Han Shou had appeared so abruptly in the midst of Logue and Tyre's men that he had shocked them all. The slaughter in Omphalos was still going on, even though the sun had begun to set. The men, discovering that someone had appeared among them, shouted in surprise, "Who-who are you?"
Not all of these men knew Han Shuo. These so-called elites had been left behind by their leaders at the Shrine of Destruction and the Osteoburg. All they did was cultivate and protect these two places without taking a step outside.
"Tyre, Logue, come meet me!" Han Shuo said with a hearty laugh from above.
The two of them, who were at either end of the group, immediately paled when they heard his explosive voice. They had no idea why he would be here, of all places, just as they were about to carry out their plan.
Tyre in particular had a bad feeling about the whole thing. After reflecting on their actions so far and making sure he hadn't made any mistakes, he exhaled heavily and smiled before heading over. As he walked over, his mind raced to find a way to wipe out Han Shuo.
By the time Tyre saw Han Shuo, he noticed that Logue had arrived from behind the group earlier than he had. He seemed to be laughing and chatting with Han Shuo, much to Tyre's relief. Han Shuo probably didn't know what was going on yet.
"Bryan, I heard that you suffered a great loss in Pandemonium. The two of us can't even protect ourselves well, so we apologise for not being able to come to your aid. We're truly sorry," Tyre said with a hint of sadness, "We underestimated the power of the Godhunter Alliance. We didn't think they would overwhelm the entire Fringe so quickly. So far we haven't had any good news. I think we'll have a hard time defending the Fringe, Bryan.
Han Shuo found it rather strange that Tyre was unaware of their victory over the Godhunter Alliance, even though he had shared the secret of the energy crystals with Dhaka. There was no way he wouldn't know, since the two brothers had their own means of communication.
After a pause, Han Shuo's lips curved into a mischievous smile. It was now clear that Dhaka was hiding the truth from him in order to get him to eliminate the Hegemons. Han Shuo wasn't in a hurry to do anything to buy more time for Han Jin and Andrina. Instead, he faked a deep sigh and said, "Pandemonium is now completely ruined. The thousand soldiers I had there have all been killed. Faced with the sheer power of the Godhunter Alliance, we could do nothing but watch as our own comrades were killed. All I could do was defend myself!"
His anger seemed to intensify at this point. He glared at Tyre and continued, "Why did Balintan and Kauze come to Pandemonium? Why didn't you stop Judas and Tuckamore? Tyre, you didn't lose any men, while Bolten and Kauze brought a lot of them with them. You didn't even seem to want to fight them. Why did you not come to save us when you had so many troops at your disposal? You said you would help us before the battle began, but what have you done instead?"
Han Shou became more and more agitated as he doubled down on his accusations, putting on a rather convincing performance of being pushed to the brink. Tyre and Logue's troops weren't just their direct subordinates. There were many other smaller factions that had temporarily submitted to their leadership, but they were far from loyal, and Han Shuo's words were directed at those very people. As expected, a few of the men cast doubtful glances at the two of them.
"We did not actually engage Bolten and Kauze in battle!" said the leader of a relatively large faction, Karp.
"Not to mention that most of those who died in the battle at Osteoburg were one of us, not those two!" said Slank, another leader. He took the opportunity to say what he really meant now that Han Shuo was openly rebuking them. "Sir Logue, you've been using our men as cannon fodder all along. Out of all 193 of my brothers, only 75 are left! Nearly two-thirds of them have perished! Ante and Krull lost all their men too! What about you? Your loyal followers are mostly unharmed. You used us and sacrificed us! Logue! Do you remember what you said when you tried to recruit us? You said you'd treat us like everyone else and protect us as best you could, but what have you done?"
Slank's words cut much deeper than Han Shuo's and sounded even more justified. Han Shuo was only pretending to be angry, while Slank had a real bone to pick with them. He was filled with resentment for the deaths of his comrades.
"Slank, the reason your men suffered heavy losses was due to their own incompetence," Logue said coldly, still smiling, "Each of my men is an elite and far more powerful than all of you, so it's no surprise that they die less often. Are you going to turn against us now?"
He shot Tyre a hidden glance, hinting that they should deal with Han Shuo now. At the very least, they needed to drive him away so that he wouldn't continue to ruin their plans.
Prior to Han Shuo's arrival, these two discontented leaders had not really dared to voice their concerns, for there was no overgod who would stand up for them. They hadn't even dared to resist. But now, they were only too happy to use the opportunity Han Shuo had given them to air their grievances.
Tyre also began to grow anxious. He secretly signalled to Dhaka and learned that their group was about to leave Omphalos, while the other Hegemons had all gone in. But now he had to make sure that the various faction leaders listened to him and calmed the situation.
While most of the Hegemons were inside, they had left a number of subordinates outside, enough in number to match his and Logue's men. He could not afford for his own troops to fall apart now. While it was fine back then, Han Shuo's arrival was a catalyst for the destabilisation of his troops.
After hesitating for a moment, Tyre suddenly said, "Why are you trying to sow division at this time? The very survival of Omphalos is at stake! What on earth are you planning?"
Han Shuo laughed out loud with a hint of anger before pointing at Tyre. "Oh, Tyre, if you can't own up to your own actions, you can never be the ruler of the Fringe! You simply see those who have joined you as cannon fodder and use them as your shields in battle. You may even sacrifice your friends for your own sake! Even though you knew Pandemonium was in danger, you just sat back and watched. With you in charge, the Fringe is surely doomed!"
The other leaders were even more concerned and began to hesitate. It seemed that they no longer wanted to fight with Logue and Tyre. Han Shuo's words described them far too well. They were leaders who didn't care about their livelihood at all and would be happy to throw them into the abyss.
"Bryan, I know you're grieving over the destruction of Pandemonium, but if you continue to use these baseless words to stir us up, don't blame me for not taking our past friendship into account." Tyre took a deep breath and calmed his tone, but it was clear that this was his last warning.
"Friendship? Hahahah! Since when do you care about that? I've lost almost a thousand comrades, and it's all your fault! If it hadn't been for Bolten, Kauze, Tuckamore and Judas, we would have held out. It's because of your incompetence that my comrades are dead!"
"You've gone mad!" Tyre no longer hesitated, forming a long spear of destructive energy as he charged at Han Shuo. As he struck, a tense atmosphere filled the air. The spear pierced through everything with such destructive power that it was as if it had pierced space itself, revealing the strange coloured fabric inside.
At the moment he struck, Logue also acted, but his approach was different. He concentrated death energy into a huge cobra that opened its mouth wide in an attempt to swallow Han Shuo.
The others just watched as the three fought, thinking that with two Sovereigns attacking him, Han Shuo would have no chance. They then turned their attention to Slank and Karp. These two would meet the same fate.
Slank, Karp and a few other faction leaders could feel the malice of the two Sovereigns' subordinates and knew that they wouldn't be spared if Han Shuo fell. Now they were hoping that Han Shuo could hold out against them long enough, even though they had nothing to do with him before, in the hope that he could buy them time to escape. The moment they saw an opportunity to leave, they would not hesitate. They would no longer serve as a shield for Tyre and Logue.
With this in mind, they hoped that this new and upcoming ace in the Fringe would be able to hold out. If he could help them escape, they would even serve under him, the man who dared to take on two powerful Sovereigns. It would be much better than serving those Sovereigns who didn't care about their lives at all.
"Hahaha, so you got angry when I pointed out your mistakes!" Han Shuo laughed as if he wasn't facing two powerful Sovereigns. His laughter echoed all the way to Omphalos. Right after that, he suddenly struck. Thirteen Avatars appeared in the air, six of them fused with the energies of Death, Destruction, Darkness, Water, Lightning and Wind. The new Domain of Divinity spread out, enveloping the space around them.
Suddenly, Logue and Tyre's attacks were neutered. Both the spear and the cobra shattered in an instant. The six overlapping avatars looked down upon them as a god would upon mere mortals. Their cold eyes were cruel and merciless. With a single flick of his hand, an insurmountable pressure came down on Logue and Tyre, crushing them almost instantly into the ground and half burying them. Everyone fell silent in shock.
Tyre and Logue's men, as well as the other faction leaders, were stunned. They looked at the divine Avatar floating in the sky in utter shock. Logue and Tyre were still partially buried in the ground, looking completely distraught and confused. It was as if they were laughing one moment and crying the next as their mental faculties collapsed.
"What five Sovereigns? There is only one Sovereign in the Fringe!" Slank muttered as he snapped out of it. It wasn't loud, but the words rang clearly in everyone's ears. There was indeed only one Sovereign.
Those words seemed to echo incessantly as everyone there snapped out of their stupor and looked up at Han Shuo as if he were the one fit to rule the Fringe. The others such as Tyre, Logue, Wasir and Ossora were mere sideshows compared to him.
"Impossible... How can that be?" Tyre, once recognised as the number one sovereign, seemed completely out of it. It was as if all his motivation and fighting spirit had been smothered by the sight of the giant Avatar.
"Tyre, we still have a move! Use it!" Logue shouted, seeing Tyre's confusion.
Tyre snapped out of it and laughed maniacally. "Yes, indeed, I have a last resort! The situation is still salvageable!"
By now, he no longer cared if Dhaka and the others managed to escape and telepathically triggered the detonation mechanism he had placed under Omphalos. Han Shuo, however, just watched his panicked attempt at a comeback as if everything was still under control.
As expected, Tyre's expression immediately changed when he realised that there was no reaction to his detonation signal. It was impossible. He jumped out of the hole and turned towards Omphalos. "Why?! Why?!"
Logue also grimaced at Tyre's reaction and snapped his head at Han Shuo, who smiled mockingly at them. He immediately thought that Han Shuo had done something to thwart their plans.
"Tyre, I think it's Bryan. The explosion is no longer possible," he said with a pained look.
"No, it can't be!" Tyre cried. His madness seemed to trigger something, for a loud boom came from Omphalos. At that moment, the whole ground shook as the sound was so loud it felt like the world was falling apart. Even though it was far away, everyone could feel the terrifying effects.
Han Shuo's smile instantly vanished as his eyes widened in shock. He saw thick smoke coming from the area in front of him, unaware of what was going on. In a panic, he tried to sense Han Jin, Andrina and Han Hao, the three he cared about most.
He immediately relaxed when he found that they were fine. Then he sensed that the explosion had only destroyed a fifth of Omphalos - the region ruled by Tyre. It seemed that Han Jin and Andrina's plan had worked, but Tyre still had one last trick up his sleeve to make him explode in some way.