Chapter 928: How strong he has become
Scarlett might have been the only female among the leaders of the G.o.dhunter factions in Ronson Canyon but she was just as vicious and merciless as others. She was infamous for her scheming against others. But ever since Han Hao saved her life, she started treating him uniquely. Rather than scheming against Han Hao, she would scheme to help Han Hao.
For some reason, the inhumanly callous teenager was like a strong gravitational field that was gradually pulling her. And as time went by, she found herself deeper and deeper in his gravity.
Had it been any other person who told her ‘let me touch you’ in front of her followers, she would have killed the person immediately. And even if she could not defeat the person, she would scheme to have the person dead at all costs.
However, after hearing those words from Han Hao, although Scarlett was very embarra.s.sed, she did not feel any anger. She even foolishly walked to Han Hao as he had commanded as though she had forgotten that many of her followers were still around.
Scarlett was blus.h.i.+ng across her face. Her head was lowered, too shy to meet Han Hao’s gaze. This ruthless G.o.dhunter faction leader who hailed from Ronson Canyon was now a shy, bashful lady. She felt nervous and stood silently before Han Hao.
Meanwhile, Han Hao seemed unsure and perplexed. The strange, bizarre desires that came from the depths of his heart had caused him to be somewhat at a loss. He did not understand what was going on with him or why he would have such peculiar and messy ideas in his mind.
Han Hao stared blankly and hesitated, not knowing if he should act upon those novel ideas surfacing into his mind.
“What are you… waiting for… ?” Scarlett had been standing there and waiting for a long while. She only got more and more nervous when Han Hao stared at her without doing anything before finally breaking the silence.
“Okay,“ replied Han Hao softly. It was as though Scarlett’s words had made him stop hesitating and he finally extended his hand and very slowly but awkwardly stroked his palm against Scarlett’s tender, red cheek. In that instance, a most bizarre, inexplicable sensation which Han Hao had never before perceived suddenly flooded his heart.
Scarlett’s followers who had traveled thousands of miles with her from Ronson Canyon stared at their leader, utterly flabbergasted. They could not believe their own eyes when they saw that this devil who had led them to commit ma.s.sacres and various atrocities, whom they had only known to be ruthless, ferocious, and inviolable, was willingly allowing Han Hao to caress her. It was as though the Chief they knew of had transformed into another person.
Don’t tell me that she has brought us all the way to the Fringe just to… just so that Han Hao can touch her? What in the world is going on?!
The instant that Han Hao’s skin made contact with Scarlett’s, her body s.h.i.+vered lightly. She felt somewhat uncomfortable and wanted to move her cheeks away from Han Hao’s ice-cold palms and yet, at the same time, she felt as though her face was drawn to them by an invisible force. Scarlett stood there as still as a rock and allowed Han Hao’s hand to caress her lovely face. She felt embarra.s.sed but secretly delighted.
Gradually, it seemed as though touching her cheeks was no longer satisfying enough for Han Hao. The bewildered Han Hao followed the thought that came from his heart and slowly moved his hand downwards along her soft white neck and towards her busty bosom.
Scarlett jolted and her face turned even redder. Alarmed, she thought, he’s not thinking about doing that in front of all these people… right? Scarlett started trembling more and more violently and she could no longer feign her calmness. She suddenly raised her head and looked at Han Hao.
To her surprise, Han Hao was wearing a vacant face. His brows were slightly bunched as though he was deep in thought. Scarlett could not find a trace of lewdness on his face. It was as though he wasn’t touching an outstanding beauty but a weapon or an armor. He meant only to explore instead of doing anything indecent.
What… What is he thinking of? Scarlett was puzzled. No matter how good one was at hiding their emotions, in such a situation, no man could possibly hide all trace of their l.u.s.tful desires. Han Hao, however, seemed to be an exception.
While Scarlett was pondering, Han Hao’s hand had slowly moved downwards and gently grasped her tender, bosomy breast.
“Ek!” one of Scarlett’s followers who had been watching from a distance could no longer contain his astonishment and involuntarily made an unpleasant cry with his throat.
Scarlett was jolted from her pondering and she suddenly took a step backward, freeing herself from Han Hao’s wicked clutch.
She panted heavily as though she had just finished a marathon. She spoke haltingly, “Han… Han Hao, how… how could you…”
“Strange… Very strange…” Han Hao mumbled to himself as he stared at his right hand that felt Scarlett. As soon as he placed his hand on Scarlett’s chest, he felt a strong urge suddenly surge from below. His heart was set racing and his mind was thrown off from the absolute calmness he had always maintained. Little Skeleton was also shocked that he seemed to have gained a new bone. But before he could carefully experience the sensation, Scarlett had hastily withdrawn herself.
The surprised Han Hao stared blankly for a moment before he shook his head as though trying to cast away that strange sensation off his mind. He looked at the blus.h.i.+ng and startled Scarlett and in an expressionless face, he flatly said, “Okay. That is all for today. We will try that again next time.”
Scarlett became even more embarra.s.sed. She secretly peeked at her distraught followers, gritted her teeth, and inwardly cursed, You scoundrel, how could you do that in front of so many people! Couldn’t you have done it somewhere more secluded and private? Are you trying to humiliate me? How infuriating!
“Seen enough yet? p.i.s.s off!” Scarlett shouted at her followers angrily with murderous eyes, directing her resentment towards them.
“Und- Understood!” Those dumbstruck followers of Scarlett came to their senses and hastily scattered.
After those G.o.dhunters left and the two were alone, Scarlett took a deep breath to try to calm herself before she asked, “What exactly do you want from me?”
Han Hao stared blankly for a moment and the default callousness he had just restored yet again crumbled. For some reason, Han Hao could not seem to maintain his absolute unfeelingness in front of Scarlett. After thinking for a moment, having no idea what exactly was going on with him, Han Hao bunched his brows and replied, “I haven’t thought it through yet.”
“Haven’t thought it through yet?!” Scarlett was enraged. She screamed in her mind, You’ve touched my face and even my breast in front of so many people, but you are telling me that you haven’t thought it through yet?!
“Then tell me, am I your woman or not?” asked Scarlett while trying her best to contain her anger.
“Yes,” replied Han Hao straightforwardly and without the slightest hesitation. But before Scarlett could feel happy about it, Han Hao quickly added, “Now that you are in the Fringe, you are mine, just like Polo and the others. You are under my command. Right, I will need to put those that come with you through a round of training.”
“Just… Just like Polo?” Scarlett had heard of Polo before. She anxiously said, “How… How can we be the same? Polo is a male and I’m a female! Besides, you’ve just…”
“All the same,” Han Hao put on a flat face and callously said, “You are both my subordinates. There’s nothing different.”
After hearing those words, Scarlett flew into a rage out of humiliation. She yelled, “Han Hao, what exactly do you want? How could you be like this? Do you think you can just toy with my feelings? If you will only consider me as just another follower of yours like Polo, then, then we are over!”
Han Hao immediately felt lost and weak when Scarlett flipped out. He felt as though he had done something wrong but he had no idea what it was. He bunched his brows and thought about it deeply. Then, he realized something – when facing Polo, he would never have those strange and pa.s.sionate ideas.
“Yes, it’s a bit different…” Han Hao scratched his head and mumbled, “You are a woman, so you are my woman. And Polo is a man, so he is my man… right?”
Scarlett was between laughter and tears listening to Han Hao mumbling nonsense to himself. “Huh? How can Polo be your man? You aren’t making any sense…”
Then, suddenly, Scarlett was reminded of some words that Han Shuo once said to her, Han Hao had never been intimate with the opposite s.e.x. He used to live and cultivate in an inhuman world and he knows absolutely nothing about that certain thing!
Scarlett lamented in that realization before she asked, “Han Hao, do you know what a romantic relations.h.i.+p is?”
Han Hao looked at Scarlett puzzlingly, shook his head, and answered, “I don’t. I have never seen or heard of it before.”
Suddenly, it all became clear to Scarlett.
It turned out that Han Hao wasn’t being insensitive, trying to humiliate her, or playing with her feelings – he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. It seemed that his actions moments ago were merely out of instinct.
Scarlett felt as though she had found a treasure and she now found that clueless and puzzled look on Han Hao to be endearing. She was also rather surprised that such a handsome, callous, and incredibly powerful man had never experienced a romantic relations.h.i.+p before.
No wonder! thought Scarlett as she shook her head. She completely forgave Han Hao for what he had just done and decided to grab onto this rare gem and fill his empty brain with her love.
“Oh no!” When Scarlett was just going to start indoctrinating Han Hao with her ideals, Han Hao’s face suddenly jolted and he gravely cried, “Bring your followers to the Fringe. Leave this place immediately!”
“What’s going on?” Scarlett panicked a little. She realized that something was wrong.
“It’s Dagmar! He is coming. I have met him before and I recognize his aura!” Han Hao wore a grave face and said to Scarlett, “You leave this place immediately. I will hold him back!”
“Our Hegemon?” Scarlett was alarmed and she anxiously proposed, “Why don’t you run and let me hold him back?”
“You cannot stop him, not even for a second,” Han Hao wore a chilling face and instructed, “Listen to me and leave. Don’t worry, I will be fine. He cannot kill me!”
Scarlett stared at Han Hao for three seconds before she nodded resolutely and said, “Okay, I will leave right away, but you must live to see me again!” Scarlett then immediately left and shouted, “Everyone come with me, we must fly!”
Scarlett’s followers who were waiting nearby were oblivious to the danger. They followed Scarlett puzzlingly and hastily left.
Han Hao held his three-meter long bone spear and stood silently, waiting for Dagmar’s arrival.
Ten minutes later, the masked Dagmar sitting on a white bone throne suddenly appeared. Evidently, Dagmar’s target was Han Hao alone and he took no action about Scarlett.
“We meet again, Han Hao.” Dagmar sat in the middle of his white throne high in the sky. He stared down at Han Hao, who was taking a hostile posture, arrogantly with a hint of amus.e.m.e.nt in his eyes. With a sinister smirk, he asked, “Oh, are you thinking of fighting me?
“Hegemon,” greeted Han Hao indifferently.
“Han Hao, I have been generous with you. Why did you have to betray me for that Bryan guy?” Dagmar extended his hands that were hiding under a pair of long sleeves. They were thin, pale white, and had long sharp nails that looked like hooks. The energy of death gradually acc.u.mulated around his fingers and formed greyish stands of wavering smoke.
Han Hao stared back at Dagmar with ice-cold eyes and without any of the confusion he had shown earlier. In a calm voice, he replied, “My apologies, but you simply do not possess the strength that would make me bow.”
Dagmar sneered and disdainfully said, “But Bryan does? What can he give you? Don’t you forget that you are a G.o.dhunter and he is not. No matter where or when, your ident.i.ty will always be one of a G.o.dhunter. You will never be free from that shackle for the rest of your life. The G.o.dhunter Alliance is where you belong!”
Han Hao nodded and said, “That’s right, I cannot change my ident.i.ty as a G.o.dhunter. However, I can change my status and position among the G.o.dhunters!” He pointed at Dagmar with his bone spear and announced coldly, “Hegemon, let me tell you this: one day, sooner or later, I will command the G.o.dhunter Alliance and become the master of all G.o.dhunters!”
“How vain,” Dagmar snorted disdainfully. His white bone throne suddenly started cras.h.i.+ng down, taking along an overwhelming energy of death. His hands, around which light grey smoke curled, suddenly started dancing. Rays of grey fell from the sky and buzzing sounds echoed.
“It took me tens of thousands of years to ascend and become one of the Hegemons. Who do you think you are? How conceited of you to dream of ruling all G.o.dhunters! Today, I will take back everything that I have bestowed upon you!” Dagmar had enough of chatting and wanted to end the conversation. His white bone throne began shooting out bone spears as he spoke.
“You have nothing to do with anything that I have! All that you’ve given me is a t.i.tle, as Chief of the G.o.dhunters – it’s so insignificant that it’s not even worth mentioning!” An evil light flashed through Han Hao’s purple demon eyes as the seven bone spurs flew out from his back at astonis.h.i.+ng speeds. However, instead of striking Dagmar, who was airborne mid-attack, the bone spurs soared in seven directions around him.
Seven distinct energies suddenly dispersed from each bone spur, and this was subsequently followed by the screams of an untold number of wretched souls imprisoned in those bone spurs. At this moment, the energy of death, mixed with a power that Dagmar was not familiar with, began emanating pulses of energy waves.
At the same time, Han Hao’s chest suddenly bulged outward, and the tombstone he had obtained from the Netherworld tore out of him. It instantly erected before him and expanded into an enormous monument.
All of a sudden, the intricate and cryptic carvings on the tombstone sprung to life, separating from the tombstone. Thousands of inscriptions resembling mystical beings revolved around the stele, resonating with the miserable shrieks of those wretched souls that were imprisoned in the seven bone spurs.
All the elements of death within a hundred-mile radius of Han Hao were absorbed by the tombstone in an instant. Even the elements of death that Dagmar, an overG.o.d, had gathered around him were drained and taken. The death elements he had integrated into his attack had somehow turned chaotic and he felt as though he was losing control over it.
Then, Han Hao, with the three-meter-long bone spur in hand, suddenly let out a piercing scream.
An even more intense energy fluctuation emanated from the tombstone and it directly affected the energy of death in Dagmar. He was shocked to discover that the energy of death in his body was rapidly escaping and sucked into the tombstone underneath him.
“What the h.e.l.l?!” Dagmar peered at the towering tombstone below in disbelief. The tombstone that was originally only several dozen meters tall had swelled and was now as tall as a mountain, perhaps caused by it having absorbed all the elements of death within the hundred-mile radius.
After the tombstone was enlarged, the previously tiny and densely packed inscriptions on it became visible. Out of nowhere, various white bones appeared under the tombstone. Streams of the energy of death flowed around the stele like veins in a human body, making it seem oh-so mysterious and bizarre!
The divine energy of death in Dagmar’s body was being drawn to the tombstone. The bizarre energy fluctuations generated by the tombstone could not only affect the element of death but also cultivators of the energy!
The terrified and alarmed Dagmar immediately withdrew the attacking power he launched at Han Hao to recover the divine energy. He began pouring in every effort to stop his divine energy from being drained.
As Dagmar was an overG.o.d, once he gave up on attacking Han Hao and concentrated his effort on resisting the influence of the tombstone, he managed to stabilize the divine energy in his body and his divine energy stopped flying into the tombstone.
“Impossible, impossible!” Dagmar was panting heavily. His eyes, the only part of his face not covered by his mask, revealed his astonishment and fear. He no longer had a lofty and arrogant voice as he spoke, “You have not reached the overG.o.d realm, you can’t possibly possess such terrifying power! You can’t be Han Hao. Who are you?”
Han Hao at this moment was standing on the top of the tombstone. Countless streams of greyish air that seeped out from the white bones had enveloped him and the trickling energy of death had submerged him. It seemed as though he had become part of the tombstone.
Han Hao’s voice sounded from the top of the tombstone, “This tombstone can affect all those who cultivate the energy of death without exception. Perhaps besides the OverG.o.d of Death, no other cultivator of the death energy can kill me, which includes you, Dagmar! Even though you are a realm above me, you cannot kill me!”
“What, what in the world is that thing?” Dagmar was appalled. He believed Han Hao’s words for he had experienced the power of the tombstone first-hand.
“I do not know either!” Han Hao took a short pause before he continued, “I have yet to fully learn its power. But when I do; when I can unleash its full power, it will be your end, Dagmar!”
Upon finis.h.i.+ng those words, an enormous vortex of death formed at the bottom of the tombstone. The mountainous tombstone started vanis.h.i.+ng from the bottom as the vortex slowly rose into the sky. And when the tombstone was completely engulfed, the vortex collapsed into itself. A strong wind blew out of nowhere and dispersed all traces of the vortex.
The towering tombstone, the seven bone spurs, and Han Hao had vanished.
Dagmar gazed blankly and dejectedly at the ground that had returned to normal. After a long while, he finally came to his senses. He shook his head as he said to himself, “No wonder… No wonder he wouldn’t bow to my command… He’s become so powerful!”