Hitman with a Badass System
chapter-684

Maxim Barnes dismissed everyone in the hall except Lailah and Edith.

"You seem like you know more about him than any of us," said Maxim.

"I know him enough to know the danger my sister is in," Lailah coldly responded. After inspecting Edith's body, Lailah learned that Ghost could end her sister's life any second. Even her mentor didn't have any knowledge about what he had done to Edith.

"If she wants, you are welcome to take her with you," Maxim said. He was nonchalant.

"I am not going anywhere," Edith shook her head.

"Lailah, if you know him, tell him to change his path," said Edith.

Lailah snickered.

"No, let him come," Victoria interjected before Lailah could respond to Edith.

"We can finish this once and for all. I will make an example out of him," said Victoria. Her voice was murderous. After learning he had poisoned her mother, the little bit of mercy she had for Abras completely disappeared. She wanted to take his head and put it in a pike before the castle.

"Edith," Lailah turned her gaze toward Edith. She gently cupped Edith's face. Her motherly instinct screamed at her to take Edith away from Thusia. Edith's eyes watered, seeing the motherly love in Lailah's eyes. It was extremely rare to see Lailah express her emotions like this.

"Come with me to the rainbow island. You'd be safe here. I promise you, he won't hurt you," said Lailah. She knew Ghost poisoned Edith to hurt Victoria. Now that he had poisoned Valeria, he didn't have any need to hurt Edith. Furthermore, Lailah could plead with him to spare her sister. But first, Edith needed to leave Thusia. Lailah didn't want Edith to be in between Ghost and his revenge.

"No," Edith shook her head.

"I am not going to run away. My place is beside Vikki," said Edith.

"She made her decision," Maxim snickered.

"Lady Alden, why don't you stay with Edith and take care of her until we deal with him?" said Valeria. Although she was afraid of dying deep down, she was the queen of Thusia. She couldn't afford to look afraid or weak. Besides, Valeria didn't think a single man could threaten the great nation of Thusia.

"Please," Edith pleaded with her puppy eyes. For a few minutes, Lailah remained silent. After a while, she exhaled deeply.

"Only if you listen to me,"

Maxim Barnes grinned in his mind. Not because he wanted Lailah's help in killing Ghost, but because Maxim Barnes had feelings for Lailah. She was his first love. To be honest, Maxim only worried about Ghost exposing the existence of the Cosmic Stream. Once he kills Ghost, he doesn't have anything to worry about.

He wondered why Lailah was so afraid of one man. Granted Ghost was a prodigy and a true freak of nature. If he weren't so powerful, Maxim wouldn't have considered marrying Victoria to him. It was really unfortunate that Ghost turned out to be a guardian of the Cosmic stream.

Even if Ghost hadn't threatened Victoria, Maxim wouldn't have let him live.

"I will. Just stay with us," tears rolled out of Edith's eyes.

Lailah had two reasons to stay in Thusia. One was obviously Edith and her safety. The second reason was that if push came to shove, Lailah could teleport Ghost away and save him from King Maxim's wrath.

"I want to know why he's seeking revenge against Thusia," asked Lailah.

Edith slowly turned her gaze toward the Barnes. Unlike her, Lailah was oblivious to what they did to Ghost. Maxim Barnes prepared himself for this scenario. He fabricated a perfect story to twist the facts. After killing Ghost, whatever he says would be the truth. After all, history was written by the winners.

************************************

Meanwhile, in the treacherous ocean, Michael was facing the ghostly elf. Michael waited for the system to break the rune and give him the artifact. Until then, Michael decided to entertain himself by talking to the elf who created the artifact.

"Let's face it. You can't stop me. You're just a sliver of soul," exclaimed Michael. Gaya lowered her bow and started to chuckle.

"Look at this elf. He seems mad at us,"

"If you wanted your chosen one to get the artifact, you should have done a better job hiding it," Nightmare commented.

"You can't use it, human," snickered the elf.

"If you seriously believe that, you're in for a shock," Michael smiled.

"You kind have always been the vermin of out the world. Always take things you don't deserve," The elf looked disgusted. Judging by his tone and words, it was evident the elf hated humans to the core.

"So the chosen one is an elf?" Michael tilted his head.

"He's not a human. He's a god,"

The elf expected the human before him to be shocked and surprised. Instead, he saw him burst into laughter.

"Don't tell me it's for the god of light?" Michael air quoted the words 'god of light'

The elf was surprised. Michael couldn't believe he had stumbled upon something meant for the god of light.

"This day keeps getting better and better," Michael laughed.

"So now I am not only getting the artifact, but I am also taking something from him,"

"You know the god of light?" The elf asked. Although he was just a sliver of soul awakened by Michael when he touched the rune, the elf still possessed the intelligence he had when he was whole.

"You can say that," said Michael.

"Then you should know the danger our world is in right now. Do you know what would happen if this artifact falls into the wrong hands?" asked the elf.

"Didn't you say I can't use it? So what's there to worry about? No one can use it anyways," Michael shrugged.

"What's happening?" The elf sensed the protective rune was getting weaker. His mind went blank as it shouldn't have been possible.

When the elf noticed the grin on the human's face, he was stunned.

"How are you doing this?" the elf asked with a baffled look.

"Doing what?"

"The rune. It's getting weaker,"

"One minute," Michael raised a finger.

"In one minute, your staff will belong to me,"

"You," Suddenly, the elf looked like he had a realization. Everything made sense to the elf. He couldn't believe it, but there was no other explanation for what was happening.

"You're the Dark Lord,"

Michael wasn't surprised. Since the elf knew about the God of Light, it was only natural for him to know about the God of Darkness.

"Bingo," Michael clapped for the elf.

The room started to tremble as the wooden panels in the center slowly slid open. A pillar emerged from the ground. Michael finally saw the artifact. It was a five feet golden trident. The elf panicked.

"No STOP!" The elf shouted. However, Michael couldn't care less. He kept walking toward the trident. When he was at arm's distance from the trident, the elf closed his eyes. The cabin creaked. Nightmare and Gaya heard the wind howling outside as though a storm was approaching them.

The trident trembled. It slowly rose from the pillar and was about to fly out of the cabin when Michael grabbed it tight.

"Where do you think you're going?" Michael snickered. He felt the trident violently quivering in his hand.

"I won't let my creation fall into the evil's hand," the elf snarled. He seemed like he was about to cast a spell on Michael.

"There was a time I would have told you that darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good," said Michael, holding the spear. The spear tried to fly away, but Michael's grip was too strong.

"If taking this trident and breaking the curses put on innocent people by your kind is being evil, I don't give a damn about what you think," The veins on Michael's hands popped up. The trident trembled violently as the elf tried to make the trident fly away from Michael.

"Let my staff go!" The Elf shouted. His thundering roar obliterated the cabin walls. Nightmare and Gaya stumbled back due to the force. However, Michael remained still. The only difference was the area became darker. The elf couldn't believe his eyes. Everything around him grew darker and darker. Inch by inch, Michael pulled back the trident toward him.

Under the elf's shocked gaze, a dark cloud shrouded Michael. Instead of his black robes, a creepy black armor appeared on him. Finally, the elf saw the Dark Lord's true form. He completely lost the connection with the trident. Gradually the dark shoulder moved through Michael's hand and enveloped the golden trident.

"No no no no…" the elf mumbled. Panic struck his heart. He was helpless and powerless to stop the Dark Lord.

A few seconds later, the trident completely disappeared from sight.

"What did you do?" asked the elf with a terrified face.

"It belongs to me now," Michael's demonic voice echoed through the forest. The elf floated backward in terror.

"Now, it's time to end your pathetic existence," Without giving the elf any time to react, Michael dashed toward him. He immediately cast the Soul Eater. The elf felt a strong force pulling him toward the Dark Lord. he tried to resist, but the force was too much.

Standing a few meters away from Michael, Gaya and Nightmare saw the elf's ghostly figure slowly turning into a cloud of smoke. This smoke flew straight into Michael's mouth.

"NOOOOO!"

The elf screamed in agony. It didn't last long as the elf completely faded away from sight.

"We didn't even know who he was," said Gaya.

"There was no need," answered Michael. A smile emerged on his face, looking at his status. The Curse Breaker, he had acquired a legendary skill. With this, he could break any curses put on people.

"It's time we get out of this place,"