"So you are Bryan? Hahaha, you look like a young squirt for someone so brave!" Gyál said with a cold chuckle as he entered after McKinley.
"Long time no see. I didn't think you'd become the new Lord of Omphalos. I knew you were destined for greatness," Yarus said with a solemn look. All the while, he made sure to keep a good distance from Gyál and even more from Han Shuo.
Han Shuo ignored Gyál and smiled at Yarus instead, finding it a little odd that he was the one who killed Yarus' brother Lakrisen, not to mention the carnage in the City of Gorging Clouds. However, the first thing Yarus did after seeing him this time was not to seek revenge, which was not what he expected at all. "Even though I was the one who killed Lakrisen, you say you're only here to deal with the Godhunters? Do you really mean that?"
Feeling his chest tighten, Yarus feigned a smile and nodded. "Believe it or not, I'm not planning on taking revenge." He had received instructions from the Overgod of Darkness on this matter some time ago and wouldn't dare disobey them, no matter how unwilling he felt.
"So where are the Godhunters?" Gyál said with disgust when he saw that Han Shuo had ignored him.
Han Shuo finally turned his attention to Gyál, remembering the words of the God of Light. After watching him for a while, he realised that Gyál was a religious zealot. The wild fervour he radiated was due to his intense belief in the God of Light.
Even though he was dressed in a clean white robe, he didn't look the least bit serene. Instead, he looked as if he would explode at the slightest disturbance. As McKinley had said, Gyál hadn't been born in Elysium and had once been one of the most insane followers of the God of Light in some backwater. He had killed endlessly for his faith, while growing it at the same time, eventually earning him the attention of the God of Light, who bestowed upon him a divine stigma. His powers soared as a result, making him the first Light Cultivator on the small continent from which he came to become a Midgod.
His achievements impressed the God of Light so much that he sent him on several great expeditions to different planes. Gyál's fanaticism never disappointed the God of Light, as he wiped out the minor religions of these planes and spread his faith far and wide. Eventually, Gyál was told to come to Elysium. As before, he performed to the satisfaction of the God of Light, and it took him only five centuries to become a Highgod, quickly becoming a rising star in the Dominion of Light.
There were many legends about Gyál, but they all emphasised how unique he was. He had never been one to use sneaky tactics, always relying on nothing but his intense and zealous power to crush his enemies, making him the most ruthless and powerful of the three Lightkeepers.
Han Shuo remembered all he knew of Gyál and was equally impressed by his genius. It seemed that only those who devoted their entire being to the God of Light would attract his attention and favour. It was no surprise that Han Shuo was warned not to mess with him.
"Didn't you meet any when you came over?" Han Shuo said amicably, "We chased the Godhunter Alliance out of the Fringe. Now we are Godhunter free. Gentlemen, you are welcome to visit at your leisure, but if you intend to wipe out the Fringe, then I'm afraid I'll have to show you the way out."
"Where is Han Hao?" Gyál asked, "I hear he's a godhunter too. Hand him over and tell us where his men are. Only then will we consider ignoring your cesspool and letting you rot on your own terms."
If Gyál hadn't been fully aware of Han Shuo's power, he would have had his men kill everyone in the city without even bothering to talk. But even though he knew that Han Shuo was not someone who could be easily dealt with, he could not change his temper at all and said it in a way as if he was giving him orders. It was as if no one else mattered but the God of Light and those of his faith. The rest could all die for all he cared.
Han Shuo had never intended to spare Gyál in the least. The moment he was asked to hand over Han Hao, his expression turned grim. Chuckling sinisterly, he said, "What is the meaning of this, Gyál? Do you think you can bargain with me?"
As far as he was concerned, he was on the same level as the God of Light, so to be threatened by someone beneath him ruffled his feathers.
Gyál's anger boiled over. "Hahahahaha... In the past thousand years, I have never feared anyone but the Quintessence Overgods. Yet you are the first who dared to act so arrogantly in front of me. Very well! Now, even if you hand over Han Hao, I will see to it that you die!
Unlike the cunning Yarus, Gyál was the type to attack without thinking. Sacred light erupted from his body as holy aurum armour formed over his body. Then, holy energy emanated from his body and the olive branch in his hand, exerting great pressure on everyone present. Gyál had always had a short fuse, which made him unfit to rule a city, but he was a great warrior. He was known throughout Elysium as the strongest of the three Lightkeepers.
"Don't worry, you'll never meet anyone who dares to act arrogantly in front of you again!" Han Shuo said. He wasn't surprised by the level of power Gyál was displaying. It was only natural for someone with such a deep faith to also possess the Holy Aurum Armour. Without waiting for the Olive Branch to fully unleash its power, Han Shuo willed his six avatars to emerge from the cauldron and merge, expanding his Domain of Divinity to envelop the entire Fringe in an instant.
The moment the ethereal, gigantic Han Shuo opened his arms, he caused bolts of lightning and countless icicles glowing a strange grey to fall and strike Gyál. It only took one barrage for the holy aurum armour to crack and shatter. The grey pillar of light came crashing down after only a small amount of holy light had gathered at the tip of the olive branch.
This caused Gyál's body to instantly explode, sending shards of gold everywhere along with his flesh. With a wave of his hand, Han Shuo tried to take his soul into the Cauldron of Myriad Demons. However, a white and holy light shone from Gyál's soul and emitted an ear piercing sound before forming into the most common sword of light and shooting towards Han Shuo.
His expression changed as he felt the power of the quintessence from the white light. The light was probably due to the divine stigma the God of Light had left in Gyál. It protected Gyál's soul and attacked Han Shuo's avatar. It dawned on him that the God of Light must have left this attack dormant in Gyál's soul after their encounter in Pandemonium. The Light Sword seemed almost inevitable, so all Han Shuo could do was try to form a grey net with the power of his Fusion Avatar to catch it.
He focused all his attention on catching it as if it were a fearsome enemy. Suddenly, his combat aura avatar shook, while his light avatar absorbed some of the light from Gyál's explosion. Surprisingly, these two avatars actually merged into a single avatar for some reason. Shortly afterwards, the Avatars of Life, Fire, Space, Fate and Earth joined forces with the Avatar of Light. Now, with the combined powers of Light, Combat Aura, Life, Fire, Space, Fate and Earth, the new giant Avatar formed another net to catch the Sword of Light.
"A genius indeed! He has used the power of my quintessence for another breakthrough! Brilliant, it seems the day of Aethernia's opening is not far off." The voice of the God of Light could be heard coming from the light as it stopped attacking Han Shuo and instantly disappeared with Gyál's soul. It had ended as abruptly as it had begun.
Han Shuo felt a strange sensation as he looked at the two giant avatars that seemed to be the antithesis of each other. He had wanted to fuse all the energies together at once and thought there was no better way given the polar nature of certain energies like light and darkness and so on.
However, the energies of Light, Life and Fire didn't seem to repel each other, and the Combat Aura also seemed to be quite similar to Light. Coupled with the power of the Quintessence acting as a catalyst, the seven avatars whose energies didn't seem to synergize with each other actually fused into another avatar.
On the one hand, he had a composite avatar of death, destruction, darkness, water, lightning and wind, and on the other, one of light, combat aura, life, fire, earth, fate and space. Though their qualities were different, their absolute power was unquestioned.
"Since the Godhunters are not here, we won't disturb you," Yarus said suddenly, interrupting Han Shuo's train of thought and signalling Talbot to leave.