Hitman with a Badass System

Michael flew slower than before. Instead, he took his sweet time. With Gaya beside him, even the treacherous ocean looked pretty and soothing to him. After flying for almost six hours nonstop, Michael found a hill. He made his way to the hill and sat on the edge with Gaya. Nightmare sat between them after shrinking his size to the size of a puppy. The white mist blanketed the island before them. Occasionally, several hills and towers peeked through the fog. Everything was dead silent. The night sky slowly turned gray, signifying the sunrise. Looking at the gloomy treacherous ocean, Gaya rested her head on Michael's shoulder. He wrapped his hand around her, pulling her closer to him.

"I wish the rest of our lives would be like this. Peaceful," Gaya sighed.

"It will be. I promise. When I am done, there will be nothing but peace in this world," said Michael.

"I wish Vedora were here," said Nightmare.

"Me too," Gaya nodded.

"What are we gonna do after all this?" asked Gaya.

"Decimating Thusia and finding your mother," Michael said. He was nonchalant.

"You still haven't answered my question? Are you going to join the Council of Immortals?"

Michael looked at the distant horizon. His eyes glimmered with deep thought. Finally, Michael deeply exhaled.

"No," Michael slowly shook his head.

"One, I don't need their resources to break through to the next level. Second, they have too many rules. I don't follow the rules. I set them," said Michael. As Michael explained, the Council of Immortals had several strict rules. Each of the members must obey the rules once they have agreed to join the council.

When a cultivator reaches the Half Immortal stage, the Council would formally invite them through a representative of the council. Nine out of ten cultivators would immediately join them because after reaching the Half Immortal stage, typical cultivation resources wouldn't be much of a use. Without the Council's resources, they wouldn't be able to achieve a breakthrough to the next level. However, once they had agreed to join the council, they would be forbidden to meddle with mortal affairs. In other words, even if their family gets destroyed by a rival family, they have no right to seek revenge.

Many Immortals and Half immortals spent their time in seclusion as they would lose track of time. As a result, many would lose their connection with their descendants and familial bonds. Michael didn't have any plans to join the council, even if they had no strict rules. But the Council of Immortals worked in Michael's favor. While Michael was destroying his foes, they would fight among themselves about whether they should take action against him or not. They were basically politicians with their own needs. Michael knew he could sway some Immortals to his side with bribes, bribes bought from the system.

His next goal was to become powerful enough to destroy the Council of Immortals if he needed to.

"Just find me energy sources like this," said Gaya.

Michael almost coughed up blood, hearing her. Even Gaya began to laugh. She was fortunate to find such a miraculous energy source. Suppose they auctioned the energy source. It would have easily made them billions.

"I've already found one," said Michael.

"The Cosmic stream?"

Michael nodded.

"I'll take back what's mine. If I can't, I will destroy it," His voice became cold.

"Now that you've warned them you're coming for them, they will try to strike you down when you start your heavenly tribulation. We need a safe place," said Gaya.

According to the system, he would be most vulnerable during the tribulation. Obviously, the system would go offline. Furthermore, Michael himself would enter into a kind of trance state. His mind, body, and soul had to be changed from the molecular level. Only then, could he step onto godhood. The system calculated it would take five days for Michael to complete. During the five days, his safety depended on his subordinates. Initially, Michael planned to start the tribulation in a secluded place without telling anyone. However, Gaya said that the heavenly tribulation would create enough commotion and disturb nature itself to attract every single organization in the world to reach him.

Most of them would be curious to see who was entering the Half Immortal stage, while some might use that as a perfect opportunity to strike him down.

Fortunately, Michael had several allies to protect him. The Kane family, Aragoth, Kingdom of Royal Land, Malan Family, and SilverMoon sect. He would call upon them all to protect him during the heavenly tribulation. In exchange for their protection, Michael would destroy their enemies once and for all.

There was only one problem with calling out his allies. If by some means his identity got exposed, his allies would pay a hefty price for supporting the Dark Lord.

"We still have no idea how many rogue Half immortals the Guardian Guild has?" asked Michael. Rogue ones were cultivators who chose not to join the Council. Just like Michael, they had their own plans. Especially, a powerful organization such as the Guardians had rogue ones to protect themselves in case someone like Michael chose to attack them. Usually, these rogues would cultivate in the Cold Mountains. Their organization would provide them with the resources instead of the Council.

Every organization had these rogues but kept the information sealed. These rogues were usually several hundred years old or more.

"They keep that as a secret. But we might be able to get something from the elf," said Gaya. By elf, she meant Lord Information. Michael doubted Lord Information could have that information, but it wouldn't hurt to try. After spending some time in peace, Michael stood up. Once again, they resumed the journey toward the artifact. On their way, they met several mutated beings in the sky. Gaya took care of them in a few seconds with new vigor.

Even the Fusion Stage beasts didn't stand a chance against Gaya. Eventually, the trio reached a forest. The forest was far-reaching, impenetrable, and ancient. Its canopy was contested by larch, spruce, and elm, which gave just enough light a chance to descend for a collection of herbs to use the moist and fertile bottom layer below. Thin branches embraced many trees, and various flowers, which desperately tried to claim the last remnants of light, caught attention in the otherwise unvarying scenery. A mishmash of noises, predominantly those of critters, reverberated through the air and added to the sounds of occasional sounds of breaking twigs beneath the feet of Michael, Gaya, and Nightmare.

Fearing they might miss the artifact if they flew above the forest, they chose to walk through the thicket. Michael sensed the artifact getting closer and closer to him. He wondered what this artifact that would make him break any curses was. Once he gets this artifact, he could break not only Eve's curse but also Claire's grandfather's too. Additionally, Michael planned to find more information about Claire's mother.

Michael walked through the thicket until he saw an abandoned cabin. Nature had long claimed the cabin to itself. The small cabin was completely riddled with veins, roots, and a thick green blanket. To an oblivious man, it was just a cabin. Gaya couldn't sense any energy radiation from the cabin at all. Even Nightmare, who perceived the world with a different view, couldn't tell there was a powerful magical artifact inside.

To Michael's surprise, there were no traps or arrays around the cabin.

"There it is," said Michael. The trio slowly headed toward the cabin. The cabin door slowly creaked open. Gaya conjured a ball of fire to light the cabin. The cabin was just as gloomy and abandoned inside as it was on the outside. It was empty with no furniture. The wooden cabin creaked with every step Michael took forward. Michael looked around. He sensed the artifact in the cabin, but he couldn't see it with his eyes.

"Michael," Gaya called out for Michael. As far as she could tell, there was nothing in the cabin.

Before uttering a word, Michael activated his Xray eyes. He searched for a heat signature in the room. As Michael expected, something glowed on one of the walls. It took Michael a couple of steps to reach the wall. Michael saw a rune glowing with his X Ray eyes. He wasn't an expert in runes. So Michael decided to order the system to break the rune.

"System, break this," ordered Michael.

Surprisingly, the system only asked for ten thousand badass points. It already took enough to locate the artifact.

The moment he willed the system, Michael sensed another being appearing in the cabin.

"Look out!" Gaya quickly warned Nightmare. The bow and arrow materialized in her hand in a blink of an eye. When Michael slowly turned around, he saw a ghostly figure of an elf floating in the middle of a room. Just like any other elf, the man had pointy ears and golden hair and wore azure robes.

He looked at Michael with a strange look in his eyes.

"You're not the chosen one," said the elf.

Michael remained calm. After a while, a grin emerged on his face.

"Well, I am the one who's here," said Michael.

"Who are you?" asked Gaya.

"Leave," Instead of answering Gaya, the elf answered with killing intent. His voice sounded loud and threatening.

"Funny, I was about to say that," Michael calmly said. He started to walk around the elf with his hands behind his back.

"I don't give a damn about the chosen one. I am here to take what's mine,"

"Yours?" The elf's ghostly face twitched. His eyes glimmered with fury.

"I created the staff. You have no right to it," the elf snarled.

"Oh I am scared," Michael ridiculed the elf,

"You're just a soul piece. In a few minutes, your protective runes will be destroyed, and I will get your staff," said Michael. For a moment, the elf didn't respond to his words as he was too furious.

"Don't worry. I am going to do you a favor. It's going to sound villainous, but I will absorb you. So you and your staff kinda belong to me now"