Michael followed Thamor through the woods. He always had doubts about Hamon. Not that Hamon showed any anger toward the Genric family, but he obeyed every single command they issued to the last letter. It felt too good to be true to Michael. Of course, Michael ordered Aria to investigate Hamon when he had his doubts, but Aria found nothing incriminating. This was what made Michael curious about why Hamon staged an ambush. That elf was willing to sacrifice Elmer. After flying through the woods for almost thirty minutes straight, Michael noticed a wooden cabin in the middle of nowhere. The cabin perfectly blended with its natural surroundings and was almost hidden from the naked eye. Veins and moths entangled around the cabin, hiding it with their green. Since the cabin was outside the no-fly zone, Hamon was able to fly to the cabin with his men. Hence, Michael saw neither carriage nor horses outside.

"Go ahead," Michael gestured at Thamor to go to the cabin first. Instead of following Thamor behind, he decided to stay behind and see Hamon's true face for a change.

Thamor nodded before flying straight to the cabin. Standing outside the cabin, Thamor knocked on the door.

"Thamor," Michael heard Hamon's voice coming from within the cabin.

"It's done," said Thamor. Finally, the cabin door opened. Michael stayed hidden in the woods, looking at Hamon opening the door. Michael scanned the cabin to realize Hamon had brought backup with him. But they didn't look like Hamon's personal guards from the Genric family. These guards wore some kind of flaming armor. Moreover, they were shorter than an average human. They had long, bushy beards, messy hair, and bulky arms. Simply put, they were dwarves.

"Mogels," Michael mumbled under his breath. The Mogels were a mercenary guild from the dwarven kingdom. The vilest and most ruthless dwarves exiled from their homeland formed this brutal mercenary guild that would do anything for the right price. They were like the Grim Reapers but less secretive and more ruthless. They didn't end up on Michael's radar until now.

They had been escaping the war gods using the mines and mountains. To be honest, Michael was surprised to see them with Hamon. Usually, the dwarves loathed the elves. Thus, if they were working for Hamon, he must have offered them a handsome payment.

h ltt nd mt ulr nvl t lghtnvlubm

"There they are," Hamon licked his lips. His eyes turned predatory, looking at the twins.

"They are alive right?" asked Hamon.

"Yes," Thamor nodded.

"Something's wrong," Michael heard a dwarf growl. Michael was surprised by the dwarf's perception. Following the dwarf's statement, all his buddies unsheathed their weapons. Hamon was startled by their action.

"What's wrong? What's happening?" asked Hamon. He had no clue why the dwarves suddenly unsheathed their weapons. Unlike the dwarves, he failed to notice the fear in Thamor's eyes.

"He's being blackmailed. I can see the fear in his eyes," a dwarf with a long cut across his face growled. The dwarf immediately lunged at Thamor with his battle ax. He placed the ax against Thamor's throat while Hamon quickly took the kids off Thamor's shoulders. He threw the kids on the table like they were toys.

Another dwarf kicked Thamor on the knees to bring him to his knees. Instead of questioning Thamor, the dwarf just stared into his eyes.

lghtnvlubm fr th bt nvl rdng rn

"He is not himself. Someone forced him to do this," said the dwarf. Once again, the dwarves surprised Michael. Despite their lust for blood and booze, they actually showed some intellect. They didn't even believe Thamor for a minute. Just by looking into Thamor's eyes, the dwarves figure out he was forced. Michael calmly watched everything that was happening inside the cabin.

"We are all fucked," mumbled Thamor. Tears rolled down from Thamor's ears without his control. Thamor's tears completely dazed Hamon. He knew Thamor for years. Thamor was one of the most ruthless and heartless bastards he had ever known in his life. But he was sobbing like a little child.

"Thamor, what the hell are you talking about?" Hamon asked Thamor. He yanked Thamor by his collar. Before Thamor could utter another word, a bright light flashed across the cabin. The dwarves were startled. Soon, a sudden gust of wind snuffed out all the candles in the cabin. Darkness fell over the room. Hamon couldn't even see his own hands before his eyes. The dwarves quickly lit the lanterns dangling on their waists. Since they traveled through dark mines, they all had lanterns to light their way. Hence, they quickly fought off the darkness with the lanterns. The lantern light dimly lit the room with a shade of orange. Hamon let go of Thamor and moved closer to the twins.

"Someone's here," said a dwarf. Hamon's sears twitched as he heard footsteps. The footsteps sounded louder and louder until the door creaked. Every single pair of eyes were locked onto the door. They expected someone to open the door wide open any second. As they expected, someone did open the door. In the dim light, they saw Michael walking into the cabin. The dwarf near the doorway lunged at Michael without a second thought. Only when he was in mid-air the dwarf recalled the face. His eyes widened in shock. But it was too late as Michael caught the dwarf by his neck in the air. The dwarf's feet quivered as he started swinging his battle ax at Michael to cut his head.

Hamon heard a cracking sound as the dwarf stopped quivering in Michael's hand. The battle ax fell off the dwarf's hand and hit the ground with a loud thud.

"The Dark Lord," Hamon mumbled under his breath. His predatory eyes glistened with fear. The dwarves took a step back. To a man who killed Immortals, killing a bunch of Soul Refiners was as easy as lifting a finger. The dwarves were not stupid to rush into battle head-on with the Dark Lord himself. Judging by the situation, the dwarves knew the only way to escape was through negotiation. They just hoped the Dark Lord was in the mood for talks.

"We can have a civilized conversation if no one pulls any stupid stunts," said Michael. Michael dusted off his arms. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled a wooden chair toward him. He turned the chair around and sat backward. The dwarves and Hamon looked tense. It was no surprise, though. One could say the dwarves were holding well. Many would have wet their pants. After the terror campaign the Guardian Guild and the great eight clans held against Michael, he didn't need fear toxin to scare people. The guardians and the great eight clans wanted to stop people from believing in the Dark Lord or worse, worshiping him as though he was a god.

h ltt nd mt ulr nvl t lghtnvlubm

The fear worked in Michael's favor. He never expected people to worship him. Instead, Michael wanted them to fear him. That was why Noah stopped the campaign to spread fear throughout the world, as he knew the Dark Lord wanted just that. Still, Noah was too late. The Guardian Guild and the Great Eight clans did a fantabulous job of scaring people. Even the criminals shivered at the mere mention of the name Dark Lord.

"Now let me hear why you want to kidnap those two. If I am not wrong, you should be protecting them. This doesn't seem like protecting," said Michael.

Hamon felt reluctant to speak. Michael just lifted his finger as a lightning bolt shot out of his fingertips. The lightning bolt went straight through Thamor's head, instantly killing him. The dwarves jumped back in shock. Thamor wasn't weaker than any of them. If the Dark Lord could kill him with a single lightning bolt, they could only imagine what he could do when he used his full power. They realized the stories they heard about the black day were not at all exaggerated. In case the system hadn't gone offline for a year, Michael would have reached level 3 Immortal Stage. Unfortunately, he was being bottlenecked by the system.

"As you can see, I am not a very patient guy. So you should answer me without testing my patience," said Michael, crackling his fingers. Thamor's boy was on the ground with a big hole in his head. Blood still oozed down from the hole. His eyes were filled with terror and shock. Atleast he died instantly without suffering. Hearing Michael's words, Hamon gawked around the cabin. Everyone in the room knew there was no way of escaping without the Dark Lord's permission. However, Hamon couldn't reveal his story in front of these dwarves. Michael noticed his hesitation and sighed.

"You seem to want more privacy. That can be arranged," said Michael. When he turned his gaze at the dwarves, they realized he was about to kill them all.

"Fuck this and fuck you," one of the dwarves roared. He didn't want to go down without a fight. The dwarves would rather fight and die fearlessly than beg someone else for their lives. A dwarf raised his battle ax to bring down upon the Dark Lord with full force. However, his body froze as the battle ax slipped off his hand. Michael's eyes lit up. The very next moment, the dark beams shot out of his hands and bounced off from dwarf to dwarf killing everyone except Hamon in a blink of an eye. The dwarves didn't even have the chance to defend themselves. After the dark beams disappeared as quickly as they appeared, puffs of smoke escaped Michael's eyes.

One by one, the bodies hit the ground with a thud. Hamon's mind went blank. He paid a million gold coins to the mercenaries to get them to work for him. Unfortunately, his million gold coins went to waste.

h ltt nd mt ulr nvl t lghtnvlubm

"I am not going to ask you again. Tell me why you stage an ambush and kidnap the twins," asked Michael. This time, his voice became colder and demonic. Hamon felt the pressure from the Dark Lord's piercing gaze. Having no choice, Hamon began to reveal his backstory. After hearing his full story, he just hoped the Dark Lord would understand his motives. Only Hamon knew the Genric family was not as they seemed to be.