Anyone who managed to cultivate to the Overgod realm was incredibly powerful, and Dhaka was no exception. Han Hao's Soul Tremor attack couldn't really hurt him, as he could easily dispel the soul attack by focusing his attention.
Unable to disable Pandemonium's defences, despite wantonly destroying many of the formations, Dhaka decided to hunt down Han Hao instead.
His mind was steeled with determination; he feared there would be no one to guide or welcome him. Now that Han Hao had appeared, there was no way he was going to let him go. Dhaka followed Han Hao fearlessly, no longer attacking any of the stone pillars he saw. Instead, he concentrated on hunting down Han Hao.
"He's going to be okay, right?" Stratholme said worriedly as he watched from the spatial mirror.
Bollands seemed calm as ever, as if he wouldn't panic and try to escape even if the sky fell. He watched Dhaka chase Han Hao through the mirror and said in an uncertain voice, "I don't know either. But I bet Senior Brother has explained to him how dangerous this place is. I think he's at least confident enough to return after taking Dhaka there!"
"I hope it works. Otherwise I don't see how we can be held accountable for this..." Stratholme said with a bitter smile. He knew how close the relationship was between Han Shuo and Han Hao. If the latter really fell in Pandemonium, Han Shuo would undoubtedly be filled with rage and no one in the chamber would want to face his wrath.
"He'll be fine, definitely!" Although Bollands sounded certain, he actually felt a little ambivalent.
"Look!" Phoebe cried, pointing to the magic mirror. "He's gone in!"
Bollands, Stratholme and the others stopped talking and looked at where she was pointing, all tensed with anxiety and anticipation.
After the various defences in Pandemonium had been set up, Han Shuo had informed them of them so that they wouldn't accidentally enter those dangerous formations themselves.
The place they were looking at was the Sky Annihilation Formation, which no member of the House of Han was ever allowed to approach once it was activated. Those who did would undoubtedly die.
Han Shuo had made sure to repeat his warning more than a few times, making sure to mention the danger of the formation whenever he briefed them on Pandemonium.
...
Han Hao now stood still at the outer edge of the formation. Suddenly, nine fierce lightning bolts shot towards him like an unstoppable force of nature, as if they were going to completely annihilate Han Hao's soul. Endless amounts of hatred condensed and formed into nine towering mountains that roared towards him, each as powerful as a full-force blow from an Overgod.
The ground was nowhere to be seen, replaced by an endless dark abyss. A gravity-like pull was immediately felt. It was so powerful that Han Hao seemed unable to resist it as it dragged him down.
The forces of lightning, mountains and gravity were all clearly targeting him. It seemed that no matter how he dodged, he wouldn't be able to escape the attacks, and that was only if he stepped into the outer edges of the formation.
Just as he was about to block the incoming attacks as he continued his descent, he noticed a figure entering the abyss from the outside. Elated, he immediately abandoned the idea of blocking the three attacks and decided to unleash all the power contained in his trump card in one fell swoop.
Outside the Sky Annihilation Formation, the part of the Bone Spear that protruded from the ground glowed brightly. One claw after another sprouted from the spear itself. Suddenly, the negative energies festering in Pandemonium seemed to be drawn to the spikes that had just appeared on the spear.
Soon, a pillar of light about the width of a man shot into the formation's range, forming a path that reached Han Hao as he fell to the bottom of the abyss.
His eyes brightened before he leapt into the column of light. Suddenly, the column narrowed rapidly as it retreated towards the surface.
The moment Dhaka entered the Sky Annihilation Formation, he suddenly realised that his Edict of Destruction had been severely affected. This area seemed to have changed the laws of destruction in an instant. The Divine Energy of Destruction in his body became more chaotic, making it impossible for him to form the Orbs of Destruction, even though it had been effortless for him before.
Not only that, but the powerful lightning and force of the crushing mountains, as well as the gravity pulling at him from the depths of the abyss, were certainly felt by him. The killing intent and hatred that were essential to the attacks greatly disturbed his peace of mind.
At that moment, Han Hao used his bone spear to quickly leave the abyss. Dhaka finally seemed to realise that he had fallen for his trap and forced his destructive energy to stabilise before desperately pushing himself upwards to escape.
Although he felt almost no resistance as he entered the abyss, any attempt to ascend felt like the combined weight of tens of thousands of formless mountains pressing down on him. There wasn't a single way for him to break through this obstacle, especially with his unstable power.
"Phew..." Han Hao finally managed to leave the Sky Annihilation Formation. He pulled his bone spear out of the ground and it almost immediately returned to its usual form, looking no different than before.
""He's out again!" Bollands cheered in relief. Though he had been the one to tell Stratholme to calm down, he wasn't as confident as Stratholme that Han Hao would be able to escape.
"Wonderful!" Stratholme cheerfully took a swig of the liquor. "Now that Dhaka has been captured, our job has just become much easier. Dagmar and Asser will have many other formations waiting for him. No matter how careful they are, they'll never be able to avoid them. I reckon it'll take them at least ten days to find their way out.
Bollands' gaze calmed as he said, "It's time we launched a counterattack. I'll inform Sanguis, Gilbert and the others. The Godhunters outside are now leaderless and they're no match for us."
They cheered as they prepared to face the Godhunters with light hearts.
...
Han Shuo and Wasir sped towards Pandemonium at full speed. After hearing about the Dhaka Trio's great loss, Wasir now felt even more respect for Han Shuo, although he didn't make it a point to tell him about it. The way he saw it, Han Shuo was undoubtedly superior to Tyre, the leader of the Five Sovereign, both in terms of personal power and the power of his team.
As they fly, Wasir couldn't help but wonder why Han Shuo didn't seem at all worried about the upcoming battle. Where did his confidence come from? No matter what, the Five Sovereigns of the Fringe wouldn't be enough to take on the Godhunter Alliance. After all, they were only five Overgods, while the Alliance had many more. Not only were the Alliance's experts far more numerous than the Fringe's, but their strength was also far superior.
No matter who you asked, the Fringe didn't seem to stand a chance against the Godhunter Alliance. Wasir had prepared to leave the Fringe with his subordinates before the battle began. If Han Shuo hadn't assured him that Glacial Peak wouldn't suffer at all during the battle, he wouldn't have stayed.
"Bryan, why do you think Tyre, Logue and Ossora stayed to fight this bloody battle?" He decided that a direct approach to the question would be better.
"Tyre and Logue want to use this chance to control the Fringe. The two of them definitely don't have good intentions, so they must have some kind of hidden trump card. As for Ossora, to be honest, I don't really understand his motives. But he definitely has his own agenda. Maybe he'll do something that surprises us," Han Shuo replied after some thought.
"Ever since you came to the Fringe, Ossora has been trying to get on your good side. So why did you decide to cooperate with me instead of him?" That was something that bothered him, but he couldn't figure out why.
"Ossora?" Han Shuo smiled. "He definitely tried to butter me up. But what did that end up causing? A fight with Salas, a grudge with Tyre and Logue, and a big fight with you. And what exactly was he risking? Nothing but a Sovereign shop and the chance to appear stronger than Salas".
He shook his head and continued, "He is far too ambitious. I don't dare get too close to him or tell him about my plans. I'm afraid he'll mess me up at the crucial moment and I won't be able to do anything about it."
"He is indeed someone who is not easy to figure out," Wasir agreed after some thought.
...
Meanwhile, the person they were talking about was now outside Pandemonium with a group of remnants.
The forces of the House of Han, led by Bollands, Sanguis and Gilbert, were killing the Godhunters who had invaded their territory. The enemies were mercilessly crushed before the remnants scampered off in a shambles.
Ossora looked as if he had just witnessed the great battle. His men's hands were stained with blood and many had to be supported to stay upright. Ossora commanded, "Help the House of Han defeat the Godhunters!"