Chapter 978: Ruminations
Translator: Ryogawa
TLC: Hedonist
Everyone was dumbfounded, including Han Hao himself. He looked down blankly at the spinning rhombus near his chest and felt like it had become his second soul. Thanks to the new Quintessence, the hatred, resentment, rage, and all sorts of negative energies all around the world were affected and came flooding in from all directions.
This new Quintessence almost seemed like the source of all negative energies, which is channeled and gathered for Han Hao to use. The rhombus-shaped Quintessence spun around a few more times before entering Han Haoâs head and was enveloped by his divine soul, becoming one with it. That instant, a grand blast of light seemed to emanate from the bone throne as it began to change in some way.
Han Shuo, who stood not far away, was just as clueless about the changes as the others were. He wasnât sure what that Quintessence represented, but he secretly felt elation at the prospect of Han Hao becoming an existence on the level of the Twelve Great Overgods.
He could feel a familiar, yet paradoxically foreign aura coming from Han Hao, of which nature he was still unaware. But based on the looks on the othersâ faces, he could be sure that the object was indeed a Quintessence.
âWhatâs going on? How could a new Quintessence come into existence?â Judas mumbled. The smile on his face was now replaced with nothing but utter shock.
âWasnât it said that only twelve Quintessence had come into existence since the very beginning? Over the aeons, I havenât heard of an instance of new Quintessences forming,â Nestor said as he shot the Goddess of Destiny a confused look, expecting some kind of explanation from her.
It seemed that she was just as dumbstruck as they were. After recovering from the shock, she smiled in resignation and said, âDonât look at me. Even I donât know why this is happening. Han Haoâs destiny is not something I can control. He is now beyond my understanding of the universe.â
âWhat do we do then?â Nestor said after some thought.
She didnât answer his question immediately. Instead, she turned pensively to Han Shuo and Han Hao. After some time, she frowned and said, âNestor, the Quintessence is already born, so thereâs no need for you to worry that he will take your Death Quintessence. These two might be of help to us. Now, I have a feeling we should leave.â
Nestor turned to Han Hao with an uncertain gaze, while Han Hao looked back at him as if he was the greatest foe he would ever face. He was worried that the Overgod of Death would stake it all and attack him.
Even though he now had something so powerful in his divine soul, he hadnât mastered how to use it best yet. As of now, he was definitely not Nestorâs match. Han Shuo was just as careful as he was. Now, his main body and avatars were carefully preparing to stop Nestor if he charged.
âNestor, there are some things that are out of our purview,â Judas finally said.
Nestor shot him a look before nodding. With a chuckle, he said, âWe still have one more fight before we go to Aethernia. If you dare to continue using that trashy body of yours, I will not hesitate to destroy it.â He then turned to Han Hao and merely humphed. He then nodded to the goddess before he left.
When Nestor had vanished, the Goddess of Destiny furrowed her brow and said to Judas, âYou shouldnât meddle too much with the Godhunter Allianceâs affairs nor occupy Judasâs body. The alliance exists for a reason, but it doesnât need you to lead it.â
When the God of Light heard what she said, his expression turned serious. With some hesitation, he said, âI know what I need to do, so you donât have to remind me. Once I leave, Judas will disappear for good. He will no longer show up in Elysium ever again.â
The goddess smiled and nodded. âVery well.â
The God of Light turned to Han Shuo and Hao Hao. After some hesitation, he smiled and said, âBefore Aethernia opens, an unavoidable change will come to Elysium. I hereby invite you to join the battle as a representative of the Light, Life, and Water Dominions. Donât be in a hurry to join or refuse yet. You can take your time to think it over.â
âI want to kill one of your three guardians, GyĂĄl!â Han Shuo said, remembering McKinleyâs pleading right before the God of Light left.
Stopping in his tracks, he turned to Han Shuo. After some thought, he said, âGyĂĄl has been a loyal follower of mine for years and I alone will decide his fate. If GyĂĄl is dead, I will consider it as you having refused my olive branch. Think carefully about what you decide.â
He then nodded to the Goddess of Destiny before slowly walking away. When he was right at her side, he stopped and whispered, âRather than the Quintessence-bearing Han Hao, Iâm more concerned about his father who can fuse the twelve fundamental forces. We know the power and limits of the Quintessence, but nobody has a grasp on foreign energies. You have to be careful how you let this develop.â
After saying that, he gradually left. The God of Light didnât bother to hide what he said. Han Shuo and Han Hao heard it perfectly well. Now, Han Shuo knew that the Twelve Overgods had other plans, but he wasnât sure what it entailed yet.
Now that the other two had vanished, the goddess smiled. âLooks like I donât have to worry about Andrina staying with you all. Please take care of her. I have some other matters to deal with at the moment. When the time is right, I will seek you out personally to talk about what you want to know.â
Han Shuo honestly didnât know what to say to her. Even though he knew she was hiding something from him and had hopes for him, she had never gone into any of the details. However, he had a hunch it had something to do with his cultivation and the Exalted Demonlord. He couldnât imagine what other part of him would draw the goddessâs attention.
He didnât say anything as he watched the goddess vanish. Now, even she was gone, leaving only Han Shuo and Han Hao in Pandemoniumâs ruins.
After the great battle, the father and son grew even stronger. Han Shuoâs realm-state broke through to the Diablo Realm and he also gained avatars for thirteen different energies, all of which he could fuse into a sum greater than their parts.
Han Hao had also developed a Quintessence, the pinnacle of divinity itself. To say that it was a complete transformation would be an understatement. The two of them, however, didnât think too much about their gains and instead felt a little dejected about the ruins. Gilbert, Sangius, Bollands, and the others were still missing, so Han Shuo was rather worried for their safety.
âFather, Pandemonium is no moreâŠâ
Nodding, Han Shuo said, âWell, weâll just have to rebuild it. Each time we rebuild, it will evolve. This time around, we will give it a complete overhaul with my current abilities to deploy an ultra-sized Ninth Realm Mystical Yin Harvester so that weâll have boundless yuan energy for Pandemoniumâs operation!â
Back in the Profound Continent, the Exalted Demonlord had set up such a demonic formation to harvest the natural energy and used it to draw Han Shuoâs soul to this universe from another.
Compared to the Profound Continent, the yuan energy in the environment here was a hundred times denser, so setting up a formation here would allow Pandemonium to have an endless source of energy. He could also use the harvested energy to forge his Invincible Demon Body and store more and more demonic yuan energy within him so that his body could reach parity with his mind at the Diablo Realm.
As long as his mind and body were at the Diablo Realm, he was confident he would stand a fighting chance against the aeonic Quintessence-bearing overgods. Other than that, he still had thirteen other avatars to count on. The fusion of six of them alone could already allow him to defend against Nestorâs attack. The moment all thirteen of them fused, there might not be anybody in Elysium who could take him on.
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