"How do you explain the mutilated and blood-drained bodies of the team we sent after Victor?" asked Peyton. She was way past the point of being meek and respectful towards Gerard,

  　　"Don't tell me they are just a myth. They tortured me for weeks, they sucked on me while the guardians were busy searching for Sabrina, who is not even a guardian"

  　　Tiriana's face turned red/ The audacity of Peyton to dare to blame them for her own fault made her blood boil.

  　　"A girl you recruited despite knowing she was not a guardian" Gerard raised his voice,

  　　"We all know if she wasn't Noah's sister, we wouldn't be having this hearing now" 

  　　For some reason, Peyton didn't let Xanali tell them it was her idea to recruit Sabrina. 

  　　"You said the vampires sucked on you right?" With a raise of her hand, Tanulia brought order to the hall. The others closed their mouth as she looked Peyton in the eyes,

  　　Peyton gave a nod as the answer to the alpha guardian's question,

  　　Tanulia waved her hand, sending a bright beam of light to Peyton. The bright beam of light shot through her, vaporizing her clothes.

  　　Peyton's mind went blank and it took her a second to realize she was naked. The others were stunned. They never expected Tanulia to strip Peyton naked.

  　　"No bite marks" Tanulia tilted her head while Peyton was hiding her privates and her bosom with her hands. She was so furious to the point her tears began to gush out like a flood breaking out of the dam. Her entire body sweated. She wanted to scream and go berserk. Even when the vampires stripped her naked, she didn't feel like this. She never thought she would be shamed by the guardians.

  　　"Stop Alpha Guardian" Xanali couldn't go through the trail after seeing they shame her best friend.

  　　She flicked her wrist as a set of robes appeared in her hand. She threw the robes at Peyton which she used to cover her body,

  　　"She took a healing potion, that's why there are no marks on her body"

  　　"I want the alchemist who brewed the potion here. We will continue the trial after three days. Meanwhile, Guardian Captain Xanali will take over Peyton's responsibilities"

  　　*************************************

  　　"Great, now you have to go to their castle" Ayag rolled her eyes after they all saw how the trial concluded in the mirrors.

  　　Michael sat on the throne resting his head on his fist,

  　　"Corey" Michael established a connection with his pirate lord subordinate Corey. 

  　　All the mirrors flickered for a moment before showing Corey's face. She was standing in a room lit with candles where Vedora noticed several maps and crates stacked around the room.

  　　"My Lord" Corey went to her knees when she saw the Dark lord in the mirror,

  　　"Rise"

  　　Pirate Lord Corey rose to her feet,

  　　"I want you to go to look for the merchant ship named Amity in the seas of Maven and stall them for four days. But do not board them"

  　　"If they fired at us my lord, do I have your permission to fire back?" asked Corey,

  　　"Yes but do not sink them. There's someone important to my goal is on board"

  　　"Consider it done my lord" 

  　　Michael closed the connection as Vedora turned their gaze at Michael,

  　　"Who's on that ship?" asked Ayag,

  　　"Sabrina Winston and a greater vampire" Michael surprised Vedora.

  　　"Victor told you?" Sarba asked as Michael nodded,

  　　"They are taking Sabrina to find a key" Michael had no idea what this key was supposed to open. All he got from Victor was the key was a pretty big deal to the vampires. As for what this key was supposed to open, Victor didn't know anything.

  　　Since the vampires seemed to find the key desperately, Michael wanted to find out more about the key and everything related to it. According to Victor, Sabrina was the only one who could find the key. Hence, they kept her alive instead of ending her life or turning her into a vampire.

  　　After she finds the key, it would be a different scenario. In the best-case scenario, they would kill her, in the worst-case scenario, Sabrina would be turned into a living blood bag for the vampires to feast on, for eternity.

  　　Only if he knew Sabrina is his little sister…
　　Now that he issued his next order to Corey, upgraded the system, and got everything he could from Victor, it was time for him to wait for Peyton.

  　　It had been six hours since the trial concluded. Michael any second from now on Peyton could decide to meet him. Currently, he could see her crying and breaking everything in her room. She was a mess and looking at her like this, he pitied her.

  　　"What're you gonna do with Victor?" Ayag asked, only to see Michael removing his mask with a grin on his face. The devilish grin grew wider with time because he was happy with the plan he hatched in his mind. 

  　　Until now, he was always on the defensive against the guardians. For the first time, he decided to shift gears to the offensive.

  　　"I am going to hand over Victor to Peyton. They didn't believe her when she said vampires exist. They can't deny it if she brought Victor to them and let his blood lust loose" He paused for a second to take out an emerald green orb in his hand. This was a superior-grade recording crystal. Several months ago, Peter used the recording orb to record his battle with Michael.

  　　It was pretty expensive but it was worth the price,

  　　"They will have no choice but to give her a promotion to Guardian captain or even a higher position as she deserves"

  　　"Yeah make sense" Ayag nodded,

  　　"Obviously the guardians will try to keep their existence a secret" Michael tossed the orb in the air and caught it,

  　　"But I'm gonna record everything and send everything to two places"

  　　Ayag grinned widely as she liked the way the plan was going. 

  　　"Tell us where," Sarba asked excitedly, failing to contain his curiosity,

  　　"First to Nadia Hall, the Royal news journalist. Next place is the Holy Church"

  　　According to the book Michael bought from Lord Information, the relationship between the Holy Church and the Guardian guild was a rocky one. The priests hated the guardians and vice versa. 

  　　Revealing the existence of the vampires would destroy their deadliest weapon; secrecy. On the other hand, by exposing the guardians' intention to hide the existence of vampires, he planned to cause chaos among the guardians as it would put so much political pressure on the guardians, thus throwing a wrench in their plan to catch him.

  　　One stone, two mangoes, that was Michael's plan. It was not an elaborate and complex plan. Michael always went for the simplest plan instead of making complicated plans. He believed the less complex a plan is, the better.

  　　He would have sent an anonymous note to the Winston family that the vampires have Sabrina. But if he had done that, Rowena would have been involved in the search with all the resources of Skyhall. No matter what, he must get the key before the vampires or the Skyhall.

  　　Michael still didn't know Noah already had one key and he was currently hunting for the arrows forged by the Mazeroth founders. 

  　　*********************************

  　　Nightfall arrived with a whisper of perfect black that grew into a comforting chorus of stars. At the edge of the Elon continent where the crystal ocean began, Peyton was waiting for the Dark Lord. Her legs were pacing left and right and her mind was just as restless as the sea before her.

  　　No matter how hard she tried to make sense out of how they treated her, she couldn't come up with a way to calm her mind. She felt betrayed by the guardians and that feeling destroyed everything she held for the guardians. Now all she had for the guardian guild was pure hatred. The center of her hatred was none other than Noah Winston. Ever since he came into her life, everything she worked for went out of her hands.

  　　Her hatred pushed her to the point she was ready to sell her soul to the devil if she could see the guild crumble into pieces along with Noah.

  　　While she was pacing back and forth, she noticed the surrounding area growing darker and darker. Instinctively she looked up at the sky to see the Dark Lord descending to the shore with a man who had his head covered by a sack,

  　　The three-headed creature was comfortably sitting on his shoulder. Despite the full moon and the millions of stars in the sky, the beach became dark as though they had all lost their light,

  　　"I reckon you've seen the real face of the guardians Peyton," Michael asked the moment his feet touched the sand,

  　　"Yes, I did," Peyton answered, gritting her teeth. He was glad to see the burning rage in her eyes. He could turn that rage into a weapon against the guardians.

  　　"Are you going to destroy them?" Peyton asked,

  　　"The world needs guardians Peyton, just not this corrupted guild. I am going to reform them, with your aid"

  　　By reform, Michael meant turning the guardians into his underlings. He would make his trusted subordinates rule the guild and by doing that, he would subdue the guild under him. If Peyton served him well, she could have the guild for herself. Before knowing about Skyhall, he thought Guardians were his enemies and planned to destroy them. Since it wasn't the case as the real enemy was revealed to be the Skyhall, Michael knew subduing the great eight clans would be the better choice than destroying them.

  　　"Your loyalty was misplaced, Peyton. You know this now. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here" Sarba said,

  　　"I want that bitch dead. That's my price, Dark Lord. If you can bring me her head, my soul is yours" her words stunned Michael for a moment. He knew she hates the Alpha guardians. He didn't think her hate would push her to the point she wants Tanulia dead.

  　　Peyton's loyalty was crucial to his plans. Only with her, he could destroy the guardians from within because that's the only way to dismantle the guild without getting himself killed. He was still not strong enough to openly go against the guild.

  　　"She killed innocent people when she raided my ship. It's time she pays her debt…with her life" 

  　　Although it was risky and difficult to assassinate Tanulia, it was certainly not impossible for the number one hitman. He kicked Victor towards Peyton,

  　　"Bring him to the guild and prove the guardians vampires exist. It'll exonerate you and get the promotion you deserve" as he said, he slowly ascended to the sky,

  　　"In two weeks, meet me here. I will grant you your wish"

  　　He uttered these words before disappearing into the darkness. With his promise to Peyton, the preparation to assassinate Tanulia Valren, The Alpha Guardian of Hunter Guardians began.

  　　**************************

  　　IMPORTANT NEWS!!!!

  　　Michael will meet Don (MC of Rise of the Legendary Emperor), Draven( MC of Anti Hero with a Symbiote System), and Hunter ( MC of Dictator with a Badass System) soon……

  　　Although you don't need to read those novels, I will recommend you do check them out, especially AHSS……

  　　Dictator with a Badass system will be released after Michael meets Hunter……