, but most of them didn't see Michael for years. Some hadn't seen him for more than a decade.
His absence in the re-negotiation meetings of various deals and businesses was easy to see. In fact, they didn't see anything - or Michael - at all. Some Lords and Monster Overlords recalled Michael's actions and heard from others how powerful he had grown, but other Lords didn't hear anything. They didn't think Michael was dead. His territories were still present, and his subjects never acted disloyally toward him. Still, something must have happened for Michael to disappear. That was what many Lords and Monster Overlords thought.