Leaving Xanali in shock, Gaya returned to Michael's side. Xanali knew Gaya always hated her father, but she never thought Gaya actually wanted to kill her own father. The killing intent she saw in Gaya's eyes was real, very real. Ethan was laid to rest on a white sofa that turned completely red with blood. Michael dropped to one knee beside Rowena. The sound of lightning bolts crackling around the two swords on his back made Rowena's neck hair stand up. If not for Ethan's current state, everyone would have been stunned by the dark swords. Tiny crimson-red bolts of lightning crackled around the three dragon-coiled hilts that were sticking out of the sheath as Michael simply greeted Rowena with a nod.
"Can you lift the curse?" Rowena asked Michael. The cold beauty's eyes were mixed with grief, helplessness, and anger. But she was good at hiding her emotions. Even when her father was on the verge of dying, she remained stoic and calm.
"I can," Michael's simple answer lifted an immense weight from everyone's hearts and rekindled the light of hope once again. He glanced around the hall to see everyone's reaction until his gaze fell on Bai Ning. She was frozen up to her neck. Judging by the thick layer of bone-chilling ice around her, Michael could tell the old woman did something foolish enough to make Rowena freeze her.
"I never thought I'd see you again," Michael said, calmly looking at Bai Ning.
Michael's words surprised Rowena as she never thought he knew Bai Ning.
"How did you know her?" Rowena couldn't help asking Michael.
Without answering Rowena, Michael flicked his wrist as everyone in the hall, except Diana, tensed. They thought the Dark Lord was about to unleash his wrath upon them.
"Relax," Gaya waved it off as Michael took out a crystal sphere from his space ring.
"What is that?" asked Noah, creasing his brows.
"Recording crystal," After Michael answered Noah, he turned his head to the side and looked at Rowena.
"You asked me how I know her. Well, this is how," Michael placed the sphere on the ground,
"Do not listen to his poisonous words, Holy Maiden," Bai Ning growled. The old woman panicked because she knew what he was about to show the Holy Maiden.
pαпdα-ňᴏνêι·сóМ Bright rays of light shot from the sphere and formed a glistening square that showed an image of a barren field. This barren field had nothing except headstones with names carved on them. Dark clouds watched over the barren field, casting an inky blackness to the graveyard. Hundreds or even thousands of headstones remained there, symbolizing the men and women who were laid to rest underneath.
"This graveyard doesn't have brave soldiers or evil followers of mine. On the contrary, they were men, women, and children who just wanted to live a peaceful life in their own world,"
"Seize him, Holy Maiden!" Bai Ning roared as she struggled to break the ice around her. Several cracks began to appear in the crystalized ice, but Rowena simply turned her gaze back to Bai Ning as the ice grew thicker, colder, and stronger.
"And she was responsible for all their deaths," Michael threw a cold, deadly glance at Bai Ning. Rowena clenched her fist as she couldn't simply believe the words coming out of Michael's mouth.
"She slaughtered thousands of people, including children, yet you all call us evil. Anyone see the hypocrisy here?" Gaya snarled.
"I am not here to prove myself. If you don't believe me, you can ask her after I lift the curse, which is why I am here," said Michael. He just threw a spark in Rowena's heart and hoped it would turn into a wildfire. Although Michael didn't spend much time with Rowena, he knew just enough to tell Rowena wouldn't have agreed to invade Itonys and slaughter the natives.
"I heard no such reports of slaughter," Rowena coldly said as Noah agreed with a nod.
"That's because it happened in another world," Gaya simply answered Rowena and turned her gaze to Bai Ning.
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Gaya pointed at Bai Ning.
"Judging by how everyone looks, it seems this granny hasn't told anyone about her little adventure to another world," Gaya folded her arms as she stared at Bai Ning, who opened and closed her mouth like she was searching for a suitable answer to give Rowena.
"As I said, lifting the curse is why we are here. To do that, I need those two out of here," Michael said to Noah, pointing at King Bredia and King Porter Forbes.
Without saying another word, Porter made his way out of the hall. King Bredia, on the other hand, seemed reluctant for a moment until Noah reassured him with a nod. Then, King Bredia followed King Porter outside without making direct eye contact with the Dark Lord. After the two kings left the hall, only Diana, her children, Xanali and Bai Ning, remained in the hall with Gaya and Michael.
When Bai Ning saw the Holy Maiden's murderous gaze on her, she felt a chill running down her spine. The old woman shivered and broke into a sweat.
"Now he might shake and squirm. Do not panic," Michael's voice swept across the hall. No one dared to raise a finger against Michael as they remained completely still. It showed Michael how desperate they were. But there was something else that Michael could see in their eyes, trust. They trusted him that he wouldn't harm Ethan. Even Noah seemed to trust Michael. Granted, he might be their last hope, but still, he was surprised to see their trust in him. Michael waited until everyone nodded their heads.
"Is it going to hurt him?" Sabrina asked Michael while holding Ethan's hand tight.
"Not more than when he was stabbed," said Michael. Since Rowena was sitting next to Michael, she felt the air around Michael getting warm. Noah walked closer to his father and stood next to Michael. When Diana saw Dean standing between Noah and Rowena, her heart trembled. Looking at all four of her children together created some unknown feelings.
Xanali couldn't believe the Dark Lord was standing right between the Holy Maiden and the Supreme Guardian. Just as Michael informed them, Ethan's body squirmed. Blood seeped through Ethan's eyes and nostrils.
"You must have pissed off someone really powerful," said Michael as he placed his hand on Ethan's chest. His words were pointed at Noah.
"I see two types of blood here," Gaya drew Diana's attention with her words.
"Lord Ethan must have attacked the assassin and made him spill some blood," Gaya squatted beside a pool of blood where Ethan was stabbed by the assassin. The ground was soaked with cake and blood. Together, they formed a messy red paste.
While Gaya was investigating the blood trail, the system informed Michael of everything he needed to know to break the curse. Unfortunately, it was not so simple as the curses Michael lifted till now.
"No wonder they called me," Michael realized why they chose to call the Dark Lord himself despite all the history between them.
Ethan finally stopped squirming when Michael took his hand off Ethan's chest.
"I have good news and bad news," said Michael, standing to his feet.
"I think you all want to hear the good news first. Okay, here you go, I can lift the curse and heal him back to life with no side effects," Noah heaved a sigh of relief. Everyone, including Xanali, looked relieved to hear Michael. Diana's decision to summon the Dark Lord seemed to be the right decision despite the consequences they would face afterward to Xanali.
"What's the bad news?" Noah asked Michael.
"The curse is a lot more complicated than I anticipated. I need certain things to lift the curse. Certain things you might not approve of," Michael turned his gaze to Noah.
"What do you need?" asked Diana with a cold tone. No matter what he asked, Diana was willing to give them.
"Unlike typical curses, the curse put on him is sentient. It's like a parasite, slowly eating through his soul. As long as it's alive, the host's soul will be devoured. So I need to give the curse a new host, kill it with the host, and heal him. Otherwise, the curse will end his life in about five hours," Michael explained how the curse put on Ethan works. To be honest, he was surprised and terrified at the same time of the curse. One thing was for sure, whoever put the curse must be insanely powerful or resourceful, to say the least.
"You need a vessel to hold the curse," Rowena said as Michael nodded.
"The vessel must be emptied out of its soul not more than five minutes before without harming the vessel itself,"
"In other words, you have to kill someone without hurting the body," Gaya explained to the others in case they didn't understand Michael.
"Just bring me someone stronger than or a Fusion stage cultivator," Michael waved his hands before making his way to the sofa on the other side of Ethan. He plunged onto the sofa and put his leg atop one.
"You might want to loosen your no-kill rule if you want to save your father, Supreme Guardian," Michael calmly said with a slightly devilish grin on his face. Looking at the Dark Lord sitting there like this was his own homemade Xanali's blood boil. The murderer who slaughtered thousands of people and her best friend was sitting before her surrounded by people who were responsible for taking him down, yet they could do nothing. It was simply outrageous.
Noah was speechless for a moment as Ethan began to cough out dark blood. The webs of dark veins started to spread through his body despite the ice around the stand wound.
"You better hurry," said Michael. Then, he took out a healing potion from his space ring and sent it floating toward Noah.
"That would keep him from dying until the curse is lifted,"
Noah stared at the healing potion hovering before his face without batting an eye. Seeing Noah's reluctance to take the healing potion and give it to his father, Michael simply laid back on the sofa and said.
"If I want to harm your father, I just have to leave simply,"
Ethan coughed up more blood while Noah pondered about whether to take the healing potion or not. With each passing second, Ethan's condition became worse as the dark veins reached the side of his cheek. Having no other choice, Noah took the healing potion and poured it into Ethan's mouth. Little did Noah know the healing potion was infused with nanites. In other words, Noah gave Ethan the blood tonic, enabling Michael to end Ethan's life with a snap of his finger.
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