Hitman with a Badass System

When Lailah strummed another chord, Michael cast the Lightning Dash. He moved so swiftly that he left after images. Despite the darkness, Lailah noticed the dark flames covering the Dark Lord. It was as though he was a living flame.

"The Primordial flames," Edith, who saw the flames back in a ruin in MAzeroth, immediately recognized the flames.  She was sure. The flame she saw in ruins radiated energy exactly the same as the flame covering the Dark Lord. Edith recalled her friend's words 'A Primordial Flame chooses its host, not the other way around.

Does that mean the Dark Lord was in the Mazeroth? Or the flame traveled through dimensions? Edith questioned herself.

"Ignitia," Lightning crackled around Michael's wrist. But he didn't shoot Freddy and Rediar with a bolt of lightning. Instead, he distracted Lailah with the lightning bolt and dashed at Freddy and Reidar.

Seeing the Dark Lord moving towards Reidar and Freddy, Lailah strummed the chords rapidly, creating a soul-chanting melody. Immediately, Edith's body went rigid. She couldn't move her muscles, not even blinking an eye. Several invisible energy waves shot toward Michael. Lailah wasn't playing. She directly went for the kill. She was surprisingly ruthless for a woman who had a tendency to heal and help many, she was surprisingly ruthless. To be honest, Michael had never seen Lailah like this. Her eyes turned bloodshot. Each time she strummed a chord, the room trembled.

Suddenly, a golden light enveloped Lailah, sucking every bit of lingering Celestial energy in the air. Slowly, her glossy raven black hair turned to silver. The golden light not only lit the room but also amplified the sound of her veena. This was an Epic level spell that boosted Lailah's power several times. Judging by Edith's look, this wasn't the first time she had seen Lailah use this spell. Coupled with the silver of the first energy coursing through Lailah's veins, she began to overpower Michael. At least that was the case for a few moments.

Micheal was at Fusion Stage level 4. His cloud of Darkness boosted his power by four levels, making him on par with Fusion Stage level 8. To match Lailah's power level, Michael needed to hit level 6, so the Cloud of Darkness could boost his power to level 10. However, to break through two levels, he had to kill the three remaining Thusians. Michael regretted not killing the Thusians before. He went against what Spectre taught him. He chose to take his time instead of killing them as soon as possible. Now Michael paid the price for his mistake.

"Let's see how long she can keep that spell alive,"

Michael was about to attack Reidar when suddenly Lailah disappeared. Michael's instincts screamed at him. He blocked his face. An earth-shattering reverberated as a tremendous force struck Michael's body. The hands Michael used to block the attack bent and broke. He gnashed his teeth as pain coursed through his body. He was sent flying, hitting the wooden wall and destroying a portion of the tavern in the process. His body hit several trees before coming to a halt. Clouds of dust and wooden splinters flew in the air.

Reidar and Freddy ran to the hole to see where the Dark Lord had fallen. The golden light surrounding Lailah slowly faded away as the darkness enveloped the tavern again. The clouds of dust receded, and the Dark Lord stood silently as though nothing had happened. They felt shivers running through their spine when they saw the Dark Lord chuckle devilishly.

"Finally, a somewhat worthy opponent," Michael hid his crooked arm with the dark cloud. Thanks to the APD and the bone mending potion, he fixed his broken arm in mid-air while he was sent flying. Still, the pain made every single fiber in his body hurt. He had never expected Lailah to use her veena like a cricket bat to swat him. He had never seen Lailah fight so aggressively before.

Lailah flew outside into the woods through the new hole in the wall.

"Leave," Lailah ordered Edith. Her thunderous voice made the thusians shudder.  But when Edith was about to use the tear to scroll to teleport, she felt a sting in her neck.

"AHHHH!" Suddenly, Lailah's halted, floating towards Michael. She heard her little sister scream in agony. All the anger and battle lust in Lailah's eyes disappeared. Michael hated fighting dirty, but the history was written by the victors.  The thusians used all kinds of dirty tactics to betray him and covert the Cosmic stream. Hence, Michael saw no problem fighting dirty to kill them.

Lailah immediately turned around to see Edith groaning and twitching on the ground. Her motherly instinct kicked in as Lailah dashed at Edith.

"Edith," Lailah's veena faded into nothingness as she crouched down to lift Edith's head. Lailah conjured a powerful ball of light that lit a small area around them. The light fought the darkness controlled by Michael. He could have snuffed out the light if he had a little bit more control over the Darkness element. In a split second, Michael arrived at Reidar when Lailah was distracted by Edith.

Reidar, Freddy, and the red-haired man couldn't help but shudder. This time, Michael did not waste any time. He directly punched Reidar in the head as fast as he could. Since Reidar was weakened by the molten plague, Michael's punch cracked open Reidar's skull. Blood spurted out from Reidar's head, painting Freddy's face red. They shuddered.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a Fusion stage, level 8 Cultivator. The reward is 750,000 Experience points and 5,000 Badass points]

[Congratulations to the host for leveling up. The current level is the Fusion stage, Level 5!]

Ding!

As soon as Reidar's lifeless body hit the ground, another earth-shattering sound resonated in the tavern. To Michael's astonishment, the sound healed Edith. This time, Lailah didn't mess around as she tore the scroll in half. A bright light immediately shrouded Edith, Freddy, and the other one. Before Michael could kill Freddy, they disappeared from the tavern.

"That was a mistake, Lailah," Michael growled. There was immense hate and spite in his voice. Lailah's orb of light was snuffed out by Michael's darkness. His hate and anger fueled his power, making him stronger. Lailah moved her finger to strike another chord, only to get blasted by Michael.

"Wind blast!"

The blast of wind sent Lailah flying for several meters. She managed to land on her feet with her veena.

"You had no right to save the Thusians!" Michael shouted as a powerful blast obliterated the tavern to bits and pieces. Without realizing it, Michael had unleashed a little bit of his true power.  In a blink of an eye, the previously lavish tavern became a ruin. Upon seeing the area grow darker and colder, Lailah closed her eyes. Out of the blue, Michael saw several figures resembling jaguars emerge from the ground.

"She learned some new tricks," Michael snickered inside. Michael flicked his wrist as the Doom bringer appeared in his hand.

"Just like you had no right to hurt the one I care about," Michael froze. Judging by her tone and expression, she wasn't talking about Edith. Instead, Michael felt like she was talking about Ghost.

"So you have a sweet spot for Ghost huh?" Michael snickered. He wanted a definite answer from Lailah.

As Michael expected deep down, Lailah did not answer him. Instead, she struck several strings at the same time. The jaguars leaped at Michael.

Smirking, Michael clenched the Doombringer tighter. Lailah sent several energy waves to cut him in half. This time, Michael could see the crescent-shaped golden waves shooting toward him. The waves did not harm the jaguars but cut the broken tavern's walls that stood between them in halves.  Suddenly, the dark flames shot out from Michael, shrouding the jaguars. Lailah had never felt such intense heat from any flames before. She creased her brows. Deep inside her mind, she wondered what kind of Primordial flame this was. Throughout her life, she had learned and even seen a few Primordial Flames. However, nothing matched the flames wielded by the Dark Lord.

The flames slowed down the jaguars as Michael leaped into the air with his Doombringer raised above his head.

Boom!

Michael brought down Doombringer upon a jaguar's head with an earth-shattering force. The jaguar's head exploded into gray dust, and the shock wave sent the other flying into the sea of trees. The ground split opened where Michael's Doombringer landed.

"Wind blast!" Michael looked up, raising his hand. The two crescent-shaped waves met in the air, nullifying each other. Despite everything, Lailah kept striking the strings, creating powerful energy waves rapidly. On the other hand, Michael sent wind blasts powered by the Dark Flames. Their battle was so intense that it disturbed the atmosphere itself. The two of them destroyed everything around them for a ten-meter radius.

Furthermore, their battle disrupted the Celestial energy in the air to the point the clear sky soon got crowded with storm clouds. The sound of thunder rumbling resonated in the area. Streaks of lightning flashed across the forest.

Michael sensed several figures approaching them with great speed. His figure blurred as he disappeared from Lailah's sight. Behind Lailah, a streak of lightning hit the ground. Michael's figure emerged from the lightning with his Doombringer aimed at Lailah's shoulder. Unlike her, he didn't go for the kill. If he wanted Lailah dead, he could have used the molten plague. Michael did not want the spirit child to grow up without a parent. He had already abandoned the child regardless of his hatred towards his parents for abandoning him.

Lailah's battle instinct kicked in as she easily deflected the Doombringer with the back of her hand. A golden dome appeared around Lailah the next second, protecting her from the Doombringer. Michael's figure blurred again and then reappeared on Lailah's left. His attack was deflected by the golden dome. However, Michael did not give up. He attacked once again, enveloping the doom bringer with dark flames.

Boom!

The dome cracked when he brought down the Doom bringer upon it. Once again, Michael raised his Doom bringer above his head. But before he could hit the dome, Lailah leaped away. A sliver of blood oozed out of the corner of her mouth. Despite facing the Dark Lord, she showed no signs of fear. Even Michael couldn't help admiring Lailah.  He was about to attack Lailah again when Michael sensed more and more figures approaching them. The odds turned against him.

The longer he spends battling, the more he would be in danger. Thus, Michael decided to leave the place before the Guardians, and the Sea Folks surrounded the area.

"We will meet again soon," Michael nodded before disappearing into the sea of trees. As expected, Lailah did not chase after him.