Hitman with a Badass System

Ricky slid the dagger toward Edmond.

"You have two choices. You can take the dagger and kill yourself. If you do that, we will leave your family alone. Your brother will take over the family. He is not as stupid as you. Your family will continue to live and even prosper under his leadership. Your family will mourn your death every year, and you'll go as the greatest leader of the Wright family," said Ricky. Edmond shivered, yet no words came out of his mouth. Each black robe figure had a murderous glimmer in their eyes under the cloak.

"Or, you can take the dagger and try to fight for your life. In that case, we will kill you and slaughter the strongest in your family. Your family and women will be vulnerable. Your allies will turn into rivals. They will come to pick the flesh off the bones. Your women will be ravished and sold to the slave traders. Your kids will be orphans and forced to beg for a scrap of food. You will go down in history as the last leader of the Wright family," Ricky slowly said.

"You have five seconds to make your choice," Ricky leaned back on his chair. Edmond stared back and forth between the dagger and Ricky.

"One…"

"Two…"

Ricky began counting. Edmond slowly picked up the dagger. He had to make a choice for the sake of his family. At that moment, Edmond regretted everything. If he could travel back in time, he would slap the hell out of the person who roped him into going against the Bradley family.

There was no fighting against the young man and the dark-robed figures around him. He was at the Core Formation stage, while each black-robed figure was at the Soul Refining stage. Any one of them could kill him without breaking a sweat. This group could indeed slaughter all the strongest men in his family. Judging by the young man's look, Edmond could tell he wasn't kidding.

"Three…"

"Four…"

Edmond placed the dagger against his throat. Tears rolled out of his eyes. He didn't beg for mercy as he wanted to die with the dignity of a leader. Before Ricky could count to five, Edmond slashed his own throat. Blood splashed across the table. Edmond's body quivered violently for a few moments before finally coming to a halt. Edmond fell on his table with blood oozing out of his throat.

Ricky took a dark cloth from his pockets, wiping off the drops of blood from his face.

"Good choice," said Ricky. He then looked over his shoulder at one of the blacked robes figures.

"Bring him in," said Ricky. The black robe figure exited the room and returned to the room with a red-haired man who shared some features with Edmond. He was none other than Edmond's younger brother, Norden. He didn't react like he saw his brother's body just now. On the contrary, Norden watched everything that had transpired, from Ricky's arrival to Edmond's suicide.

Ricky walked back to Normund, forcing him to sit on the chair he was sitting on a few moments ago. Ricky grabbed Norden's hair and made him watch Edmond's dead body.

"You know your brother is lucky. We gave him a choice. But you…" Ricky patted Norden's head a couple of times,

"You are not so much. If you fuck this up, we won't give you a choice but make everything that your brother didn't want happen," Norden's face lost its color. He shivered.

"And also, you serve the Dark Lord from now on. You want to serve the Dark Lord right?" asked Ricky. He slowly ran his finger across Norden's neck, pretending to cut his throat open. In utter fear, Norden bobbed his head up and down. His life was more important compared to the Guardian Guild's rule.

"Yes, I will serve the Dark Lord with every fiber in my body," Norden said.

"Good answer," Ricky patted Norden on the shoulder.

"I expect this amount of gold every month," Ruicky took out a scroll and handed it over to Norden.

"One of my men will come and pick it up," Ricky made his way toward the door, leaving Norden behind.

"And Norden," Before opening the door, Ricky looked over his shoulder at Norden,

"We'll be watching you. So no funny business with the Guardian Guild," Ricky said and left the room. After leaving the Wright family compound, Ricky flew straight to Aragoth. He dismissed Aria's assassins as he wanted to be alone. Aragoth was located amidst the captivating mountain chain. Lush forests, misty cliffs, and majestic waterfalls were just a glimmer of beauty that Aragoth had to offer. Under the sparkling blue moon in the dark sky, Aragoth academy buzzed with life. Ricky landed on a tall mountain cliff from where he could watch a three-story building. The building's top floor was roofless.  When Ricky landed on the mountain cliff, several runes glowed for a few moments before dating away on the ground. Elidyr's runes deactivated the defense runes so no one would be alerted of Ricky's presence.

After Michael announced himself as the Dark Lord, almost every sect, academy, noble family, and organization enhanced their defenses with the help of the Guardian Guild. It forced Elidyr to form his own group of runemasters to actively work on deactivating these runes. Even though Elidyr was a 6-star Runemaster, it was difficult for him to face dozens of 6-star runemasters of the great eight clans.

Under the moonlight, Ricky saw Olivia meditating on the third floor. His heart ached to see his love of life alone. He was so close to marrying her when he had to choose between Olivia and the Dark Lord. As much as he loved Olivia, he knew that he was nothing without Ghost. Ricky's loyalty outweighed his love for Olivia.

Ricky sat on the mountain cliff, looking at Olivia from a safe distance. Olivia opened her eyes as though she had sensed someone watching her. She looked left and right, but Ricky was far away from her eyes could see. Plus, Ricky blended perfectly with the darkness thanks to his dark armor.

"Come with me Olivia…"

"To where? Ricky, please listen to me. If you go with him, they will hunt you down for the rest of your life…"

"He will take care of us Olivia, just as he always does,"

"He deceived us, Ricky. Don't you see that?"

"Stay with me, Ricky. We are supposed to stay together…"

"We will. Just come with me to the Southern continent. The portal is about to open…please…"

"Loyalty or love…you can't have both Ricky…"

"Don't make me choose, Olivia…"

The memories of Ricky's last conversation with Olivia flashed across his mind. He remembered everything vividly. Even if Ricky was sent back in time, he would make the same choice. Some days, he got mad at Olivia for making him choose between her and the Dark Lord. She was Ghost's disciple for a year. Ricky wondered what made Olivia believe what the GUardians were saying about the Dark Lord. if it wasn't for Ghost, she wouldn't have reached the five-star alchemist level. Her fame, talents, skills, and everything came from Ghost, yet Olivia threw everything away without a second thought.

Despite everything, Ricky still loved Olivia. Seeing her, his anger toward her faded away. He couldn't help but remember the good memories he had with her. It put a smile on Ricky's face.  He had seen countless beauties in the Southern continent and the army of the Dark Lord, yet no one replaced Olivia's place in Ricky's heart. His whole family nagged him to marry someone else, but Ricky outright refused to even think about another girl. Ricky's deep love for Olivia and sadness in his heart put a knot in his cultivation path. Otherwise, he would have hit the Fusion stage like most of the Dark Lord's subordinates.

Ricky watched Olivia talking to a few nobles. After the Guardians shut down the majestic chains, they tried to recruit Olivia to produce potions and pills for them. However, Olivia refused to play any role in the war between the Dark Lord and the Guardian Guild. Even if she joined the Guardians, Ricky didn't think the Dark Lord would mind. He was at a point where he didn't need a potion or pill. A hall filled with arrays and contraptions refined pills and potions for the Dark Lord's army instead of alchemists.

Olivia was about to leave the building when she turned around. She still had the feeling that someone was watching her. Seeing Oliva's reluctance to leave the building, Ricky stood up. He knew it was time for him to leave. He would be in trouble with the Dark Queen if someone found him. He took a deep breath, standing up.

"Goodbye, Olivia," Ricky had a smile filled with pain and grief. He slowly ascended to the sky before disappearing into the clouds. After leaving the mountain, Ricky headed for the secret portal connecting Elon continent to the Southern continent. Only those who were close to the Dark Lord knew the existence of these portals. These portals were the reason why Ricky and the Dark Lord's people could travel between the Dark ocean and other continents without alerting the guardians.

"Ricky," While Ricky was flying toward the forest near the river town, he heard Daniel's voice in his head.

"Where are you? Are you alright?" asked Daniel.

"Yeah. I am on my way to the portal. Something happened?" asked Ricky.

"Damn it, Ricky. Did you forget? The Dark Lord will return to the castle soon. We need to finish things up here,"

"Shit, I almost forgot," Ricky smacked himself on the head.

"Are you at Aragoth again?"

Ricky was startled by Daniel's sudden question.

"No," Ricky refused.

"You know Azazel can see you wherever you are, right?"

Ricky did not respond as he knew Daniel was right.

"Don't get into trouble, Ricky. Come here as fast as you can," said Daniel.

"Hmm," Ricky hastened his pace. It had been a year since they saw the Dark Lord. According to Azazel, he would return to the castle soon. Therefore, the entire castle and all of the subordinates were under pressure to meet the Dark Lord after such a long time.