Hitman with a Badass System
chapter-728-30041322

Noah and Andreas rushed out of the cave. After reading the journal, they both had a grave feeling in their guts. This time, Andreas did not stop Noah from giving the two girls healing potions. Noah squatted beside Nerita and Johana. He gently opened their mouths and poured the healing potion into their mouth. As the healing potion trickled down into the throat, rosiness returned to their faces. Nerita groaned. Johanna managed to open her eyes slowly.

The moment realization hit Johana, her eyes went wide. She almost jumped to her feet.

"Where is he?" Johana didn't even say anything to Noah. Instead, she rushed into the cave. Nerita followed her behind.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" Andreas asked Noah.

"The man who turned the day into night," Noah mumbled.

"The Dark Lord," Andreas said with a grave tone. The mere mention of the name made Andreas tremble in fear.

"We can't tell that for sure. As far as we know, it might just be a dream," said Noah. However, he didn't believe it to be the truth. Noah just didn't want to jump to conclusions based on a child's dream and a journal.

"Come on, Noah. Deep down, you feel it. The question is, who is the Dark Lord to the child?"

Noah remained silent with a deep frown on his face.

"The Dark Lord certainly has some hold on the child. We need to find the child before the Dark Lord does,"

"Where is the child?!" Noah turned around, hearing Johana's roar.

She dashed at Noah and grabbed Noah's collar.

"I just came here and saw the two of you unconscious," said Noah.

"Tell us what happened so I can help you. Who was here? Who knocked you out?" Noah questioned Nerita and Johana.

Nerita and Johana did not answer Noah. Instead, Noah saw their eyes tearing up.

"I know about the spirit child,"

As soon as the two girls heard Noah, their hearts skipped a beat. Johana's hands fell down, letting go of Noah's collars.

"If the child isn't inside, whoever knocked you out must have taken it," said Noah.

"We need to find that child, Noah," Noah heard Andreas panic.

Johana and Nerita looked at each other. They were about to turn around and head out of the island to find the child when Noah stopped them.

"A child is in danger, and you two want to keep its existence a secret? Let me help you," Johana and Nerta stopped on their steps.

"You don't have much time. Where are you going to search? Don't be stupid. A child's life is in danger, for god sake. If Laila wants to punish me after I find the child, she is welcome to do so. Now tell me what happened here," Noah's tone became dominant. His godly aura made Nerita and Johana tremble. They couldn't resist trusting Noah. If the Dark Lord's aura made the others scared, Noah's aura influenced others to trust in him.

Johana and Nerita couldn't think straight. The disappearance of the child made their minds go blank. Tears rolled out of their eyes as the two began to tell Noah what had happened earlier. Although they accepted the existence of the spirit child, they did not reveal anything about how it came to this world or anything related to its power.

When they finished their story, Noah took a deep breath.

"If we find who attacked you, we will find the child," said Noah.

"We must tell the mistress," said Nerita.

"One of you must stay on the island in case someone else comes here. I will use my contacts in the guild to find the child,"

"No!" Johana shouted.

"You cannot tell anyone about the child,"

"I won't. I will just tell them I am searching for a normal child, not a spirit child,"

After leaving the island, Noah headed straight toward the OZer continent.

"Any plan on how to find the child?" asked Andreas.

"If we can find who attacked them, we can find the child,"

"How do you plan to do that?"

"Lailah wouldn't have told many about the child. I don't believe the two men who attacked the girls happened to stumble upon the child. They knew a child was living there. So the one who took the child must be someone who knew about the child. First, I need to know everyone Laila told about the child. It can't be a long list,"

"Those girls have no clue about where Lailah is," said Andreas.

"But I know someone who might have,"

"Edith, your sweetheart," Even in a situation like this, Andreas managed to find humor. Noah heard his teacher chuckle.

However, Noah was not in the mood for fun. On the contrary, he was pretty serious.

"Teacher. What if the Dark Lord was the child's father?"

Noah hoped Andreas would say no. Unfortunately, Andreas remained silent for a few moments.

"I believe so," On contrary to what Noah wished for, Andreas agreed with Noah's feelings. Although Noah had this feeling that the Dark Lord was the child's father, his heart refused to believe so. Noah knew better than anyone what would happen to the child and Lailah if the Dark Lord was the child's father. The Skyhall and the Guardian Guild would nail the mother and child as punishment. Noah never wanted innocent people like Lailah and the child to get punished because of the Dark Lord. After all, the child did no wrong.

"The Dark Lord is evil, Noah. No one would have chosen to soul-walk someone except him. But we must know whether Lailah knew of this or not. If she knew about the Dark Lord and didn't report to the guild, she have to be treated as an accomplice,"

"What about the child?"

"Until we know the full extent of its powers, we have to keep the child safe from the outside world,"

"You mean keeping the child locked up?" Noah frowned. As much as Noah wanted to put an end to the Dark Lord threat, he didn't like to sacrifice innocent people in the process. He learned the cost of taking a life the hard way. To be honest, it had been months since Noah slept peacefully. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see the children crying for their parents, who Noah had killed. Noah used to kill people who tried to kill him. This was a dog-eat-dog world. Only ruthless and heartless people could survive. Noah used to be one in such a world until he saw the aftermath of each life he took.

With every man Noah killed, the number of orphans went up. It was one of the many reasons why Noah stopped taking lives. Instead of getting used to a cruel world, Noah wanted to change it. Even though it meant fighting the whole world, Noah was ready for it.

"It's the spawn of the Dark Lord, Noah. It might be an innocent child now, but soon, the Dark Lord's blood within the child will corrupt it. We can't take the risk of letting tiny Dark Lord run around,"

"But teacher, I won't let the guild or anyone hurt the child until it stays innocent. If it gets corrupted by the Dark Lord as you said, we will take care of it," Noah firmly said.

"I may have taught you too well, Noah," Andreas sighed, but he was extremely proud of Noah.

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

While Noah was on his way to the Ozer continent, General Booth was in his room. A bright smile was plastered on his face due to Zakari and Austin's successful mission. Booth emptied a glass full of one in a single gulp.

"Got you fucker," Booth grinned. He cursed Ghost and poured another glass of wine.

"Your grace," Booth heard his maid knocking on the ground.

"Enter, sweety," Booth welcomed the maid into the room with an ear-to-ear grin. He started taking off his robes, preparing to feast on his beautiful maid.

But his hands stopped when he saw a wooden box in his maid's hands. On top of the wooden box, he saw a scroll.

"Your grace, this is addressed to you. Our runemasters checked it for explosions, but they said it's clear,"

"Did they open it?" asked Booth with a frown.

"They couldn't, your grace. They said it requires your fingerprint to open the box and this scroll,"

The maid put the box on the table. Looking at the box, the lust in Booth's eyes faded away.

"You can leave," Booth dismissed the maid.

After she left him alone in the room with the box and the scroll, Booth slowly grabbed the scroll. As soon as his hand touched the scroll, several runes glowed on its surface. Booth opened the scroll and read the words.

"My dead Booth, the last time we met, you gave me a gift I cannot forget as long as I am alive. So I thought I should return the favor. Unfortunately, it was nowhere close to the gift you gave me, but I tried my best and am still working on other gifts for you. I hope it puts a smile on your face. I really wish I was there to see your smile. Your best friend, Ghost AKA Abras,"

The moment Booth's eyes fell on the last words, he clenched his fist until his nails began to penetrate his skin. Blood trickled down from his palm. Shockingly, Booth's hands shivered slightly. He slowly touched the wooden box to open it. Just like the scroll, the box lit up when he touched it.

A cracking sound resonated from within as though a hidden lock had been unlocked by his touch. Booth slowly opens the top of the box. To his shock, a bloody head was inside it. Booth's eyes turned red almost immediately as he picked up the head.

"Kevin," Booth mumbled. He closed Kevin's eyes. Judging by the terror in Kevin's eyes, Booth could tell what he must have gone through in the last moments of his life. Booth couldn't stop his body from trembling in anger. He wanted to destroy everything in the room. Although Booth and Kevin didn't share a strong bond, Kevin was still his family. He had known Kevin since he was little. The fact that someone else had tortured Kevin, cut his head, and dared to send it in a box made Booth's blood boil.

"GHOST!" Booth roared as the table before him, and the box exploded into pieces.