Scarlett may have been the only female among the leaders of the Godhunter factions in Ronson Canyon, but she was just as vicious and merciless as the others. She was notorious for scheming against others. But since Han Hao saved her life, she began to treat him differently. Instead of plotting against Han Hao, she would plot to help Han Hao.
For some reason, the inhumanly callous teenager was like a strong gravitational field that gradually drew her in. As time passed, she found herself falling deeper and deeper into his gravitational pull.
Had it been any other person who had told her to 'let me touch you' in front of her followers, she would have killed that person in a heartbeat. And even if she could not defeat the person, she would plot to kill them at any cost.
However, after hearing those words from Han Hao, Scarlett was very embarrassed, but did not feel any anger. She even foolishly walked over to Han Hao as he had ordered, as if she had forgotten that many of her followers were still there.
Scarlett's face blushed. Her head was lowered, too shy to meet Han Hao's gaze. This ruthless Godhunter faction leader from Ronson Canyon was now a shy, timid woman. She felt nervous and stood silently in front of Han Hao.
Meanwhile, Han Hao seemed unsure and confused. The strange, bizarre desires coming from the depths of his heart had left him at a loss. He did not understand what was going on with him or why he was having such strange and chaotic thoughts.
Han Hao stared blankly and hesitated, not knowing if he should act on these new ideas that were popping into his head.
"What are you... waiting for...?" Scarlett had been standing there waiting for a long time. She became more and more nervous as Han Hao stared at her without doing anything before finally breaking the silence.
"Okay," Han Hao replied quietly. It was as though Scarlett's words had made him stop hesitating and he finally extended his hand and very slowly but awkwardly stroked his palm against Scarlett's tender, red cheek. In that instance, a most bizarre, inexplicable sensation which Han Hao had never before perceived suddenly flooded his heart.
Scarlett's followers who had traveled thousands of miles with her from Ronson Canyon stared at their leader, utterly flabbergasted. They could not believe their own eyes when they saw that this devil who had led them to commit massacres and various atrocities, whom they had only known to be ruthless, ferocious, and inviolable, was willingly allowing Han Hao to caress her. It was as though the Chief they knew of had transformed into another person.
Don't tell me that she has brought us all the way to the Fringe just to… just so that Han Hao can touch her? What in the world is going on?!
The moment Han Hao's skin made contact with Scarlett's, her body shivered slightly. She felt slightly uncomfortable and wanted to move her cheeks away from Han Hao's ice-cold palms, yet at the same time she felt as if her face was being drawn to them by an invisible force. Scarlett stood as still as a rock, allowing Han Hao's hand to caress her beautiful face. She felt embarrassed but secretly pleased.
Gradually, it seemed that touching her cheeks was not satisfying enough for Han Hao. Confused, Han Hao followed the thought in his heart and slowly moved his hand down her soft white neck and towards her full bosom.
Scarlett jolted and her face turned even redder. Alarmed, she thought, he wouldn't think of doing that in front of all these people... would he? Scarlett began to shake more and more, and she could no longer pretend to be calm. Suddenly she lifted her head and looked at Han Hao.
To her surprise, Han Hao's face was blank. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if he were deep in thought. Scarlett could find no trace of lewdness on his face. It was as if he was touching a weapon or armour rather than an extraordinary beauty. He only wanted to explore, not do anything naughty.
What... what is he thinking about? Scarlett was confused. No matter how good one was at hiding one's emotions, in a situation like this, no man could possibly hide every trace of his lustful desires. Han Hao, however, seemed to be an exception.
While Scarlett pondered, Han Hao's hand had slowly moved down and gently cupped her tender, bosomy breast.
"Ek!" one of Scarlett's followers, who had been watching from a distance, could no longer contain his astonishment and involuntarily let out an unpleasant cry.
Scarlett was jolted from her reverie and suddenly took a step backwards, freeing herself from Han Hao's evil grip.
She was panting heavily as if she had just finished a marathon. She spoke haltingly, "Han... Han Hao, how... how could you..."
"Strange... very strange..." Han Hao muttered to himself as he stared at his right hand, which was feeling Scarlett. As soon as he placed his hand on Scarlett's chest, he suddenly felt a strong urge from below. His heart began to race and his mind was thrown from the absolute calm it had always maintained. Little Skeleton was also shocked that he seemed to have gained a new bone. But before he could fully appreciate the sensation, Scarlett had hastily retreated.
Surprised, Han Hao stared blankly for a moment before shaking his head, as if trying to shake the strange sensation from his mind. He looked at the blushing and frightened Scarlett and said with a blank face, "Okay. That will be all for today. We will try again next time."
Scarlett was even more embarrassed. She secretly looked at her distraught followers, gritting her teeth and cursing inwardly, "You scoundrel, how could you do this in front of so many people! Couldn't you have done it somewhere more secluded and private? Are you trying to humiliate me? How annoying!
"Have you seen enough? Piss off!" Scarlett shouted angrily at her followers with murderous eyes, directing her resentment at them.
"Und- Understood!" The stunned followers of Scarlett came to their senses and hastily dispersed.
After the Godhunters left and the two of them were alone, Scarlett took a deep breath to try and calm herself before asking, "What exactly do you want from me?"
Han Hao stared blankly for a moment and the standard callousness he had just regained crumbled again. For some reason, Han Hao could not seem to maintain his absolute callousness in front of Scarlett. After a moment's thought, with no idea what exactly was going on with him, Han Hao knitted his brows and replied, "I haven't thought it through yet".
"Haven't thought it through?!" Scarlett was furious. She screamed in her mind, "You've touched my face and even my breast in front of so many people, but you tell me you haven't thought it through yet?
"Then tell me, am I your woman or not?" asked Scarlett, trying her best to control her anger.
"Yes," Han Hao replied without the slightest hesitation. But before Scarlett could feel happy about that, Han Hao quickly added, "Now that you are in the Fringe, you are mine, just like Polo and the others. You are under my command. Right, I will have to put those who come with you through a round of training."
"Just... just like Polo?" Scarlett had heard of Polo. She said worriedly, "How... how can we be the same? Polo's a man and I'm a woman! Besides, you've just..."
"All the same," Han Hao said with a flat face, "you are both my subordinates. There's no difference."
After hearing these words, Scarlett flew into a rage of humiliation. She shouted, "Han Hao, what exactly do you want? How could you be like this? Do you think you can play with my feelings? If you want me to be just another follower of yours like Polo, then we are done!"
Han Hao immediately felt lost and weak when Scarlett snapped. He felt like he had done something wrong, but he had no idea what it was. He furrowed his brow and thought deeply about it. Then he realised something - when he was with Polo, he would never have these strange and passionate ideas.
"Yes, it's a bit different..." Han Hao scratched his head and muttered, "You are a woman, so you are my woman. And Polo is a man, so he is my man... right?"
Scarlett was torn between laughter and tears as she listened to Han Hao muttering nonsense to himself. "Huh? How can Polo be your man ? You don't make any sense..."
Then Scarlett was suddenly reminded of some words Han Shuo once said to her, "Han Hao has never been intimate with the opposite sex. He has lived and cultivated in an inhuman world, and he knows absolutely nothing about that certain thing!
Scarlett lamented at this realisation before asking, "Han Hao, do you know what a romantic relationship is?"
Han Hao looked at Scarlett in confusion, shook his head and replied, "I don't. I have never seen or heard of it."
Suddenly it all became clear to Scarlett.
It turned out that Han Hao wasn't being insensitive, or trying to humiliate her, or playing with her feelings - he had absolutely no idea what he was doing. It seemed that his actions moments ago had been purely instinctive.
Scarlett felt as if she had found a treasure, and she now found Han Hao's clueless and confused look endearing. She was also rather surprised that such a handsome, heartless and incredibly powerful man had never had a romantic relationship before.
No wonder," Scarlett thought as she shook her head. Completely forgiving Han Hao for what he had just done, she decided to grab hold of this rare gem and fill his empty brain with her love.
"Oh no!" Just as Scarlett was about to start indoctrinating Han Hao with her ideals, Han Hao's face suddenly jerked and he shouted gravely, "Take your followers to the Fringe. Leave this place immediately!"
"What's going on?" Scarlett panicked a little. She realised something was wrong.
"It's Dagmar! He is coming. I have met him before and I recognise his aura!" Han Hao had a serious face and said to Scarlett, "You leave this place immediately. I will hold him back!"
"Our Hegemon?" Scarlett was alarmed and anxiously suggested, "Why don't you run and let me hold him back?"
"You cannot stop him, not even for a second," Han Hao said with a cold face, "Listen to me and go. Don't worry, I'll be fine. He can't kill me!"
Scarlett stared at Han Hao for three seconds before nodding resolutely and saying, "Okay, I will leave right now, but you must live to see me again!" Scarlett then immediately left, shouting, "Everyone come with me, we must fly!"
Scarlett's followers, waiting nearby, were unaware of the danger. They inexplicably followed Scarlett and left in a hurry.
Han Hao held his three metre long bone spear and stood silently, waiting for Dagmar's arrival.
Ten minutes later, the masked Dagmar suddenly appeared, sitting on a white bone throne. Obviously, Dagmar's target was Han Hao alone, and he did nothing about Scarlett.
"We meet again, Han Hao." Dagmar sat in the centre of his white throne high in the sky. He stared down at Han Hao, who had assumed a hostile posture, arrogant with a hint of amusement in his eyes. With a sinister grin, he asked, "Oh, are you thinking of fighting me?
"Hegemon," Han Hao replied indifferently.
"Han Hao, I was generous to you. Why did you have to betray me for Bryan?" Dagmar held out his hands, hidden under a pair of long sleeves. They were thin, pale white and had long, sharp nails that looked like hooks. The energy of death gradually gathered around his fingers, forming greyish clouds of wavering smoke.
Han Hao stared back at Dagmar with ice-cold eyes and none of the confusion he had shown earlier. In a calm voice he replied, "My apologies, but you simply do not have the power to make me bow.
Dagmar scoffed and said contemptuously, "But Bryan does? What can he give you? Don't forget that you are a godhunter and he is not. No matter where or when, your identity will always be that of a Godhunter. You will never be free of that bond for the rest of your life. The Godhunter Alliance is where you belong!
Han Hao nodded and said, "That's right, I cannot change my identity as a Godhunter. However, I can change my status and position among the Godhunters!" He pointed at Dagmar with his bone spear and coldly announced, "Hegemon, let me tell you this: one day, sooner or later, I will command the Godhunter Alliance and become the master of all Godhunters!
"How vain," Dagmar snorted disdainfully. His white bone throne suddenly began to collapse, taking with it an overwhelming energy of death. His hands, swirling with light grey smoke, suddenly began to dance. Grey rays fell from the sky and buzzing sounds echoed.
"It took me tens of thousands of years to ascend and become one of the Hegemons. Who do you think you are? How arrogant of you to dream of ruling all Godhunters! Today, I will take back everything I have given you!" Dagmar had had enough of the chatter and wanted to end it. His white bone throne began to shoot out bone spears as he spoke.
"You have nothing to do with anything I have! All you've given me is a title, Chief of the Godhunters - it's so insignificant it's not even worth mentioning!" An evil light flashed through Han Hao's purple demon eyes as the seven bone spurs flew out of his back at an astonishing speed. However, instead of hitting Dagmar, who was airborne in the middle of the attack, the bone spurs soared in seven directions around him.
Seven different energies suddenly emanated from each bone spur, followed by the screams of countless wretched souls trapped within them. At that moment, the energy of death, mixed with a power Dagmar was unfamiliar with, began to emit pulses of energy waves.
At the same time, Han Hao's chest suddenly bulged outwards, and the tombstone he had received from the Netherworld tore out of him. It instantly erected in front of him, expanding into an enormous monument.
Suddenly, the intricate and cryptic carvings on the tombstone came to life and separated from the tombstone. Thousands of inscriptions resembling mystical beings spun around the stele, echoing the pitiful cries of the wretched souls trapped in the seven bone spurs.
All the elements of death within a hundred miles of Han Hao were instantly absorbed by the tombstone. Even the Death Elements that Dagmar, an Overgod, had gathered around him were drained and taken. The Death Elements he had integrated into his attack had somehow become chaotic and he felt as if he was losing control of them.
Then Han Hao, holding the three metre long bone spur in his hand, suddenly let out a piercing scream.
An even more intense energy fluctuation emanated from the tombstone, directly affecting the Death Energy in Dagmar. He was shocked to discover that the death energy in his body was rapidly escaping and being sucked into the tombstone beneath him.
"What the hell?" Dagmar looked at the towering tombstone below her in disbelief. The tombstone, originally only a few dozen metres high, had swelled to the height of a mountain, perhaps because it had absorbed all the elements of death within a hundred mile radius.
After the tombstone was enlarged, the previously tiny and densely packed inscriptions on it became visible. Out of nowhere, various white bones appeared beneath the tombstone. Streams of Death Energy flowed around the stele like veins in a human body, making it seem oh-so mysterious and bizarre!
The Divine Death Energy in Dagmar's body was being drawn to the tombstone. The bizarre energy fluctuations generated by the tombstone could affect not only the Death Element, but also the cultivators of that energy!
Terrified and alarmed, Dagmar immediately withdrew the attacking power he had unleashed on Han Hao to recover the divine energy. He began to use all his strength to prevent his divine energy from being drained.
Since Dagmar was an Overgod, as soon as he stopped attacking Han Hao and concentrated on resisting the influence of the tombstone, he managed to stabilise the divine energy in his body and his divine energy stopped flying into the tombstone.
"Impossible, impossible!" Dagmar gasped heavily. His eyes, the only part of his face not covered by his mask, revealed his astonishment and fear. His voice was no longer high and arrogant as he spoke, "You have not reached the Overgod realm, you cannot possibly possess such terrifying power! You can't be Han Hao. Who are you?"
Han Hao was standing on top of the tombstone at that moment. Countless streams of greyish air seeping from the white bones had enveloped him, and the trickling energy of death had immersed him. It was as if he had become a part of the tombstone.
Han Hao's voice sounded from the top of the tombstone, "This tombstone can affect everyone who cultivates Death Energy without exception. Apart from the Overgod of Death, perhaps no other Death Energy cultivator can kill me, including you, Dagmar! Even though you are a realm above me, you cannot kill me!"
"What, what on earth is that thing?" Dagmar was horrified. He believed Han Hao's words, for he had seen the power of the tombstone first hand.
"I don't know either!" Han Hao paused for a moment before continuing, "I have yet to fully learn its power. But when I do, when I can unleash its full power, it will be the end of you, Dagmar!"
As he finished these words, an enormous vortex of death formed at the base of the tombstone. The mountainous tombstone began to disappear from the ground as the vortex slowly rose into the sky. When the tombstone was completely engulfed, the vortex collapsed in on itself. A strong wind blew out of nowhere, sweeping away all traces of the vortex.
The towering tombstone, the seven bone spurs and Han Hao were gone.
Dagmar looked blankly and dejectedly at the ground that had returned to normal. After a long time he finally came to his senses. He shook his head as he said to himself, "No wonder... No wonder he wouldn't bow to my command... He's become so powerful!"