Hitman with a Badass System

"How do you know her?" asked Gaya. Finally, she couldn't keep her mouth shut anymore.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Lenora slowly shook her head.

"What's the rush? You haven't even seen our hospitality yet," said Lenora. She winked at Michael before snapping her fingers. To Michael's surprise, the scenery around them changed. He and Gaya appeared in a gloomy hall dimly lit with torches. At the center of the hall was a large stone round table. Michael immediately recognized the room. This was the meeting hall of the elders. His Spyders were still around. He could sense them.

"Follow me," Lenora appeared before him. She led the two toward the stone table. The entire hall was silent. As Michael stepped forward, the gentle smell of blood began to permeate the air. The round table slowly opened. Without uttering a word, Michael and Gaya went through the opening and stood in the middle. At the moment, only one stone chair among the ten was occupied.

Soon, figures appeared in the hall one by one. Considering Michael and Gaya had seen them in their surveillance room, they recognized each. The first to appear after Lenora was a brunette. She was Trista. No one would ever think of her as a vampire. She dressed in brown silky robes, leather boots and wore thick red lipstick. She winked at Michael playfully before taking her seat next to Lenora. Following Lenora, Saber entered the room, surprising Gaya with his young look. If she didn't know he was a vampire, Gaya wouldn't throw a second glance at him. He looked like a next-door kid in his teenage years.  He still had the baby fat on his cheeks. The two vampires didn't look surprised. Which meant they already discussed bringing Michael and Gaya to their castle.

However, Michael wondered where they had this conversation and how they communicated. Because he bugged the entire castle yet he had never seen them together after their discussion about the blood prince. Michael patiently waited for Ingram to join them. His fearless eyes surprised the vampires, especially Saber. Just like Lenora, he also felt something strange about the human before him. Saber couldn't find a word to explain this feeling. If he had to, he would say fear. Why did he feel afraid of the human? Saber asked himself.

They were nightwalkers, rulers of the night, and gods among mortals. Yet, the vampires felt a seed of fear sprouting in their hearts. Finally, Michael saw Ingram appear in the hall. The dim torches illuminated his calm-looking face. His ashen hair was neatly tied into a ponytail. Unlike the other elder vampires, he was in armor made of both leather and metal. With the sword dangling on his waist, he looked like the embodiment of the word bravery rather than a vampire.

Although there were ten stone chairs, Michael had never seen all of them get filled. It was always these four. He recalled seeing a fatty bald vampire when he first bugged the castle. For some reason, that vampire was nowhere to be seen. Of course, Michael didn't know Harriet killed Hacan because he created another elder vampire who almost killed Michael and Noah in the alchemy competition.

"Is everyone here?" asked Lenora.

The others nodded. Everyone remained silent, letting the eerie feeling creep into Michael and Gaya.

"So, who killed Puma among the two of you?" asked Trista.

"I did," said Michael.

"When did you figure out he was a nightwalker?" asked Trista.

"When I saw him regenerate and show his fangs,"

"Let me get this straight," Trista chuckled, leaning forward.

"You found he was a nightwalker, killed him somehow, and thought it's a good idea to track down the one who sent him,"

"Not exactly," Michael shook his head.

"Then tell us, why are you really here?" said Trista.

Michael took a deep breath,

"I am here to offer something in exchange for information and peace with your kind," said Michael.

"Information about her mother, I presume," Saber calmly said, surprising Michael. He moved his gaze from Trista to Saber. The young vampire leaned back on his stone chair with a smile.

"You can hide her face with a mask. But you cannot replace her blood. A Naga," Saber glanced at Gaya from head to toe. Both Michael and Gaya were shocked. They didn't expect Saber to find out her origin. Michael felt like he had underestimated the vampires.

"Not just a Naga. The princess of Nagaland. The rightful wonder to the throne and the only daughter of Adelia Ashton," saber slowly spoke. His voice was mixed with admiration and shock for some reason. Since Michael was pretty good at reading people, he could tell Saber definitely had some respect for Adelia.

To be honest, Michael had so many questions about Adelia. The woman intrigued him to the core. At first, she was just Gaya's dead mother. Other than that, Michael didn't have any other thoughts about Adelia. But the more he dug deep into Gaya's mother, he was constantly surprised by her. First, Gaya saw a recording left by her mother. She was a member of the order who asked Gaya to find the Dark Lord. Then, Elidyr revealed Adelia's origins as Wraith, one of the founders of the Order. Now, he learned Adelia might have been a vampire and somehow earned the right to be hunted by the death squad. There were so many mysteries around Adelia. It was like peeling an onion. Secrets kept coming one after another.

"You don't seem crippled to me," said Ingram.

"Tell me about my mother. Where is she?" Gaya ignored Ingram and questioned them all. Michael tried to stop her, but it was too late. Luckily, the vampires seemed amused by her outrage rather than offended.

"You may have misjudged the situation, your royal highness," Lenora chuckled.

"You're alive because we felt somehow curious about Puma's death and his strange request to meet us," said Lenora.

"In other words, you're walking on a line between life and death, so you better keep us curious," said Trista. There was a hidden murderous intent in their voices.

Michael stepped forward,

"Elders, I am going to show you something," Michael glanced at the elders. They nodded after a while.

Finally, with a flick of his wrist, Michael took out a sparkling gold potion. The position glistened and sparkled like liquid gold.

"This is what you were talking about? A potion?" Lenora looked a little bit disappointed. However, Saber felt a strange energy from the potion.

"Not a potion, Elder. I found this in the treacherous ocean. It was left by a six-star alchemist," said Michael.

The vampires possessed the ability to tell whether someone was lying or not by sensing their heartbeat and facial signs. Thanks to the system, Michael was able to fool the vampires.

"Along with the parchment, Unfortunately, the parchment crumbled due to time. However, I remember the words. May thy rulers of night rule the day,"

The vampires were taken aback by surprise. From their point of view, the human before them was telling them the truth.

"At that time, I didn't understand the meaning, even after seeing the potion's effect,"

"What are the effects?" Saber asked. Michael grinned inwards when he saw the curious look in the vampire's eyes.

"Offer protection against the sun. Until I learned about the night rulers, I didn't think of this potion as much,"

"Are you telling us this potion will protect us from the sun?" groaned Lenora. Her normal playful voice disappeared. Instead, she talked in a cold voice.

"If my calculations were right, this potion will protect you for at least an hour and a half. With time and resources, you can find a way to make the potion's effect last long,"

Suddenly, Saber waved his hand. An invisible force snatched the potion out of Michael's face.

"If this didn't work," Saber didn't finish his sentence but let Michael imagine the outcome.

"You can do whatever you want with me," said Michael. With a nod, Saber disappeared from the hall. Following Saber's disappearance, silence took over the hall. Michael and Gaya remained still. Michael squeezed her hand, wordlessly reassuring her. If his peaceful way didn't work, he wouldn't blink an eye to slaughter the elders. Gaya had never begged him for something. But for the first time, she cried for his help. There was nothing he wouldn't do to find Adelia.

He must find her. After all, Adelia wasn't just Gaya's mother but a founder and a member of his order. If she was alive, it was his responsibility as the Dark Lord to take care of his loyal followers. Besides, Adelia was family.

After a couple of minutes, Saber returned to the hall. This time, he wasn't alone. He had an elf dressed in a fancy noble dress with him. The elf looked terrified, and Michael could see the sweat beads on his forehead.

"What happened?" Lenora asked Saber. She failed to hide the curiosity in her heart.

"I…I survived," the elf said, shivering.

Except for Ingram, the other elders looked bewildered. Even the usually calm and composed Saber couldn't hide the excitement. His hand trembled, holding the vial with a few drops of golden liquid in it.

Instead of answering, Saber appeared in front of Michael in a blink of an eye. He grabbed Gaya and Michael by his neck, lifting them up off the ground. Despite Saber's scrawny look, he was able to lift Michael and Gaya without breaking a sweat.

"Tell me, where can I find more?"

Saber loosened his grip just enough to let Michael barely utter the words.

"Tell me about Adelia and agree to call off the death squad. If we don't get back to where we came from alive and unharmed, the potions are good as gone," Michael grinned. The information Michael had was crucial to the point that it could change the entire vampire's fate. In other words, Saber can't kill him even if he wishes to.

Phase one of shocking the vampires with the potion had been completed. Next phase, get the protection of one of the elders and learn about Adelia.