Hitman With A Badass System

Chapter 1381  Requirements to Kill Agra

"Ready for a walk in the woods, darling?" Michael asked, his voice a low murmur.

"Always," Gaya replied, her lips curving into a predatory grin.

Silently, Michael activated the System, adding Gaya to his Shadow Teleportation upgrade. He winced as a hundred thousand Badass Points vanished from his reserves, but it was a small price to pay for… convenience. And for keeping Gaya happy.

He focused his will, targeting a shadow deep within the forest, and with a crackle of dark energy, they vanished.

They reappeared behind a massive oak tree, its trunk thicker than any Michael had ever seen, its bark smooth and polished, gleaming with a faint, green luminescence. He set Gaya down, his gaze sweeping across the forest.

It wasn't like any forest he'd ever encountered before. It was… ordered. Controlled. Almost… cultivated. The trees, all towering giants, were spaced evenly, their branches intertwined, creating a canopy of leaves that filtered the sunlight, casting the forest floor in a dappled, greenish glow. The air was clean, fresh, scented with the fragrance of wildflowers and… something else. Something… healing.

Birds sang, their melodies sweet and harmonious. Small animals scurried through the undergrowth, their movements unafraid, unhurried. And every few trees… a hot spring, its waters steaming, its surface shimmering with a faint, opalescent glow.

Gaya, absently rubbing her arm, where a crossbow bolt had grazed her earlier, felt a tingling sensation. She glanced down and saw, to her surprise, that the wound… was gone. Healed. A single drop of water, dripping from one of the leaves above, had landed on her arm, and the… magic within the forest had done the rest.

"Ava's power," Michael murmured, his gaze sweeping across the pristine landscape. "It's… strong here. This must be the last… untouched part of her domain. A shame… that Agra's about to… destroy it."

But Gaya, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword, shook her head.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," she growled, her eyes hardening. She knew Michael. Knew how… thorough he could be. Once someone ended up on his shit list, it was only a matter of time. Agra was as good as dead.

Michael, meanwhile, was already consulting the System.

"System," he thought, "analyze that Grimoire. The God-killing one. Find a way to… permanently eliminate Agra. And make it… efficient."

He knew killing a god wasn't easy. It required… preparation. The right tools. The right circumstances.

The last time he'd killed a God – Rainar, the pathetic, rain-obsessed bastard – the System had been very specific. He'd needed a special weapon, a place where the target god's domain was nullified, and a clean kill shot before they could escape.

That's why he'd had to hunt down that ancient centipede, harvest its collarbone, and craft the God Slayer crossbow. And he'd been lucky, back then. The Goddess of Luck, Fortuna, had hosted a… gala. A gathering of the Gods, in a neutral zone where Rainar's control over rain had been… negated. It had been the perfect opportunity.

But he couldn't rely on luck this time. He needed a more… reliable method. He needed to kill Agra quickly, cleanly, and without… complications.

[Scanning the Grimoire for God-killing methods specific to Agra, the self-proclaimed God of Chaos, will require 50 million Badass Points. Does the host wish to proceed?]

"Fifty million?" Michael winced. That was… a lot. Way more than he'd spent to take out Rainar. But then again, Agra wasn't some second-rate rain god. He was… chaos personified. Unpredictable. Dangerous.

Yet the rewards would be worth it. The experience points, the badass points, the domain full of worshippers… it was a goddamn gold mine.

And once Agra was out of the picture, Michael could finally focus on… expanding his own power base. Building his following. Utilizing his newfound Prime God status to its full potential.

It was time to level up.

"Do it, System," he thought, a predatory grin spreading across his face. "Let's see what you've got."

The System, as always, delivered.

[The system has successfully decoded Seshat's Grimoire of Gods. ]

[Congratulations for unlocking the way to assassinate Agra…]

[The host can now kill God Agra by completing the needed requirements. ]

The notifications chimed one after the other, their synthesized tones echoing in Michael's mind. He closed his eyes, letting the information wash over him, feeling a thrill of anticipation mixed with a healthy dose of… dread.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he opened his eyes.

A cold smile played on his lips.

[To kill God Agra, the host must fulfill the following requirements…]

A list of requirements, glowing lines of ethereal text, materialized before him, floating in the air like a holographic checklist.

[The target God Agra must be away from his domain.]

Well, that was obvious. And the hardest part. Gods were notoriously difficult to… dislodge from their own domains.

[The target must be in a place where his godly powers are useless.]

Another tricky one. Finding a place where a god's powers were… nullified… it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. A goddamn magical haystack.

[Finally, the target must be killed by submerging the target god in the… Pond of Tranquility. Which is the opposite of… Chaos. ]

"A pond? Seriously? That was… weird, specific, and oddly ironic," Michael thought to himself.

[Fulfilling the three requirements will enable the host to kill God Agra and absorb his grace completely.]

Michael scanned the requirements again, his brow furrowing in concentration. So, he needed to lure Agra out of his domain, find a place where he was powerless… and then drown him in a pond which he had to find.

"Wonderful," he muttered. "Just fucking wonderful."

But before he could start brainstorming potential drowning locations, he had a few… loose ends to tie up.

That goddamn dog-cultist. The remaining hunters. And Fayeth.

If anyone knew where to find a Pond of Tranquility, it would be Ava's Angel.

The irony of it all wasn't lost on Michael. The God of Chaos, destined to die in a place of… tranquility.

He chuckled, shaking his head. If Agra had chosen any other domain… luring him out, finding a way to weaken him, it would have been a nightmare. Gods rarely left their own domains. They were too attached to their power bases, their worshippers, and the comfort and control they exerted over their little fiefdoms.

But Agra… Agra had been stupid. Arrogant. He'd invaded Ava's domain, desecrated her sanctuary, and twisted her power to his own chaotic whims.

And now he was going to pay the price.

Michael had a feeling… a gut feeling… that the Pond of Tranquility was somewhere… here. In the Verdant Sanctuary. The name itself… it hinted at Ava's power, her connection to… healing, to peace, to the antithesis of chaos.

He closed the System interface, his gaze returning to the scene before him. The transformed cultist, Baruk, was sniffing the ground, his black fur bristling, his red eyes scanning the undergrowth. He moved cautiously, his senses heightened, his beastly instincts taking over.

Then, he stopped. His head snapped up, his ears twitching, his nostrils flaring. He'd caught a scent. Something… alive.

"Shit," Gaya muttered, her hand instinctively reaching for the God Slayer crossbow. "He's onto us."

"Let him come," Michael said, a predatory gleam in his eyes. "It's easier to… deal with him… up close."

Gaya grinned, understanding his plan.

"Poor bastard's walking right into a trap," she chuckled, shaking her head.

The dog-cultist, Baruk, began to move towards them, his pace slow, deliberate, his senses on high alert. He sniffed the air, his black nose twitching, his growls a low rumble that echoed through the silent forest. He paused, his head tilting, his gaze fixed on the massive oak tree behind which Michael and Gaya were concealed.

The forest floor was a carpet of soft moss, the air thick with the scent of wildflowers and the… hum of Ava's healing magic. Sunbeams, filtered through the canopy of leaves above, created a dappled pattern of light and shadow, making it difficult to see clearly. But Michael's Xray vision allowed him to track the dog-cultist's every move.

He watched as the beast circled the oak tree, its black fur bristling, its red eyes darting back and forth, sniffing the air. It paused, a low growl rumbling in its chest, and then… it saw them.

Before the dog-cultist could even react, Michael struck.

He moved with a speed that belied his size, his hand shooting out to grab the beast by the throat. With a sickening crunch of bone and a spray of crimson blood, he ripped the creature's throat out. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Baruk's body convulsed, his legs kicking wildly, but he couldn't make a sound. The blood, splattering onto the mossy ground, was instantly absorbed, the forest floor seeming to… drink it in. And in its place, tiny wildflowers, their petals a delicate shade of pink, bloomed, a macabre yet strangely beautiful display.

"That's… oddly creepy. And kinda pretty," Gaya murmured, her brow furrowed in confusion.

Michael, still holding the dog's lifeless body, tossed it to the ground. And then, something… unexpected happened.

The wound on the dog's throat… it began to heal. The flesh knitted back together, the bones realigned, and the blood that had stained his fur vanished as if it had never been there. The dog whimpered, a low, mournful sound, its limbs twitching, its chest rising and falling with a shallow, ragged breath.

This forest, this sanctuary… it was saturated with Ava's power. Her healing magic pulsed through the very air, the soil, the trees. As long as there was a spark of life remaining, the forest would heal. That was the reason that Michael's action of ripping his throat out should have been fatal blow. But the beast still had a pulse. Faint but it was there and in this forest… that was all it took.

"What the… ?" Gaya began, her brow furrowed in confusion.

However, Michael didn't hesitate as he raised his hand and unleashed a stream of black flames, a controlled torrent of pure destructive power, that engulfed the dog-cultist. The dark flames roared, consuming the creature's body, turning flesh and bone to ash in a matter of seconds. This time, there was nothing left to heal.