Hitman with a Badass System
chapter-1317

As soon as the dragon spoke its name, it triggered a memory in Nithroel's mind. She had heard the name Azurith before, long ago during a visit to the mortal realm, before the previous Dark Lord erected a barrier between the realm of gods and the mortal world. Back then, the name Azurith was whispered among the Dragon Clan and the beastmen. She vividly remembered how Edros, the Beast King who led the beastmen against the dragons in a great war, prayed to her, the Goddess of Hunt, for aid in hunting Azurith.

But after Edros lost the war and the dragon clan vanished from the treacherous ocean, the name Azurith had not crossed her ears until now.

"Azurith…" Nithroel murmured, her voice barely audible, filled with the weight of familiarity and a hint of a forgotten past. Seeing her reaction, Michael could tell that she was more than just familiar with the name. However, for him, Azurith's intentions and goals, shrouded in mystery, were more pressing than his identity.

"Tell me, Azurith, are you here to protect Skyhall?" Michael asked calmly, his voice steady despite the dragon's terrifying size and power. Being a god, Michael sensed that defeating Azurith, surrounded by a yellow aura, was not impossible. Yet, he knew the battle would not be straightforward. Something told him the dragon was as cunning as it was powerful.

"The dragon clan serves no one, God of Darkness… We serve ourselves. Skyhall is merely our ally…and we have a debt to settle with them," Azurith responded with cold detachment, revealing no loyalty to Skyhall, which somewhat relieved Michael.

"How do you plan to settle this debt?" Michael probed further, maintaining his composure.

Azurith paused, his silence stretching a few tense moments as Nithroel scanned the skies, calculating their chances. Defeating Azurith might be challenging, but exterminating the rest of the dragons with their combined might seem feasible.

"We are tasked with stopping you from reaching Skyhall, Dark Lord," Azurith finally declared, his voice imbued with arrogance and draconic pride.

"Don't be a fool, Azurith… You cannot kill two gods without suffering significant losses to your dragon army," Michael said, his voice echoing as he cracked his neck. The surrounding dark sky darkened even further, amplifying the sheer power emanating from Michael, which both the dragons and Azurith could feel intensifying around them.

With no light to counterbalance the God of Darkness's power, Azurith realized that Michael's strength had been enhanced manifold.

"Your size and power might protect you, but you can't save your dragons…" Michael warned, allowing his words to linger menacingly in the air. Azurith, stung by the threat to his pride, responded impulsively. As a king, he could not tolerate being threatened, even by a god.

The next moment, Azurith opened his massive jaws, but instead of a stream of flames, a powerful shock wave erupted. Instantly, Nithroel and Michael were hurled backward. The force was so sudden that Michael didn't have time to cast his Silenes spell. They were flung back like kites in a storm, tumbling uncontrollably for almost fifty meters before regaining their composure.

"That was just a taste of his power," Nithroel stated, gripping her bow tighter.

"My dragons, rip him apart and show that even gods are not invincible to our wrath," Azurith commanded his dragon army. As he spoke, Michael noticed a brief glow in the eyes of all the dragons. Utilizing his X-ray vision, he observed Azurith's power being distributed to every dragon in the vicinity. Surprisingly and uniquely, although each individual dragon radiated a thicker yellow aura, when combined, their collective aura turned red, signaling that the dragons, as a unified entity, would be more challenging to defeat. This revelation confirmed Michael's suspicions about Azurith's strength. Azurith was a king, and his true power lay not only in his draconic abilities but in his command over and the sharing of his strength among his subjects—in this case, the dragons.

"Be careful. I've heard about his powers. The dragons under his command share a telepathic connection, making them act and fight as a single powerful entity... There's no weak link in the dragon army when their king commands them," Nithroel said, nocking an arrow on her bow.

"The telepathic link, huh..." Michael murmured, his lips curling into a smirk.

"System, scan the dragons and find a way to sever their link. Let's show this overgrown lizard why it's in his best interest to back the fuck off from my path," Michael commanded the system in his mind, ready to disrupt the dragon's unity. [The system requires three million Badass points to complete the task]

"Do it," Michael said quickly.

On the other hand, Azurith did not give the two gods time to react and strategize; instead, he ordered his dragon army to press the attack.

"Watch closely, gods, as my dragons unleash their wrath!" Azurith's voice boomed across the skies, echoing with draconic pride and menace.

In unison, the dragons inhaled deeply, the air around them vibrating with the gathering power. The skies darkened further as each dragon expelled a torrent of flames, their breaths a mosaic of colors—crimson, azure, and emerald, each reflecting the dragons' unique abilities. The combined force created a spectacle of a firestorm, weaving together into a massive inferno that surged toward Michael and Nithroel.

"Take cover!" Nithroel shouted, her voice nearly drowned out by the roar of the flames. She loosed her arrow, infused with celestial energy, into the heart of the inferno, hoping to disrupt the attack.

"Damn, that's hot," Michael grunted, feeling the heat lick at his armor. He glanced at Nithroel, who was already drawing her bow, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Let's cool them down a bit, shall we?" Nithroel suggested, releasing an arrow imbued with frost energy towards the nearest dragon.

The arrow sliced through the heated air, leaving a trail of frost in its wake before striking a dragon. The impact created a burst of ice, momentarily encasing the creature's head in a cold prison, stifling its fire.

As the dragons regrouped, Michael focused on disrupting their unity.

"System, any progress on breaking that link?" he muttered under his breath, ready for the next wave of attacks.

[They system requires five more minutes to complete scanning..,] The system informed him as Michael dodged another dragon breath.

Under the dragon attack, Michael darted through the air with shadow teleportation, each flicker of his movement just a blur to the onlookers below. He vanished and reappeared in rapid succession, avoiding the relentless streams of dragon breath that painted the sky with a terrifying palette of destructive energies.

Meanwhile, Nithroel demonstrated why she was revered as the Goddess of Hunt. Her movements were a graceful display of deadly precision. Each arrow she nocked and released was imbued with various elemental powers. It struck the dragons with such force and accuracy that it briefly staggered them, disrupting their coordinated assault.

The dragons, under Azurith's telepathic command, adapted quickly, showcasing their intelligence and ancient powers. They unleashed more than just fiery breath as bolts of lightning, shards of ice, and gusts of wind came from their maws and wings, creating a chaotic storm of elemental fury around them. Their attacks were not just raw power but strategically aimed to counteract Nithroel's arrows and Michael's teleportation tactics.

Observing the battle from above, Azurith directed his dragons with a precision that spoke of centuries of command and leading them. "Bind them, my dragons!!" his voice thundered across the battlefield.

Finally, Michael had enough of these stupid fireworks and decided to show the dragons what he was capable of. He immediately activated "Death's Range," which almost completely turned the already dark surroundings into pitch black, swallowing the dim light from the dragon flames and their lightning bolts.

In the engulfing darkness, even Nithroel lost her sight and found it impossible to see through the thick obscurity. Amidst this void, Michael moved as if he were omnipresent, traversing the darkness with unnerving ease.

Azurith, amidst his command, suddenly felt a pain akin to a small bite, but a significant bite nonetheless. With a jolt of terror, he realized that one of his dragons had been slain. Thanks to her eyes finally adjusting to the darkness, Nithroel vaguely saw the terrifying sight of the Dark Lord chopping off a dragon's head with sheer brutality. His dark swords, though not slicing through smoothly due to the dragon scales, were still powerful enough to sever the dragon's head, leaving a gruesome sight in the darkness.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a dragonr. The reward is 10,000 Experience points and 40,000 Badass points]

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 50,000 Badass points] [Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 50,000 Badass points] …

From the thick darkness surrounding the headless dragon, Michael threw the severed head to Azurith. The sight of him casually throwing a giant dragon head impressed Nithroel. If he wasn't committed to Gaya, Nithroel would have definitely gone for his heart because it was so hard to resist feeling a pull toward him when he was performing such feats with such badassness.

Failing to notice Nithroel's look on him, Michael locked his gaze with Azurith.

"You are standing in my way, dragon… It's a mistake that will cost you dearly the longer you stand in my way," Michael coldly said.

"Killing one dragon in my army doesn't change anything, God of Darkness,"

[The system will finish scanning the telepathic link in two minutes…] The system informed Michael as he smiled.

"I am going to make you eat your words, Azurith," Michael said with a smirk, showing Nithroel that the God of Darkness might have a plan to turn the tides.