GDK 742: You shall not leave
Han Shuo couldn’t figure out the identity of that old man that his demon general had seen. Finally now, through Eugene, Han Shuo verified that the old man was indeed the owner of the Godswamp Pharmacy – Hassling. It was clear to Han Shuo that the evil deeds conducted by the Godswamp Pharmacy in the City of Shadows were approved of, if not commanded by Hassling.
From the day that Han Shuo exposed the Godswamp Pharmacy’s evil deeds in the City of Shadows, an irreconcilable enmity between him and Hassling was born. The feud would grow even worse now that the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy had fully superseded the Godswamp Pharmacy’s place in the City of Shadows. Even if Han Shuo didn’t want to make enemies with the Godswamp, there was no way that Hassling would let him live in peace.
Therefore, having arrived at this conclusion, Han Shuo decided that he had to do all he could to bring down the Godswamp Pharmacy and eliminate the threat that was Hassling!
“Eugene, I cannot be more certain that Hassling is associated with the godhunters. You should ask yourself if you actually know him or just the side he wishes to show you!” said Han Shuo sneeringly.
Eugene let out a soft, disdained groan, obviously not taking Han Shuo’s advice to heart. He still thought that Han Shuo was trying to slander Hassling. His relationship with Hassling appeared to run deep.
The battle continued.
The assaulting forces led by Aobashi wildly bombarded the godhunters in those caves with ranged attacks. Another six godhunters who revealed themselves at the cave mouths perished to their attacks.
“Everyone retreat!” a roar sounded from one of the largest caves.
Those godhunters who had been trying to charge from their caves withdrew upon hearing the command. They also blocked the cave entrances with rocks. With that, Aobashi and the assaulting forces no longer had any targets to attack.
“It’s Brovst! He is indeed in there!” Erebus softly cried out. He seemed rather excited.
“The godhunters have all burrowed in their caves. What do we do?” Blightsoar flew to Aobashi to consult her.
“There are forks in those caves!” said Han Shuo with his eyes closed, probing the caves using a few of his demon generals. Suddenly, he shouted, “There are other exits in there, it is very narrow. The godhunters are evacuating!”
After having witnessed Han Shuo’s outstanding performance in infiltrating the base, Aobashi and the others had no doubt in Han Shuo’s words. Aobashi hastily commanded, “Each corps takes twenty people outside the valley to find them, the rest will enter the cave and pursue them. It hasn’t been easy for us to find these godhunters, we mustn’t let them escape!”
“Agreed!” cried Blightsoar. He immediately turned to his men, gave instructions, and nodded at Aobashi.
“Let’s go!” Eugene too had given his men the relevant instructions and started flying towards the caves.
Andrina’s figure dazzled as she charged ahead, taking the lead with Han Shuo following closely behind her. Aobashi, Erebus, Blightsoar and Eugene charged out from four different spots. Shadows streaked above the chilling pond, zooming towards the caves behind it.
In an instant, more than a hundred figures were flying above the lake.
“Watch out, some of the godhunters are returning!” shouted Han Shuo.
As soon as his voice sounded, the gravity above the lake increased by a hundred times. Those flying above the lake became sluggish. The godhunters again revealed themselves at the cave mouths and started attacking the party flying above the lake with difficulty.
All those levitating were greatly affected by the hundred-fold gravity. Not only did their airspeed fall significantly, they were also exhausting much more divine energy than usual to keep themselves in the air. Having been strained beyond their limits, a dozen or more divine guards failed to defend themselves against the godhunter’s attacks and helplessly fell towards the lake after being struck.
Eerie, miserable shrieks sounded from the mouths of those who fell into the lake. A short time later, even more sets of white skeletons were added to the lake.
Those divine guards who were still on land immediately responded, launching ranged attacks at those exposed godhunters. A few of them were struck. Their bodies fell from their caves and into the lake.
“Stop them!” Brovst revealed his valiant and muscular figure from the largest cave and shouted furiously.
Then, Gallas and Taylin who cultivated in the energy of darkness and death respectively stepped forward to stand beside Brovst. The trio’s gazes abruptly gathered on Andrina.
Right away, the three of them jointly attacked Andrina, focusing all their attacks on her alone. The other highgods were ignored.
Andrina was at the very front of the charging party and the nearest to the three godhunters. The sudden attacks from the three seemed to have caught her unprepared. Screens of light blossomed from her palms. She looked like a big, bright crystal shining in mid-air as she resisted the attacks.
“Attack those three!” yelled Han Shuo. Then, with his left hand, he tossed the Green Hypergolic Dust, which he had refined before coming to Elysium, at Brovst and his gang.
Aobashi and Erebus hastily attacked Brovst, Gallas and Taylin. Aobashi, whose fine hair was wildly fluttering about in the wind, formed a rapidly revolving tornado in an instant and hurled it at the cave. Meanwhile, Erebus thrusted the dark pike in his hand. A stream of dark lightning flew out like a meandering dragon.
The three who were trying to kill Andrina had no choice but to cease bombarding her with attacks and put up defenses against Aobashi and Erebus’ attacks. They deployed layers upon layers of boundaries at the cave mouth.
“Huh?!” The three simultaneously cried out in surprise. They discovered that the fine specks of green dust that fell into the cave could burn anything it touched. Taylin, who had accidentally touched a few bits of the Green Hypergolic Dust, suddenly began to combust. The bright green flames were extremely malicious and took no time in charring her body.
In the eyes of the highgod godhunters, an attack produced by a character as puny as Han Shuo would amount to nothing and they had therefore most imprudently allowed the Green Hypergolic Dust to enter the cave. However, soon after the dust started burning, they realized that they had been mistaken in their judgment.
“What the hell is this damned flame, why can’t I put it out! Argh! That wretched youngster, I’m going to kill him!” Taylin cried out in pain. It appeared that she was gravely tormented by the Green Hypergolic Dust.
Brovst and Gallas were shocked to discover that even someone as powerful as Taylin couldn’t immediately neutralize the green dust. Therefore, they decided to give up on attacking Andrina and retreat into the cave.
The pressure on Andrina immediately lightened. She made use of the opportunity to quickly leap to a cave. She was the first to cross the lake.
As there was Green Hypergolic Dust raging at the cave Brovst and the others previously stood in, Andrina did not land there. Instead, she entered a cave where three midgods were standing. Right away, she began her killing spree without the slightest mercy. She grabbed the three godhunters with her little hands and threw them into the lake.
The three godhunters were soon reduced to nothing but bones. Andrina quickly scanned around with her eyes and flew towards another cave. She was aiming at the cave with the most godhunters for the maximum kill. As soon as she landed in the cave, her small hand started grabbing and throwing. In no time, another seven people were tossed into the lake.
Without Brovst, Taylin and Gallas’ impediment, Aobashi, Erebus and the others managed to cross the lake. These highgod experts went for caves with the most godhunters. Miserable shrieks repeatedly sounded. A dozen or more godhunters were killed in an instant.
With that, the pressure faced by those divine guards levitating above the lake was greatly reduced. They managed to cross the lake and entered the caves as well.
“Everyone disperse, search every cave!” shouted Aobashi. She then asked Han Shuo, “Bryan, can you lead us to the trio of Brovst?”
“No problem. Follow me!” Han Shuo quickly responded. The Green Hypergolic Dust on Taylin was still burning. Han Shuo could track her by following the unique scent it produced.
Upon hearing those words, Andrina, Aobashi and Erebus followed behind Han Shuo. Blightsoar, who had just crossed the lake, decided to also join Han Shuo without hesitation. Eugene from Hushveil City let out a soft groan and did not follow. Instead, he entered another cave and went exploring by himself.
“Be careful, there could be a late-stage highgod in the cave!” Han Shuo reminded the party as he led them.
The tunnel grew more and more narrow and they came across more and more forks. They met a few scattered godhunters along the way and were easily taken care of. After venturing deep inside, they suddenly found an enormous, sparkling bright cave. The walls were covered with shining energy crystals, lighting up the area like a ballroom.
Multiple small tunnels extended in every direction. At the center of the cave was an enormous vertical shaft that went deep underground. Those panicking godhunters had been burrowing into this shaft.
“There should be an escape path in there!” Han Shuo pointed at the tunnel and explained.
“Let’s go!” Aobashi flew into the tunnel without thinking.
After Aobashi, Erebus followed her down without any hesitation. However, Andrina, who had been on the front line all the while, hesitated for a moment. She only flew down after Han Shuo. Blightsoar was the last to enter.
They fell thousands of meters into the tunnel. The shaft was completely dark. Apart from Erebus who cultivated in the element of darkness, Han Shuo thought he was probably the only one who could see his surroundings, though barely.
After looking around for a moment, Han Shuo noticed that Andrina’s eyes were shining like energy crystals. Right away, Han Shuo understood that Andrina too could see in the dark.
Eventually, their feet were once again standing upon solid ground – they had reached the bottom.
Han Shuo lowered his head and looked. He saw that there was an enormous palace underneath him which occupied hundreds of thousands of square meters. The architectural style was simple and solemn. There were energy towers erected in every corner but they gave off not a glimmer of light. The godhunters who appeared tiny were blindly flying around the walls like flies trapped in a bottle. It appeared they found no escape route.
Suddenly, an immense pressure filled the space. It was as though an enormous mountain was growing over them, weighing down on them so hard that it stifled their breaths. An aura which seemed to be filled with boundless energy emerged out of nowhere. It gave off a primordial, eternal feeling, as though it was as ancient as the stars and galaxies, an Eternal existence!
Inside the pitch-dark space, an enormous figure gradually floated into appearance. Its colossal body filled the valley. Its green eyes were high in the sky, almost like two crescent moons. It stared down coldly at those standing above the palace.
“You found this place. That’s surprising!” an aged voice sounded from the mouth of the colossal figure. It echoed throughout the space.
“Who are you?” Erebus asked in a deep voice.
“But since you have come here, you shall not leave!” the colossal figure waved his hand. World-ending power filled every corner in an instant, A great but unknown number of boundaries instantly formed around the space. The energies of death and darkness in Han Shuo’s body were suddenly sealed. He couldn’t use one bit of his divine energy.
Han Shuo was alarmed. When he raised his head and looked, he saw a hazy figure towering over him and a pair of green eyes at the very top looking down at him.
Han Shuo had a strange feeling. He felt that the scene was very familiar, as though he had come across such a situation before.
After trying hard to recall, Han Shuo was taken aback. He finally remembered when he had been in such a situation.
Back at the Cemetery of Death of Profound Continent all those years ago, when exploring the second level of the Cemetery, an evil god tried to brand his soul. His brain felt like it was being cut by ten thousand blades as he resisted it. It was this exact colossal figure that appeared in his mind, though less distinct than now. But he clearly remembered the pair of green eyes that peered down at him with disdain.
“Submit. There will be no pain, only eternal life!” Back then in the Cemetery of Death, the colossal figure repeated those words in Han Shuo’s mind to urge Han Shuo to surrender his soul and be his servant. As they were great lightyears apart, and having unbending willpower, Han Shuo was able to resist its power.
However, this time around, the colossal figure he saw wasn’t merely an image in his mind, and the voice heard wasn’t transmitted into his mind. Now that he was physically in the presence of this incomparably formidable being, he realized that his previous experience did not just pale in comparison, but it wasn’t even worthy of mentioning!
“Submit, or perish!” shouted the colossal being. His voice carried a strange, bewitching power.
“Who exactly are you?” Although Aobashi couldn’t see in the dark, the pair of large green eyes of the mysterious and incomparably powerful being were faintly glowing, illuminating its enormous body.
“You need not know,” the being replied. “I will ask one last time, do you want to live or do you want to die?”
“Live!” shouted Erebus abruptly before throwing out a scroll. An incomparably enormous energy fluctuation suddenly burst out from the scroll, instantly affecting the boundless darkness all around it. They gathered into a single point and shot towards the colossal being.
“Courting death!” The colossal figure waved its hand. The scroll that Erebus threw out disintegrated with a bang. A streak of light shot out from its right eye and fell on Erebus. He howled miserably and was sent flying far away.
Before entering the valley, Han Shuo had repeatedly asked Aobashi and Erebus about this possible threat and he was assured that they had ways to deal with a late-stage highgod expert. However, from the looks of it now, Erebus could not even fight back!