GDK 454: Plundering Treasures
When Han Shuo and Stratholme the old monster arrived at the top of the altar, neither seemed to have any hesitation whatsoever. They immediately reached their hands out to grab the twelve balls hoisted by the fleshy tentacles.
Needless to say, Stratholme the old monster first grabbed the sphere radiating lights of fighting aura, while Han Shuo aimed at the sphere emanating the pure aura of death. Out of some miracle, Han Shuo happened to land just where he needed to, near the orb that he had been eyeing so yearningly. As he extended his mighty hand, his meter-long fingernails shrunk and vanished bafflingly.
Just before Han Shuo’s mighty hand could land on the orb, an anomaly occurred. The twelve tentacles, which had been static since they rose from the altar, suddenly began to writhe frantically. To his surprise, he managed to grasp nothing but the air.
“Huh?!” Stratholme cried out in surprise. His body shifted at high speed, and layers of phantom trails of his hands could be seen. His eyes were fixed on the Origin Crystal of Fighting Aura, not letting go for even a moment.
The twelve fleshy tentacles wriggled about much like a monster. Clouds of heavy green mist began to drift from the middle of the altar which, in an instant, had spread all around the isle. A shiver ran down Han Shuo’s spine and he was sure something was very wrong.
Meanwhile, the four five-horned aliens icebound by Tiana’s cold streams of air, let out popping sounds as their green skin made contact with the mist. Their stiff bodies began to tremble, accompanied by creaking noises. Their sluggish movements became faster and faster. The two alien leaders on the altar shot cold stares at Han Shuo and Stratholme respectively.
“Quick! They have broken the seal,” warned Tiana anxiously, raising her voice from afar.
Han Shuo recovered from his trance and his demonic yuan began to churn faster than ever. The alien on the altar charged at Han Shuo and the latter suddenly roared.
Twelve mystical demons which had been hiding in the surroundings in an immaterial state suddenly solidified to form physical bodies. Each and everyone of them let out malevolent and horrifying shrieks as they stormed towards the twelve spheres.
Han Shuo paid no heed to the alien headed straight at him but sped up to maximum capacity and stared fixedly at the sphere overflowing with the pure aura of death.
Deep within his heart arose a sort of feeling of unwell. Although he had confidence in the speed of his twelve mystical demons, the leakage of strange scents from the altar along with the green mist gave Han Shuo a palpitating uneasiness.
He therefore could not place all his hope on his twelve mystical demons. He, too, made a move without the slightest hesitation.
Buzz Buzz…
An insufferable buzz sounded from the mucousy mouth at the center of the altar. An eerie sensation that would make one’s hair to stand on end disseminated throughout the region in a second.
This buzzing was as sharp as a sword and carried an unstoppable soul-attacking firepower. Compared to the soul attack that the five-horned alien leader unleashed just prior, this one was over ten times as strong!
Han Shuo’s consciousness took a hit before he was able to completely scatter it. The pricking pain that followed exceeded any sort of pain that Han Shuo had ever suffered in all his years.
Unable to withstand the ache on his consciousness, Han Shuo almost fainted and his vision blurred. Within a split second, a fantasy land arose in Han Shuo’s mind, his hands and feet turned cold and limp.
Han Shuo’s consciousness sustained heavy damage. His body fell through the air involuntarily.
Suddenly, Han Shuo’s consciousness, still hallucinating, felt twelve small, consecutive stabs of pain. Of course, relative to the sting loud buzzing on his consciousness, this kind of pain was totally negligible.
However, it was precisely thanks to these twelve stabs of pain projected in his consciousness that Han Shuo, who had entered a land of fantasy due to the fainting, promptly awoke. His body did not continue to plunge helplessly towards the ground.
At the next moment, Han Shuo realized that the twelve mystical demons he had painstakingly refined had their souls all completely annihilated!
The horrible buzzing was mixed with soul attacking energy. Given that even Han Shuo’s consciousness could suffer serious damage, the twelve mystical demons refined from his blood essence clearly would never have survived!
Upon regaining awareness, Han Shuo halted the fall of his body. He suddenly found that right beside him were three spheres emanating different energies.
One was the Origin Crystal containing the pure element of death, another Origin Crystal contained the pure element of darkness. The last sphere was brimming with the energy of destruction!
Perhaps it was because the three balls were a class of treasure that only an evil powerhouse would be willing to hold together. When the awful loud buzzing began, the twelve madly convulsing muscles ceased to move. Eventhough Han Shuo’s consciousness had suffered a heavy blow and nearly fell off, by clinging onto his determination, he arrived at the three spheres.
Of course, the twelve mystical demons had played a role as well. Were it not for the deaths of the twelve mystical demons reflecting their pains onto their host, Han Shuo might regrettably have had fallen into the giant grotesque mouth at the center of the altar!
Without any hesitation and with great difficulty, Han Shuo resisted the discomfort in his brain, took out the Demonslayer Edge which was still in hibernation stage and made use of its incisiveness to cut off three of the tentacles. Subsequently, his space ring flashed and the three orbs entered his space ring, along with the tentacles holding them.
After successfully collecting three Origin Crystals, Han Shuo felt somewhat more relieved of the sorrow of losing his twelve mystical demons. At a glance, Han Shuo’s gaze locked on an Origin Crystal of Fire ten meters away from him. Just as he was about to make a move to collect it, he heard Stratholme the old monster’s shout, “Hurry! Get out of here!”
This loud warning from Stratholme was meant specifically for Han Shuo. Han Shuo immediately turned his head to look at Stratholme, and suddenly discovered that his silvery-grey robe was stained with fresh blood, dark red in colour. His seven apertures flowed unceasingly with blood. It was apparent that the fresh blood on his new robe was his own.
The bewitching, charming demeanor usually borne by Stratholme had vanished. His humiliating look made Han Shuo somewhat fearful. He did not even deal with the fresh blood on his body, but with a frightened look on his face, gazed down at that disgusting mouth that had been constantly fed with magical beasts’ crystal cores and heart.
Following along Stratholme’s line of sight, Han Shuo couldn’t help but look down at it as well.
All he saw inside was a large, green head covered in thick pus, slowly forcing his way out. Han Shuo could tell that it was the head of another green-skinned alien. This one had a skull somewhat larger than those of the four alien leaders.
Most significantly, however, was that there were six horns on its head!
The five-horned aliens already possessed strength equivalent to a demigod’s. As to just how powerful this six-horned alien must be, Han Shuo dared not imagine!
Even with the sensing ability of his consciousness, Han Shuo couldn’t sense the presence of this emerging alien. Based on Han Shuo’s understanding of demonic arts, he was sure that this alien possessed strength far superior to anyone in the region!
No wonder Stratholme the old monster was so frightened and wanted to leave. It was afraid that this alien who was about to arise could have the strength of a true god!
“Run!” Tiana screamed at the top of her lungs. Han Shuo could sense that she had immediately put her words into action. Her presence became further and further from this region!
“Run!” the old monster again shouted. He turned a blind eye to the remaining Origin Crystals which were almost within reach around him and flew away at speeds even faster than when he rushed over.
Given that his body was currently seriously injured, and he was yet able to deploy that skill with speed faster than when he had entered, this was sufficient to illustrate that he overdrafted his energy to escape.
“My… my Origin Crystal of Lighting!” Reynold’s unreconciling moan came from a distance. He was jumping up and down as though he had lost his mind. Stratholme the old monster, however, was none too concerned and would not pause for even a moment to help Reynold collect the Origin Crystal of Lightning not too far from him.
At this stage, Han Shuo did not hesitate. Just as Stratholme the old monster made a move, Han Shuo too gathered all the energy within his body to escape. He took one last regretful look at the remaining spheres before finally turning away.
Of the twelve spheres, Han Shuo had obtained three. The orbs containing fighting aura and pure element of water were, however, missing. Stratholme the old monster ought to have successfully collected them. Seven Origin Crystals, including the Origin Crystal of Lightning, sat there motionless as before.
However, neither Stratholme nor Han Shuo dared to stay any longer to collect more!
Unusually, instead of chasing after the escaping Han Shuo and Stratholme, the five-horned aliens all gathered at the huge mouth where the terrifying six-horned alien was ripping it apart as it struggled free itself. They jointly teared the huge mouth, helping the formidable six-horned alien to break free from it.
“My… my… my Origin Crystal!” lightning sacred magus Reynold of Brut Merchant Alliance murmured alarmed as he stared at the Origin Crystal of Lightning from afar, jumping up and down.
“If you are still not leaving, then you shall die here,” said Stratholme the old monster who was spitting up blood after he arrived beside Reynold. After serving him his final alert, he flurried towards the outside, not taking another look at Reynold.
“My… My… Origin Crystal…” Suddenly, Reynold was no longer jumping up and down in fury, but seemed to be dazed and gaped blankly at the Origin Crystal emitting the purest elemental aura. Han Shuo had travelled the distance of a kilometer and arrived beside Reynold. He shot a glance at Reynold, who wore a blank, stupefied expression, but did not say a word. He rapidly shot away following behind Stratholme.
Reynold was a lightning sacred magus of the Brut Merchant Alliance. Han Shuo held an unfavorable impression towards the Brut Merchant Alliance. Reynold, who had actively participated in the governmental affairs of the Brut Merchant Alliance, might have had even secretly assaulted Brettel City in the past. On top of that, it was inevitable that the two would turn against each other in due time. At this point Han Shuo couldn’t care less if Reynolds lived or died.