The Fringe was neither big nor small. It took Dhaka, Dagmar and Asser only about ten days to reach Han Hao's dwelling near the Pandemonium. Along the way, Dhaka and the others didn't meet half a soul. It was as if the chaos of the Fringe had subsided. It was so quiet that it seemed a little imposing.
The unnatural calm made them even more cautious and wary. After all, they were on someone else's turf. Even with all their strength, they didn't dare to act recklessly, especially when they knew that the other side would definitely be hiding and waiting for them.
Dhaka, Dagmar and Asser each scanned different parts of their surroundings with their divine souls to make sure no hidden enemy was waiting to ambush them. With Salas around, Dhaka and the others didn't ask much. They kept their thoughts mostly to themselves.
Eventually, they reached the vicinity of the three mountains.
In the distance, Dhaka saw a black mist that brought a certain stench from the valley. Suspicious, he glanced at Salas and said, "Salas, are you sure this is the place?"
"It should be here," Salas replied solemnly. He found it rather odd himself, as his divine soul search didn't reveal any sign of other souls. What on earth was this guy up to?
"There's nobody here!" Dagmar said. His white bone throne radiated an aura of death to keep the black miasma from touching his body as it carried him to the valley between the three mountains.
"Let's have a look," Dhaka said to Asser before the two of them caught up with Dagmar. There was a pungent, sour smell wherever the black miasma wafted past. It was a clear sign of poison, but Dhaka and the others were strong enough that it wouldn't affect them.
Salas didn't join in, just watching curiously from a distance, taking in the details of the surroundings.
After the experience in Pandemonium, Salas was really wary of anything that had anything to do with Han Shuo. He knew that wherever Han Shuo had taken him was definitely a place to be wary of, so he didn't dare to be too bold.
Without orders from Dhaka and the other two, their subordinates stayed where they were. These elite Godhunters from the three Divine Dominions had worked loyally for the trio for many years. As well as being strong, they were well disciplined and wouldn't act on their own without explicit orders.
The trio explored the valley and saw nothing but some strange runes on the mountain walls. Their senses picked up no signs of life.
They soon returned to Salas. Dhaka said, "The place should be fine, but it looks like they've all gone. I think they know we are coming, so Han Hao probably had his forces join up with the House of Han."
""That is indeed possible. They probably know that they can only stand a chance against us if they join forces," Dagmar said in agreement, but with a certain impatience in his tone. "I think we can give up on this place and go straight to Pandemonium, right?"
Considering all this, Salas thought he had done all he could. The valley was indeed deserted. Forcing the three of them to search the mountains thoroughly would only make him look suspicious, so he nodded his agreement without saying anything else.
"Let's go to Pandemonium then. I believe the House of Han will be there, unless they have decided to abandon their foothold in the Fringe entirely," Dhaka remarked as he prepared to instruct his men to leave.
"Wait!" exclaimed Dagmar as he raised a hand.
There was a strange flash in his eyes.
"What is it?" Dhaka shouted, "Did you notice something?" He knew that Dagmar was a Death Energy cultivator, so his soul-searching skills would be far more proficient than his own. Most weak soul echoes might escape Dhaka and Asser's senses, but they would be detected by Dagmar.
"There are some faint soul echoes in the valley.
I felt one or two just now. Let me check one last time." A soul energy slowly spread out from Dagmar. It seemed that he was using a special technique to detect the faint pulses in the valley.
Dhaka and Asser knew that Dagmar was not his usual self, thanks to the Quintessence Shard, but given that he had cultivated Death Energy to the Overgod level and his usual tendency to not make things up, not to mention that his target was Han Hao, he wouldn't lie about it so casually.
As expected, Dagmar used his unique sensing method and pointed to the three mountains.
"There's no need to leave. There are people inside the three mountains, but some kind of special energy has been injected into the valley to block our divine soul sweep. Bryan is formidable, as expected. He almost fooled us with that barrier of his!"
"How do you know that the one who used the barrier wasn't Han Hao?" Salas asked.
"He's not that capable! Back in Omphalos, I was able to get a good sense of his strength while my subordinates held him back. He's not nearly as powerful as you say. Without the Quintessence Shard, he is an ordinary Highgod. I can crush him like a bug!"
"Dagmar, are you sure they are hiding in the mountains?" Dhaka asked again.
"I am sure. There are people in all three of them," he replied confidently. He paused for a moment before continuing, "Dhaka, Asser, there are three mountains, so each of us will search one of them. There will surely be many winding paths inside. I'm sure Han Hao alone would not be able to escape the three of us!
He then turned to his subordinates and instructed, "Come with me. The miasma in the valley isn't anything to worry about. Move!"
Not caring if the other two Hegemons would do as he said, Dagmar charged straight into the valley.
After a moment's hesitation, Dhaka said to Asser, "Let's go, too. Dagmar's soul detection is quite decent, and we've worked together many times. He is indeed quite good at it."
Asser agreed and zoomed towards the valley in the form of a black beam. His subordinates followed without the slightest hesitation.
"What about you, Salas?" Dhaka asked, in no hurry to leave.
"I'm fine, let's go." Salas shrugged.
If he didn't go, Dhaka would definitely be suspicious. He had to go, even though he knew the risks.
"All right, just come with me. I can take care of you," Dhaka said with a smile, no longer hesitating after hearing a satisfactory answer. He also stormed in with his subordinates.
By the time Dhaka and Salas arrived, Dagmar and Asser had gone quite far inside.
The two Hegemons chose the smaller mountains, leaving the tallest and most intimidating for Dhaka.
Dhaka secretly cursed the fact that the other two were only willing to cooperate in name, but wouldn't hesitate to cut corners. Everyone in the Godhunter Alliance was self-centred, and that was something no one could change.
"Let's go!" He still did what he was supposed to. He found a way into the valley that would allow three people to pass side by side and entered with Salas.
"Sir, there is a barrier here, as you suspected!" one of Dagmar's subordinates reported. His voice echoed through the network of tunnels and found its way to Dagmar's ears.
As soon as they entered, they encountered countless branching paths. Fortunately, Dagmar knew this would be the case and had his subordinates split up to make sure all the paths were searched.
In his opinion, the strongest man in the mountains was Han Hao. When he fought his Avatar in Omphalos, he thought he knew the extent of his power and no longer considered him a worthy opponent. He believed that his subordinates alone were enough to take on the Mid-stage Highgod Han Hao.
So he didn't think twice about spreading his men thin. He wasn't afraid of being ambushed.
"I'm coming!" Dagmar burst in from another tunnel, happy to see them.
There were layers of light in the narrow cavern. The first layer was filled with the energy of death, the next with water, fire and other common energies. But the last layer was something special. Even Dagmar couldn't quite say what it was.
He quickly scanned the barriers and without hesitation began to destroy them.
Contrary to his expectations, the barriers didn't seem to have much defensive power. As his bone spear pierced it, the layers of the barrier crumbled easily. Even the last strange layer came apart much more easily than he'd thought.
"Come!" Dagmar shook with anticipation at the thought of Han Hao falling to his godhunters.