GDK 676: The prey became the predator
Had Han Shuo’s demonic arts not advanced by leap and bounds, or had he not the Cauldron of Myriad Demon to utilize, against this G.o.dhunter, Han Shuo’s only viable option would have been to flee for his life.
But clearly, this G.o.dhunter wasn’t particularly lucky as she had run into Han Shuo soon after his strength soared.
The action of engulfing another’s energy, personal gain at the detriment of others, had always been the defining characteristic of a demonic arts cultivator. With both his avatars sheltered inside the Cauldron of Myriad Demon, not only were they not subjected to the effects of that old woman’s death rays, by using this defining characteristic of demonic arts, the roles of prey and predator were switched. From a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, Han Shuo became the butcherer!
All of a sudden, the divine energy inside the old woman’s body became like a water reservoir in a collapsed dam, rapidly gus.h.i.+ng into Han Shuo’s body through the death rays that connected her to Han Shuo. The immense pain that came all too suddenly caught her unprepared and she started shrieking in misery.
“How… how is this possible?” the old woman performed far worse compared to Han Shuo when subjected to the painful procedure. She was even stammering in her speech. Her grimace in pain made her appearance all the more ugly and horrifying.
Han Shuo kept silent as he stared at her with his cold and harsh eyes. When she spoke, the Cauldron of Myriad Demon suddenly flew out from Han Shuo’s body and covered on the top of her skull in split second.
Immediately, the Cauldron of Myriad Demon formed a soul-affecting energy field. The old woman, who was trying to severe those death rays and escape, started shrieking even louder and more painfully under the influence of the energy field. Her voice spread far and wide. Her grayish eyes filled with confusion as she started to grow oblivious to the situation.
Han Shuo suddenly closed his eyes and concentrated on the effort. After the Cauldron of Myriad Demon left his body, he started circulating the demonic yuan even faster, rapidly draining the old woman of her divine energy through those death rays.
All the divine energy that Han Shuo had lost to her very quickly flowed back into his body. His avatar of death that exited the Cauldron of Myriad Demon took no time in recapturing the portion of energy lost.
Han Shuo sneered grimly in his heart. He did not expect that he would run into such a fierce G.o.dhunter so soon after he arrived on Elysium. But fortunately, as he had concealed his true strength, the tragedy turned into a fortune. This old woman was a midG.o.d cultivating in the elemental energy of death. As long as Han Shuo a.s.similated all the divine energy in her, his avatar of death would surely rocket in strength.
Unlike his avatar that cultivated in the edict of destruction, Han Shuo’s avatar of death had previously fused with the divine soul of a midG.o.d back in the Void. Being in possession of all the former understanding about the element of death of that midG.o.d, once Han Shuo came to possess sufficient divine energy, he would advance further within an extremely short period of time!
The Cauldron of Myriad Demon that enveloped the top of the old woman’s head, using the power of the demon generals contained in the Cauldron, formed an energy field that caused her soul to sink into oblivion. At this moment, she was completely at a loss and senseless to the situation. She was under Han Shuo’s full control.
“What immense divine energy of death. Indeed worthy of being called a midG.o.d!” Han Shuo relished in glory as his victim’s divine energy surged into his body.
“Bryan, that friend of yours is in trouble. Also, there are people coming this way!” the Cauldron Spirit suddenly transmitted while Han Shuo was indulging in the wonderful sensation.
Suddenly, through the mystical demons deployed by the Cauldron Spirit, Han Shuo discovered that a group of people were vigorously pursuing Akley. The one taking the lead of the party was a well-built middle-aged man cultivating in the edict of destruction, a late-stage lowG.o.d. Behind him were two G.o.dly experts cultivating in the element of darkness, as well as several inferior G.o.ds. They all wore similar clothing.
With just one look, Han Shuo recognized the bunch as the ones pursuing Akley. Han Shuo had no idea how they managed to locate Akley so quickly.
On the other hand, those who escaped from the G.o.dhunter along with Dolores were rapidly approaching Han Shuo by following the miserable howl of the old woman beside him.
Either side, Akley or Dolores, would hinder Han Shuo’s scheme of engulfing the old woman’s divine energy. This was especially so when it came to Dolores. G.o.dhunters were the public targets of despise. Han Shuo’s current deeds had no difference to that of a G.o.dhunter, even if he was sucking the divine energy of a G.o.dhunter!
If Dolores was to catch Han Shuo red-handed in the act, then, no matter how close Han Shuo was with Donna, with so many spectators, Dolores would have no choice but to attack Han Shuo. In addition to that, from that moment onwards, Han Shuo’s name would be tarnished. He would forever be branded as a G.o.dhunter.
This would definitely be very disadvantageous to Han Shuo’s future development and he was most unwilling to see that happen!
“Kill. You take her soul while I destroy her body!” Han Shuo decisively transmitted his intentions to the Cauldron Spirit.
“Yes, sir!” The Cauldron Spirit immediately agreed and took action. The Cauldron of Myriad Demon that was buckled to the upper part of her head suddenly moved downwards and covered her entire skull.
Meanwhile, Han Shuo ceased sucking away the divine energy in the old woman’s body. Demonic flames violently gushed out from his palms and ravaged her body.
The unique patterns on the Cauldron of Myriad Demon again started to glow with beautiful green light. Strange ripples traveled up the old woman’s neck and entered the Cauldron of Myriad Demon. Han Shuo could clearly sense that the old woman’s soul was being drawn away.
Within the red flames of the Mystical Glacial Spellfire, this G.o.dhunter’s body was completely charred. Her original appearance was no longer distinguishable. After the Cauldron Spirit had pulled her divine soul into the Cauldron of Myriad Demon, Han Shuo flung her burnt body into and down the cliff ahead.
Han Shuo did not linger there for a second longer. He deployed demonic arts in full throttle and zoomed towards Akley, leaving behind a trail of formless shadow.
Minutes after Han Shuo left, Dolores and a group of divine guards arrived at the area. After scanning the surroundings with his cold eyes, Dolores creased his brows and said in puzzlement, “The voice obviously came from here. Where could that G.o.dhunter have gone?!”
“Kira!” a young woman suddenly shrieked. She ran to that lowG.o.d of death murdered by that old woman and started wailing.
“My Lord, that G.o.dhunter knows you have come and therefore fled in advance!” one of the divine guards said to Dolores.
“Group yourselves in threes and search every inch of these grounds! Signal as soon as you make visual contact. Do not stray too far from here!” commanded Dolores.
These divine guards were all well-trained. They immediately organized themselves into parties of three and progressively searched the area.
Soon enough, a long whistle sounded from the bottom of the cliff. Dolores’ was taken aback and suddenly jumped down the cliff. He took no time in arriving at the bottom where he saw the old woman’s body Han Shuo discarded.
After walking to the charred body, Dolores crouched and poked it few times with the pike in his hand. His expression suddenly changed and he exclaimed in a deep voice, “It’s her! The G.o.dhunter is dead! How is this possible? Who killed her?”
“Wha– what?” that wailing woman walked over and said in disbelief.
“Based on your description, this is definitely the body of that G.o.dhunter that pursued you. Unbelievable. Someone managed to kill her!” Dolores was very astonished by his finding. A thought suddenly crossed his mind and he asked, “You people mentioned there was a third person in Kira’s path?”
“We did. We heard the voice of a third man. But because we were occupied with escaping, we could not catch what he said!” the woman replied.
“My Lord, what should we do now?” one of the divine guards asked while obviously appearing somewhat worried.
“Drag her body back. As for the one that killed her, we will investigate it slowly. He might not necessarily be our enemy!” Dolores said. After hesitating for a moment, he added, “Everyone stick together and stay alert!”
Just how mighty did this character have to be in order to finish off a mid-stage midG.o.d within such a short period of time? When Dolores came up with an approximate answer, he actually felt rather frightened! He did not dare to search the area any further as to avoid any unnecessary casualties. He did not wish that any mishap happen to these men under his command.
“Lord Dolores, wouldn’t that mean that Kira died in vain?” the girlfriend of the deceased complained while sobbing.
“What exactly do you have to protest about?” Dolores’ face turned cold and he said impatiently, “Isn’t the G.o.dhunter now dead? Doesn’t it really matter who killed this G.o.dhunter? Absolutely not! So what more do you want?” Dolores glanced at the divine guards beside him and shouted, “Return!”
Those youngsters who lost their friend looked at each other and sighed in helplessness. Lest they become targets of other G.o.dhunters, they had no choice but hasten up behind Dolores and his party.
Over on the other side, that well-built cultivator of the destruction edict led a group of five that surrounded Akley. After ensuring that Akley had no way of escaping, he said in a deep voice, “Akley, hand us everything and we will let you live!”
“Oh, Bonnie, when have you ever honored your words? Let me live if I hand you everything? Hehe, who do you think you are trying to swindle!” Although Akley stood not a chance against these opponents, not only did he not appear fl.u.s.tered, he even sneered and ridiculed his opponent.
“Elder brother, you should know Akley’s temperament. There’s no point in talking to him. Let’s just kill him and take the stuff. Death ends all troubles!” another of Akley’s opponents suggested ferociously.
“Dum-Dum, if I didn’t memorize a portion of the scroll’s content and destroy the portion, do you think your elder brother would dangle with me for so long?” Akley said tauntingly.
“You! I will kill you!” the person couldn’t restrain himself and flew into a fit of rage. He must have previously been wounded by Akley.
“Silence!” Bonnie put that person in check and took a deep breath as his face grew colder and colder. He stared at Akley and asked one more time, “Akley, are you sure you won’t spill a bean till your death?”
“If I don’t divulge the information, I’ll die. If I do divulge, I’ll still die. So what for would I let you have your way?!” Akley said, smiling mischievously. The look of insanity gradually filled his eyes as he continued, “But, believe it or not, before I die, I will drag at least one of you to share the same fate!”
“Everyone be careful. We must capture him alive. As long as we can take him back to Blue Ocean Continent, the patriarch will have ways of extracting everything in his soul!” Bonnie said as he gestured with his hands. The party notably did not close in on Akley, and in fact started walking backwards and away from him.
It seems that that fella must be finished. Otherwise, he would have come here long ago!Akley thought to himself while he could still reason. He did not think that Han Shuo could really escape from the hands of a midG.o.d.
“I will be the main a.s.sault while you all will restrain him. Akley is a lunatic so you all had better be careful!” instructed Bonnie. He was turning over in his mind how in the world he could capture Akley alive. Having pursued Akley for so long, he had long known that Akley was one who would stop at nothing to find ways to cause maximum casualties before his own death. Although Bonnie was far more powerful than Akley, it was still nonetheless a big headache to capture Akley alive.
Being surrounded at the center, given that his body was still heavily injured, Akley knew there wasn’t a chance of survival. Under such conditions, Akley no longer held any hopes of surviving. All he wished was to kill at least one or two of his opponents with his death. He secretly started deploying a self-destruct maneuver and was prepared to inflict his opponents with severe damage the moment they exchange blows.
Han Shuo’s voice suddenly sounded next to his ears, “Akley, don’t do anything stupid. I can still save you!”
Akley, who was about to give in to self-sacrifice, froze. He cried out in surprise, “You’re not dead?”
“How would we die? The person who will die is you!” that opponent who had previously been injured by Akley sneered.
“Don’t talk and don’t move an inch. Just maintain this exact posture!” Han Shuo instructed and asked Akley to calm down.
“Attack!” Bonnie shouted, as he deployed his domain of divinity. The elemental energy around him were all affected by his domain of divinity.
It was at this moment that a huge, colorful banner, like a dark cloud drifting out of nowhere, suddenly came covering down from the sky.
“Elder brother, what is that thing?!”
“Take Akley down, quick! Someone else is meddling with us. Akley must have found a helper!” Bonnie exclaimed, charging at the motionless Akley.
The Banner of Hallucination covered down on them quicker than they imagined. While Bonnie continued to charge, he suddenly felt giddy as though the world was spinning. He suddenly failed to distinguish the directions. Thin mist had filled the air around them, blocking their sights from the surrounding situation.
Akley, at the center of it, suddenly discovered that he was being coa.r.s.ely dragged by his collar. After having been dragged multiple times, Akley immediately knew that Han Shuo had come to his rescue.
“Let’s go!” Han Shuo called, rapidly escaping into the fog. He disappeared from the region very rapidly. The Banner of Hallucination followed along with him and was kept away.
“Huh? Where did he go? Where is Akley?” after the fog slowly dispersed, Bonnie and his gang suddenly discovered that their target had long disappeared without a trace.
“We left a tracker on him. He can run but he can’t hide!” Bonnie took out a horn-shaped object and blew several deep breaths to one end of the object. He then pointed in the direction Han Shuo escaped and shouted, “Pursue him!”
“So it turns out that they left a tracker on you. No wonder. I was quite puzzled how they could locate you so quickly!” Han Shuo said smilingly to Akley that was being dragged.
“What tracker?” Akley was shocked. He too realized that something wasn’t right after listening to Han Shuo’s words.
“Don’t worry, we will find out soon.” Han Shuo was trying to decide whether he should seize an opportunity to finish off those people or not. But after thinking for a while, he felt that Akley would be more dependent on him if they remained alive. Therefore, he gave up on the thought of turning back and slaughtering them all.