Hitman with a Badass System

Leaving Victoria and Edith behind, Michael returned to his room using the runic teleportation. He saw Gaya, Elidyr, and Nightmare waiting for him in the room.

"Where were you?" asked Gaya. Judging by the look in her eyes, she was worried sick.

"We are leaving," Michael's words surprised the trio.

"Why? Something happened?" asked Elidyr.

"I've been made," Michael sighed.

"You met Wulfric, didn't you?"

To Michael's surprise, Elidyr didn't look as surprised as Gaya and Nightmare.

"Hmm," Michael nodded.

"Wait. If you're telling me the headmaster recognized you as the Dark Lord, then why did he leave you alone?" asked Nightmare.

"I don't know why. But we cannot stay here any longer," Michael was adamant about the decision. It was too much of a risk to stay in Mazeroth any longer. Gaya remained silent. They all turned their gazes toward her, wanting to know her thoughts.

"And I also met Victoria," Before Gaya could open her mouth, Michael said.

"Our GoldenValley Victoria?" asked Nightmare.

Michael shook his head.

"No. The princess of Thusia. The bitch who put a sword through my heart and burned my sanctuary to the ground, Victoria Barnes," Michael growled.

"Did she know you are Abras?" Finally, Gaya opened her mouth to question Michael.

"Hmm," nodded Michael.

"Then let's get the fuck out of here," Gaya agreed with Michael. Instead of staying in Mazeroth and doing nothing, she preferred to get out of the Akilan realm and venture into the Treacherous Ocean. That way, she could find the Wise Dragon and inquire about her mother. On the other hand, she knew Michael could get stronger by killing the mutated beings in the place.

"I am up for it. I hate this place anyways," Elidyr agreed to leave MAzeroth without a second thought.

"Thanks to Professor Lane, you have permission to leave MAzeroth. But what about her?" Nightmare looked at Gaya.

"She's a professor. It would raise some eyebrows if she disappeared suddenly," Nightmare was right. Taking Gaya would be suspicious, for sure. They might even look for Professor Steinmeyer. But leaving Gaya behind the enemy lines, especially after knowing his identity had been exposed, Michael had no other choice. Moreover, bringing Gaya and Nightmare to the treacherous ocean would multiply his experience gain. To take on Thusia, he needed to be at his strongest.

"Be that as it may, if push comes to shove, we can at least fight the Skyhall on our terms. Staying in their territory is not the right move. I agree with him. We have to get out of here. But I have to ask you again, are you sure Wulfric recognized you?" asked Elidyr.

"Do you know why I like winter? It's the perfect balance of light and darkness, as all things should be. Don't you agree?" Michael repeated Wulfric's words.

"That was his words to me. He knows about me. And I found a surveillance spell around me. Someone was watching me all this time,"

Gaya and Elidyr raised their brows. They were completely taken aback by the surprise.

"He also said that even the strongest blizzards start with a single snowflake. Just like a long blood feud or lifelong friendship start with a single decision. Now connect everything and tell me I am wrong," asked Michael.

"The longer we stay here, the more we are putting ourselves in. So come on," Michael was about to take a step toward the center of the room where Elidyr put the teleportation array when he heard someone knocking on the door.

"Who's there?" asked Nightmare.

"You and Elidyr," Michael looked at Gaya and Elidyr.

"Get out of here," Michael whispered. Without wasting time arguing, Gaya and Elidyr stepped onto the array. Standing atop the carpet, Elidyr just waved his hand. The floor suddenly trembled as a golden light enveloped the two of them.

"It's Ruby," Michael heard Ruby's voice.

"Give me a minute," said Michael, waiting for Gaya and Elidyr to disappear. A golden light flashed across the room. The light quickly disappeared along with Gaya and Elidyr, leaving Michael and Nightmare behind.

Michael heaved a sigh of relief. Before leaving MAzeroth for good, he wanted to say goodbye to Ruby. Even though he only knew Ruby for a few days, she was nothing but a good friend to him. He was still determining when or if he would meet Ruby again. So Michael wanted to talk to Ruby one last time. Of course, Michael wouldn't say he was leaving Mazeroth.

But when Michael opened his door, he was startled. His eyes of darkness revealed Ruby's real face. The one Michael saw standing outside was Rowena. There was no doubt in his mind. He saw her portraits in Winston manor too many times to be mistaken.

Michael was speechless. He had no idea he was being a good friend to Rowena Winston, the Holy Freakin Maiden of the Skyhall. Even with the upgraded Environmental Scanning, he was unable to sense her cultivation stage before opening the door. Now that he had seen her with his eyes, he was able to see a cultivation stage, Fusion Stage level 4.

The gentle smile on Ruby's face faded away. She sensed an energy fluctuation in the room as though someone had teleported away. Furthermore, Ghost looked agitated.

To Michael's surprise, Ruby sighed and stepped into his room. Unlike everyone in Mazeroth, Rowena knew Professor Steinmeyer was not what she claimed to be. Rowena had seen through her disguise the moment she saw her with Ghost in Lane's office. The only reason Rowena didn't throw her in prison was that she was with Ghost and seemed to care about him. Rowena did not want to repay the kindness Ghost showed her family by hurting his close one. Regardless, she would have asked the one pretending to be Steinmeyer to leave Mazeroth and never return.

Connecting Ghost's agitated face with the energy distortion in the room, Rowena guessed the fake professor might have left Mazeroth. The question was how did she leave Mazeroth?

Although Michael learned Ruby's real identity, he didn't act weird. Instead, he pretended to know nothing about her.

"I thought you went to the arena," said Michael.

"I was there. But I had a feeling you might be in trouble," said Rowena. To be honest, it wasn't a lie. Rowena really did feel Ghost was in trouble when she was in the arena. It was the same time as Wulfric met him. After hearing some students speak about Wulfric's surprise visit to the house of Alchemists, Rowena really thought Wulfric had caught Ghost helping the one who was pretending to be a professor.

If that was the case, Rowena would have used her status as the Holy Maiden to help him and settle her debts to the Ghost once and for all. As far as she was concerned, Ghost saved four people in her family, Andrews, Sabrina, her mother, and her father. That was four lives. So Rowena owed Ghost four times. By saving Ghost with the Cold flames, she repaid him once. By not exposing Professor Steinmeyer and thus getting Ghost into trouble, she repaid him for the second time. In other words, she owes him twice.

"You felt wrong. I am doing fine," said Michael.

He noticed Rowena slowly walking toward the center of the room where Elidyr created the teleportation array. His heartbeat slowly increased. Alerting Rowena was equal to alerting the entire Skyhall. Suppose Rowena knew about his identity too, like Wulfric, he was good as royally screwed. At that time, he would have no choice but to put plan F into action.

"Is that so?" Rowena stood where Elidyr and Gaya were a moment ago. Nightmare stared at Rowena without blinking an eye. Unlike Michael, Nightmare didn't know Ruby was Rowena.  But, Nightmare was not stupid either. The way Rowena looked around the room and the way she tapped the floor irked him. Something was definitely wrong, Nightmare knew it.

"It seems right," said Rowena. She also stepped away from the array.

"Anyways, are you coming to the arena?" asked Rowena.

"I will try,"

"You have something to do?"

Michael smiled. Although Michael felt like she sensed the array, she didn't recognize him as the Dark Lord. Otherwise, she would have reacted differently unless she has put together another trap. Either way, Michael didn't want to stay in Mazeroth anymore. Too many risks.

Getting no response from Ghost, Rowena understood he had something personal to deal with. She respected that. Therefore, she made her way out of the room.

"I will see you soon then," Rowena said after stepping out of his room. She nodded at Michael. After giving him a gentle smile, she walked away.

"Phew," Michael deeply exhaled.

Without wasting time, Michael shut the door. He grabbed Nightmare and walked toward the array.

"The moment we get out, destroy the array without a trace," Michael ordered the system. He looked at his room and couldn't help feeling a bit of sorrow.

If he was a normal guy, he could have cherished this MAzeroth life like the others have. Being the Dark Lord caused him to lose so many things in life. The only way to fix everything was to destroy the Skyhall once and for all. Now that he had spent some time with Rowena, going against her made his heart heavy. She may have pretended to be Ruby, but his instincts told him she didn't have any ill intention toward him. She was genuine. Besides, she could have left him to die in Lane's office. Instead, she saved him.

Michael simply couldn't understand Rowena. But, for now, understanding Rowena wasn't on his to-do list.

"Where are we going?" asked Nightmare.

"To the treacherous ocean," said Michael. That was just a pit stop before finally venturing into his nemesis's homeland, Thusia. It was time for the Thusians to pay for what they did to him.