Hitman with a Badass System
chapter-548

Somewhere else in the Ozer continent, a large number of people stood on an endless lush grass field. In addition to the charming apple trees, the grass field contained countless headstones. At that moment, the people stood surrounding a newly dug six feet pit.

The sky was dark, and a flash of lightning followed the rumbling sound of thunderclaps. Then, as mother nature herself was furious, the heavy downpour showered them, showing no mercy. The thick drops dug the grave more profoundly with the help of gravity.

The people, all dressed in the same white robes, stood still despite the rain without moving an inch. All their focus was on the blonde-haired elf. Every single headstone in the field contained the word 'Guardian' in front of their names.

The place was the cemetery of the Guardian Guild. Currently, they were holding the funeral for Peyton Colewin. Almost all the important guardians were present at the funeral to pay their last respects to Peyton.

Due to security reasons, the Alpha Guardians and the elders disguised themselves as youngsters and mingled with the crowd instead of revealing their identity.

They were still afraid of the Dark Lord.

"We can now put her in the ground Miss Tanulia," A white-robed old man with a bushy white beard gently said to Tanulia, looking at the casket made of rare red sandals wood.

"Hmm," Tanulia let out a long breath of sigh before moving her head. She lifted the casket from the ground and gently placed it into the grave,

When the casket touched the ground, Xanali couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She Squeezed Noah's hand and began to sob. Her blood-red eyes produced tears bigger than the rain droplets.

Many guardians who worked with or under Peyton shed tears for her.

"Dark Lord," among those who were shedding tears, a man stood at the front and clenched his fist to the point his palm began to bleed. He was Peyton's elder brother and the heir of the Colewin family, Stefan Colewin.

His towering height and silvery hair that draped over his shoulder made even the members of the Colewin family put some distance between them. He was one of the most brutal and ruthless Colewin the family had ever seen.

He was not the most handsome in the crowd but the most terrifying one due to the cold aura he radiated and his iconic scar running across his left eye from his forehead to his right chin.

The scar was a mark of his cruelty. During the war between the Colewin family and Kingdom Southfall, he led a group of soldiers to massacre the enemy soldiers camped near the Jigutsin river. Everyone in the Colewin family said the mission was a suicide as the enemy soldiers had the terrain advantage and outnumbered Colewin soldiers.

However, Stefan and his group swam underwater against the river's current in the middle of the night and ambushed the soldiers. The surprise element gave Stefan and his group a huge advantage. Stefan slit the throats of hundreds of soldiers in their sleep.

At that time, many soldiers in the camp were at higher cultivation stages than Stefan, but he killed them in their sleep. Even to this day, no one in the Colewin family unraveled the mystery of how Stefan put the soldiers to sleep.

After killing all the stronger soldiers, Stefan woke up the rest, and when they surrendered, Stefan burnt them alive on stakes. As a result of his brutal show of cruelty, the enemy soldiers lost their morale, which led the Colewin to victory in the war.

Stefan did not stop as he hunted down the King of Southfall and his kin to the last one. Stefan didn't even spare the children. Now that this man had lost his little sister, the Colewin family members couldn't even imagine what he would do to track down the killer.

"Do not cry," Suddenly, Stefan's loud, clear, and cold voice swept across the arena, silencing everyone.

"My sister deserves avenging, not your tears," Stefan coldly said, disregarding the guardians.

Tanulia clenched her fist but remained silent. She did not want to cross Stefan because of his connection with the House of Haldir, one of the great eight clans of the powerful Sea folk race.

(Read chapter 151 to refresh your memories about the Sea folks)

The Sea folk had two great clans and according to Tanulia's spies, Stefan was a member of the House of Haldir. The last thing Tanulia wanted was to make an enemy out of Stefan than she had already.

Just like the rest, Noah too remained silent. He was so pissed at Tanulia and the funeral was not a place for him to start a fight, especially with Peyton's brother.

As far as Noah was concerned, Stefan had all the right to be mad at the Guardians. They couldn't even put Peyton in the casket since her body exploded from within. So it was an empty casket funeral.

All this could have been avoided if Tanulia had gone with his plan instead of rushing to capture the Dark lord.

"Shedding tears wouldn't help anyone. Finish this facade quickly. I have work to do," Stefan coldly growled,

"Facade? Stefan, it's your sister's funeral," Xanali couldn't stay silent anymore.

"It's just a setup for all of you to feel better. Guardians are clearly not capable enough to capture him. This is the result of your incompetence and her weakness," Stefan's words did shock not only the guardians but also the members of the Colewin family.

Still, Noah remained silent. Even he was so disappointed in Tanulia and how she handled the operation. She should have waited for him and listened to him instead of rushing.

"How could you say that? She is not weak!" Xanali had lost it after hearing Stefan's words. Her anger skyrocketed.

"Xanali," Noah quickly pulled her back by her hands. He did not want the funeral to turn into a battlefield.

"Calm down. Everyone has their own way of grieving," Noah squeezed Xanali'a hands.

"Here, take this," Stefan flickered his wrist as a red robe appeared in his hand,

He threw the robes towards Tanulia,

"This is Colewin tradition. Put the robes in the grave," After Tanulia caught Peyton's robes, Stefan turned around to leave the funeral. He just came to the funeral to give Peyton's robes to Tanulia; now that he did, he saw no reason to stay any longer.

"We will find him, Stefan," Tanulia said with a grave voice before he could take a step forward,

"No, you won't. The Dark Lord is my prey now,"

Boom!

Shockingly, a lightning bolt hit Stefan when he raised his hand to the sky. The next moment, he just vanished into thin air. The lightning bolt charcoaled everything in the two-meter radius.

Several minutes later, Tanulia finally heaved a sigh and slowly sent the robes into the grave.

"It's time for the closest ones to say their last words to Peyton," the old man said as Tanulia stepped forward, grabbed a handful of mud, and poured it into the grave.

"Peyton, forgive us. I am proud and sad that you gave your life to the guild," Tanulia's eyes watered. The last couple of days were so hard on her. Yesterday, she buried her best friend, and today, she lost her best subordinate.

"You are the most courageous and brave guardian this guild has ever seen. The sacrifices you made and hardships you went through won't be in vain. Today I, Tanulia Valren, make a promise to you. I will bring the Dark Lord to justice and avenge you or die trying," Tanulia placed her muddy hands on her chest and made a vow to Peyton,

"Watch over us from heaven and guide us. You have now become an eternal guardian," Tanulia looked at the sky above for a moment before stepping back.

As though mother nature had appreciated Tanulia's speech, a bright flash of lightning flashed across their eyes after Tanulia finished her speech followed by a deafening thunderclap.

After Tanulia, Xanali strolled toward the grave. But, instead of picking a handful of mud from the ground like Tanulia, Xanali took out Peyton's glass she managed to find from the war ship's wreckage. She tossed the glass into the grave, bent her back to pick up a handful of mud, and put it into the grave.

When she turned around to look at the guardians before her, everyone looked like Peyton for a moment in her eyes. Xanali couldn't utter a word as she felt a lump in her throat.

Her vision blurred due to the tears building up in her eyes. Finally, Xanali recalled Peyton's words about being strong despite the situation and mustered enough courage and strength to speak.

"For most of you, Peyton was an uptight guardian who would go any length to finish her mission. But she had a warm, friendly side that you haven't seen. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for her. When everyone looked for a higher cultivation stage and background, Peyton was the only one who recruited people based on their hearts," Xanali swallowed the sadness and looked at the casket for a moment,

"She could have easily amassed wealth and led a comfortable life like a queen. Instead, this idiot chose to root out evil so we all can live in peace and prosper," Xanali let out a pitiful chuckle,

"To the last second, she lived and died as an honorable guardian. I'll be damned if her death doesn't spark a wildfire within our hearts to bring the Dark Lord to justice," the sadness in her heart slowly turned into steel-like resolute to catch the Dark Lord and finish what Peyton started.

"I will gladly give my life to finish what she started and avenge not only her but everyone who died because of the Dark Lord,"

Xanali also placed her muddy hand on her chest and vowed. The images of guardians screaming and the castle coming down on their heads flashed across Xanali's eyes.

Every guardian who thought the Dark Lord was a myth was proven wrong when the higher-ups finally disclosed everything they knew about the Dark Lord after the Dark Lord brought down the warship on the Dradel headquarters.

Of course, the higher-ups still kept the prophecy a secret but revealed that Lucifer and the Dark Lord are the same people. In addition, finding Dark Lord had become the top priority of the guardians in Elon after what he did to Peyton and their headquarters in Dradel.

No one in thousands of years had destroyed a Guardian headquarters until three days ago. It was the black day in Guardian history where more than fifty guardians lost their lives and hundreds of them became crippled.

"Engrave this image into your mind, Noah. This is just a glimpse of what the Dark Lord could do," Noah heard Andreas's voice in his mind,

"The Dark Lord is not playing defense anymore. If we don't find a way to turn the table, we will attend many more funerals,"