Michael didn't intend to harm or hurt Ethan, but he liked to have as many trump cars as possible against Noah. After Noah unknowingly emptied the blood tonic into Ethan's mouth, Rowena prepared herself to bring a prisoner from Skyhall itself. Considering Rowena knew why Noah decided not to kill anymore, she didn't let her little brother go through choosing someone to die.

"I'll be back," Rowena said before heading straight back to her room, where she had the teleportation array to reach her floating castle. Meanwhile, Michael laid back on the staff and threw his hands wide.

"What more can you tell me about the assassin's trail?" Diana came to Gaya and asked, hiding her killing intent from showing in her eyes.

Gaya was surprised for a moment as Diana always seemed kind, calm, and compassionate. But the way she questioned her tickled a nerve inside Gaya. Within the kind, compassionate woman, there was something else.

Normally, Gaya would have said to go ask the guardians. However, she had a soft spot for Ethan and Diana as they always treated them kindly. Because of the kindness Diana showed Michael, Gaya helped her a bit. Of course, Diana was an expert Hunter, probably one of the best trackers, yet at that moment, her mind was in disarray. Hence, Diana sought Gaya's help, another best tracker.

Gaya pointed at the pool of blood near the cake. The assassin was clever enough to avoid leaving a blood trail of his own. An artifact he wore quickly closed the wound on his shoulder before he disappeared but not before shedding some blood onto the ground. Unless one was a naga, the blood on the ground would look the same. Since Gaya was one, she was able to see two distinct bloods on the ground.

"You may not notice, but there are two types of blood here. One belongs to a human and the other," Gaya dipped her finger inside the blood and brought it before her eyes. She started at the blood on her finger for a moment,

"If I have to guess, a beastman," Gaya said.

"Beastman," Diana mumbled under her breath. Gaya had no idea she just gave Harriet Hunt her next target location. Even if it took Diana to search the entire kingdom and kill hundreds of beastmen, she would find the assassin or atleast a clue about him. While they were waiting for Rowena to bring someone for Michael to kill, they heard a door creaking open. As they looked up at the second-floor balcony, they were surprised to see Princess Katherine and Andrews. When Princess Katherine and Andrews saw the Dark Lord leisurely sitting in their main hall, they were startled to the core.

"You!" Princess Katherine growled as she climbed down the stairs with a large belly. Andrew supported her in climbing down the stairs. Fortunately, Andrews saw Noah and Xanali in the hall which gave him the courage to stand still without shivering in front of Ghost. Andrew still had nightmares of the time he almost got beaten to death by Ghost during the tournament.

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"What are you doing here? Noah, what is he doing here?" Katherine growled. Compared to the fact the Dark Lord was here, Ethan became less important in Katherine's eyes. One couldn't blame her though, as any mother would be freaked out to share a space with the man who slaughtered thousands of people without discrimination and destroyed an entire kingdom.

Katherine felt a chill when Gaya walked past her, giving her a devilish grin. She sat beside the Dark Lord and waited for Noah to respond to Katherine.

"Everything is under control, Katherine. He is here to help father,"

"Are you out of your mind, Noah?" Katherine raised her voice. Unfortunately, Katherine still hadn't moved on from the time Michael beat Andrew to a pulp, slaughtered her father's royal guards, beat him to a pulp on his own throne, and threatened to kill her and her unborn child. Her anger and fury blinded her intellect. Usually, Diana would have shut her up, but Diana was too focused on the pool of blood. She was formulating a whole new plan to invade the beastmen kingdom and track down the one who sent the assassin.

"You are the Supreme Guardian. How could you trust this evil murdering" Katherine gritted her teeth as her mind went blank in overwhelming anger.

"I see you haven't changed a bit over the past years," Gaya calmly said.

"Why are you here? Go back to the shelter and stay there," said Noah.

"Do you think we'll be safe when he's here?" Katherine rebuked.

"So riddle me this, princess. If I am so evil like you claim, isn't it better to keep your mouth shut, especially with a baby inside you?" Michael's simple question made Katherine quickly shut her mouth. Noah clenched his fist, seeing Ghost threatening his own family in his own home. However, he had to keep his anger under control. After all, Ghost was the only one who could save Ethan.

"You bastard," Katherine cussed before leaving the main hall as fast as she came.

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"Mother," Sabrina called Diana, who seemed to be deep in her own thoughts.

"Mother," Only when Sabrina called her twice did Diana snap back to reality.

"Where is Rowena?" Diana asked Sabrina.

"She went to bring someone," Sabrina weakly said.

"How is Hammond, by the way?" Michael asked Noah. The question completely startled Noah.

"Don't be too surprised, Noah. Keep him safe because too many people are looking for him," said Michael. He wanted to play mind games with Noah and hoped it might get Noah to make a mistake. The dwarves desperately scoured through the kingdoms to find Hammond so they could continue making weapons of mass destruction. On the other hand, the empress wanted Hammond to answer for his crimes one way or another. Noah wanted to keep Hammond safe and use his brains for good. In simple terms, they all wanted Hammond to be alive. That was where Michael differed. Unlike them, he wanted Hammond dead. Not that Michael was afraid of his little toys, but Hammond could become an annoyance to him and an asset to Noah. And that irked Michael in the wrong way.

"That includes you, right?" Noah coldly asked.

"I am actually surprised that you keep him safe instead of putting him on trial for his crimes," Michael ignored Noah's question and talked about Hammond's crimes. Just as Michael expected, Noah's eyes glistened with doubt and shock.

"Am I the only evildoer and criminal in your eyes?" Michael chuckled.

"Hammond is not a criminal," Noah said.

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"He didn't tell you, did he?" Michael pretended to be surprised.

"The next time you see him, why don't you ask him about a little village called Hogsfeet in Gondolin?" said Michael. Noah did a thorough background search on Hammond and came up with no criminal records. In fact, Noah wasn't wrong, either. Hammond was not a criminal by any means. However, he was responsible for the deaths of one hundred and fifty villagers. The empress punished everyone involved in their deaths except for Hammond. To keep the news from spreading and Hammond's secret safe, the empress wiped off all the evidence and trials about the Hogsfeet incident. The village just simply vanished from the face of the world, and the map and no one had ever talked about it until now.

Noah had so many questions running around his mind, but before he could inquire the Dark Lord about them, Rowena returned to the main hall, dragging an orc in chains. The orc's hands and legs were tied with iron chains, and his mouth was covered with a piece of cloth, preventing the orc from making a sound. Rowena dragged the orc by his long hair like he was a doll and threw him at Michael's feet.

"Here's your vessel," Rowena said.

"What did he do?" Noah asked Rowena.

"Went rogue and slaughtered innocent people," Rowena answered Noah while looking at Bai Ning. She wordlessly told the old woman that if what the Dark Lord said about her was true, she would suffer the same fate as the orc. Michael calmly rose from the sofa and lifted the orc by his neck in one hand. Suddenly, the light orcs and the chandelier started to flicker. Soon, the light they produced was snuffed out by an invisible force. Instead, darkness occupied every inch of the hall. Xanali took a step back due to her subconscious fear and saw the Orc squirm in the Dark Lord's hands.

The light coming through the windows and the door barely illuminated the white smoke emerging from the orc's mouth. Noah saw Ghost inhale the white smoke as the light of life slowly left the orc's eyes. Every fiber in Noah's body told him to stop Ghost from killing the orc, except he knew it was the only way to save Ethan. Besides, he didn't think Rowena would let him stop Ghost. Unlike him, his big sister had no quarrels with killing criminals, and those deserved it.

The orc's soul turned into experience points while the badass points skyrocketed through the roof. He killed someone in front of the Supreme Guardians, and there was nothing he could do about it. The system deemed the action pretty badass. After Michael devoured the orc's soul, he threw the empty vessel to the ground and cracked his neck. Gradually, the lights that went out slowly came back to life, lighting the place.

"What did you do?" Xanali asked in shock. She had never seen such an act of evil as he devoured the orc's soul completely. The power of eating one's soul made Xanali tremble in fear. Even Noah was startled by this strange power. According to Andreas, one's soul was the key to entering the afterlife. By destroying the soul itself, the Dark Lord made them completely cease to exist without letting them enter into an afterlife. What he did was a punishment worse than death.

"He didn't deserve this," Noah muttered.

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"And father doesn't deserve this either," Rowena rebuked Noah's comment. She knew the reason behind Noah's no-kill rule and even accepted Noah's decision, although she thought the rule would hinder Noah's progression. However, she would not let Noah's rules hurt her family. Family was everything to Rowena and she would do anything to protect them.