"Not much except he started killing two weeks ago. Until the guardians decided to warn the people, the duke kept Nightcrawler's existence a secret" One of the adventurers said, taking occasional sips of ale.
"Of course, he kept it a secret. The duke of Pen Town has been kicking his ass since the beginning of this war. He didn't want to demoralize the soldiers further by telling them about Nightcrawler. How would you feel if you're fighting a war far away while someone might kill your family back at home?"
"I would dessert," a few of the adventurers shouted, raising their mugs together.
"Are the guardians anywhere near catching this Nightcrawler?"
"They've been investigating" the bushy beard middle-aged man air quotes the words showing his disappointment with the guardians.
"Who knows?it might be the guardians who were doing the killing as Lucifer said"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Everyone turned their gazes at the young man who just spoke.
"Don't tell me none of you went to Royal land recently," the young man asked before slamming his empty mug on the table.
"Refill" he shouted at the bartender,
"Two weeks ago, I was at Royal land, doing an escort job. And while we were passing the town square, we saw it" the youngster took a long sip.
"Saw what?!"
"A small army of Netherels. We all saw them carrying Minister Gerty's body. The words Guardians stop pretending to be me, Lucifer was written on his body" the youngster finished his ale in one long gulp. Not only Michael but everyone in the tavern could tell that the youngster was pretty shaken up recalling the sight of a small army of Netherels.
"It might be anyone trying to blame the guardians" From the corner of the tavern, someone said.
"I never said what happened next" the youngster slammed the mug again
"When the Guardians approached the body, Gerty's body exploded and the blood formed the words, Lucifer is watching everyone in the sky"
Only Michael knew it was not blood but fireworks he brought from the system. It was obvious this youngster exaggerated the last part but exaggeration would be good for Lucifer's reputation.
"Now tell me what or who could control the mindless Netherels and write in the sky in blood?"
"I'd say it's Lucifer"
"Of course it's Lucifer, I heard of Gerty. He was a real son of a bitch and I would say he got what he deserved"
"Lucifer, Nightcrawler, this world is really going towards a shit storm" a few adventurers sighed.
"What happened to the Netherels?"
"What do you think? The holy guards smote them to hell"
"It's fucked up to even think the guardians pretended to be Lucifer and killed those nobles"
"Not for me, I always knew the Guardians were up to no good.Im glad that someone or something like Lucifer is going to keep them in like"
"If you ask me, I'd say let Lucifer hunt down all those fucking noble bastards. Most of them deserve worse than dead"
Michael was slightly amused to see most of the adventurers in the tavern support Lucifer. If most people in the continent think like these adventurers, anyone Michael kills would be branded as a sinner by the people which was exactly what Michael wants.
"What more can you tell about this Nightcrawler?" Before the conversation completely turns towards Lucifer, Michael asked the question.
"Though the guardians announced Nightcrawler's existence, they didn't share much except he kills people at night"
"Yeah no shit"
"How many people did he kill?" Michael asked.
"Six I think"
"Nah, with Lukan a few days ago, it'd be seven"
"If you want to know more about him, you should go ask what's her name again" the bushy beard adventurer rubbed his beard trying to recall the name.
"Nesta, she's the one leading the task of catching Nightcrawler"
"Yeah Nesta" the bearded adventurer exclaimed,
"But be careful, I heard she has quite a temper. If I were you, I don't want to piss off that giant"
"Nesta huh?" Michael mumbled under his breath. If she was in charge of catching the Nightcrawler, Michael knew killing Nightcrawler as Lucifer would teach her a lesson. However, his first priory before starting the hunt was gathering more information about the Nightcrawler.
***************************
After getting as much as information he could from them, Michael rented a room in the same tavern. Considering Michael multiplied his business by many folds, the bartender, also the owner of the tavern, was happy to give Michael his best room for free.
Of course, Michael knew it was also a business tactic as he could later double his prices saying that the famous 5-star Alchemist, Ghost of River town stayed at his tavern.
"System, bring up my status window" Lying on his bed, he ordered the system as the familiar window appeared before Michael's eyes.
System version 3.0
Host: Michael
Cultivation Level: Core Formation stage, level 3
Experience Points: 0/400000
Badass Points: 8500
Skills & Spells:
Wind Blast - LVL 2
Responsive Shield - LVL 3
Environment Scanning - LVL 2
Ignitia - LVL 2
Lightning Dash - LVL 2
Energy Devouver - LVL 1
Death Range - LVL 2
Techniques: Swords of Destiny - 90% Mastery
Ring of Fire - 57% Mastery
Occupation: Core Disciple of Sunrise Sect
The Guardian of Sunrise Sect
Lord Lucifer of the Abyssal
Status: Healthy
Goals: Control the world
Rebuild the Order of Death
Utility Function: Banker - LVL 3 (Ratio - 1000 gold coins: 10 badass point(s))
Wealth: 2,170,000 Gold
Special Trait: 5-Star Alchemist
3-Star Inventor
Subordinates: Gaya - Warrior (loyalty level 100%)
Raylene - 5-star Chef (loyalty level 97%)
Base of Operation: Sunrise Sect
The Abyssal
"Hmm, I need to upgrade my spells and banker function"
[Host should really consider taking a loan and upgrading the spells]
The system sounded extremely greedy.
"Nah, for the time being, I don't want any more loans from you," Michael said as he remembered something about Nightmare.
"Hey system, now that you're online, can you make Nightmare a Royal Dragon"
[It would take 400,000 badass points to make a Forest dragon a Royal Dragon] he was with the system long enough to tell the greedy system was hiding something.
"Spit it out"
[what? The host should get more badass points if you want to make your pet dragon a Royal dragon]
"What the? Are you arguing with me now? I know you know a second method system"
For a moment, Michael heard a sound like the system sighing.
[Or you can find a Royal Dragon and pay the system 50,000 badass points to start the ritual to transform Nightmare into a Royal Dragon]
"That seems reasonable. See we can work it out" Michael chuckled.
"System, with my current Inventor level, I cannot make the thermal camera. So, can you do something about it like turning the camera I make into a thermal camera?"
[The host can buy a thermal chip from the system store for 200 badass points]
"Excellent"
[why does the host want a thermal camera anyways?]
"This place is basically under lockdown, anyone who ventures outside at night will be a suspect. If I want to find out what's going on without getting into a fight with Nesta, I have to send out a drone to first survey the area. Who knows? With a little bit of luck, I might find the Nightcrawler himself"
Michael knew that if Nightcrawler was able to venture out at night without getting detected by the guardians, he might have something interesting with him to cover his tracks. It was highly unlikely that even an assassin could kill a noble in his own room, especially after the city had been put under the surveillance of the guardians.
After what happened with Gerty, if the guardians did pretend to be lucifer as Gaya said, they wouldn't try to do the same thing again.
"Nightcrawler...what secrets do you have?" Michael already plotted a plan to use Nightcrawler to his advantage.
"Hey, are you there?" When Michael closed the system's interface, he heard Gaya's voice sounding in his head.
"What is it?" Michael adjusted the earbud in his ear and asked Gaya.
"They really fucked up Aria's brothers, human"
"What do you mean really fucked up?"
Nightmare quickly placed his little head over Michael's ear to eavesdrop.
"The slave mine was not only used to mine iron but it was also used for traffic organs and sick experiments on the slaves. You really need to get down here, I don't think they'll last long"
"I'll put some special healing potion into the interlinked space ring, give it to her. It will keep them alive until I come"
"Got it. By the way, how's your hunt for the killer going?"
"Still collecting information but I'll finish it soon"
"What's Dicky doing?"
Michael noticed the smile on Nightmare's face. It was surprisingly beautiful, for a dragon.
"He's here," he said.
"Keep that lizard safe. Don't let him get into trouble while im away"
"Yes, mother" Michael chuckled and he could hear Gaya giggling on the other end.
"After giving the healing potion to them, I'm going back to the sect to see how're things back there"
"Then I will put some instructions for Olivia to study in the ring, give them to her"
He already assigned the task of studying all the herbs and their characteristics in his herbal garden and since he couldn't be with her all the time to guide her, Michael wrote a few pointers in a book for her to study. If she could become extremely loyal to him, he would make her the head of his Alchemy business chain as he was planning.
"Will do. Just stay safe out there" she said in a gentle voice before cutting the call.