[The system scan is completed. Nightcrawler doesn't have any means to escape Abyssal unless the host choose to let him go]
In one of the empty rooms of the Abyssal, a bold skinny man was tied to a chair that resembled the torture chairs in the movies. His ankles, feet as well as wrists were tied to the chair using barbed wire. This man was the infamous Nightcrawler who was terrorizing Flamefair and its citizens.
[Nightcrawler's ability is very similar to subordinate Aria's masking ability] The masking ability was what impressed Michael, resulting in Aria's recruitment. At the moment, Aria could only mask her energy radiation to fool common defense arrays and Body Refining stage cultivators. Anything above the common category and anyone above the Body Refining stage could easily detect regardless of her ability.
Michael wasn't so clear about the masking ability because even Gaya had no knowledge of such ability. When Michael asked the system, it only informed that her ability to mask her energy radiation would grow with her cultivation level. If he wanted to know more about this ability, the system required him to upgrade it to the next level.
[However, unlike subordinate Aria, Nightcrawler's ability seems to be originating from the artifact attached to his heart and is superior to subordinate Aria's masking ability]
"How do I detach this artifact from his body?" he asked curiously.
[Killing him would do the trick]
"Oh I plan to" he sneered, exiting the system. Nightmare was hovering around unconscious Nightcrawler while Gaya was tieing the barbed wires more tightly.
"Here crack this baby open" she threw a space ring towards Michael.
A few seconds after he paid the system the badass points, he could see the contents inside the space ring.
"A serial killer indeed" the space ring contained nothing but vials of blood. Those glittering red vials were neatly stacked in a line inside the space ring. With a single glance, he could tell these were Nightcrawler's souvenirs taken from his victims. Unlike what he was told back at the tavern, there weren't seven blood vials but there were a total of ten blood vials. This meant one thing, he started the killing way before the guardians had predicted.
"Anything interesting?" Gaya asked, leaning on the wall with her hands folded against her chest.
"Take a look at this yourself" he threw back the space ring to her but before she could catch the ring, Nightmare snatched the ring in the mid-air.
"Hey! Give me that" she tried to grab Nightmare but he was zigzagging around her to annoy her more. Seeing the play like this in front of an infamous serial killer like Nightcrawler made Michael frustrated and amused at the same time.
"Nightmare, give her the ring before she nails you to the wall" he warned Nightmare when he saw Gaya reaching for an arrow in her quiver.
"So easy to annoy, hehehe" the little dragon chuckled before landing on Gaya's shoulder.
She swiftly grabbed the ring from his mouth with an annoyed look on her face. But the annoyed look was soon replaced by a frown when she saw the contents inside the space ring.
"Are these?"
"Yep, the vials containing the blood of his victims" this was the grossest thing she had seen in her life, in fact, this was not even close. Yet, this was the first time she saw a serial killer and his souvenirs with her own eyes
"Let me see" Nightmare grabbed the ring from her hand.
"How about we kill this low life and collect his blood in a vial?"
The little dragon's soft side was slowly vanishing due to his and Gaya's influence on him. Michael was glad to see this change because a dragon-like him must be ruthless to his enemies. In the future, they would have to fight countless foes and any kind of mercy or reluctance to kill a foe would cost them their lives. Michael was sure that the guardians or any of his future foes wouldn't show them any kind of mercy.
"Let's wake this fucker up" NIghtmare quickly flew into Michael's cape, attaching himself onto his back. Gaya slapped Nightcrawler so hard that the slapping sound echoed through the empty room.
He could swear that he even saw molar teeth bursting out of Nightcrawler's mouth with a splatter of blood and saliva.
"Where...ah!" the pain hit him only a few seconds after he opened his eyes.
Piercing gray eyes set concealed within their sockets, watching its surroundings wearily. As Nightcrawler's vision became less blurry and realization of he had been captured reached his brain, he tried to wiggle against the barbed wire shackling him to the chair. However the more he struggled, the more he felt the excruciating pain of barbed wire sinking deep and deep into his flesh.
"Ah...let...me...go" Both Michael and Gaya saw Nightcrawler frantically trying to move away from them without asking who they were, which meant he already knew the answer to that question. While he was struggling, Michael retrieved the drone from his storage. Gaya stepped away from the drone's camera angle into the corner of the room to blend with the darkness. The light in the drone's camera flickered before emitting a stable blue light, indicating to him that it's ready to broadcast the feed to everywhere Gaya put the projector balls. The projector balls would automatically find a suitable place in the area to project the feed so the people could see and hear Lucifer crystal clear.
At the moment, the projector balls were projecting the feed to every corner of Flamefair and Bredia. One of the places the projector balls projecting the feed was the burning star building itself. With the help of the system, he built the projector balls to project the feed in the sky itself. Therefore, if there wasn't a large wall or building nearby the balls to project, they would use the sky itself as the projector screen. Plus, the projector balls had all kinds of audio enhancement that could make his voice extremely loud which could give the otherworldly effect to Lucifer.
"System, activate the projectors," he said to the system, signaling Gaya to put a cloth around Nightcrawler's mouth.
Michael stood in front of the drone with his hands behind.
"Welcome to my hell, people of Bredia and Flamefair"
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 1000 badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 1500 badass points]
…
A few moments after he activated the projectors through the system, badass points began to rain as he continuously heard the notification sound ringing in his mind.
"I've been watching you, studying you. I saw massacres, corruption in every place, nobles and cultivators treating commoners as worse than dirt, commoners selling their bodies and stealing, slavery, experiments on people, and many, many more sins"
His unearthly voice reverberated through all the Bredia and Flamefair.
"This continent is slowly turning into a hell and in hell, you have to answer to me, Lucifer"
[wonderful] amidst the ringing sound of the notification, he heard the system's voice that sounded extremely pleased.
"Since the people who should have protected the innocents have been failing miserably, it's time every sinner in this continent experiences the justice served in hell" After these words escaped his mouth, he slowly stepped away sidewards for the drone camera to get Nightcrawler.
"Let me introduce the human whom you've known as Nightcrawler. He may elude the justice of mortals because of lack of evidence or the incompetence of the authorities. In here, I'd be the judge, jury, and the executioner" Michael let the words sink in the peoples' hearts. After a few seconds of silence, he went on,
"He has killed ten people, four of them were innocent. They were just commoners who did their best to provide for their families. He hunted them like prey, he enjoyed killing them, every single moment of it" Michael ran his claws through Nightcrawler's face. Everywhere his sharp claws touched Nightcrawler's body, blood seeped through the cuts.
"In my hell, you're all nothing but miserable preys. If your authorities had caught him, he would have been fed, given a cozy little prison cell, and then a fair trial, there's nothing fair in giving this murderer a trial. Too much waste of time" Michael's hand stopped running around Nightcrawler's face as he clenched Nightcrawler's bald head and slowly began to apply pressure.
"Mmhhhhmmmm…." Nightcrawler violently wiggled against the barbed wires feeling the pain of his skull getting crushed by Lucifer.
"Just like he did to those innocent mortals, his death too will be slow and painful" Gaya could hear the cracking sound coming from his bald head. Webs of blood seeped through the cracks appearing in his bald egg. Michael felt like he's been slowly crushing an egg in his hand.
"Every sinner in this continent will pay for their crimes, just like those who did before Nightcrawler as well as those who were claiming to be me. You can escape mortal justice but you can't escape mine. No amount of gold or connections will save you in my hell"
Pulch!
Michael suddenly used all of his strength as Nightcrawler's head exploded into a red mist like an exploding watermelon. Splatters of grey matter oozed out of Michael's hands to the ground as Nightcrawler's body was still twitching.
"I will give the sinners one more chance. Within the next two months, surrender to the authorities and pay the price for your crimes. The authorities should give a most fitting punishment for their crimes or after two months, this will continue. Remember, you can't beg for forgiveness from me"
****************
The southern continent arc will begin from the next chapter. Expect pirates, gladiators, and much much more...