Mutrad noticed the guardians jumping down from the ship to evacuate everyone in Valeria.

He couldn't care less of the people. The only reason he was here was to capture the dark lord or at least get a good look at the dark lord with his own two eyes. After hearing from his elders how powerful the dark lord was when he attacked Ghost in Royal land, Murad doubted he could stand a chance against the dark lord.

Unless his elders bring in the ancestors who have been cultivating in seclusion for centuries, no one he knew could stop the Dark Lord. Compared to the Dark Lord, all the other threats seemed childish in his eyes.

"We have no time, people. Bring everyone you can to the ships before he arrives," Xanali's dominant voice echoed through the air. Until she saves the people of thusia, she chose to forget about apprehending Gaya.

After Xanali stopped barking orders, everything became deathly silent. This was an eerie silence. The calm before the literal storm. A sudden thunderclap cut through the silence. The sky kept rumbling. Mutrad slowly turned around. He noticed the horizon turning darker and darker. Icy blue lightning struck across the sky, forming a bright web of light in the otherwise dark sky.

Even from a mile away, Mutrad could feel the intensity of the approaching storm. The snowfall stopped as though it was terrified of what was coming. The howling wind gradually sounded louder and louder. It brought enough force to make the ships tremble.

Murad had never seen or experienced such an intense storm before. It was early in the morning, yet no one would believe that. The darkness made the day look like night. The storm slowly approached them. The trees leaned to a side, almost getting uprooted by the wind. Even Mutrad had to hold onto the ship's rail to prevent himself from losing balance.

The gentle light peeked through the winter clouds slowly disappeared. Instead, darkness occupied the sky. Everyone, including Mutrad, thought the storm created this darkness. However, it was the darkness that created this storm. When the God of Darkness was furious, nature itself suffered his anger.

Only a few minutes later did Mutrad notice a figure beneath the storm clouds. He was surrounded by crackling golden lightning bolts. His hair stood up due to the electricity in the air. As seconds passed by, it became harder to keep the ships steady. The wind was too powerful.

"He is here!" Xanali shouted. All the guardians and Mutrad saw Ghost surrounded by crackling lightning bolts. He was literally bringing a storm to the Thusians. When Ghost flew past the grass field around Valeria, his speed uprooted the trees on his way. The trees flew chaotically in the air like paper birds. If the storm was not bad enough, many lightning struck the ground. Mutrad noticed the trees that survived the wind turned into ashes when lightning struck them. All the elements wreaked havoc in Valeria. The captain of Mutrad's ship turned the rudder using all his might. He finally managed to move the ship away from Ghost's path.

Mutrad kept his hand in front of his eyes to stop the dust from getting into his eyes. The closer Ghost got to them, the more violent the wind became. He only got a glimpse of Ghost before he flew past Mutrad's ship. Mutrad's ship barely managed to avoid him.

Something trickled down Mutrad's cheek. He whipped it off and brought his hand before his eyes,

"Blood?" Mutrad didn't think the blood came from his face. He closed his eyes for a moment, replaying the image of Ghost flying past him. His mind vaguely remembered a body in Ghost's hand. He realized the blood must have come from the body.

Within the castle, Lailah saw Ghost getting closer to the castle. Booth shielded Queen Valeria with his body as the royal guards surrounded the castle to fight Ghost. Xanali, on the other hand, leaped to Mutrad's ship,

"Aren't you going to help them?" asked Xanali.

"It's not my duty to meddle in a war between the kingdoms," Mutrad shrugged.

"So you're going to stand here and do nothing? Then why did you come here?" Xxnali looked furious.

"That's what I am exactly going to do," Mutrad calmly said. He didn't give a damn about this war, especially when the thusians started it.

"There are countless people who are worse than the Dark Lord. But you need him to be the hero," Xanali's words made Mutrad frown. She stood on the edge of the ship and turned her head slightly.

"A true hero is one who chooses to save lives than fight his foe," said Xanali before diving down.

At that moment, Edith and Noah appeared in the sky behind Booth's castle. The moment Noah arrived at Valeria, he was greeted by the approaching storm. He immediately raised his hand as a wave of light swept across the land, including the two castles.

"There," Noah pointed at the smaller castle behind Booth's castle. He and Edith rushed toward the castle. Many soldiers of Booth ascended to the sky to form a human shield around the castle. Mages began to cast barrier spells as a giant glowing dome appeared around the two castles.

They hoped the energy shield would slow down Ghost. They were all ordered to keep Ghost busy for a few hours until their King finished his heavenly tribulation. Everyone hoped the heavenly tribulation would last for five days, like Ghost's heavenly tribulation.

The golden barrier glistened in the darkness. A couple of Fusion stage warriors hovered behind the barrier to fight Ghost. Although they knew they don't stand a chance against Ghost, they still obeyed General Booth's orders. They were soldiers, and it was their duty to follow their generals no matter the outcome.

When Michael was just fifty or so meters away from the barrier, dark beams shot out of his eyes and struck the barrier. The barrier itself trembled as several cracks formed around the point where Michael's dark beams hit it. Soon, the barrier shattered, creating a meter-radius hole in it.

Lailah stepped aside from the windows, looking at something soaring through the air. The window shattered as something landed on the floor with a loud thud.

"ARGH!" Queen Valeria shouted. They all saw two bodies flayed off their skin, lying on the ground. One body had the name 'Austin' and the other had 'Zakari' engraved and burnt in their chest. Booth had spent decades with Austin and Zakari. But at that moment, she couldn't recognize either of them.

Lailah was stunned by how ruthlessly Ghost killed them. As a healer, she could tell they were flayed alive. She never expected Ghost was capable of such violence and brutality.

"Booth!" A thunderous roar shook the entire castle. The soldiers trembled. Michael's gaze was fixed on the castle. Using his X-ray vision, he could see everyone in the room. He was furious beyond words. Before killing Austin and Zakari, he learned it was none other than Booth who ordered them to kidnap the spirit child as a safety measure. The two generals managed to keep Booth's location a secret until Michael began to flay their skin off alive. Pity they didn't know the location where Booth is keeping the child. But Michael planned to extract the information from Booth one way or another.

Seeing no one coming out of the castle, Michael clenched his fist. Immediately, golden bolts of lightning covered his fist. They crackled around his hand like buzzing bees. The mages poured their energy into their spells, strengthening the barrier. The hole created by Michael's eyes of doom slowly closed up.

Michael raised both his hands toward the barrier as a lightning bolt shot out from each hand. The moment the lightning bolts hit the barrier, the barrier trembled. Ripples appeared in the barrier.

"If I come there, I will kill everyone inside," Michael threatened Booth.

The mages sweated uncontrollably. All of them shivered, trying to keep the barrier intact. However, the barrier slowly lost its glow. Many cracks appeared in the barrier. His eyes slowly turned black before the dark beams shot out of his eyes. He used Igntiia and Eyes of Doom simultaneously. Instead of focusing the beams on where the lightning bolts hit, Michael armies the beams at one of the mages. Since the Dark flames strengthened Eyes of Doom, it penetrated the golden barrier faster than the lightning bolts.

"Grrgh," A mage coughed up blood. He looked down to see the dark beams penetrating through his chest. He fell down from the sky dead. Another mage fell down from the sky with a hole in his chest. Michael's beam cut through the golden barrier and killed several mages.

Ultimately, the barrier flickered as the lightning bolts shattered the shield. Michael was about to enter the castle through the broken window when Booth decided to show himself.

Finally, Michael and Booth met each other after almost two years. The last time they met, Booth almost beat Abras to death. However, when the two of them fought, Abras was mortally injured. It wasn't a fair fight, just like now.

The dark beams and the crackling lightning bolts disappeared from Michael's body. Silence once again enveloped the place. Only the howling wind dared to raise a sound.

"Where is the child?" asked Michael.

A devilish grin emerged on Booth's face.

"Believe me when I say this, if you harm a single hair of anyone in the royal family, you won't find the child ever," said Booth. Noah watched their interaction from the ground. He was helping Xanali evacuate the people.

Suddenly, Michael disappeared from Booth's sight. The soldiers were startled by Ghost's sudden disappearance. To Booth's shock, he appeared once again with Queen Valeria in his hand. Booth was stunned.

"You will die whether you tell me where the child is or not," Michael squeezed Valeria's neck as her feet frantically squirmed.

"The question is, are you willing to let her die?" asked Michael.

Looking at Michael squeezing the life out of Valeria, Edith tried to fly toward him, but Noah stopped her. He listened to the conversation between Ghost and Booth and concluded that Booth was the one who took the child. Noah wanted to stop Ghost, but Andreas had other plans. Andreas wasn't willing to let Noah fight Ghost and die before they could confirm for sure that Ghost is the Dark Lord. Even if they confirmed it, Noah wasn't strong enough to fight him. Deep down, Andreas wanted Ghost to kill Valeria because he wanted Noah to see what he's capable of. Unless Noah truly believed that the Dark Lord is an evil that must be uprooted, he wouldn't have the resolve to defeat him.