Hitman with a Badass System

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Michael wondered where Hunter got the card that enabled them to travel between universes. However, he received nothing but a smile when Michael asked about the card's origin. It had become apparent to Michael that Hunter holds secrets of his one, just like himself.

"The next universe, tell me about it," Michael asked Hunter,

"Like I said, it's where everything began. At least that's what I learned in the shadow realm," said Hunter,

"You have a mark bearer with you in shadow realm?" Hunter asked Michael.

"Hmm," Michael nodded. Obviously, Hunter also had someone who had a rune just like the rune on Sabrina's hand. Hearing Hunter's question, Michael learned that Sabrina was not the only mark bearer.

Besides, compared to Etheria, Hunter's universe had more similarities with Michael's universe. However, Michael did not know how similar Hunter was to him, as he had his own version of a badass system.

Obviously, both the systems were oblivious to the other's existence and also, and although they shared the same name, they were not the same.

"Then follow the mark and if you are lucky, you will reach your last destination without any surprises,"

"Surprises?"

"How many skinless ugly fucks have you fought until you came here?" Hunter answered Michael with a question,

"Fourty eight,"

Hunter smiled, shaking his head.

"You are lucky indeed. I fought hundreds or thousands of them. Back then, the place was swarming with the queen's minions. So I guess I drove them to near extinction, hehehe" Hunter chuckled.

Now Michael slowly grasped why the queen was so pissed at Hunter. The engravings on the wall showed Michael that Hunter killed the queen but according to Hunter, he was not even strong enough to defeat her general.

This meant either the woman with thousands of arms was a general of the queen or what Michael saw was the future version of Hunter. It also made sense to Michael how Hunter learned more about him. 

There was indeed a possibility that Hunter visited Michael in his own universe somewhere in the future or learned about his future from the engravings on the walls of the Shadow realm.

"I don't know where you're gonna end up in the timeline of that universe but no matter where you land, I'm pretty sure you will meet the ancient gods,"

"You remember meeting them?" Michael asked Hunter,

"Vaguely yeah. I was so weak back then, so my memories were hazy,"

Yet again, Michael saw no signs of Hunter lying to him. As far as Michael could tell, Hunter was either a great liar or he was telling the truth. Michael's instincts told him it was the latter.

"Do you know anything about someone called Qin jiu?" Michael asked Hunter.

Normally, Hunter wouldn't answer anyone, and he preferred to be the one asking the question. However, Hunter made an exception for Michael because he needed Michael's help in defeating the general and the queen once the queen waged war against his universe.

It was not that Hunter couldn't fight her alone, as Hunter had the badass system with his side. But Hunter wanted to raise his odds of winning against the queen.

Hunter wasn't building a criminal empire from the ground up and creating a shadow organization just to die fighting the queen for the greater good. Just like Michael, Hunter also wanted to live his immortal life to the fullest. The only difference between Michael and Hunter was the path they chose to achieve their goals. If Michael had Guardian guild and Skyhall, Hunter had Sentinal Primes and his own set of problems.

To be honest, Hunter's life was more exciting than Michael's because Hunter chose a high-risk high-reward approach while Michael played safe like the hitman he was.

"Never heard of her," Hunter shrugged,

"Where was I? Huh yeah, the ancient gods," Hunter closed his eyes for a moment to recall everything he could about the ancient gods and their universe,

"When I met them, they were in a middle of a war and a long long long time away from reaching godhood. Who knows? You might meet them at the point they are already ancient gods,"

As Michael listened to Hunter, he felt a gentle sucking force from above.

"Shit my time to leave this place is nearing," Michael took a long deep breath,

"Well, good luck dealing with your shit Ghost. I wish we never meet again but I have a feeling fate will bring us together one last time," Hunter sighed,

"I'm kinda disappointed we never get to meet each other back on earth. You know about my track record right? If anyone put on a contract on you, you wouldn't have reached this universe,"

Michael grinned and to Michael's surprise, Hunter too laughed,

"Maybe. But have you ever thought why no one put a contract on my head?"

Michae remained silent as Hunter's trademark evil grin emerged on his face,

"Because I killed everyone who tried to do that,"

Michael felt the suction was getting stronger and stronger. On the other hand, Hunter sensed the distortion in the space around him,

"We'll meet again Dark Mage," Michael gave Hunter a two-finger salute playfully,

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Hunter shrugged,

"Remember, we need him to defeat the queen," 

"What?!" Michael's figure was slowly diapering out of Hunter's view as the vortex sucked in Michael,

"WE NEED HIM TO DEFEAT THE QUEEN!" Hunter raised his voice,

"Who?" Michael shouted back, looking at Hunter's figure rapidly growing smaller and smaller,

"DON!"

Unfortunately, Michael didn't hear the name clearly and had already disappeared out of Hunter's sight. 

Finally, Michael's vision turned dark once again. When he visited Etheria and met Draven, Michael brought back the idea of a new device. Although the shield would boost his defense to the next level during close combat battle, it wasn't as valuable as the information Michael received from Hunter.

Information was wealth. The more information he had on the queen and her army, the easier it would be for him to devise a plan to defeat her in the future.

Everything was pitch black around him until he saw the familiar light at the end. After several minutes, Michael's soul was tossed out of the crack right back into his physical body. As soon as he settled into his body, Michael injected himself with one large dose of healing potion and a few others to prevent himself from vomiting blood.

"What was that?" he looked over his shoulder to see Sabrina cautiously approaching him. They didn't feel the tremor anymore, fortunately. Still, the demonic cry Sabrina heard freaked her out.

"No idea," Michael lied because Sabrina had no need to know about the other universes and what he learned in Etheria and Hunter's universe. 

"The sooner we find the key, the better," Michael said.

For Michael, it felt like he had gone for hours. However, not even a couple of seconds passed in the shadow realm. Hence, Sabrina didn't feel anything weird except he looked a little pale in her eyes.

"Hmm,"

"Let's go," Michael stretched his arms, cracked his neck, and walked forward, following the way Sabrina's rune showed him.

"You heard that voice right? It was yelling the name Hunter. This place is creepy as hell," Sabrina said while walking beside Michael. She looked around, expecting trouble. But luckily, they found none.

"There are so many mysteries in the world Sabrina. I let the authorities deal with them however they see fit. I have enough things on my plate,"

Sabrina wasn't surprised by Michael's answer. Ghost was the only one with the least enemies and the least adventurous life among all the prodigies and youngsters in Noah's generation. The royal news called him the most peaceful and boring prodigy.

Michael read the news and didn't give a damn about them or blame them. But, to the outside world, he did lead a boring life unlike Noah or any other prodigies. He avoided making enemies, meddling in others' affairs, and preferred to mind his own business.

However, the people who called him boring had no idea about Michael's adventurous secret life.

"Speaking of plates. Mother wanted to invite you for a family dinner when i last visited home,"

"Really?" Michael was taken aback by surprise,

"This was before or after the tournament,"

"After. No one blames you for what you did. If anyone should be blamed, it's Andrews and the king for making weird decisions," 

"I don't think she will feel the same now," Michael calmly said as Sabrina felt something was up,

"What happened?"

"Nothing. I just killed King Bredia's royal guards and threatened to kill him in front of his daughter and several nobles,"

Sabrina's mind went blank for a couple of moments. Considering she was in the cage when Michael slaughtered King Bredia's men and threatened to kill him, she didn't know what had happened recently.

"I kinda expected that," Michael turned his head to the side being surprised by Sabrina,

"You expected it?"

Sabrina bobbed her head up and down,

"Yes. After the tournament, I visited Princess Katherine. At that time, King Bredia was talking with some merchants. Acceidntely I went into the room and heard him asking the merchants to stop visiting Bradford. I knew it was only a matter of time before you hear the news and pay the king a visit,"

"I hope he learned his lesson," Michael calmly said,

"I avoid massacres. That doesn't mean I can't do it," Michael's words may have sounded calm but she sensed the cold murderous intent behind his each and every word. 

She did not doubt in her heart that if King Bredia messed with Ghost again, the latter would slaughter his entire army along with him. How he fought and killed the vampires showed her how powerful he was. His mysterious cultivation stage made him more dangerous.

Whoosh!

Michale and Sabrina walked in silence for a few minutes until they heard a rustling sound coming from behind. They both quickly jerked around but saw nothing.

Whoosh!

Yet again, they heard the rustling sound but this time, it was louder than before.

"Grrrr," something growled as Michael sensed the slight tremor beneath his feet,

The slight tremor soon increased to the point Michael and Sabrina took off from the ground for a few meters. Only then did they see a red pair of glow in the sky above them.