Michael looked up to see countless ships on the horizon. He focused on the person who was leading the ships. It was none other than Edith herself. Michael wasn't surprised. On the contrary, he was expecting her. Something deep down always told Michael when Victoria was about to lose her life, Edith or someone would appear to stop the inevitable. One would expect Michael to panic, but he remained calm. The main reason for his calmness was he didn't have to hide his secret anymore. He welcomed them with open arms. He had a surprise stored in for the guardians.

Looking at the ships, Michael slowly floated above. The guardians sent all their warships. Each ship was fitted with sixty to seventy cannons. All of them were enhanced with runes to kill even a Fusion stage cultivator. This was the first time Michael had seen a glimpse of the guild's true power. With this much firepower, they could easily decimate a kingdom in a few hours.

The closer Edith got to Michael, the clearer he saw the shock and anger in Edith's eyes. He was wondering where Edith went after rescuing the spirit child. In Michael's vengeful spree, he didn't even talk to Lailah or take a moment to see his spirit child.

To be honest, Michael wanted to have a few words with the child before he returned to the Southern continent. Michael doubted he would be able to talk to the child after he revealed himself as the Dark Lord.

"What have you done?" Edith stuttered. She couldn't believe her eyes. The entire city was reduced to ashes. Everywhere she looked, she saw nothing but ashes and fire. He kept his promise by burning Thusia to the ground. Instead of responding to her question, Michael flew back to Victoria and landed before the Cosmic stream. Hundreds of guardian soldiers armed to the teeth surrounded him in the air. Every single one of them was at the Fusion stage. The Guardians weren't playing. They showed their true power for the first time in a long time. The whole world believed only a handful of Fusion stage warriors existed in the world. However, the Guardians had an army of them.

Michael even saw several Half Immortals and Immortals in the air. He sighed inside and looked a bit down.

"Stand down, please," Edith pleaded to the guardians. Michael couldn't see any of their faces because they were all armored from head to toe. The ships floated quite a distance from Mciahel, unlike the armored guardians. It wouldn't be an understatement to say the sky was littered with an army. All of them were ordered to kill Ghost if what Edith said was true.

Michael detected some commotion among the soldiers. They all sensed the pure and powerful energy radiation from the Cosmic stream. If Michael was right, the elders in the ships were already trying to figure out the nature of this new energy.

"Vikki," Edith dashed at Victoria. Her heart skipped a beat seeing Victoria all battered and wounded. Furthermore, her father almost looked like a new person. It took Edith a few moments to recognize him. She embraced Victoria tightly before saying or doing anything.

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Their reunion gave Michael the needed time to put his plans in motion. With seconds turned to minutes, Edith's sorrow turned into pure rage. Victoria broke into tears as she buried her head in Edith's chest and sobbed without a break. The tears and sound of Victoria's sobbing fueled Edith's rage. She had never wished someone to die in a most horrific way, but she wanted that judgment to fall upon Ghost. He destroyed an entire kingdom because of his vengeance.

"You are the devil," Edith finally turned her gaze toward Michael.

"My offer will expire in a few minutes, Victoria," said Michael.

"I have an offer for you," Edith slowly said. Michael saw the naive girl speak with vengeful eyes for the first time. She looked like an entirely new person. He saw a glimpse of Lailah in Edith for a few moments. Unlike many others, Michael didn't think of Edith as a stupid, naive girl. In his mind, it was just a facade. She was scheming enough to brand him as the Dark Lord to the guardians.

"Kill yourself, mother fucker!" Edith screamed as a powerful shock wave brushed past Michael. The ships around Edith trembled. Furthermore, the stone walls of the broken castle exploded into pieces. Yet, Michael remained firmly on the ground. He didn't even move an inch. It could have blasted away any other person but not Michael.

"Go away, Edith. He will kill you too. I've seen enough death. Please, go away," Victoria begged Edith. Maxim Barnes couldn't move his lips. He almost lost consciousness.

"I am here to save you, Vikki. Don't worry about me. The guardians are here. I brought help. Today, I will take his life,"

Michael's laughter suddenly broke the silence. His devilish laughter echoed through the forest. This time, his laughter wasn't normal. It was thick, demonic, and otherworldly. The Guardian soldiers were stunned. A glimmer of surprise emerged in Edith's eyes.

Michael sensed several powerful figures watching him from the shadows. These figures tried to be sneaky instead of drawing Micahel's attention. The only surprise Michael received was the disappearance of Noah. He really wondered what the heck had happened to him. Honestly, Michael could not believe Noah didn't try to fight or stop him for once.

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For now, Michael paid no attention to Noah. He had bigger things to deal with.

Victoria looked around to see hundreds of soldiers in the air. Finally, a small light of hope lit in her heart. Michael was delighted to see that one small ray of hope in her eyes. Snuffing this light would be the last nail in Victoria's coffin.

Edith slowly raised her hand before snapping. Suddenly, the immortal killing spear he took from General Franklin appeared in Michael's hand. Michael noticed countless runes radiate a bright crimson-red glow on the spear. The spear pulsated strange energy. Soon, this energy surrounded Michael.

"A good plan indeed," Michael said to himself. He let the strange energy surround him completely. This energy felt familiar to Michael. It was the same energy radiation he felt from Hunter when he fought. Michael was surprised to see Edith mimic Hunter's energy signature, which the entire world believed to be the energy signature of the Dark Lord.

Edith even managed to create a dark cloud around him to sell the idea that he was the Dark Lord to the Guardian Guild. Little did she know that Ghost was really the Dark Lord. Michael sensed the tension among the guardian guild's soldiers. They all tightened their grips on their weapons. Michael felt the energy fluctuations around him go crazy. He could tell the guardians were casting spells all around him. It would only be a matter of time before they go all out.

"He is the Dark Lord," said Edith. Her voice echoed through the city. She wanted to see Ghost panic and be frightened by her words. She knew he had sensed the strange energy around him. However, contrary to her expectation, he remained calm. What surprised her more was the smile on his face.

The smile caused uneasiness in Edith's heart. She saw no signs of panic or shock in his eyes. Instead, he just remained with a smirk. It was as though he somehow knew her plan all along.

"You're going to pay for what you did here," Edith growled.

"Thank you Edith," To her shock, Michael thanked her. She frowned. Judging by the look on his face, Victoria's heart sank.

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"Thank you for giving one last ray of hope to Victoria," Michael slowly rose from the ground. The dark cloud created by Edith's runes slowly faded away. Instead, a darker and thicker cloud of darkness enveloped Michael.

"Thank you for bringing all of these men to me," Michael's human voice changed. It sounded thicker, demonic, and frightening.

Edith saw the place growing darker and darker. The light radiated by the warships from afar lost its glow. The sky rumbled as lightning flashed across the sky. When Edith saw his armor slowly transforming, her eyes went wide. Not only Edith, every single guardian, including the Immortals, trembled before him.

The Guardians were poised to attack Michael. They all received the order to take him down. But when they were just about to attack Michael, he flicked his wrist. The very next moment, a ghostly figure of a four-headed hydra appeared behind Michael. It stood almost thirty to forty meters tall. Each pair of eyes glowed like a blood moon. Suddenly, the hydra roared.

"ARGH!" Edith and the Guardians screamed. They instinctively closed their sears. Some of the Fusion stage guardians fell from the sky like dead flies. The warships floating in the air trembled. They swayed left and right before slowly descending down. The runes on the ships and the guardian armor lost their glow.

The guardians were completely off guard. They didn't even realize what had happened until the warships began crashing. No one could feel the energy within them. Simply put, Michael created an energy void around them. Michael had already struck a deal with the devil called Mugashuku, so he saw no drawback in asking for a small favor. With the system's help, he could contain the Hydra's scream into a special space ring and release it to mimic the effects of the southern continent. Although the effects would only last for thirty minutes, and Mugashku wouldn't let him borrow his power again, one use was all Michael needed to leave the cultivation continents with a bang. The place once again lit up with all the explosions, and fire followed afterward.

One by one, the warships and the guardians fell down from the sky. The only downside of this plan was he wouldn't receive any experience points for killing them. But killing the guardians was a reward itself. Michael watched the destruction with a smile. The mighty guardians fell hard before him.

"What's happening?" Edith stuttered. She lost the connection with the arch energy in the atmosphere. She felt weak and vulnerable.

"Azazel," Michael called his demon butler. Edith saw a group of people, all dressed in black, appearing behind Ghost.

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They all descended toward the ground, surrounding the Cosmic stream except Michael. He watched over his subordinates.

"Do not let a single drop of energy go to waste," Michael's voice echoed through the area. Despite the explosions and screams of the guardians, his voice sounded loud and clear. His subordinates sat in a meditative position around the Cosmic stream. Soon, a strange dark beam shot out from Michael and enveloped them all. Powerful ripples appeared in the calm Cosmic stream.

"You are really the Dark Lord," Edith muttered with utter disbelief.