Chapter 993 – Even Stronger

Translator: Ryogawa

TLC: Hedonist

“So you are Bryan? Hahaha, you look like a young squirt for someone so bold!” Gyál said with a cold chuckle as he made his entrance after McKinley.

“Long time no see. I didn’t think you’d have become the new lord of Omphalos. I knew you were destined for greatness,” Yarus said with a solemn look. The whole time, he made sure to keep a good distance from Gyál and even more from Han Shuo.

Han Shuo ignored Gyál and instead smiled at Yarus, finding it a little weird how even though he was the one who killed Yarus’s brother, Lakrisen, not to mention the slaughter at the City of Gorging Clouds. Yet, the first thing Yarus did after seeing him this time wasn’t to seek vengeance, which was not something he expected at all. “Even though I was the one who killed Lakrisen, you’re saying that you’re only here to deal with the godhunters? Do you really mean it?”

Feeling his chest tighten, Yarus feigned a smile and nodded. “Whether you believe it or not, I really don’t plan on taking revenge.” He had received instructions from the God of Darkness about this matter some time ago and wouldn’t dare disobey them no matter how unwilling he felt.

“So where are the godhunters?” Gyál said with distaste when he saw that Han Shuo had ignored him.

Han Shuo finally set sights on Gyál and recalled the God of Light’s words. After paying attention to him for a while, he noticed that Gyál was a religious zealot. The wild air of fervor he gave off was due to his intense faith for the God of Light.

Though he was dressed in a clean, white robe, he didn’t seem the least bit tranquil. Instead, he looked like he would explode with the slightest disturbance. Like McKinley had said, Gyál wasn’t born in Elysium and used to be among the most maniacal believers of the God of Light in some backwater place. He had killed endlessly for his faith and grew it at the same time, eventually earning him the attention of the God of Light, who bestowed him a divine stigma. His powers soared greatly as a result, making him the first light cultivator in the small continent he had come from to become a midgod.

His achievements impressed the God of Light so much that he was sent to various major expeditions across different planes. Gyál’s fanaticism had never failed the God of Light’s expectations as he culled the minor religions across those planes and spread his faith far and wide. In the end, Gyál was instructed to come to Elysium. Like before, he performed to the God of Light’s satisfaction and spent only five centuries to become a highgod, quickly becoming a rising star in the Dominion of Light.

There were many legends about Gyál, though all of them made sure to highlight how unique he was. He had never been someone who was well versed in sneaky tactics, always relying on nothing but his intense and zealous power to crush his enemies, making him out to be the most reckless and forceful of the three Keepers of the Light.

Han Shuo recalled everything he knew about Gyál and was just as impressed by his genius. It appeared that only those that devoted their entire being to the God of Light would draw his attention and favor. It was no surprise that Han Shuo was warned not to mess with him.

“Didn’t you meet any when you came over?” Han Shuo said amicably, “We have chased the Godhunter Alliance out of the Fringe. Now, we are godhunter free. Gentlemen, you are welcome to visit at your leisure, but if you intend to wipe the Fringe out, then I’m afraid I’ll have to show you out.”

“Where is Han Hao?” Gyál asked, “I heard he’s a godhunter too. Hand him over and tell us where his men are. Only then will we consider whether we should ignore your cesspool and let you rot on your own terms.”

If not for the fact that Gyál didn’t have a full grasp on Han Shuo’s power, he would’ve had his men kill everyone within the city without even bothering to talk. But even though he knew Han Shuo wasn’t someone who could be easily dealt with, he couldn’t change his temper at all and said it in a way like he was giving him orders. It was as if nobody else but the God of Light and those of his faith mattered. The rest could all die for all he cared.

Han Shuo had never intended to spare Gyál ini the least. The moment he was demanded to hand Han Hao over, his expression grimmed. Chuckling sinisterly, he said, “What’s the meaning of this, Gyál? Do you think you have any leverage to negotiate with me?”

As far as he was concerned, he was on the same level as the God of Light, so being threatened by someone beneath him ruffled his feathers badly.

Gyál’s rage was simmering over. “Hahahaha… Over these past thousand years, I have never feared anyone apart from the Quintessence Overgods. Yet, you were the first ever person to dare act so arrogantly before me. Very well! Now, even if you hand Han Hao over, I will still make sure you perish!”

Unlike the crafty Yarus, Gyál was the kind of person to attack without thinking. Sacred light burst out from his body as Holy Aurum Armor formed over his body. Then, holy energy emanated from his body and the Olive Branch in his hand, putting a great pressure on everyone there. Gyál had always had a short fuse which made him unsuited to ruling a city, but a great warrior. He was famous throughout Elysium for being the strongest of all three Keepers of Light.

“Don’t worry, you’ll never ever run into anyone that dares to act arrogantly before you ever again!” Han Shuo said. He wasn’t surprised at the level of power Gyál displayed. It was only natural for someone with such a deep faith to possess Holy Aurum Armor as well. Without waiting for the Olive Branch to fully unleash its power, Han Shuo willed his six avatars to come out of the cauldron and fuse and expand his Domain of Divinity to envelope the whole Fringe in an instant.

The moment the ethereal, gigantic Han Shuo opened his arms, he caused bolts of lightning and countless icicles that glowed an odd grey to fall and strike Gyál. It only took one barrage for the Holy Aurum Armor to crack and shatter. The grey pillar of light came crashing down after only a little holy light gathered at the tip of the Olive Branch.

That instantly caused Gyál’s body to explode, sending shards of gold all over the place along with his flesh. With a stretch of his hand, Han Shuo tried to take his soul into the Cauldron of Myriad Demons. However, a white and holy light shone from Gyál’s soul and emitted an ear-piercing sound before forming into the most common sword of light and shooting towards Han Shuo.

His expression changed when he felt the power of Quintessence from the white light. The light was probably thanks to the divine stigma the God of Light left on Gyál. It was sheltering Gyál’s soul and attacking Han Shuo’s avatar. It dawned on him that the God of Light must have left this attack dormant within Gyál’s soul after their encounter in Pandemonium. The sword of light seemed almost unavoidable, so all Han Shuo could do was try to form a grey net with the power from his fusion avatar to catch it.

He focused all his attention on catching it as if it were a fearsome foe. All of a sudden, his fighting aura avatar shook while the light avatar absorbed a part of the light that resulted from Gyál’s explosion. Surprisingly, those two avatars actually fused into a single avatar for some reason. Shortly after, the life, fire, space, destiny, and earth avatars combined with the light-fighting aura avatar. Now, the new gigantic avatar with the combined powers of light, fighting aura, life, fire, space, destiny and earth formed another net to catch the sword of light.

“A genius indeed! He used the power of my Quintessence for another breakthrough! Brilliant, it seems that the day Aethernia opens is not far off.” The God of Light’s voice could be heard coming from the light as it stopped attacking Han Shuo and disappeared instantly with Gyál’s soul. It had ended just as abruptly as it had started.

Han Shuo felt a strange sensation as he gazed at the two gigantic avatars that seemed to be antithesis of each other. He had wanted to fuse all the energies together one at a time, and did not think there was a better route given the polar nature of certain energies like light and darkness, and so on.

Yet, it didn’t seem that the energies of light, life and fire repelled each other and fighting aura seemed rather similar to light as well. Coupled with the power of the Quintessence acting as a catalyst, the seven avatars whose energies didn’t seem to synergize with each other actually fused into another avatar.

On one hand, he had a composite avatar of death, destruction, darkness, water, lightning, and wind, and on the other was one of light, fighting aura, life, fire, earth, destiny, and space. Though their qualities were different, their absolute power was without question.

“Since the godhunters aren’t here, we shan’t be disturbing you,” Yarus suddenly said, disrupting Han Shuo’s train of thought and signalling Talbot to leave.