GDK 689: Savior from above
The slaughtering in the valley had reached its most brutal stage. Of the tens of people who came from Fort Verka, more than a third were killed within a short period of time. Most of those who were still alive were those determined to become G.o.dhunters. Those who were determined to not read the enormous scroll in the sky had to strenuously deal with the attacks of those trying to consume their divine energy. It was only a matter of time before they would be killed.
Han Shuo continued to pretend to devour Anli’s divine energy as he coldly observed those who had gone mad. He carefully a.s.sembled the Cauldron Spirit’s energy in preparation of sucking the divine souls of those perished G.o.ds into the Cauldron of Myriad Demon.
However, once everything was in order, Han Shuo was feeling rather hesitant and indecisive. The valley was in utter chaos and under such circ.u.mstances, it was definitely very difficult for most people to detect this subtle maneuver of his. However, Brovst, who had been hiding deep in his cave, must have been observing every movement and activity in the valley. If Han Shuo was to set about collecting those divine souls that had yet to dissipate between heaven and earth, Brovst, as a highG.o.d, would very likely discover it.
It was precisely because of this qualm that Han Shuo couldn’t make up his mind. But at the same time, he felt extremely sorrowful to do nothing but watch the several dozen divine souls laid out right in front of him. After turning over in his mind for some time, Han Shuo decided to take the risk. He thought that people wouldn’t notice his actions if he got close to the deceased bodies and was more careful when collecting their souls using Cauldron Spirit.
As long as he could completely collect the several dozen divine souls inside the valley, Han Shuo believed that even if he was discovered by Brovst and had to flee the valley using Demonic Blood Disa.s.sembly, the gain would outweigh the loss.
Having made up his mind, Han Shuo cast away all his misgivings. He slowly let go of his hands pressed against Anli and started setting about the task.
“Haha, Miss Eunice, today I will let you experience ecstasy to the fullest and send you straight to the pinnacle of bliss!” at this moment, Rahman said as he laughed out loudly. He turned into multiple shadows and shot towards Eunice.
Eunice’s face was filled with grief, indignation and humiliation. She was downhearted to see Rahman shooting over in multiple shadows and she was ready to end her life.
Out of the blue, everything sank into complete darkness. A terrifying aura of darkness came covering down from above the clouds. Creaking sounds were heard as the boundary of destruction was being torn apart.
After the absolute darkness abruptly shrouded the entire valley, a chilling roar pierced through the sky, “Brovst! Come out to meet your doom!”
When the domain of divinity of darkness enveloped the valley, the atmosphere was filled with dark mist that would not disperse. Other than a few who cultivated in the elemental energy of darkness, practically everyone in the valley lost their ability to clearly see the situation around them.
Eunice, prepared to end her own life, sensed the terrifying energy and heard the loud roar that came from above the clouds. Immediately, she realized that Brovst’s nemesis must have arrived. With this, her will to live was rekindled. She hastily started escaping while Rahman turned pale with fright.
Han Shuo was among the few in the valley who could still clearly see his surroundings. After the roar he discovered a menacing dark figure suddenly storming out from the cave from which Brovst’s voice echoed. It shot up into the sky.
A series of explosions thundered through the sky. The rumbles caused the entire valley to quiver. Large chunks of rocks tumbled down the cliff walls surrounding the valley with astonis.h.i.+ng power. They contained the divine energies of destruction and darkness. Of the several people who were struck by the falling stones, all of them spat mouthfuls of blood and collapsed to the ground.
The explosions that came from the sky grew louder and louder. Han Shuo could sense with his consciousness that two terrifying existences were tangled in an intense fight. The aftershock from their fighting fell into the surrounding cliff walls and caused large chunks of rocks to fall off which subsequently caused some of the lowG.o.ds with inadequate strength to suffer severe injuries.
By now, those whose hearts were filled with despair had that feeling replaced with the will to survive and they furiously made their counterattacks. Meanwhile, those who wanted to become G.o.dhunters in order to survive, upon discovering that they could possibly be saved even if they chose not to partake, became hesitant. Their determination wavered.
But unfortunately, the absolute darkness caused them all great complications.
When darkness shrouded the entire valley, nearly everyone was blinded. Though they tried their best to avoid each other in the pitch-black darkness, whenever they felt that someone was approaching them, for the purpose of self-preservation, they would recklessly attack.
With that, the crowd that was supposed to cease slaughtering each other when help arrived, not only continued to fight, but the fighting became even more intense and fierce!
Inside the pitch-black, intentionally or not, those who couldn’t see their surroundings were trapped in a perpetual slaughterfest. Han Shuo was like a fish as he weaved through the completely deranged crowd. The Cauldron of Myriad Demon in his hand gave off faint green flashes as he seized the opportunity to collect the divine souls that had yet to dissipate between heaven and earth.
“Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen… This is wonderful! These souls are all very decent. They can all be refined into demon generals. This will make up for the demon generals we lost the last time!” Cauldron Spirit cheered excitedly in Han Shuo’s consciousness.
Han Shuo felt not the slightest iota of empathy for those who were madly slaughtering each other. In fact, he wished that all of them would die in the valley so that he could take their divine souls.
Soon enough, Han Shuo had collected a total of forty-three divine souls in the Cauldron of Myriad Demon. The darkness had receded unwittingly. When Han Shuo again checked the situation in the valley, he discovered that the madened ones had gradually regained their rationality.
Searching all around him, he suddenly discovered that Rahman had disappeared without a trace. Even that Lager whom Han Shuo wanted to murder during the chaos had also disappeared while he was busy collecting divine souls.
Eunice arrived beside Barnett’s body that was without any sign of vitality. His divine soul has also been collected by Han Shuo. She appeared mournful. As Barnett was killed by Brovst because he tried to protect her from being injured and that Barnett was her uncle, it was only natural that she would feel so deeply hurt by his death.
The rumbling sound above the sky gradually moved into the distance. It appeared that the fight between the two terrifying highG.o.ds had moved away from this small valley. With the barrier overhead being directly destroyed by Brovst’s nemesis, those G.o.dhunters who had been eyeing the crowd covetously escaped through the opening. Without the presence of this terrifying threat called Brovst, the crowd inside the valley was safe for the time being.
When the darkness retreated, a few more figures whooshed away with it. Those figures had in fact been part of the crowd that came to the valley with Han Shuo. They couldn’t resist the temptation and had actually consumed the destruction energy of other cultivators. The moment that they devoured another person’s divine energy in front of others, they were branded as G.o.dhunters for the rest of their lives. From that moment onwards, they were public enemies of the entire Elysium. It was the only sensible move for them to depart.
Han Shuo, however, did not choose to leave. He quickly discovered that the dozen or more survivors were all glaring at him furiously. By now, all the G.o.dhunters, including the most recent members, had all vanished. Han Shuo who had previously pretended to devour Anli’s divine energy immediately became a common enemy among all those survivors.
Had Han Shuo not demonstrated his immense strength before, perhaps by now, these people would have lost their restraint and attacked Han Shuo murderously instead of merely glowering at him. Eunice, who cried and grieved beside Barnett’s body, suddenly stood up. She fixed her ice-cold eyes on Han Shuo and said in a chilling voice, “You are also a G.o.dhunter, a partic.i.p.ant of this b.l.o.o.d.y slaughtering. I shall take your life and offer it to my uncle!”
While others might have been wary of attacking Han Shuo for his terrifying strength, Eunice, however, was a small level above Han Shuo when it came to attainment in the energy of destruction and she naturally wasn’t afraid of Han Shuo. Therefore, Han Shuo became the ideal target for her to vent the hatred in her heart.
Before Han Shuo had the chance to explain, Eunice had turned her grief and sorrow into the energy of destruction. She swooped away all her feelings of helplessness and despair when previously facing Rahman. Radiances of destruction burst out from her tender palm and interweaved to form a giant net that came covering down on Han Shuo.
Han Shuo inwardly cursed her in his mind and hastily retreat as he shouted, “This is all a big misunderstanding!”
Eunice kept silent and glared at Han Shuo furiously. She had watched Han Shuo consume Anli’s divine energy with her own eyes and didn’t care what Han Shuo had to say. She thought that he was merely quibbling.
Although Han Shuo wasn’t afraid of Eunice, he had to prove his innocence to the crowd especially as Eunice had seen his divine tablet. If he doesn’t vindicate himself now, it will be extremely difficult for him to prove he was not a G.o.dhunter in the future.
Eunice pursued Han Shuo vigorously. With a few bits of demonic yuan in his main body, Han Shuo was incredibly fast and agile. Eunice couldn’t catch up to Han Shuo no matter how hard she tried.
“Anli was already dead when I got beside him. Although I did place my hands on him, I was merely acting. I did not actually take his divine energy. I couldn’t bear with Lager’s actions and deliberately came forward to oppose Lager. I have no thoughts of actually devouring Anli. Besides, if I actually did that, how would I dare to stay here when all the G.o.dhunters have escaped? Woman, can you please just use your brain for a moment?” Han Shuo explained while evading Eunice’s pursuit.
After hearing Han Shuo’s words, the other remaining survivors revealed puzzled expressions. Two of them even approached Anli’s body and examined it. They discovered that other than the little arrow stuck behind his heart, there weren’t many injuries on him. He did not appear to had been devoured by Han Shuo.
Normally speaking, only some G.o.dhunters with extremely powerful strength who frequently engulfed other’s divine energy could do so simply through body contact. Most G.o.ds would need both hands inside the victim’s body in order to consume their divine energy.
The puncture holes that Lager left on Anli’s chest with his hands were very distinctive. However, there weren’t any similar wounds on Anli’s back. This was sufficient evidence to back Han Shuo’s claim.
“Miss Eunice, you must be mistaken. His words are indeed true. He did not do a thing to Anli!” one of the people who examined Anli’s wounds suddenly shouted.
Eunice finally stopped chasing Han Shuo vigorously after hearing those words. She shot a very fierce glare at Han Shuo and let out a cold groan.
Han Shuo inwardly cursed, What? You refuse to apologize for wrongfully attacking me, yet you continue to stare so fiercely at me. How unreasonable!
“You have been acting very strange. Even if you did not consume Anli’s divine energy, you must have thought of doing it. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have stayed beside him for such a long time!” Eunice said resentfully while glowering at Han Shuo.
“Madwoman, I’m done arguing with you. All that you know is to misunderstand the situation and throw tantrums!” Han Shuo replied impatiently.
“What, what did you say?” Eunice’s eyes were furiously red as she shouted at Han Shuo. Her mind was affected by Barnett’s tragic death and was like gunpowder inches away from fire.
Han Shuo rolled his eyes and ignored her.
Suddenly, a party of eight descended from the clouds. These men all wore dark divine armors and were midG.o.ds.
“Lord Erebus has chased Brovst away. Are you people alright?” a young man with short but straight green hair looked all around the valley and asked.
“Is it really him? The Lord Erebus?! One of the seven chief divine guards of the City of Shadows? No wonder Brovst had to retreat!” The survivors cried out in surprise when they heard Erebus’ name and heaved a heavy sigh of relief.
“I’m a member of the Croton Family of Fort Verka. May I know where we are?” Eunice may be full of fury when talking to Han Shuo but towards these divine guards from the City of Shadows, she was obviously less imposing in tone and slightly more respectful.
“Beautiful miss, this is the Chicoro mountain range. You are a long way from Fort Verka!” that green haired man bowed towards Eunice very slightly and explained in a cordial smile. His gazes towards Eunice obviously carried a certain instinctive interest usually seen in men.
“Chicoro mountain range! Those G.o.dhunters are really daring to set up a base in the Chicoro mountain range. This place is very close to the City of Shadows!” someone gently cried out.
“Don’t worry, the situation is under our control now. Most of the G.o.dhunters who tried to escape were killed. You people are safe now!” the green haired man said smilingly. After taking a short pause, he turned to his colleagues behind him and instructed, “Let’s examine the valley and see if there are any that slipped through the net. In addition, gather up the valuables from the dead as our spoils of war!”
After hearing the instruction, the divine guards immediately got into action and examined every cavern in the valley. When they returned, they asked, “Who is so despicable to have taken away all the valuables on the deceased? Is it you people?”
“It wasn’t us. Just now when Lord Erebus unfurled his domain of divinity, this valley was pitch black. It must be someone who cultivates in the energy of darkness who did it. None of us cultivate in the energy of darkness so it definitely cannot be us!” one of the survivors hastily explained.
Han Shuo creased his brows but the corner of his lips obscurely curved to make a contented smile. He joined the crowd loudly cursing the unknown person who plundered the dead.