Seeing their lives endangered by the approaching godhunters, the toxin brewers began to panic and call out to Akley, hoping that he would keep his word.
"Don't worry, they won't kill us," he said as he emerged from who knows where. His indifferent expression seemed to indicate that he was completely unaware of the dangers. Standing beside him was Han Hao, whose purple eyes sent shivers down the spines of the terrified toxin brewers, causing them to freeze where they stood.
Han Hao's fierce reputation had long since spread throughout the Fringe. Toxin brewers from all over feared him even then. Now that he possessed a quintessence, and couldn't hide the power it emitted, he constantly radiated a terrifying aura. Even a late-stage Highgod like Polo feared him, let alone the weaker toxin brewers. His eyes swept over the crowd, who were as happy to see him as they were fearful. His presence meant hope for their survival.
"Bring them in," Han Hao ordered after seeing that they had calmed down.
Although Akley seemed to act rather carefree around Han Hao, he still felt a little tense from his cold demeanour. In a matter-of-fact voice, he said, "All of you, come inside with me.
When Han Tu and the others were at Celestial Pearl Pharmacy, they had built a large underground room to be used as a warehouse. There was also a path leading out of Omphalos for discreet purposes, which Han Hao had used to sneak in.
The nervous poisoners tiptoed carefully around Han Hao to where Akley was. Polo stepped aside to let them enter the room. But before they could all go in, shrieks and jeers could be heard from all directions outside the building.
Han Hao's expression had unchanged. But when he saw that some of the toxin brewers still hadn't entered, he had no intention of waiting any longer and nodded to Polo, signalling him to take care of the weaker poisoners.
"Hahaha, brothers, this is the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy!" someone said in a grand sounding voice. "It has many branches in the cities of Elysium. I'm sure you've all heard how good their medicine is. I'm sure they're much more valuable than black crystal coins! We definitely got lucky!"
"Palroe, this shop belongs to the House of Han. Should we leave them alone? They are not a force to be reckoned with. Even the Hegemons have suffered great losses at their hands," a nervous voice said. This person seemed to know something about what happened in Pandemonium, but probably not everything.
Only a minority of the Godhunters had participated in the battle in Pandemonium, as the Hegemons had left most of their subordinates outside. Few other than the Hegemons themselves knew what was going on.
""What is there to fear? The Hegemons' losses aren't that great. Whether or not there's someone powerful guarding this place, even if there were, we have the numbers on our side," Palroe said smugly before pushing his way through the door.
Suddenly, a large bony flower leapt out of the doorway. Like a monster from the abyss, it swung its powerful bone spikes at the intruder, ripping him to pieces in an instant. All the other Godhunters who had gone inside couldn't escape either. The Bone Flower continued to grow, radiating a strange energy from its core that left the Godhunters feeling weak and paralysed.
Unable to move, they couldn't do anything to stop the bones from piercing their bodies. Blood splattered nightmarishly everywhere.
"Go back to where you came from!" Han Hao said as he slowly walked out of the pharmacy. As he appeared, the Bone Flower spun even faster, causing its stiff bone appendages to soften and stretch like a rope, spreading out in all directions. A few other stunned Godhunters who hadn't reacted in time were pulled into the flower and turned into flesh paste. Even their souls seemed to be sucked into the flower by some kind of energy, causing instant death.
"It's him! It's him!" someone shouted as they tried desperately to back away. Many Godhunters were impressed by Han Hao. It was no surprise, as many of Dagmar's subordinates had come from the Dominion of Death and knew of his fearsome reputation there.
"Han Hao, you're a godhunter too. Why are you helping outsiders?" one of the Godhunters asked angrily, without leaving immediately. He was a huge and burly man, but the aura he radiated was eerie to say the least. Back in the Dominion of Death, Dagmar had arranged for him to work with Han Hao on a few errands, and he had even helped Han Hao. Seeing him tactlessly kill fellow Godhunters infuriated him.
Han Hao was equally surprised to find an acquaintance here. His purple eyes glowed as he pondered. "Dagmar and the others aren't qualified to rule over the Godhunters. The Hegemons are nothing but weaklings. I am the only one worthy to lead the Godhunters!"
His words rang so true that it sounded like a universal truth. It was as if he had always been a Hegemon.
"Blasphemy! Lord Dagmar... Lord Dagmar won't let you go!" he roared.
"Dagmar is dead, and I killed him! You should leave. I won't kill you. Once all the Hegemons are dead, you'll naturally come to serve me." As he finished, the white bone throne appeared behind Han Hao.
He took a seat on the throne and looked at the godhunter like an emperor would look at his subject. He exuded an air of dominance that shook them to the core. The Godhunter knew immediately that he wasn't lying when he saw Dagmar's signature throne. He must have been dead for the throne to be in Han Hao's possession.
If Dagmar was powerful enough to make him lose his will to fight, Han Hao was even more terrifying. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, but Han Hao didn't say much to him. Instead, he willed the Bone Flower to wrap around the Godhunter and throw him aside.
"Buzz off!" he warned again. This time, no one stayed behind. They all ran without looking back. Only Han Hao's acquaintance shot him a strange look before nodding reluctantly. "If you really can take over the entire Godhunter Alliance, I will be at your beck and call."
Han Hao nodded. "You should leave. Stay as far away from Omphalos as possible!"
The man didn't say much before he left.
"Lord, we should leave too. It'll be much harder when the Hegemons come later,
Polo advised respectfully.
"Just take care of the toxin brewers. I'll stay a little longer," he replied without turning around. He could sense that Han Shuo was on his way and would reach Omphalos soon.
Thanks to the Quintessence, his connection with Han Shuo was better than ever. The two of them could communicate directly from anywhere within the Fringe without having to rely on a spatial mirror.
"Alright. Be careful, my lord," Polo said before bowing and leaving.
At that moment, loud cheers erupted from various corners of Omphalos. They sounded like godhunters. Sensing that something was amiss, Han Hao used his demon generals unleashed by his bone spear and found that the godhunters had found large caches of black crystal coins in certain Sovereign shops, which explained their cheering.
Outside Omphalos, the reluctant Hegemons who had remained outside seemed equally elated. They exchanged greedy glances before deciding that Dahka's words were trustworthy and charging in with their subordinates.
By now, Han Shuo, Han Jin and Andrina were close to Omphalos, but before they arrived, Han Jin's expression changed. "Oh no!"