Translator: Ryogawa
TLC: Hedonist
Seeing that their lives were endangered by the incoming godhunters, the toxin brewers began to panic and cry out for Akley, hoping that he would keep his word.
“Don’t worry, we won’t die from that,” he said as he emerged from who-knows-where. His indifferent expression seemed to suggest that he was completely oblivious to the dangers. Standing beside him was Han Hao, whose purple eyes sent chills down the fearful toxin brewers’ spine, causing them to freeze up where they stood.
Han Hao’s ferocious reputation had long spread throughout the Fringe. The toxin brewers from all over feared him especially even back then. Now that he had a Quintessence and wasn’t able to hide the power it seeped out, he continually gave off a terrifying aura. Even a late-stage highgod like Polo feared him, let alone the weaker toxin brewers. His eyes swept past the crowd, who were just as delighted to see him as they were fearful. His presence there represented hope for their survival.
“Take them inside,” Han Hao instructed after he saw that they had calmed down.
Though Akley seemed to act rather carefreely around Han Hao, he still felt a little tense from his cold demeanor. With a no-nonsense voice, he said, “All of you, come join me inside.”
When Han Tu and the others were at Celestial Pearl Pharmacy, they made a large space underground to be used as a warehouse. There was also a path there that led outside Omphalos for discreet purposes, which Han Hao had used to sneak in.
The nervous toxin brewers carefully tiptoed around Han Hao to where Akley was. Polo stepped aside to let them enter the room. But before all of them could go in, sharp cries and jeers could be heard from all directions outside the building.
Han Hao’s expression was unmoved as it has always been. But when he saw that a few toxin brewers still hadn’t entered yet, he didn’t intend to wait any longer and nodded to Polo, signaling him to look after the weaker toxin brewers.
“Hahaha, brothers, this is Celestial Pearl Pharmacy!” someone said in a grand-sounding voice. “It has many branches across the cities in Elysium. I’m sure all of you heard about how good their medicines are. They’re sure to be much more valuable than black crystal coins! We definitely lucked out!”
“Palroe, this shop belongs to the House of Han. Should we leave it alone? They are not a force to be reckoned with. Even the Hegemons suffered a huge loss at their hands,” said a nervous voice. That person seemed to know something about what transpired in Pandemonium, but probably not everything.
Only the minority of godhunters participated in the battle in Pandemonium as the Hegemons had left most of their subordinates outside. Few other than the Hegemons themselves knew what was going on.
“What’s there to be afraid of? The Hegemons’ losses aren’t that big of a deal. Putting aside whether there’s someone powerful guarding this place, even if there were, we have numbers on our side,” Palroe said smugly before he bust his way in through the door.
All of a sudden, a large boney flower lashed out from the doorway. Like a monster from the abyss, it swiped its powerful bone spikes at the invader, instantly eviscerating him into pieces. All the other godhunters that went inside didn’t manage to escape either. The bone flower only kept getting bigger and radiated a weird energy from its core, which caused the godhunters to feel really weak and paralyzed.
Being unable to move, they couldn’t do anything to stop the bones from piercing their bodies. Blood splattered all over the place nightmarishly.
“Go back to whence you came!” Han Hao said as he slowly walked out of the pharmacy. When he showed up, the bone flower spun even faster, causing its stiff bone appendages to soften and lengthen like a rope, spreading in all directions. A few other stunned godhunters that didn’t manage to react in time were dragged into the flower and turned into meat paste. Even their souls seemed to be sucked into the flower by some kind of energy, causing instant death.
“It’s him! That’s him!” someone cried as he desperately tried to back away. Many godhunters had an impression of Han Hao. It was no surprise, for many of Dagmar’s subordinates had come from the Dominion of Death and knew of his fearsome reputation there.
“Han Hao, you’re a godhunter too. Why are you helping outsiders?” asked one of the godhunters angrily without immediately leaving. He was a huge and burly man, but the aura he gave off was eerie to say the least. Back at the Dominion of Death, he had worked with Han Hao by Dagmar’s arrangement on a few errands and had even helped Han Hao out. Seeing him tactlessly kill fellow godhunters infuriated him.
Han Hao was just as surprised to meet an acquaintance here. His purple eyes glowed as he gave it some thought. “Dagmar and the rest aren’t qualified to rule over the godhunters. The Hegemons are nothing but weaklings. I am the only one worthy of leading the godhunters!”
His words rang so true that it sounded like a universal truth. It was as if he had been a Hegemon all along.
“Blasphemy! Lord Dagmar… Lord Dagmar definitely won’t let you off!” he roared.
“Dagmar is dead, and I have killed him! You should leave. I won’t kill you. Once all the Hegemons are dead, you’ll naturally come to serve me.” When he finished, the white bone throne appeared behind Han Hao.
He took a seat into the throne and looked at the godhunter like an emperor would his subject. He gave off a domineering sensation that shook them to the depths of their souls. The godhunter immediately knew that he wasn’t lying when he saw Dagmar’s signature throne. He must’ve been dead for the throne to be in Han Hao’s possession.
If Dagmar was powerful enough to make him give up his will to fight, Han Hao was even more terrifying. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but Han Hao didn’t say too much to him. Instead, he willed the bone flower to wrap around the godhunter and fling him aside.
“Buzz of!” he warned once more. This time around, nobody stayed behind. They all ran without turning back. Only Han Hao’s acquaintance shot him an odd glance before he nodded unwillingly. “If you can really take over the whole Godhunter Alliance, I will be at your beck and call.”
Han Hao nodded. “You should leave. Stay as far away from Omphalos as you can!”
The man didn’t say much before he left.
“Lord, we should leave too. It’ll get much harder to when the Hegemons come later,
Polo advised respectfully.
“Just look after the toxin brewers. I’ll stay here a bit longer,” he answered without turning back. He could feel that Han Shuo was coming their way and would reach Omphalos before long.
Thanks to the Quintessence, his connection with Han Shuo was better than ever. The two of them could communicate from anywhere within the Fringe directly without relying on a magic mirror.
“Alright. Be careful, my Lord,” Polo said before he bowed and left.
Right then, loud cheers erupted from various corners of Omphalos. They sounded like godhunters. Feeling that something was off, Han Hao used his demon generals that his bone spear unleashed and found that the godhunters did end up finding large stashes of black crystal coins in certain Sovereign shops, which explained their cheers.
Outside Omphalos, the hesitant Hegemons that stayed outside seemed just as elated. They exchanged glances of greed before they decided that Dagmar’s words could be trusted and charged in with their subordinates.
By now, Han Shuo, Han Jin, and Andrina were close to Omphalos, but before they arrived, Han Jin’s expression shifted. “Oh no!”
