Michael activated the lightning dash to rush into the ruins.
"Wind blast" while running into the dust cloud surrounding the ruins, he raised his hands sending several blasts of wind to clear the rubble and the dust.
The powerful wind blasts cleared the dust in a few seconds revealing Nightmare and Gaya. For a moment, Michael couldn't recognize the dragon. When he left for the Southern Continent, Nightmare was the size of his hand. Now it stood almost 3 meters tall and 10meters long. He was not as big as smog but not small either. Nightmare's crimson red scales glistened under the sunlight. Nightmare was holding down Gaya against the ground, he held onto her hands preventing her from destroying and attacking him in rage.
"Ghosty" when Nightmare saw Michael walk out of the dust, his vertical pupils became rounded. Even Nightmare's voice became rough and gritty, suitable for a majestic dragon.
"GET OFF ME!'' The momentary distraction was enough for Gaya to fight against Nightmare's hold. She gritted her teeth, slowly lifting Nightmare's hands. Both Michael and Nightmare were stunned to see her strength. Even Michael did not know she had the raw strength to lift a dragon against gravity.
Her hands slowly began to show purple scales while she began to grow in size. In addition to the scales and growth in size, Nightmare noticed her eyes transforming into those of a cobra.
Michael rushed into her side before she fully lost control of the innate ability that keeps her in human form. Visible to the naked eyes, she was becoming more and more like a snake. The purples scale had covered up to her neck while below her waist transformed into one long snake body.
"Shit, system I need a powerful sleeping potion ASAP"
"1000 badass points"
"Quick"
"I cannot hold her much longer, Ghosty" Nightmare growled as Michael came to Gaya's side.
"You idiot" Michael cursed her before forcing the potion down her throat. She frantically wiggled, spitting the potion on both Michael's and Nightmare's faces. Still, she couldn't overpower a dragon and Michael.
"Let….go" FInally a few seconds after Michael forced the potion down into her mouth, she started to lose consciousness. Her body gradually shrank back to her normal human form.
"Sigh, I wish we had reunited under different circumstances Ghosty" Nightmare lowered himself to rest his head on Michael's shoulder. Michael wrapped his arm around Nightmare's neck, gently patting his warm body.
"Me too buddy, me too"
To Michael's surprise, Nightmare shrank himself to the size of a three-month-old German Shepherd. With a leap, he landed on Michael's shoulder.
Then he began to shower Michael with wet kisses.
"Was that your original size?"
Nightmare shook his head, "this is my original size. I can temporarily get bigger to enhance my strength. It's one of my innate talents I got after metamorphosis"
Michael nodded, picking Gaya from the ground.
"Show me where he was killed," He asked Nightmare. Before doing anything, Michael wanted to see where Jack was killed. He didn't think he could find the killer by just looking at the place but still, he wanted to see it.
"Follow me" Nightmare flapped his wings to ascend to the sky. With a couple of flaps, he was high in the sky. Carrying Gaya in his hand, Michael took off from the ground. He stopped for a moment in the sky to look back at the ruins. Even though the house was shabby, it was his home. He couldn't help feeling a bit sad to see it crumble into pieces. In addition to the house, Jack's face also flashed across his eyes. Jack was innocent in Michael's mind. If Jack was Lucifer's blacksmith and killed by his enemies, Michael would have understood the reasoning behind his death. However, Jack never did no such thing as helping him kill people.
Not even before flying for five minutes, Nightmare started to descend towards the forest near his house. Black lines appeared on Michael's forehead. He was thinking Jack was killed somewhere far from his house which would have indicated his murder wasn't connected to Lucifer.
"He was killed near our home?" Michael asked while flying through the thick canopy.
"What was Jack doing here?" He asked another question,
"Collecting mushrooms and fruits for Raylene" Michael halted his steps. He remembered that collecting mushrooms and fruits were usually done by Cindy as she loved to help her mother. In addition to the forest being so close to Michael's home, there was always Jack or a disciple accompanying Cindy. Even Gaya would sometimes tag along with the little girl if she wanted to hunt in the forest.
"Was Cindy with Jack that day?"
The sight of his previous life flashed across his eyes. Everyone in his orphanage was killed because of Spectre's order so Michael had seen little children he cared about dying. That was the day he lost his calmness and went rampage, killing every single one of his assassin colleagues including his girlfriend and Spectre.'
The thought of Cindy might have been killed along with Jack made his blood boil. He loved Cindy because the little girl loved him unconditionally. Unlike Maisy who was a spoiled brat in his eyes, Cindy was such a sweet caring girl who wanted nothing from him. Not only Michael, but every single person in the sect also cherished her.
"She...she was the one who found his body," Nightmare said, swallowing a mouthful of saliva. He was not an exception to those who adore Cindy. Hence, Nightmare avoided thinking about scenarios that could have harmed Cindy.
Nightmare stopped walking when he reached a large oak tree.
"This is the place"
Michael gently placed Gaya under another tree before walking to Nightmare's side.
"System, I need Red Mint, Urchin Vein, Pegasus Hoof, Ent Bark, Leeching Buxus," He thought in his mind as the system showed him the price of 800 badass points before him.
Nightmare saw the green Alchemy flames appear above his hand,
"What are you doing?"
"There's no perfect crime Nightmare. We can find traces of evidence if we have the right tool, in this case, a potion"
Michael threw the various ingredients into the green fire. He then made a few hand signs in one hand while holding the fire in the other. As usual, pearl-like essence began to form above the green fire before finally coming together to make a liquid orb.
Without sending the potion into a vial, Michael waved his hand as the liquid splashed on the tree and the ground around the tree. The ground absorbed the liquid in a few seconds. Gradually before their eyes, the ground's color changed from muddy brown to fluorescent blue.
"Is that-"
"Blood," Michael said as he squatted down to see any patterns on the ground. He hoped Jack would have left some clues about his killer. Although it was highly unlikely, he still hoped for a clue.
While Michael was studying the ground for clues, Nightmare noticed Gaya's body moving.
"She's waking up" In the split second Nightmare turned his head, Michael ruffled the ground to remove the clue from their eyes.
"GG" Michael saw two distinct marks on the ground. He knew Jack probably had written the two letters before dying. There were not many things that related to the letters 'GG' except Guardian Guild.
"Where...am… I?" She mumbled, slowly opening her eyes.
Both Michael and Nightmare remained silent without answering her question. They wanted for her to completely wake up from her sleepiness.
Gaya's vision slowly cleared up to reveal the tree around her. The lack of sunlight coming through the canopy made seeing everything around her clearly difficult.
"You dumb snake, you destroyed our home and revealed your identity to everyone in the sect"
Instead of answering Nightmare, she turned her gaze towards Michael.
"Do you know who killed him?" She asked coldly. Although she seemed not as furious as before, he could still see the murderous intent in her eyes.
"No"
What she did made Michael mad at her. She single-handedly endangered herself and him. If she was to fully reveal herself as Naga, it wouldn't be long before Xanali finds out about her true identity. At that time, she would be killed or imprisoned along with him.
If she began to act crazy every time someone close to them was murdered, his enemies would use this to their own advantage. Keeping a calm head was always important to stay ahead of their enemies.
Until he was sure that she wouldn't lose her mind again like that, he decided not to tell about the Guardian Guild. If she tried to attack a guardian on a rampage, the guild would destroy her and his sect. Compared to the Guardian Guild, they were like weak ants.
They still had a long way to go before starting to challenge or mess with the Guardian Guild. His full focus was on becoming strong without making powerful enemies.
"Then find who murdered him. I will kill him and everyone knows about Jack's murder. No, I won't kill him right away, I will flay him alive, piece by piece. I will make him experience hell"
She looked crazy and ominous with that evil grin on her face.
"You want to keep your secrets fine. But I want you to find the person who killed him"
If anyone could find who killed Jack, Gaya knew it's Ghost.