GDK 669: Hand me whatever punishment you like!
***Lancelot Empire, Brettel City.
Han Shuo wanted to leave some instructions before leaving the continent. But the good thing was, Jack and the others had long been used to Han Shuo disappearing mysteriously. Therefore, there really was nothing that he needed to worry about in Brettel City.
After leaving some instructions, he looked for Helen and repeated the same conversation he had with Jasper and the others. After making Helen the same promises, Han Shuo finally managed to appease her.
Sophie, who originated from Kasi Empire, had moved to Brettel City with her entire family. He learned from certain people that Sophie’s father had the intention of matchmaking him with Sophie. However, Han Shuo was already finding it difficult to handle the number of companions he already had. After breaking through the Carnal realm, Han Shuo had no wish of getting more partners. Therefore, he kept away from Sophie as much as possible.
Gilbert too was in Brettel City. Although the resurrected Gilbert had much-improved strength, Han Shuo did not let Gilbert follow him to Elysium.
At this point in time, Gilbert was still oblivious to the massacre of the race of dark dragons, but Han Shuo knew that he would find out eventually. Therefore, before he left, he told Gilbert the tragedy that befell the dark dragons.
Gilbert couldn’t restrain himself, howling and whimpering grievously when he learned that his grandpa, Gilges, his only close relative was murdered.
Han Shuo did not know what to do as he watched Gilbert in all his agony. He could not even utter a comforting word. The death of the dark dragons who had been faithfully guarding the path to the third layer of the underground world, directly or indirectly, had something to do with Han Shuo. He blamed himself for not being more cautious, otherwise, he could have prevented the tragedy.
Although he had personally killed both Kaiser and Eriksson, Han Shuo’s heart was still remorseful and he could not completely get over it.
When Gilbert learned that the main culprits of the crime, Kaiser and Eriksson, were both killed by Han Shuo, he suddenly felt very powerless. Without a target for his revenge, he couldn’t find anything to vent his hatred on.
Han Shuo’s departure was rather easy for Gilbert to accept. Perhaps his grandfather’s death had diluted his reluctance to part with Han Shuo.
Han Shuo knew that Gilbert wouldn’t be able to walk out from the sorrow so soon. After imparting to Gilbert a few pieces of advice, he let Gilbert take his time to mourn and left.
After dealing with all those things, Han Shuo headed to the Calamity Church headquarters.
With his status as a Cardinal, this time, Han Shuo no longer needed to traverse across the desert on foot. He directly arrived at the Calamity Church headquarters using a magical transportation matrix.
He had received messages from Calamity Church members in Lancelot Empire a few days earlier asking him to return to headquarters as soon as possible.
Han Shuo made a fair assumption that Donna wanted to meet him and brief him on certain things related to this continent.
After arriving at the Calamity Church, through the Calamity Pope, he soon met Donna and the others at a secret shrine.
The matter about alien experts arriving on Profound Continent was only revealed to the plump Pope and certain cardinals of the Calamity Church. Other ordinary church members were left in the dark.
When Han Shuo arrived at the secret shine, he was surprised to find that Kironlo, who had animosity with him, was also present.
As the oldest member of the Calamity Church on Profound Continent, Kironlo was one of the few who knew of Donna and her experts’ identities. But unfortunately for him, Kironlo was unaware of Han Shuo’s relationship with those godly experts. As soon as Han Shuo stepped into the shrine, Kironlo, who had once been humiliated and punished by Han Shuo, thinking that his own safety was guaranteed with their presences, immediately began to heavily denounce Han Shuo.
When Han Shuo stepped into the shrine, Kironlo immediately stood up from his seat and denounced Han Shuo in a righteous manner. “Revered Divine Envoys, this chap called Bryan is certainly not a pious believer. His strength has only managed to advance this greatly because he relied on the divine weapon, the skeletal staff, which he obtained out of coincidence. All these years he had been arrogant and condescending. He shows us elders no due respect. He has violated the rules of the Church!”
The Calamity Pope had no idea about the previous interactions between Han Shuo and Donna. He only knew that Han Shuo played the role of a guide for the party and had absolutely no idea that Han Shuo had saved these eminent gods from potential death. The pope was beginning to worry when he heard Kironlo distort the facts so firmly, not knowing if Donna and the others would listen to Kironlo’s accusations.
The Calamity Church was indeed a religious organization that placed emphasis on seniority. Kironlo was well aware of this. It was also clear to him that his own strength was far beneath Han Shuo’s and therefore he seized this once in a blue moon opportunity to slander Han Shuo. He was determined to have Han Shuo suffer the rage of Donna and her experts before they departed from this continent.
“Skeletal staff. Hehe, that’s the divine weapon my grandfather previously used!” Li Wei giggled and shot Han Shuo a glance.
Well well! Han Shuo was astonished. His gazes towards Li Wei turned slightly more cordial.
“Revered Divine Envoys, this person will only break the rules and practices of the Calamity Church. This will be unfavorable to the growth of the Church. But regrettably, his power is great and no one in the Church could restrain him. Even I was severely injured by him. It is fortunate that Your Holinesses has come. Otherwise, who knows what more havoc this person will make!” Kironlo said with righteous indignation. Those who don’t know otherwise might have actually thought that he had invested and contributed a lot to the Calamity Church.
“Bryan, how do you plead?” Donna smiled sweetly and asked Han Shuo amusingly.
Han Shuo had gone through life and death situations with Donna and her experts, not to mention that he had saved them multiple times. The intimacy of their relationships simply wasn’t something that Kironlo could imagine.
Before Donna’s amused gazes, Han Shuo couldn’t help but laugh out loud. He giggled, “Oh that’s absolutely correct. I’m condescending and love to throw my weight around. I will kill whoever I don’t like! I’m much worse than he describes me to be. Hand me whatever punishment you like!”
Han Shuo had learned from Olde the decision made by those in the high-levels – the whole Profound Continent was to be given to him. This meant that Han Shuo was the rightful owner of every inch of land, every speckle of dust, and every living being on this material plane. He was the true overlord of this world. On top of his friendly relationship with Donna and her experts, what was there for Han Shuo to be afraid of?
However, those mere mortals around them were not aware of that information. When they heard Han Shuo utter such outrageous and disgraceful words to their Divine Envoys, even the big fatty pope was completely flabbergasted. He gaped foolishly at Han Shuo, not knowing why the usually prudent Han Shuo would be making such a blunder at such a critical juncture.
The other cardinals too were staring open-mouthed at Han Shuo in disbelief, while some looked at Han Shuo as though he was already dead. They thought, Though you may have valiant strength on Profound Continent, before these Divine Envoys, you are as weak as a baby. You are courting death by being so unbridled before these existences!
Kironlo was overjoyed at heart to hear those words coming from Han Shuo and he immediately made a big fuss out of it. “See that? Revered Divine Envoys, this person even dares to be condescending and disrespectful before your Lordships! He’s outrageously arrogant! How could the Church properly grow and expand as long as this person remains on Profound Continent?!”
“Oh? What about you? Heh, don’t forget that for all those years under your leadership, the Calamity Church came underneath the Church of Light. It is also you who caused the Calamity Church to be despised by the masses and resulted in the church members having to spend their days in hiding all these years. I really doubt that I could perform worse than that!” Han Shuo said calmly, smiling at Kironlo.
“Shut up! I, I was just being flexible! If it wasn’t for my decision, the Church wouldn’t have preserved itself till this day!” Kironlo said unyieldingly with his face flushed with anger. Those words of Han Shuo had precisely struck his sore point.
“Old bastard, who are you telling to shut up?” Han Shuo’s face suddenly turned cold and he said in a chilly voice.
“You son of a bitch, how dare you behave so unbridledly before the Revered Divine Envoys!” Kironlo replied furiously.
Han Shuo decided to cut the nonsense and suddenly shot towards Kironlo. His left hand shot forward at lightning speed, instantly buckled Kironlo’s neck, and raised him high in the air. Han Shuo then deployed a Demonic Blade on the middle finger of his right hand and proceeded to ruthlessly poke the incisive edge into Kironlo’s wide open mouth. After giving it a moment of good stirring, Kironlo’s tongue was torn and blended with his teeth, gums, and blood. He whimpered miserably with a frightened face while blood gushed out from his mutilated mouth.
Now, Kironlo could not utter a single word. His legs that were suspended in the air were kicking about. His terrified and begging eyes were looking at Donna and her experts, waiting for them to strike Han Shuo.
All those mortals in the shrine thought that Han Shuo must have gone mad to treat Kironlo with such bloody means right before Donna and her experts. Those cardinals who were aligned to Han Shuo sighed and lowered their heads. They couldn’t bear to witness the horrifying scene that Han Shuo would soon suffer.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
Even after they counted to five, strangely, other than Kironlo’s miserable grunting that was growing audibly louder, those with their heads lowered did not hear any sign of activity.
Puzzled, they raised their heads to look. They saw that Kironlo’s face was badly mangled and nearly unrecognizable. Even his cheeks were pierced by the sharp blade.
Meanwhile, not only did those godly entities from the distant material plane not look bothered, they were smiling as they watched Han Shuo in his violent ways. They showed not the slightest intention of stepping in.
Kironlo’s fear turned into despair. He looked on at Donna and her experts with helpless eyes while his hands and legs were throwing about disorderly, as though he was trying to express something. But soon enough, even his kicking and swinging limbs were broken by Han Shuo and they drooped down powerlessly, just like his mood.
Those cardinals who wanted to see Han Shuo be humiliated and those who were worried for him were all dumbstruck. They stopped looking at Kironlo but placed all their focus on Donna and her experts to try to figure out what was actually going on.
Gradually, from their gazes at Han Shuo, those cardinals vaguely understood something.
In the eyes of Donna and her experts, they discovered admiration, the lightness of watching a comedy unfold, the harmony between friends…
“Bryan, that’s enough. Just put this tactless fella to death right away. Don’t make it too bloody!” Donna finally voiced out when she saw that Han Shuo’s intentions of skinning Kironlo alive.
Upon hearing those words, those cardinals turned pale with fright. Their eyes were filled with fear and reverence that could not be concealed!
“Okay!” Han Shuo stopped tormenting the minds of those people and gave Kironlo a pat on his forehead. Splat! Kironlo’s head exploded like an egg in a microwave.
While those cardinals were panic-stricken, Donna leisurely announced, “From today onwards, Profound Continent shall belong to Bryan. Anything and everything will be under his authority. You will all obey his commands, and he is entitled to punish those who go against his wishes. Do you understand?”
“Un.. understood…” those cardinals whose faces were filled with dread hastily answered.
“Good. You are all dismissed!” Donna nodded her head in satisfaction and casually instructed.
To Donna and her experts, these cardinals of meager strengths were as insignificant as ants. They were not even qualified to speak to them.
Following Donna’s command, even the big fat pope got up to make a hasty exit.
“Pope, you have nothing to worry about. Everything related to the Calamity Church on Profound Continent will still be under your control. You will even soon find that your power over others grows stronger and broader!” Han Shuo said to the Calamity Pope.
“I understand!” By now, the Calamity Pope had recognized the true situation. He performed a respectful bow towards Han Shuo and solemnly retreated.
“This is one tactful fella. Looks like you are going to save a ton of work!” after the pope left, Donna thoughtfully gave her assessment.
“He has to be discerning in order to uphold his position!” Han Shuo said smilingly. He wasn’t afraid that the big fat Pope would have other intentions. This was because the big fatty was aware of his superior strength, in addition to having made it out that the decision came from those higher up in command. With that, he definitely dared not to have any deviant thoughts.
The reason that Han Shuo consoled him was that Han Shuo needed him to administer the Calamity Church well. He did not want the big fatty to face everything pessimistically and no longer serve the Calamity Church wholeheartedly.
“Alright. Let me brief you about the current circumstances. There are some stipulations that you have to follow!” Donna explained the exact same information that Olde previously informed him.
“Congratulations, Bryan! Hehe, so it turns out that my grandpa’s skeletal staff is in your possession. That’s even more reason for you to visit my family when you are at Elysium. Which reminds me, are you acquainted with that old lizard? He’s at my family too!” Li Wei giggled.
“I do know him. I will make sure to pay you a visit sooner or later!” Han Shuo immediately made a promise after hearing that Ancient Lizard King Dagassi was there.
“Bryan, we will begin our journey home very soon. Would you like to tag along?” asked Donna.
“I still need to cultivate for a period of time. But right after that, I will head to Elysium to look for you all,” Han Shuo politely refused Donna’s proposal after thinking for a moment. He felt that he needed to familiarize himself with his current realm and forge a few demonic treasures before leaving for the Plane of Gods.