Hitman with a Badass System

(Current day)

In a faraway land outside Hell city, Lailah was on the ground, coughing up blood. Her sky-blue robes were stained with red sand and her own blood. She coughed up, mouth full of blood as her face looked pale.

"You are coming with me dead or alive, bitch!" Lailah heard the thunderous roar of Eratos, whom Lailah never thought would be alive. He hovered in the air with his eyes glowing in rage and vengeance. Lailah barely recognized him when she first saw him. Almost twenty years ago, Eratos was a rising star who ruled the hearts of young maidens in Awor. He had striking golden hair, perfectly chiseled muscles, and square jaws. But after Lailah used Angel's veena, his appearance changed drastically. For instance, he had no wavy golden hair but a few strands. His body looked shriveled, as though he hadn't eaten for months. The eyes that glowed with vigor turned into eyes filled with vengeance.  Out of all changes, the wooden hand drew the most attention. The Angel's veena destroyed his hands when he killed Megan, Lailah's disciple. Eratos got his hand replaced with a wooden hand, engraved with several runes. This wooden hand and his appearance were a constant reminder of what had happened to him. Usually, a healing potion and some powerful alchemy substances could heal almost any injuries. Unfortunately, none of them could turn Eratos back to the way he was before he went to the rainbow islands.

All these years, Eratos was training and waiting to have his revenge. Thanks to the Sea Folks, he was able to beat Lailah to the Half Immortal stage. Gruazl orchestrated the events behind the scenes and brought Lailah to the Fre realm. She had no idea Eratos was waiting for her in the Fire Realm. Once Eratos saw her, he lost all his sanity and attacked her like a maniac. Since Lailah was still at the Fusion stage, she couldn't gain the upper hand against him. HJe overwhelmed Lailah and almost beat her to a pulp.

"Get up!" Eratos taunted her to get back to her feet. As much as Lailah tried to fight back, she couldn't even move a muscle. Her shoulder and right leg were crooked, with bones sticking through her skin. In addition, her beautiful face was swollen to the point even the closest of Lailah wouldn't recognize her easily. If Eratos wanted to kill her, he could have done it so easily. However, he was ordered not to kill her. Not that Eratos intended to end her life so quickly. Instead, he wanted to make her suffer and pay for everything she did to him. For eighteen years, he had to wake up in the morning and see his disfigured body in the mirror. Not a single day passed without Eratos wishing that Lailah had killed him that day.

"No one would have suffered the way you are about to," Eratos said, gritting his teeth. Except for the canines, all his teeth were nowhere to be found in his mouth. Thus, he looked horrible when he laughed at Lailah's state. Even a grown man would be scared to death by Eratos's appearance. Although the shark head medallion saved Eratos all those years ago, it actually made his life a living hell. Gruzal and his kind fanned Eratos's hatred ever since and turned him into a vile monster. Eratos were their secret weapon against their enemies. Whenever Gruzal wanted someone to be taken care of, Eratos would be his first choice. Everyone who died in Eratos's hands went through hell and wished for a quick death. He was brutal, inhumane, and insane. Even many in Gruzal's close circle were terrified of Eratos and advised Gruzal to put him down like a rabbit dog. However, Gruzal saw a greater potential of a killing machine than anyone else.

As Eratos was taunting Lailah, thunderclouds rumbled in the distance. Soon, clusters of dark clouds appeared above them. In his rage mode, Eratos didn't mind the sudden change in his surroundings. As far as he was concerned, it was just a typical storm in the Fire Realm. Considering Eratos spent his time secluded from the outer world in the Sea Folk realm, he had no idea what was happening in the world. When Lailah saw the sky getting darker and darker, she knew he was there.

Eratos's evil grin froze once he noticed the strange smile on Lailah's face. He couldn't think of a single reason for what could have made her smile unless she went insane.

"I will wipe that pretty smile off your face, bitch," Eratos snickered. A silver chain riddled with nails materialized in Eratos's hand. He clenched the chain tight and swung it toward Lailah. Lailah's instincts screamed at her to raise her hands to defend herself. But her hands simply refused to move. Thus, she could only close his eyes. A few seconds passed, yet the chain was nowhere close to Lailah. Eratos tried to yank the chain without turning around. To his surprise, the chains didn't even move an inch as it felt like the chain was frozen in the air.

Finally, Eratos slowly turned around to see someone dressed in complete black holding the chain in his one hand.

"Ghost," Lailah mumbled as she saw the Dark Lord hovering in the air facing Eratos. The last time she saw him, he was only a Half Immortal. And a year later, he became an Immortal on the verge of breaking through to the Half Celestial stage. She would be lying if he said she wasn't glad to see him, especially given her situation. Facing Michael, Eratos tried to yank the chains out of his hands. But no matter how hard he tried, the chains didn't even move an inch.

Eratos felt an overwhelming power radiating from the black-robed youngster, and when he focused, he was stunned to see his superior cultivation stage. The evil grin on Eratos's face completely vanished into thin air. In its stead, a shocked expression appeared on his face. Granted, Eratos lost all his reasoning and sanity when it came to Lailah, but still, he was able to see the power gap between a Half Immortal and an Immortal.

Suddenly, everything around Eratos turned completely black. Not a shred of light peaked through the darkness that enveloped him. This darkness around him felt vicious and eerie. The youngster completely vanished into the darkness except for his glowing red eyes.

"Who-" Before Eratos could finish his words, he was pulled toward the youngster by the chains. The next moment, he felt a strong grip around his throat. His face quickly turned purple without the lack of oxygen to his head. Eratos punched the youngster with all his might, only to feel like punching a stone wall. His hands went numb, and some of the fingers cracked instantly. Eratos gritted his teeth in pain without shouting.

While Eratos struggled to escape Michael's grip, Gaya landed beside Lailah with a healing potion. She quickly opened the vial and emptied the potion into Lailah's mouth.

The bruises and wounds on Lailah's body rapidly disappeared as the rosiness returned to her skin. Lailah's blurry vision slowly cleared up and showed Gaya's face.

"Who the hell is that guy?" Gaya questioned Lailah the moment she opened her eyes. With Gaya's help, Lailah slowly got back to her feet. Instead of answering Gaya's question, she stared at the pitch-black darkness in the sky. She was unable to locate both Ghost and Eratos in the darkness. Inside the death range, Michael grabbed Eratos's wooden arm, twisted it to the point it cracked, and ripped it apart from his shoulder.

"Not again!" Eratos roared. His painful scream echoed through the fire realm. Lailah knew Eratos was a child in terms of cruelty compared to the Dark Lord. The latter obliterated an entire island of Itholan and wiped off King Maxim's bloodline from the face of this world. The people of Itholan still suffered the war's effects and wished things were different every single day. After Gaya heard the scream, she noticed a wooden arm stained with blood falling down from the sky.

"That bitch must die…" Even when Eratos was on the verge of dying, his hatred toward Lailah prevented him from begging for mercy.

His words poured oil into Michael's flames of anger and made him crush Eratos's vocal cords. Michael then coiled the chains around Eratos's bleeding neck and squeezed the life out of him. As the light of life was fading away from Eratos's eyes, Michael unsheathed his dark sword and stabbed him in the gut. On the one hand, Michael squeezed Eraots's neck with the chains; on the other hand, he moved the dark sword upward, splitting Eratos's chest in half.

Lailah and Gaya stood on the ground, looking at the blood and entrails falling from the sky above them. They heard a sickening growl coming from the darkness, and judging by the amount of blood and organs falling down, they could imagine what was happening inside.

"There goes my chance of questioning him. I hope you will have some answers for us," Gaya sighed.

If choking and cutting Eratos was not enough, Michael fired the dark beams out of his eyes and burned two holes through Eratos's head. While brutally murdering Eratos, he noticed the glowing shark head medallion on Eratos's neck. Michael felt the medallion's energy trying to keep Eratos's soul from leaving his body. This medallion saved Eratos from the wrath of Angel's veena and kept him alive all these years. But Michael's power was far stronger than the magic within the medallion. He just grabbed it and pulled it from his neck against the medallion's resistance. Once Michael removed the medallion, it trembled violently for a moment in his hands before losing all its glow.

When the dark sword reached the base of Eratos's neck, Michael twisted the sword and cut his head clean off his shoulders. Eratos's headless body fell down, swaying in the stormy wind. The dark beams melted down Eratos's head until nothing but a crumbling skull was left in his hand. Gradually, the darkness in the sky slowly faded away, revealing Michael in the air. Then, Michael slowly descended to the ground and landed before Lailah. He didn't say a word to Lailah but looked her in the eyes, expecting an explanation.