After Gaya met with the vampires, she teleported herself back to the dark forest, where she met Michael. He remained in the pocket dimension working with Elidyr. Nightmare and Vedora slept by the waterfall peacefully. When she entered the place, she saw Michael staring at a map.

"What are you looking at?" asked Gaya. She slowly removed her black skull mask and put it on the table.

"One of my armor pieces," Michael pointed at a small island in the Southern continent. He used two hundred thousand badass points to find out one of his armor pieces. This armor was crafted by the Dark Lord and sent to the future using a time machine. Michael had no idea how difficult this task was. All he knew was his past self did this by using the system.

"Are we going to get this before or after we destroy Thusia?" asked Gaya.

"After. I am heading to the capital at dawn," said Michael. He preferred to attack Thusia when there was no sunlight. The darkness would greatly increase his power. Not that Michael wanted any power boost to kill Victoria. However, Michael liked to be at his strongest.

"How was your meeting with the vampires?" asked Michael.

"Went as we planned. I just gave my word you'd be able to make Lenora's head talk before we completely heal her,"

"That's doable,"

"My lady, you finished off the Blood Prince?" asked Elidyr. Michael was surprised to see the glimmer of excitement in the dark elf's eyes. Judging by the look in his eyes, Michael could tell Elidyr had some kind of plan for the Blood Prince's body.

"It should be in the storage room with the dragon skeleton," said Gaya. Michael was too busy to assemble the dragon skeleton he teleported from the treacherous ocean. He needed additional hundred thousand badass points to assemble the skeleton. He wished he was able to teleport the Wise Dragon's skeleton too. It was a pity that the system absorbed its body to reveal Adelia's teleportation destination.

Still, Michael was confident he could make millions by auctioning the skeleton. According to Aria, the next big auction in the Awor continent would happen in three months. So Michael planned to auction the dragon then. Until then, it could stay in the store room.

"My lord, can I take a look at the Blood Prince's body?" asked Elidyr.

"You seem rather excited. What's the matter, and why do you want to see his body?" Michael asked Elidyr.

"I want to study such specimen, my lord,"

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"You talk like Dular. Normally, he was the one who messes with dead bodies,"

"True true," Elidyr nodded.

"But the Blood Prince's body is different. I might make use of his body to create some new runes,"

"You got me at new runes. Go crazy," Michael dismissed Elidyr. The elf almost ran away from the place full of excitement. It was extremely rare for Michael to see Elidyr this excited. After finding all the armor pieces, he hoped the elf could develop some powerful runes to enhance his armor.

"You should give me new armor. Now that I think about it, you haven't given me an engagement gift. Some fiance you are," Gaya rolled her eyes.

"Didn't I tell you I would get you your throne of Nagaland?"

"You're kidding me right? After we reveal our identities, do you think I can peacefully rule Nagaland as the queen? The skyhall and the guardians would be at my neck if i ever stepped into my own kingdom,"

Michael's brows arched up. It was such a simple thing, but he completely forgot about that. This was the reason Michael wanted to put an end to keeping two identities. His brain power diverged into too many things as he started to overlook the obvious things. Michael took a deep breath. Although he didn't utter a word, Gaya could tell how sorry he was by looking at his eyes. She smiled.

"You don't have to worry about that. I know you have so many things to deal with. It's okay," Gaya gently said.

The moment she said these words, Michael hated himself. She asked for one thing for him, but he failed to give her that. Michael calmed himself with a few deep breaths. Quickly, he remembered the floating mountain given to him by Eve's father.

"I am going to build you the best and baddest castle this world has ever seen and give it to you as my loving gift," Michael said, taking her arms into his. He slowly moved over the strand of hair on her face and felt her smooth, soft skin.

"You are the best thing that happened to me in this life," Michael meant these words with all of his heart. Little did he know that Gaya was the biggest and the main reason why the past Dark Lord chose to reset the entire universe. She was cursed and slowly dying. To be honest, The Dark Lord didn't think he could live and fight without his wife. The only way to save her was to travel back in time. Michael did that in a heartbeat. Fortunately, that fate had been avoided the moment Michael retrieved the curse-breaking artifact from the treacherous ocean.

"You better," Gaya ruffled Michael's hair playfully. As seconds passed by, Michael prepared for what could be his final battle as Ghost. He flicked his wrist as his usual black attire appeared on an armor stand. He touched the clothes, sighing. Finally, Michael put on his robes and sheathed a silver sword with several crimson-red engravings on it. This was the sword Saber gave him. With this sword, Michael possessed two Immortal killing weapons.

"I will come with you," said Gaya when he finished putting on his robes.

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"Before you say anything, let me remind you that Xanali knows who I am. You need backup,"

However, Michael shook his head.

"I can't afford you with me on the battlefield. Instead, I need you to go to the river town to ensure Eve and everyone's safety. I will take care of Xanali,"

"Don't play me for a fool, human. I know you are sending me away so no one could take me hostage and turn the table on you," Gaya snickered.

"You know how Maxim operates. I can't afford any fuck ups,"

Gaya sighed heavily. Judging by the look in his eyes, she knew there was no point in arguing with him. Hence, she agreed to go to the river town.

"But let's go meet Saber and his kind first," said Michael.

*********************************************

(A few hours earlier)

Xanali was granted entry into the capital by the mages. She entered Maxim's castle with the mages carrying Valeria and Booth's bodies. Victoria was talking to Terrance, Minister Gorden, and some prominent nobles in the kingdom. All the nobles had one thing in common among them; fear. They were afraid of Ghost. Many of the nobles had already left the kingdom via their personal ships. Those who remained in the kingdom were either ordered to stay by Victoria or were too loyal to Maxim Barnes.

Since Victoria didn't know about the death of her mother and Booth, she looked surprised to see Xanali. At first, Victoria thought Xanali was here to help the citizens. However, when she saw the mages carrying something covered in white cloth, her heart skipped a beat.

"Guardian Captain Xanali," Victoria greeted her as the mages placed the bodies on the ground.

"Princess Victoria" Xanali's voice trailed away. She was unable to form words.

"What is that?" Victoria's hands shivered. The mages avoided direct eye contact with Victoria. Meanwhile, the nobles surrounded them. Minister Terrance was the first one to approach the bodies. He squatted beside them and slowly lifted the cloth. Terrance creased his brows. He turned his gaze toward the mages without saying a word. He couldn't recognize the headless bodies.

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Before the mages could answer Terrance, Victoria sent a wave of wind with a flick of her wrist, removing the white clothes. Some of the nobles screamed. The headless bodies stunned everyone in the hall.

"Mother" Victoria mumbled. She needed no spells or runes to identify the body of her mother. Seeing Valeria like this, Victoria's mind couldn't handle it. As a result, Victoria fainted on the spot. Xanali was quick enough to catch Victoria.

"Your royal highness," the royal guards and Minister Gordne came running to Victoria's aid.

"Water," Xanali signaled the soldiers to bring her a glass of water. The soldiers quickly brought her a cup of water. Xanali gently sprinkled water on Victoria's face to wake her up.

Victoria slowly opened her eyes. Realizing she was in Xanali's hands, she pushed Xanali aside and got back to her feet. Her body trembled uncontrollably. Terrance and Gorden looked at the mages to see them nodding, wordlessly confirming it was Queen Valeria. No one could take their eyes off Victoria. She collapsed to her knees beside the body. She touched Valeria's pendant as tears gushed out of Victoria's eyes.

"I am so sorry, Princess Victoria," Xanali's voice stuttered. Since Xanali lost her best friend to the Dark Lord, she knew what Victoria was feeling deep down.

"Her death was sudden and quick. Queen Valeria felt nothing," said Xanali, although she knew nothing she could say would lessen Victoria's pain.

"Was it Ghost?" stuttered Victoria. Her voice contained unimaginable anger and pain behind it.

Xanali nodded. Everyone became silent. If anyone else had killed Queen Valeria, they would bark orders at the royal guards to bring back the killer's head. But the one who killed her was Ghost, a Half Immortal. Sending guards to him would be like sending sheep into a wolf's den.

Honestly, no one knew what to do next. Instead, they just stared at Victoria.

"General Booth? Did he suffer?" asked Victoria.

Xanali remained silent. Her silence spoke volumes, letting Victoria know the extent of pain Booth went through. Just the scars and wounds on his body were alone a clear indicator of how much he suffered at the hands of Ghost.

"When he arrives at the capital, everyone must stand down," said Victoria. Her face showed no emotion, as though she had lost her emotions.

"I will face him myself. I don't want any more deaths on my head for something I did,"

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"You royal-" Terrance tried to interject, but when Victoria turned her gaze toward him, he shut his mouth immediately. He felt a chill running down his spine. The murderous rage hidden within her eyes was terrifying. Just like Ghost had promised her, he had taken everything from her. The karma hit Victoria left and right. Everyone, including Victoria, knew what would be the outcome if she fought Ghost. Even Xanali didn't think she could stop the war between them anymore.