Translator: Ryogawa
TLC: Hedonist
The water drop left Han Shuo’s body, allowing him to move again. He took a deep breath and looked at the Goddess of Water, Monroe, with a dark face, but without snapping at her. Back then, from fighting Amon, Nestor, and Cratos, he had learned that his avatars weren’t a match for Quintessence Overgods, not before he had perfectly fused all the avatars. It wasn’t surprising to him that he wasn’t able to deal with her surprise attack.
It was plain to him that she didn’t like him. She had definitely intended to humiliate him by imprisoning him with her power the moment she arrived. Though, he knew it wasn’t the time to lash out. He made a mental note of how she treated him here today so that his main body may one day pay her back for it once it was done metamorphing.
It was obvious to Han Shuo that Nestor, Amon, Cratos, and the others did not show up by mere coincidence. He soon noticed that the God of Space, Fernando, was constantly giving off spatial energy to create multiple rainbow-colored paths into this space. The Overgods had come at Fernando’s invitation.
One spatial tear appeared after another, during which the Goddess of Destiny, Althea, God of Light, Azdins, Goddess of Life, Lyna, Goddess of Wind, Balyr, God of Lightning, Ranzlorde, and God of Earth, Bergson, appeared in this unique space. Currently, all twelve Quintessence Overgods had assembled.
When Azdins arrived, he saw Han Shuo and nodded with a smile. “Very well. You are standing with the other side after all.”
Han Shuo knew what he was referring to. Back then, the God of Light had warned him to not touch Gyál or he would consider him an enemy. Yet, he killed Gyál off anyway at the Hexopolis. If not for the stigma, even his soul wouldn’t be spared.
“Azdins, even if Han Shuo hadn’t killed him, he would’ve died all the same,” Fernando said with a furrowed brow. “Gyál had imprisoned McKinley for so many years, so this ending is fitting for him.”
“Haha, Fernando, are you suggesting you would have killed him yourself? Naturally, you’d have no problem killing him with your power, but isn’t it going a little overboard?”
“Who said I would kill him myself? Karey has traveled far and wide and has long become a demi-overgod. Even if Han Shuo hadn’t killed Gyál, Karey would’ve eventually dealt with him. Your servants aren’t the only ones capable of becoming demi-overgods!”
Karey was the city lord of Phantasia. It was said that he had become a peak-stage highgod quite a number of years ago and embarked on a long journey, only to return to Phantasia five years ago as a demi-overgod.
“Oh, Karey, huh? I’ve heard about him. Haha, you think he could’ve killed Gyál? I’ve already rebuilt his divine body. Since you’re now standing with Han Shuo, you definitely plan on being my enemy as well. Just you wait. I’ll make sure you witness the sight of Gyál killing Karey! Don’t blame me for not warning you. He’s now as powerful as he was before.”
“I sure am looking forward to it,” Fernando said, smirking. He then turned to Althea, seemingly waiting for her to speak.
“Our time is running out; Fernando already said much,” she said as she turned to look at everyone, making sure she had their attention. “We only have around two hundred years, but my Mirror of Destiny still doesn’t have enough soul power. I’m sure that you have been feeling the pull from Aethernia for quite some time now. Without enough souls to nourish the mirror, our Quintessence would return to Aethernia before she even awakens.”
Their expressions turned grim at the mention of that. Even Fernando and Azdins had stopped bickering.
“Han Shuo, I know your main body has been gathering a kind of energy we aren’t able to use in Pandemonium. Do you think you can make a breakthrough in two hundred years?” Althea asked as she turned to him.
“Althea, can he really break the barrier around Aethernia?” Lyna interjected.
Everyone turned to the Goddess of Destiny concernedly, then back to Han Shuo, implicitly asking the same question.
“I doubt we can hope for anybody else but him! Back then, that person managed to break through the great divide between two universes to come here. If that was possible, Han Shuo will definitely be able to open the barrier of Aethernia. He’s our only chance.”
“Even I myself am not confident about it,” Han Shuo said with a shrug. “I can, however, definitely make another breakthrough within that time. The question that even I don’t have an answer to is whether that’s enough for me to break Aethernia’s barrier.”
“You definitely can!” Althea said, “The Allmother was injured when she erected that barrier, so it’s imperfect. I’ve been watching you since you came to Elysium, and every breakthrough you had brought with it an immense growth in power. If I’m not mistaken, your power will even rival ours after your next breakthrough. Your energy is not of this universe, so it can definitely bore a hole through Aethernia’s barrier!”
“Will we be able to defeat Her, though?” Balyr asked pessimistically.
“Some of us will perish, but at least we can hope.” Althea met their gazes with a heavy one of her own. “If we stood no chance at all even if we all worked together, she would’ve no doubt emerged far earlier. There wouldn’t be a need for her to slumber for so long.”
The others nodded at the sound argument.
“Let’s welcome a new ally while we’re at it.” Althea turned to Fernando and said, “I need you to bring Han Hao here too.”
