At the control centre, the members of the House of Han banded together to resist Regis and Isaiah's pursuit. The Five Elite Zombies unleashed their power to gather the energy from the Sky Annihilation Formation where they were, and used it to create the most formidable defence they could. They turned the secret chamber into an impregnable fortress, leaving no part undefended.
Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Regis and Isaiah found their way here. Even though they knew hiding wouldn't do them much good, they had little choice. At least in this secret chamber, there was no way that Regis and Isaiah would be able to break through the heavy defences that Han Shuo had so carefully set up.
Before Han Shuo had left, he had said that he would return as soon as possible after completing his errand. As such, the others were counting on his return. All they had to do was hold out until he did.
Han Shuo had told them before that his power would be greatly enhanced within Pandemonium. No matter what kind of edict or energy the Overgod cultivated, if they didn't have a quintessence, they would be no match for him in his domain.
"Bryan will definitely come back before they break the defences!" Emily said confidently.
"Don't worry. Even if Father doesn't make it back in time, the five of us will be able to hold out for a while if we do our best to operate the Penta-elemental Undead Formation," Han Jin said with a relaxed smile, comforting the nervous ones among them.
"If I use my treasure, I will be able to fend off at least one overgod. I can promise you that they will be completely preoccupied with me," Andrina said with a relaxed smile as she clasped Han Jin's hand tightly. It seemed like her mind wasn't on the danger they were in at all.
Hearing this, the expressions on the others' faces relaxed considerably. They no longer spoke of much fear and instead turned their discussions to when Han Shuo would return and how close they had come to reaching the control centre.
Han Hao didn't say much during this time; the others had already come to regard him as their main pillar of support. It was thanks to his judgement that Han Tu was notified in time to get the core members of the House of Han to a safe zone under such dangerous circumstances.
"Let us not be too optimistic yet. We must be prepared for the worst," Han Hao said calmly. He turned to Andrina and said, "There are currently seven Overgods in Pandemonium. While Dagmar, Asser and Dhaka are currently temporarily restrained, once Miller finds out what's going on in Pandemonium and rescues them, there will be seven Overgods, including Ossora. I'm afraid the defences in this room won't hold for long.
As soon as he said this, the expressions on the others' faces changed again as they realised the number of fearsome enemies currently in Pandemonium.
However, apart from Miller, Isaiah and Regis, and the captured Dhaka, Dagmar and Asser, Ossora was still unaccounted for. Each of the seven Overgods was a formidable foe. If they didn't work together, the secret chamber might hold out for some time. But if they did, their fearsome combined power was hard to imagine. No matter how confident they were in Han Shuo, they didn't really believe that the defences he had set up would be able to withstand the combined attack of seven overgods.
"What should we do, Big Brother?" Han Jin asked.
"I'm still thinking." Han Hao sat down slowly, his eyebrows furrowed, and thought in silence.
...
Inside the underground palace, Regis, Isaiah and their subordinates wiped out the House of Han warriors whenever they encountered them and continued on towards the secret chamber where Han Hao and the others were hiding.
Until now, only the core members of the House of Han had been allowed to enter the underground palace, apart from a small number of guards who acted as messengers. As such, Isaiah and the others hadn't met many people apart from those from the Profound Continent.
Regis and Isaiah searched a whole area and only managed to kill a few dozen guards. They were curious as to why the mighty House of Han had so few guards. Little did they know that most of the guards lived in the mountains outside Pandemonium. Thanks to the crisis they were facing, Han Hao and the others had already sent word to them before they retreated to the fortified room.
The warriors in the mountains had retreated even further through the paths that Han Jin had opened, where it would be difficult for Regis and Isaiah to detect them.
At the moment, the two had just encountered Miller. Regis asked smiling, "Let me guess - he brought you here?"
Miller laughed and nodded. "That's right. How are things here?"
"The core members should have gathered. Hehe, that saves us the trouble of having to hunt them all down separately." Isaiah pointed above him and said, "They're there. The more defences there are, the more likely they are to be in that direction."
"Dhaka, Dagmar and Asser are also in Pandemonium. Ossora told me about them before he brought me here. He said it was the three of them who told him the news," Miller praised, "If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't have believed that there were so many traps in this place that could even catch the three of them. It is truly miraculous."
"Yes. Luckily, we snuck in pretending to be Ossora's men. Otherwise we'd have been trapped like Dhaka and the others. That Bryan really is quite an amazing character," Regis said.
"Speaking of them - what should we do about Dhaka, Dagmar and Asser?" Miller said to Isaiah, who had planned the whole operation with Ossora. The rest followed their lead.
"What does that have to do with us?" Isaiah said, "They fell into the traps on their own. We didn't lure them there with anything. We have no obligation to rescue them."
Miller and Regis locked eyes and laughed, tacitly agreeing with Isaiah's decision.
"Let's go where they're hiding. Remember. We can't kill anyone before Bryan shows up. Pandemonium is too interesting. In the future we will be the ones who control this place, so we have to force Bryan to reveal all his secrets to us before we wipe him out," Isaiah said.
"Of course." Miller and Regis laughed heartily.
The reason they were so cautious and meticulous in dealing with Pandemonium was because of the various amazing defences it had that could trap even three powerful Overgods like Dagmar, Dhaka and Asser. In their eyes, this small, remote base was more valuable than the wealthy Omphalos.
The way they saw it, the Godhunter Alliance would succeed in their invasion of the Fringe. Even before the battle was over, they were already thinking about how to divide the territory.
In the near future, the Fringe would be divided among the twelve hegemons of the Alliance. The alliance was by no means tight, for it was more an alliance of convenience than of mutual conviction.
As such, the heavily defended Pandemonium was highly coveted. With it, they could afford to offend other factions of the Alliance without fear of retribution, so taking Pandemonium was a top priority.
Soon the three of them arrived outside the secret chamber. Coloured lights shone from the walls. On closer inspection, the wall seemed to have a crystalline structure and didn't resemble earth at all. Strands of mystical energy flowed through the patterns on the wall, creating a repulsive impression.
The moment the three of them approached the room, they felt a gentle force pushing them away. Even overgods like them couldn't help but take a few steps back, which only added to their excitement.
"It's mysterious, all right! Ossora really wasn't lying!" Isaiah said with a face full of excitement. "No wonder he decided to betray Bryan and work with us. I think he's been longing for this place for a long time. Humans are greedy by nature. Anyone who has seen the wonders in here would want it all for themselves!"
"It is truly mysterious," Regis said, as he carefully felt the energies flowing into the wall. Impatiently he said, "I can't wait! Let me give it a try."
Isaiah and Miller smiled at each other before taking a few steps back to give Regis the space to try it out. Bolts of lightning gathered into a thick body of electricity before Regis sent it crashing into the colourful wall. A loud rumble could be heard as the lightning's power dissipated without a trace.
"Amazing!" Regis exclaimed. He felt that the strike, which contained eighty percent of its power, had only made a slight dent in the wall before it recovered without a scratch.
"It is truly amazing," Miller agreed. His eyes flashed as he summoned a huge blade of wind and sent it at the wall. With a loud click, the blade he had formed from the wind element and his divine power disintegrated.
"There is a mystical power in the wall that can disrupt the structure of the elements. This Bryan really is an incomparable genius. I really don't know where he learned how to manipulate such outrageous energies," Miller said thoughtfully after his attempt.
"Haha, according to the information we received, he will return soon. With a hidden pawn like Ossora and the members of the House of Han still here, we can play with him slowly. After we have extracted all the secrets of Pandemonium from him, Dhaka and the others won't be able to do anything, even if they get out! Isaiah exclaimed. Pandemonium was indeed full of miracles. He was ecstatic at the thought that it would all soon be his.
"Come, let the three of us give it a try. No matter what kind of defence it is, it must be supported by energy. I don't think it will hold as long as we keep attacking it!" Miller said with a serious look on his face.
It had been known since time immemorial that any kind of barrier or seal needed some kind of energy source to remain operational. This could be energy crystals from energy towers, or divine power, or elements that the barrier's creator had infused beforehand. Any kind of energy could be used to power barriers.
But no matter how powerful the barrier was, every blow it received would drain its energy reserves. The moment it was depleted, the barrier would crumble, no matter how powerful it was.
Miller and the others understood this, of course, and made their preparations. They took turns pounding the wall with lightning, earth and wind.
Phoebe, Emily, Stratholme and the others inside the barrier felt the whole room shake from the blows. The thunder was so loud they could almost physically feel it.
But the secret chamber had been gathering natural energy from its surroundings for years. The defences were as strong as they were rumoured to be; the wall hadn't been breached even after Miller, Isaiah and Regis launched their thirtieth attack.
The three looked at the crystalline wall in disbelief. They didn't believe that ten blows from each of them, all Overgods, would still not be enough to shatter the wall.
"Stop attacking!" someone shouted while the three were still debating whether to continue. Ossora soon emerged from the earth and continued his explanation. The harder you hit, the more the energy that's trapping Dhaka and the others will be transferred. If you continue, they will be able to escape. If that happens, we won't be able to keep Pandemonium to ourselves!"
"How is that possible?" Isaiah asked, stunned.
"I clearly felt a flow of energy from above coming towards this place. As your attacks intensified, so did the flow. I am certain of it!" Ossora pressed.
The three immediately stopped attacking, now even more awed by the mysteries of Pandemonium.
"We must prepare for a show. Bryan will be back any moment," Ossora said when he saw they'd stopped. He seemed full of confidence.