"NO!" Edith screamed as loud as she could. Michael stabbed Victoria again. Victoria coughed up blood. Seeing the Dark Lord murdering the princess of Thusia in cold blood, Nadia''s body sweated. She took a few steps back in fear. To Nadia''s shock, Victoria''s body began to glow. She heard a strange whistling noise in the air. Meanwhile, the Cosmic stream gradually lost its glow. Azazel saw the glowing energy being absorbed by the subordinates. Gaya had already reached the Soul Refining stage.


    [Experience points converted 20000]


    [Experience points converted 60000]


    [Experience points converted 50000]


    The energy devourer absorbed the Cosmic energy and converted it into experience points. Unlike the subordinates, Michael didn''t have to sit around the pond and cultivate. The moment Michael appeared near the Cosmic stream, he started to absorb Cosmic energy. However, Michael ordered the system to slow down devouring the energy because his subordinates needed Cosmic energy more than him. Otherwise, Michael would have emptied the stream all by himself. Unfortunately, his subordinates could not be stronger by killing people like him. Hence, absorbing energy sources was their only chance.


    After stabbing Victoria so many times, Michael threw her body down. She hit the ground with a thud. Edith dashed at Victoria. The light of life had already faded away from Victoria''s eyes. Edith frantically shook Victoria by her shoulder. Tears flooded out of her eyes.


    "Victoria!" Edith screamed. Edith''s eyes started to hurt due to the glow in Victoria''s chest. Nadia did not linger around anymore. She flew away from the ind because she felt something bad was about to happen. On the ground, Victoria''s body vibrated. Edith cried. Her neatlybed hair became a mess, and her eyes had dark circles.


    Finally, Michael felt huge pressure was being left off him. He felt light. His soul and mind calmed down. After two years, Michael finally exacted revenge on Thusia and everyone who wronged him. When Michael looked at the bodies in the field, it didn''t satisfy Michael. On the contrary, it worried him. He knew this was just the beginning. The path before him would be cruel, hard, and treacherous. From now on, every single great n and the Skyhall would use everything they got to kill him.


    Atleast Michael got powerful and loyal subordinates to have his back. He patiently waited for Victoria to transform into a nuclear warhead and for his subordinates to finish cultivating. He was slightly surprised to see the Cosmic stream losing its glow. Maxim had used the stream for years, yet Michael finished it within an hour. Thanks to the system and Elidyr, the subordinates were able to absorb the Cosmic energy at a high-efficiency rate.


    Suddenly, the entire ind started to quiver. This did not surprise Michael. The earthquake resulted from the Cosmic energy in Victoria''s body colliding with the Arch and Celestial energy in the atmosphere. This was simr to a chemical reaction.


    "Azazel," Michael called Azazel for the status report.


    "Three minutes, my lord," said Azazel.


    "What''s happening?" Edith mumbled. Victoria''s body began to float toward the sky. No matter how hard Edith tried to keep her body down, she simply couldn''t. Edith herself floated alongside Victoria for a moment before losing her grip on Victoria''s hand. When Edith hit the ground, she could only scream for Victoria.


    Michael gave no shit about Edith. He promised Lah not to kill Edith with his own hands. But if she died in the explosion, that was not technically killing her by his hands. Michael seriously hoped she would die. He had a soft spot for Lah. Although at first Michael hated her for trying to kill him for what she did,ter on, Lah realized her faults and warmed up to him. She even tried to kill the Dark Lord in Awor because she thought the Dark Lord attacked Ghost.


    He was aptly to me for the disappearance of Lah''s child. Thest thing Michael wanted was to make Lah sadder by killing Edith. Lah would have enough to worry about after he leaves for the Southern continent. He didn''t know Noah had read the child''s journal and learned the spirit child was his. Even if Michael knew this, he would not do anything because he knew Noah would not endanger a child.


    The whistling noise sounded louder and louder. Nadia and the others could hear the noise even from miles away. Eventually, all of Michael''s subordinates opened their eyes. They no longer felt the strange energy in the air. When they opened their eyes, the glowing pond was nowhere to be found.


    Everyone felt unstoppable. Tiberius clenched his fist as if he had never felt this strong before. Sadie on the other hand, was inplete shock. She reached the Soul Refining stage from the Arch sensing stage within an hour. Moreover, this strange energy in her body made her feel stronger than ever.


    They were all at the Soul Refining stage level 7 except Gaya. She reached Fusion stage level 8. With Cosmic energy, her power exceeded her power before she reset her cultivation. Even a level 1 Half Immortal would have a difficult time defeating Gaya. Since Michael could provide her with an Immortal killing weapon, she could be an absolute powerhouse. However, Michael had other ns to make her Half Immortal within the next few months. It was finally time for her to finish her metamorphosis.


    Vedora stayed hidden within Gaya''s robes and did not show itself to the others. On the contrary, Nightmare had a proud grin on his face. He checked out his body which gained a new glossiness to it. Hovering in the air, Michael waved his hand as a bright light enveloped all his subordinates. In a blink of an eye, they disappeared from the field. Only Michael remained on the ind.


    "This ind will serve as a warning and an example of what will happen if someone goes against me," Michael''s voice traveled across the continent. Everyone in the Ozer continent heard his demonic voice at that moment. Many closed their ears because of how loud and thunderous his voice was.


    Eventually, Victoria''s body glowed as bright as a mini sun. She lit up the entire ind, and her glow could be seen from miles away. The light from her body nketed the entire ind in white except Michael. Michael was the dark spot in the area.


    Edith screamed as she closed her eyes.


    "Boom," Michael snapped his finger before teleporting away from the ind. The very next second, Victoria''s body exploded with the force of a nuclear warhead. The bright light reached the point where it turned the sky white. But soon, the white turned orange. The ind crumbled as violent waves moved chaotically in the ocean. Nadia and the others were startled and terrified to see the mushroom cloud reaching for the sky. They were thrown away by the shock wave for a mile.


    When they regained their bnce, Ithn disappeared from their sight. They vaguely saw crumbs of the ind floating on the ocean for a moment before sinking down. The sound of the explosion resonated throughout the Ozer continent. Even the nearby kingdom felt the explosion''s wrath. Several cracks appeared onnd deep enough for a man to disappear.


    Luckily for the nearby kingdoms, the explosion did not produce any radiation. Michael had no intention to harm others yet.


    Almost after seven hours, the mushroom cloud and the smoke cleared up. The guardians arrived at Ithn with Mutrad on board. However, they saw no ind on the sea. For a moment, they thought they hade to the wrong ce. There was not a single clue to say an ind existed there.


    "He destroyed an entire ind," Mutrad looked over his shoulder to see Xanali walking toward him. Before the explosion went off, Xanali used a teleportation scroll to teleport Evan and herself. She was really lucky to regain consciousness.


    Mutrad never expected the Dark Lord to cause such death and destruction. Considering Mutrad studied the Dark Lord''s behavior, he thought the Dark Lord wouldn''t hurt innocent people. But he was proven wrong when the Dark Lord ughtered Thusian soldiers. Granted, Mutrad knew something happened between the Dark Lord and Thusia. Still, the Dark Lord''s behavior caught Mutrad off guard. The only silver lining was he finally revealed himself.


    "So all this time, it was Ghost," Mutrad frowned. Even he was fooled by Ghost when he interviewed him at the Alchemypetition.


    "And Gaya Ashton," sighed Xanali.


    "You and your kingdom will receive full protection of the guardians and the Sea Folk,"


    "A whole lot of good it did to Thusia," Xanali snickered.


    "Today, he showed the whole world how ipetent guardians are,"


    "No," Mutrad shook his head.


    "They aren''t ipetent or weak. He''s a sneaky bastard with full of surprises,"


    Although Mutrad sounded calm andposed, he was afraid deep down. He heard the reports of how the Dark Lord ughtered the guardians, including Immortals. He was nowhere near matching the Dark Lord in raw power. The only advantage Mutrad had over the Dark Lord was the eight great ns. Ithn''s destruction was a good trump card when it came to negotiating to gather the eight great ns against the Dark Lord. Of course, some of the ns might feel reluctant to go against the Dark Lord after his warning.


    "Why are we here?" asked Xanali. After the day she had, she just wanted to head home.


    "I don''t know. Just needed to see it with my own eyes," said Mutrad.


    "So the war between the Dark Lord and us has finally begun," Mutrad looked in the direction of the Southern continent. Something told him the Dark Lord had gone beyond the void line.


    "Open your eyes. We are losing this war," Xanali growled. She didn''t think Mutrad should be the one who leads the fight against the Dark Lord. Instead, she wanted Noah. Unfortunately, she was still searching for Noah.