A strange ck figure ran around like a breezing wind through the fallen buildings. Even Michael had a difficult time keeping up with the figure''s speed. He stepped in front of Gaya, shielding her with his body. Standing behind Michael, Gaya felt like she could face the entire world itself.


    "Ghost," Michael heard a hiss. The voice was eerie and spooky. Michael remained calm.


    "You survived," The figure hissed once again. Gaya turned around, pressed her back against Michael, and watched his back. Nightmare watched Michael''s left side. They prepared themselves for another battle. Only Michael knew the figure circling them was a Fusion Stage warrior. His senses told Michael the figure was stronger than the Wise Dragon itself.


    "Ghost…"


    "I am getting annoyed," said Michael. Without even Michael himself realizing it, he was slowly stepping into his godhood. The stronger he was, the more he acted like a god instead of a mortal.


    "Patience is a virtue," The voice whispered.


    "The Blood prince," The figure''s words surprised Michael.


    "Sent his regards," Suddenly, Michael noticed the figure dashing at him with the speed of lightning.


    Cling!


    Michael''s instincts screamed at him as he raised his arm, retracting the ck shield. The figure''s steel-like w hit the shield. Sparks flew in all directions. Michael and Gaya took a step back due to the force.


    "Funny," said Michael, looking around the ghost town.


    "I wanted to say the same,"


    Once again, the figure dashed at Michael with speed beyond anyone Michael had ever faced. This time however, Michael immediately cast the Ring of Fire. To Michael''s surprise, the figure leaped over the burning fire circle and tried to attack Michael while moving upside down. Gaya was only able to see a blur. Michael blocked the figure''s fist with his ck shield. The sound of metal shing resonated in the air.


    "He should crawl back into whatever hole he came from," said Michael after the figure disappeared into the mist.


    "I am here to send you into a hole," the figure whispered back.


    "No," Michael snickered.


    "You are here to make me stronger,"


    After killing this stranger, probably the Blood Prince''s henchman, Michael could start the heavenly tribtion to enter the Half Immortal Stage. For a normal cultivator, it was simply reaching the Half Immortal stage. But to Michael, it was stepping into Godhood. Half Immortal stage was the first step in bing the God of Darkness.


    The me around Michael burning hotter and brighter. Due to the mes, the temperature around them increased by several degrees. Michael controlled the mes to send pulses of hot waves in a circle. The houses nearby them caught fire and started to burn with infuriating rage. As a result, the dark night turned brighter. Wood crackled under the scorching hot me. A few disturbances were enough for the already shabby homes to copsepletely.


    Out of the blue, a steel arrow shot through the raging mes. The arrow didn''t target Michael but Nightmare, who sat atop Gaya''s shoulder. Michael quickly reacted. He was fortunate to grab the arrow just an inch away from Nightmare''s skull. Nightmare''s eyes went wide when he saw the arrow''s pointy head an inch away from his eyes.


    "Big mistake," growled Michael.


    "Coming here with them is," Whispered the figure.


    Gaya quickly raised her hand, casting a defense shield around them. A misty green dome to protect them. Although the shield couldn''tpletely stop the spells cast by a Fusion Stage cultivator, the shield could absorb some force and energy to give them enough time to react. Michael''s feet slowly rose from the ground. Little by little, he ascended to the sky. If the strange figure really wanted to kill him, he had to fight Michael in the air without hiding behind ruins.


    The figure didn''t let Michael fly higher and higher. A ming chain shot out from the ground, coiling around Michael''s leg. Michael gritted his teeth. The chains burnt the skin on Michael''s leg despite the robes. Controlling the pain, Michael lifted his leg high enough to grab the chain by his hand. He quickly conjured the dark mes disguised as emerald green mes. The dark mes protected Michael''s hands. When Michael grabbed the chain, it melted due to the intense heat of the dark me.


    Michael wrapped the chain around his wrist before pulling it up with enough force to lift the figure into the air. As Michael nned, the figure who held onto the other end of the chain flew straight into the air. For the first time, Michael was able to take a good look at the figure. The figure was thin as a stick who dressed in a long ck coat without a shirt or anything to cover his upper body. However, his leather slim-fit pants gave him the needed agility to run around.


    The man grinned devilishly. His ck hair fluttered in the wind, just like his long ck coat. In his hand, he held a pair of curved des. The fangs were an obvious giveaway that the man was a vampire. To Michael, this vampire seemed different than the rest. Instead of asking any question, Michael raised his hand. Small golden lightning bolts danced around his wrist before shooting toward the vampire.


    "Don''t you know my kind is immune to spells," The vampire snickered. He didn''t even bother to block the lightning bolts. Instead, he let the lightning bolts hit him. All the bolts hit the vampire right in the chest, but none could pierce his body. Gaya''s eyes turned predatory. The images of the blood prince punching Michael shed across her eyes. She wanted to rip the blood prince into pieces. Unfortunately, Gaya could sense she was not strong enough to face the vampire hovering in the air before her. This was Michael''s kill.


    "Spell or no spell. You''re going to die here," Michael said. He was nonchnt. Hearing Michael''s words, the vampire grinned. To Gaya''s surprise, the vampire multiplied himself. Countless copies of him materialized all around them. In a few moments, she was confused about which was the original. Each of the replicas grinned devilishly at Michael.


    Once again, Michael cast the ring of fire. The pulsating wave of me shot out of Michael, burning the replicas. He used dark mes instead of normal mes. As a result, the replicas that stood within the spell''s range turned into specks of light.


    "Primordial me,"


    Michael heard the figure whisper. He sensed a sliver of shock in the figure''s voice.


    "We have lived in the shadows for too long," the figure said.


    "This is time to reim what was ours,"


    Several arrows shot toward Michael, as he burnt every single one of them with the ring of fire.


    "Starting with your precious river town,"


    Gaya felt rage coursing through her veins. On the other hand, Nightmare''s body began to glimmer. He was just a few seconds away from breathing fire. But Michael remained calm.


    "You can burn it to the ground for all I care. But if you ever touch Thusia,'' The vampire noticed Michael''s eyes turning predatory.


    "I will raise your kind to the ground,"


    Since Michael was a perfect liar, the vampire believed him. Michael''s facial expression was good enough to fool the vampire. The vampire felt as though it had found a weakness of Ghost.


    "Thusia,"


    Michael shot a lightning bolt toward the vampire the moment it uttered the kingdom''s name.


    "Don''t say its name," Michael growled.


    Michael pretended to lose his calm. The vampire''s devilishughter echoed through the treacherous ocean. The sky flickered due to Michael''s lightning bolts. Whenever Michael shot a bolt of lightning, the vampire let it hit him in the chest, and itughed, seeing the lightning bolt had caused no damage. The battle continued for a few minutes in the air until the vampire opened his mouth.


    "It''s a good run. We will meet soon,"


    The vampire faded into thin air, leaving them behind. Even Michael didn''t expect the vampire just to disappear. He was somewhat disappointed. He could have killed the vampire to trigger the heavenly tribtion, in his case, stepping into Godhood.


    "How are these vampires going in and out of ces that even we can''t?" asked Nightmare.


    "They must have a teleporter," answered Gaya.


    Michael didn''t say anything but flew toward the tallest building in the ghost town. Judging by the tower and the building''s architecture, it must have been a ce where the people used to worship. The closeted thing Michael couldpare the building was a church. The building''s roof copsed, and only one wall remained still, threatening to crumble down any second.


    There was only arge hole where the front door might have been.


    "Are we going inside?" asked Gaya. Theynded before the entrance. Gaya looked inside to see nothing but ruins, wild veins, roots, and rotten logs. Michael floated a few inches above the ground to prevent their footsteps from knocking down the dominos of a building. When he entered the building, the first thing he noticed was a twelve feet tall broken statue of a dragon.


    Half of the dragon''s body crumbled due to the time. It sat there with its wings closed, looking at the sky. Nightmare flew toward the statue from Gaya''s shoulder. He noticed several holes and hollows on the statue with crumbs of gold. Nightmare knew whoever came before they picked the statue clean of its decorations. Michael couldn''t help feeling a bit down for the dragons. Once a great and powerful n turned into nothing but a trace of history. The remaining dragons had long forgotten their legacy and lived either as familiars or wild dragons that hoard valuables, such as the Wise Dragon.


    Nightmarended before the statue. He lowered his head, bowing. Unlike Michael and Gaya, Nightmare felt the urge to worship the statute the moment heid his eyes on it.


    "Will you two give me some time alone?" asked Nightmare. They sensed a tinge of sadness in his voice. Michael nodded before turning around. Gaya on the other hand, wanted to sit beside the little dragon to console him. But Michael grabbed her hand and dragged her with him to explore the ruins.