Chapter 160: You shouldn’t have chased after me
After leaving the back yard, Han Shuo immediately focused his concentrations. Although he held Lisa within his arms, his speed was still as fast as lightning as he sped along the path.
It was noon, but there were no pedestrians on the road during such a frosty winter. Add to that, the fact that the soldiers had been turning Valen City inside out over the past two days, the civilians were all hiding in their homes and didn’t dare to walk about. Thus, Han Shuo’s dashing figure rather stood out along the road.
Two airborne patrolling Gryphon Knights spurred their gryphons on and detected Han Shuo’s figure. The gryphons screamed as the knights hefted their three meter long spears and flew towards Han Shuo.
“There are gryphons in the air!” Lisa’s face was frozen red from the cold bite of the wintry air. She raised her head from her position in Han Shuo’s grasp and noticed the pursuit from the two Gryphon Knights, hastily voicing a reminder to Han Shuo.
‘I know, don’t worry!” Han Shuo had long since noted the pursuit and he responded in a low voice to Lisa without a change in expression. His body continued to dash quickly through the scattered streets as his mind spun, searching for ways to react.
Han Shuo had thoroughly remembered all the places they’d passed on the way to Lawrence’s. Now that they had been spotted by the Gryphon Knights, Han Shuo was quickly thinking of ways out.
He couldn’t expose the Dark Mantle stronghold, so he couldn’t return there at the moment. Now that there were Gryphon Legion members patrolling Valen City and two Knights in the air had set their sights onto them, he had to quickly shake them off or find a place to kill them. Otherwise, more trouble would quickly descend upon them.
As his thoughts raced, Han Shuo suddenly changed direction and didn’t dash in and out of alleyways. He ran towards the direction of a patch of trees, circulating his magical yuan, making it so that he seemed to have a boundless source of energy. The speed of his dash was faster than the two knights’ expectations.
The two knights had planned on landing as soon as Han Shuo had left the cover of the houses and killing him. Who would’ve thought that Han Shuo would speed forward like he was riding a fierce and swarthy horse as soon as he left the area, catching them off guard.
However, the knights naturally held an advantage being in the air. When they regained their composure, they spurred their gryphons onwards to catch up to Han Shuo and circled above the trees, locking their sights onto Han Shuo.
They were already a few li away from where Lawrence lived. Han Shuo had observed for a little bit just now and noticed that only these two knights were pursuing him, so he hadn’t been unduly worried. His body halted as soon as he entered the cover of the trees and suddenly came to a complete stop, swinging Lisa up and around him so that she was on his back.
“Hold on tight and don’t let go no matter what!” Han Shuo ordered lowly.
She nodded her head docilely and said resolutely, “I understand. I won’t let go even if I die.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t be the ones to die.” Han Shuo comforted Lisa confidently and took out a firm, supple rope from his space ring. He firmly tied Lisa onto his back to prevent her from sliding off halfway through. Han Shuo gripped the Demonslayer Edge in his right hand after doing all this and looked coldly at the two Gryphon Knights hovering overhead, preparing himself to kill two men and two beasts.
“Let’s see where you’ll run to now!” A Gryphon Knight laughed disdainfully overhead, shaking the sharp spear in his hand and digging his heels into the gryphon beneath him in an odd way.
The gryphon circling in the air suddenly screamed out bizarrely and dived down towards Han Shuo. The metal claws of the gryphon could rip apart a buffalo. As it dived down towards Han Shuo like this, the aura formed by its enormous body and the knight’s coldly gleaming spear was enough to stun an enemy senseless.
The other Gryphon Knight moved his steed closer to Han Shuo, but didn’t immediately make a move. The arrogance and disdain on his face seemed to indicate that having one out of the two of them was more than enough to take care of Han Shuo, and that his attentions weren’t needed at all.
Han Shuo’s demeanor was aloof and remote as he held his ground without moving, staring intently at the diving knight and gryphon. A white bone staff suddenly appeared in his other hand when the Gryphon’s metal claws was skimming the tops of the trees and Han Shuo quickly released a “Dark Mist” spell.
With the enhancing effects of this bone staff, the area of coverage by Han Shuo’s “Dark Mist” spell had increased by one third, completely enshrouding an area that measured ten meters in diameter.
“Ugh, damn it, I can’t see anything!” The Gryphon Knight bellowed furiously, some panic evident in his tone of voice.
He’d been chasing after Han Shuo all along and had witnessed Han Shuo’s speed with his own eyes. That agility was something that a strong swordsman should possess, and a sword shaped Demonslayer Edge had appeared in his hand when he’d reached the treetops. His posture completely resembling that of a swordsman.
However, when it really came down to the actual fight, a white bone staff had suddenly appeared in Han Shuo’s hands and he’d released a “Dark Mist” spell in the nick of time. This greatly astonished the Gryphon Knight, who’d also fallen into Han Shuo’s trap.
The diving Gryphon Knight exclaimed in astonishment, alerting his companion that something was wrong. His companion moved quickly, intent on coming over to rescue his comrade.
It was too late.
A streak of bizarre, incandescent red fire flared strikingly through the dense, black mist. It was like it wasn’t affected by the “Dark Mist” spell at all, displaying a heart stirring arc and tracing a long, bloody path.
The gryphon screamed bizarrely in pain as the knight yelled hoarsely, the cries rising at almost the same time as that fey, red fire. Screams that would strike fear into people’s hearts as the long, bloody line painted itself through the patch of dark fog.
It was only when that bizarre, red fire extinguished itself did the despairing cries of agony finally fall silent.
The other Gryphon Knight that had arrived in the area listened to the screams with his scalp tingling with numbness. He couldn’t see what was occurring and could only frantically repeat his questions, “Camper, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”
He kept calling out, but didn’t dare to approach the black mist. He only observed from a distance.
The “Dark Mist” was a spell that took effect swiftly and also dispersed quickly. As the chilly wind blew, the black mist, that had coalesced quickly, vanished in a short period of time.
Han Shuo still stood where he was and had a cruel, cold leer on his face. Lisa on his back had her eyes tightly shut, burying her head into Han Shuo’s neck as she couldn’t bear to look upon the scene.
A bloody mess of severed limbs and hacked off flesh was scattered around Han Shuo. Some belonged to the Gryphon Knight, and some to the gryphon. A thick scent of blood attacked the nose as Han Shuo was stepping on a head that was slowly leaking brain fluid. It was as if he’d just been baptized by blood as he was covered in the gore, making his leer appear even more horrifying.
Dry retching suddenly sounded from the Gryphon Knight. He turned his gryphon immediately, fearfully trying to make his escape.
“Do you think that you’re the only one who can fly?” Han Shuo’s leer split in a laugh. He activated the “Demonic Art of the Ninth Heavens” and took to the air, shooting towards the Gryphon Knight like lightning with Lisa on his back. He arrived behind the Gryphon Knight before the latter had travelled too far.
Two bone spears shot out and stabbed into the gryphon’s rump, making it scream shrilly. It actually turned and shot towards Han Shuo with the knight on its back. After the experience of his initial panic and the fact that his steed was now charging towards Han Shuo of its own volition, he quickly understood that Han Shuo could also fly through the air and that there was no opportunity for him to escape. He therefore hefted his spear and took aim at Han Shuo.
Every Gryphon Knight was at least a senior knight. Therefore, when he hefted his spear, it flared out with dark green fighting aura, as if silver lightning were traveling through the air after making use of the gryphon’s momentum to hurtle towards Han Shuo.
Han Shuo had just used the sharp Demonslayer Edge to slaughter a Gryphon Knight, along with his gryphon. There was an uncontrollable bloodthirst rising in his heart. It was as if there was a voice spurring him on in his heart that told him to keep killing in such a gory manner. It happened to provide the perfect outlet for his emotions as he saw the Gryphon Knight charge towards him.
Han Shuo threw his head back in a long howl and flew over with a leer. The Demonslayer Edge hadn’t appeared to be particularly long before, but with the circulation of the “Glacial Mystical Spellfire” , a two meter long purple and red light spat from the tip. The purple light was out in front, and the red light connected to the Demonslayer Edge in the back. The weapon looked quite magical.
Even with Lisa on his back, Han Shuo’s speed wasn’t much slower than the Gryphon Knight’s as he flew using the Art. His magical yuan circulating at top speed. Han Shuo emitted a dense killing intent that seemed to materialize as a black aura around his body. When viewed from afar, Han Shuo’s figure with Demonslayer Edge in hand was like a shooting star falling towards the ground.
A ball of dazzling splendor exploded from where the two intersected, a deafening metallic clang reverberated in the surroundings. The Spellfire infused Demonslayer Edge shot out a meter of cold, purple light, crashing into the fighting aura emitted by the long spear. The spear was immediately churned into dust as it was ravaged by the violent magical yuan.
A bone piercing cold immediately crept over the knight’s body. He reacted, but didn’t have time to make a move before Han Shuo coalesced a red spellfire a meter tall. The blood veins in the knight’s right arm gripping the silver spear suddenly exploded beneath the piercing cold and burning heat. His muscles started sliding off his bone, like they’d been doused in acid, as droplets of blood escaped from his arm.
“You shouldn’t have chased after me!” Han Shuo leered at the horrified Gryphon Knight. The Demonslayer Edge started flying according to his will afterwards and hacked off the gryphon’s metal claws. The Demonslayer Edge then hewed downwards and spliced the knight and gryphon’s body into two, like he was cleaving apart a mountain. Fresh blood splattered like rain down towards the trees.
The two Gryphon Knights had now died grisly deaths at Han Shuo’s hands, but Han Shuo actually had an unsated feeling. His heart trembled as he suddenly came to his senses, finally understanding why he had such a fervent desire to slay and slaughter.
Since his demonic magic had reached the true demon realm, Han Shuo had thoroughly become a demon. It was the first time that he’d had overwhelming power and would find it difficult to control the urges deep within his heart, particularly as the next realm was the most dangerous “bloodlust” realm. As one began to enter the bloodlust realm, the practitioner would start to have the desire to erupt in full blown slaughter in every battle.
It was a good thing that since he hadn’t yet entered the bloodlust realm, Han Shuo could still control his thoughts and desires. It would become harder to control his bloodthirsty desires once he reached the next realm. He wouldn’t be able to stop once he started fighting unless he saw blood, becoming an extreme, gore-seeking violent demon.
He exhaled lightly and privately reflected that practicing demonic magic was truly a perverse way. However, the exhilaration of fighting and killing today made him feel damn good, and his entire being seemed to strut around like a new person.
“Over there, after him!” The battle screams of horses came in from the distance. Han Shuo hovered in the air and swiveled his head, seeing that a troop of Gryphon Legion cavalry was quickly approaching him. This troop was formed only by earth bound knights. Han Shuo wasn’t afraid that he’d be unable to shake them off.
Snorting coldly, Han Shuo flew downwards and picked up speed to leave when he was level with the trees.
“You know how to fly!” Lisa suddenly put her lips next to Han Shuo’s ears at this time and exclaimed with astonishment at this time.