Hitman with a Badass System

Booth joined Victoria at the war table, where they planned to fend off Ghost and his army. At that moment, the minister of defense and minister of finance accompanied Booth and Victoria. The minister of defense was an old man in his late seventies. He had a long white beard and short hair. His eyes glimmered with wisdom and power. No one would guess the old man's real age because of his sturdy, muscular body. He belonged to one of the proud families in Thusia, Harstone.

"Minster Terrance," Booth greeted the old man with a nod.

"Duke," Terrance responded with a nod.

Contrary to Terrance, the minister of finance was a tall, fat man in his late or early forties. His long blue hair had few strands of white while vigor glistened in his blue eyes.

"Minister Gordan," Booth nodded at the blue-haired man with a slight smile. Just like Terrance Harstone, he hailed from a prominent noble family in Thusia. In fact, Gordon was a close relation to King Maxim. He was the uncle of King Maxim Barnes himself and Calvin Howard's father.

"How is Calvin nowadays?" asked Booth.

After learning that Ghost was Abras, King Maxim Barnes suspended Calvin from all of his minstrel duties indefinitely. King Maxim Barnes blamed Calvin for not doing proper research on Ghost. Instead, Calvin offered the position of Thusian Alchemy Guild leader to Ghost. Maxim Barnes was furious that they paid Ghost for almost six months without knowing his real identity and intention. Usually, Maxim Barnes would have sent Calvin to the gallows, but he spared his life because of Gordan. Even Calvin's own family blamed him for his incompetence. Although he was on suspension, they all knew it was highly unlikely that Calvin would return to his post again.

"A mess," Gordon replied with a cold look in his eyes. He showed no empathy for his son. Calvin almost brought a snake into their home, and Gordan couldn't forgive him for that.

"We can inquire about each other's well-being later," coldly said Victoria.

They all nodded, bringing their focus back to the map on the table.

"We have completely lost control of the Golden Port," said Victoria.

"General Booth, how many ships have we lost?" asked Victoria.

"Almost right hundred ships, give or take. My men are still coming up with the exact number. I'll have them on your table by tomorrow evening," said General Booth.

Minister Gordon gasped in shock. As a minister of finance, he knew how much it would cost them to rebuild the naval army, as well as the effects of losing the Golden Port.

"Minister Terrance. What's your plan to retake the Golden port?" asked Minister Gordon.

"Taking back the Golden Port isn't as simple as you think, Minister Gordon," Terrance said in his thick accent.

"The ships we can build, but we cannot recover the loss of two valuable generals. We lost General Hubert and Franklin. I don't have to tell you about their achievements and contribution to this great nation,"

"I respect and mourn their deaths, but what's your point, Minister Terrance? Without the Golden Port, the survivability of our citizens through the winter has hit an all-time low. We have to take back the Golden Port,"

Terrance sighed.

"I understand your concern and know how important the Golden Port is to Thusia. But taking it back costs us an immense amount of resources which we cannot afford to lose now," Terrance moved the figurines of soldiers from Diamond Valley to the Golden Port on the map.

"First, if we want to take back the Golden Port, we have to take the troops from Diamond valley and send them to the Golden Port. Judging by our enemies' nature, they expect us to do just that so they can take over Diamond valley without breaking a sweat. Second, even if we send the troops to the Golden Port, the terrain is unsuitable for large-scale battles. We need a naval army which we don't have anymore. The enemies have almost thrice the number of our ships after stealing most of our ships," explained Terrance.

"Finally, even if we have an army and suitable terrain, they cannot win against a Half Immortal. I still have no idea why Ghost was taking his time instead of going all in,"

"He wants me to suffer," answered Victoria.

"He wants me to feel helpless. When I met him in the Akilan realm, he told me he would destroy everything father and I built brick by brick. That's why he allied himself with our enemies and is attacking our cities one by one,"

Silence fell over them. The three of them didn't show any signs of anger on their faces but burned with rage inside. They all adored and almost worshiped King Barnes. Therefore, they couldn't see anyone hurting him or his family. It took a great effort for Booth to stand still instead of venting his anger on Ghost's child.

"To turn the tides of this war, we have to take Ghost out of the picture. Without him in the front, his army would fall apart. We can pick them one by one once and for all afterward," said Terrance. The thusians were prepared to fight many Fusion stage cultivators but not a single Half Immortal. By reaching the Half Immortal stage, Michael completely caught them off guard. If Michael was not a Half Immortal, Thusians would have destroyed Michael and his army no matter the size of it.

"So it's a good thing you have me," Suddenly, they heard a calm voice reverberate in the room. The room trembled a bit. Booth felt the space around him distort for a moment. A small orb of light appeared a couple of meters away from the table. Soon, the light transformed into a dashing elf. Anyone would be mesmerized by the elf when they see him for the first time. The elf had a perfect jaw structure, flawless, smooth skin, and icy blue eyes. His golden hair added an extra layer of charm to him.

The elf wore a  set of armor mimicking the appearance of a dragon. The shoulders are oval, long, and enormous. They were decorated with hundreds of small leather pieces, imitating the scales of reptiles.

His arms were protected by chainmail rerebraces which sat well under the shoulder plates. The lower arms were covered by vambraces which had a layer of chainmail covering the outer sides. The armor's breastplate section was made from many horizontal layers of leather and fur with pointed edges and decoration pieces. It covered everything from the neck down, ending at the groin.

He gracefully walked toward the four. Everyone was able to feel the intense power radiating from the elf. Gordon's jaw dropped a couple of inches when he sensed the elf's cultivation, Half Immortal stage level 5.

"I heard you have a Ghost problem. Yours truly is here to exorcize that Ghost back to the hell he came from," The elf said with a playful tone. It was obvious the elf wasn't taking Ghost seriously.

"General Booth, Ministers," Victoria's gaze swept across the trio.

"This is Lord Neldor. He's here to help us on behalf of the Guardian Guild," Victoria introduced the elf to everyone in the room.

"You got quite the pull to make the board put a high priority mark on Ghost. I am impressed," Neldor praised Victoria.

"The sooner you tell me where Ghost is, the sooner I can get rid of him and go back to my castle," said Neldor.

"King Gunner's castle in Egerton, Suven," said Terrance.

"Wonderful. Should I bring his head, or do you have anything specific in mind? This would be a good time for any requests,"

"Just make him suffer for what he did to my soldiers and people," Victoria growled.

With a simple nod, Neldor disappeared from the room as fast as he appeared. Gordon exhaled deeply. He felt like he was being crushed by an invisible mountain when Neldor was in the room. After the elf teleported out of the thusian castle, the trio continued their battle plans. They didn't completely depend on Neldor to take care of Ghost.

"How long till his majesty comes out of his seclusion?" asked General Booth.

"Three more days. I will be with him for the next three days. General booth, please take care of the security. I don't want anything to go wrong during father's heavenly tribulation,"

"I will guard the two of you with my life, your royal highness," said Booth.

"During my absence, guard our cities as much as you can. If everything goes according to the plan, Neldor will take care of Ghost, and everything will go back to the way it was. Otherwise, we have to defend our kingdom till my father comes out of his seclusion,"

The three of them agreed with Victoria with a bow. Although Booth had a backup plan to deal with Ghost in the form of the spirit child, he chose not to share it with Victoria.  He didn't want Victoria's soft spot for Edith to come in the way of his plan. If everything fails, the spirit child might be the only way to stop Ghost.

While they were discussing their defense plan, they heard someone knocking on the door repeatedly.

"Who is there?" Booth asked with a tinge of coldness in his voice.

"Your royal highness, I have an urgent report," the soldier outside the door exclaimed. Judging by the soldier's tone, Victoria had a feeling something bad had happened.

"Enter," said Victoria.

After hearing her order, a soldier entered the room. His face was pale and drenched with sweat. He breathed heavily as though he was running for miles.

"Your roya-"

"Skip the pleasantries and tell us what happened," said Victoria, preventing the soldier from addressing them with honorifics.

"Something is attacking our soldiers stationed at the Diamond valley,"

Victoria and Booth creased their brows.

"What do you mean by something?" asked Booth.

"We didn't see it clearly, your grace. Please, send backup to the Diamond valley," the soldier pleaded to Victoria.

She quickly turned her gaze toward Terrance.

"Minister Terrance, send a group of soldiers immediately to the diamond valley. Before I depart to my father's place, I want to know the full story of what's happening in the diamond valley,"