As Michael stealthily approached the immortals, he decided to take a different route, dropping down from an elevated place rather than using the stairs. He closed his eyes, expanding his senses throughout the cave, and confirmed that there was no other way out for the immortals but through him. With them trapped, his sole task was to eliminate them all.
Walking towards the immortals, he felt the heavy energy radiating from the dark crystal. Surprisingly, the crystal tried to ensnare him in a trance, but being the god of darkness, Michael was able to resist its influence and break the connection.
"I wonder what they were thinking," Ayag mused from atop Michael's shoulder. The immortals were all looking up, their eyes rolled back behind their eye sockets.
"Kill them all and sever the connection with my crystal," the queen's voice echoed in Michael's head again.
"Stop doing that," Michael whispered through gritted teeth, frustrated with the intrusion.
"What did we do?" asked Ayag, confused by Michael's reaction.
"I can hear the queen's voice inside my head," Michael whispered, circling around the entranced immortals.
"Why aren't we hearing her?" Sarba inquired.
ραndαsΝοvεl ƈοm "Why would you want that, you moron?" Ayag scolded her brother, lowering her voice. Meanwhile, Michael moved his hands in front of the immortals to see if they reacted to his presence. As expected, they remained completely entranced by the crystal in the middle.
"Kill them," the queen's voice echoed once more, and Michael couldn't help but let out a slightly annoyed response, "Okay, okay."
With his two dark swords in hand, Michael moved with lightning speed, a blur of motion as he swiftly decapitated each of the immortals. Their heads rolled off their bodies, blood spattering on the ground, creating a gruesome scene. Despite the brutal attack, their bodies remained firmly rooted to the ground, unaffected by their severed heads. Ignoring this oddity, Michael continued his path towards the dark crystal.
As he approached the crystal, he noticed a dark smoke shrouding it. Upon slaying the immortals, Michael witnessed wisps of white smoke being absorbed from their lifeless bodies into the crystal. The system's notifications continued to ring inside his head, rewarding him for his lethal actions with experience points and badass points.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing an Immortal. The reward is 2,000,000 Experience points and 5000 Badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 8000 Badass points]
The crystal seemed to pulsate with energy, and Michael could feel a surge of power emanating from it. He knew that this crystal contained a piece of the queen's soul, and it was crucial to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. The queen's voice in his head had made it clear that she wanted him to retrieve the crystal, and Michael had no intention of disobeying her.
Despite their decapitated state, the bodies of the immortals remained rooted to the ground. Michael paid no mind to this strange phenomenon and proceeded toward the dark crystal. The crystal was enveloped in a cloud of dark smoke, and as Michael took the lives of the immortals, he noticed wisps of white smoke being absorbed into the crystal.
"The crystal is devouring their souls," Sarba observed, noting the eerie white smoke floating into the dark artifact.
"This crystal contains a piece of the queen's soul. What did you expect?" Michael chuckled as he reached out to grasp the crystal. A sudden electric sensation ran down his spine, and he found himself in a disorienting vision. In the vision, he stood alone before a massive army, with the surroundings plunged into darkness, and a volcanic mountain spewing lava streams on the horizon. It took a moment for Michael to shake off the vision and return to reality.
"Bring it to the demon's grave," Yet again, Michael heard the queen's voice in his head.
"The demon's grave, got it," Michael replied to the queen's voice in his head.
As he turned to leave, Sarba raised a valid question, "What about these bodies? Shouldn't we destroy them?"
"Nah, it will give the immortals something to worry about," Michael said with a devilish grin. With the world believing the Dark Lord to be dead, the council of immortals would be baffled and terrified, trying to figure out who had slain their brethren. Destroying the bodies with dark flames might raise suspicion, as the use of such powerful primordial flame could leave traces behind. Michael decided to let them speculate and stew in fear over the mysterious deaths.
After acquiring the crystal, Michael swiftly utilized his runic teleportation to reach the safe house provided by Nithroel. In an instant, he found himself in a spacious hall, illuminated by a magnificent chandelier. At the center of the hall, Elidyr was engrossed in engraving glowing runes on a teleportation portal. Thanks to Elidyr's ingenuity, Michael had been able to transport the teleporter from his dark castle to Nithroel's safe house when the Skyhall army captured his stronghold.
"How's the task coming along, Elidyr?" Michael inquired, approaching the runemaster.
"It's challenging, to be honest. These rune words require the expertise of another six-star runemaster. Are you certain about teleporting yourself into the realm of gods? We have no idea how far that realm is," Elidyr expressed his concern, his brows furrowing.
Michael stood before the colossal teleporter, observing the dark vortex swirling in its center, surrounded by glowing runes adorning its frame.
"And what about the barrier that separates our realm from the realm of gods? How do you know it will allow you to pass through?" Elidyr added, genuinely worried about the well-being of the Dark Lord. To him, Michael was not just a lord but also a cherished student and son-figure.
"Because I placed the barrier," Michael calmly replied. He was aware that the previous Dark Lord had created the barrier with the intention of entering the realm of gods after defeating Noah. However, Michael had different plans. Instead of killing Noah and creating a hole in the barrier, he staged his own death and devised a plan to use the powerful system to breach the realm of gods.
The cost demanded by the system to teleport him through the barrier was staggering—fifty million badass points. Such an expense would leave him with only ten million badass points, but it was a risk Michael had to take.
"Don't try to stop him, Elidyr," Sarba sighed from her perch on Michael's shoulder.
"Activate the teleporter to the forge," Michael instructed.
"You managed to obtain the queen's crystal from the immortals?" Elidyr inquired.
"Hmm," Michael nodded, and as Elidyr closed his eyes and sketched a few runes in the air, the vortex started swirling. Michael confidently stepped into the vortex, disappearing from the hall.
******************************
Michael materialized at his forge but found no ongoing work there. Deciding to leave the forge for the time being, he activated his metal wings and soared to the peak of Mount Hades. From this vantage point, he could witness the vast expanse of the Demon's Grave—a desolate landscape where a colossal bull grazed in the distance, and a myriad of eerie and diverse monsters roamed freely. The red sky and black lightning contributed to the eerie ambiance of the place.
"Hey queen, do you have a specific location in mind for this crystal?" Michael inquired, producing the dark crystal from his space ring with a casual gesture.
A heavy silence greeted Michael as the queen remained unresponsive. However, a faint glow appeared in the distance, illuminating a barren ground.
"I suppose that's where you want me to place the crystal," Michael surmised, his voice unwavering as he addressed the unseen queen. With a graceful flap of his wings, he took flight and headed toward the glowing area.
"Where?" Sarba asked.
"You can't see it," Michael replied simply, his wings propelling him through the sky with ease.
Within a matter of minutes, Michael touched down on the ground, where the earth emanated a soft glow. To Vedroa, the ground appeared crimson and sandy, seemingly unremarkable in comparison to the rest of the Demon's Grave.
"Here you go. One soul crystal delivered to you," Michael carefully placed the crystal on the ground, his anticipation evident in his posture. However, no immediate response came.
"Can I leave?" Michael asked, looking around for any sign of acknowledgment from the queen. But before he received a reply, the ground beneath him trembled violently. The earth cracked open, and the crystal plunged into the depths of the fissure. In a blink, the cracks sealed shut as if swallowing the crystal whole.
"Guess my work is done," Michael muttered, intending to depart. Yet, a sudden chill ran down his spine, compelling him to turn back. Above the very spot where he had placed the crystal, a haunting silhouette of a woman emerged, formed from dark, ethereal smoke. Vedora, the three-headed Hydra perched on Michael's shoulder, trembled in fear—an uncommon occurrence for such a formidable creature.
"My next piece of soul is in the realm of gods, the same place where you are going next. Retrieve it from the god who holds my soul crystal, and I will grant you a favor," the figure spoke, and Michael immediately recognized it as some manifestation of the queen. While fear didn't grip him, her offer did surprise him—especially her willingness to offer a favor.
"Since I'm already heading to the realm of gods, it won't hurt to retrieve your crystal. But this time, there's no time limit," Michael declared.
"Very well. Just remember not to keep me waiting for too long. Otherwise, my pet over there can turn your beloved forge to dust," the queen warned, pointing a smoky finger toward the colossal bull in the distance. Michael was taken aback, finally uncovering the truth behind the enigmatic creature. Ever since he set foot in the demon's grave, the colossal bull, towering enough to touch the clouds, had puzzled him.
Now he understood that the bull was a pet of the queen.
"Deal," Michael sighed, agreeing to the queen's terms.
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