"What did my dad talk to you about?" Donna asked as Felder left.
"Just the Shrine of Darkness. It wasn't anything special," Han Shuo said with a smile, "Your father is very lucky. The fact that the Overgod of Darkness contacted your father directly means that he holds him in high esteem. I believe his position in Hushveil City is secure from now on."
As long as one had the favour of the Quintessence Overgod, one would definitely have a bright future within his respective domain. Felder's power wasn't outstanding, but he had a sharp mind and was good at running the city, so the
Overgod of Darkness valued him as a subordinate.
"You really didn't talk about anything else?" Donna seemed rather uncomfortable about something as she blushed. "Did you talk about us?"
"Hehe, your father didn't really say anything other than to ask me to appreciate you," he said after some thought to reassure her.
Hearing that meant her father wasn't against their relationship. Blushing and looking straight at him, she whispered, "Then will you listen to what he says?"
"What do you think?" Han Shuo held her hand and smiled mischievously. Donna held his gaze for a few seconds before shyly pulling away, stamping her feet in embarrassment.
"I have to leave for a while to see these three. After the meeting I'll come back and look for you. If you don't have anything urgent to do here, get ready to go to the Fringe with me."
She was as surprised as she was moved by the offer, but she hesitated. "Let me talk to my father about it first. There are a lot of things we have to take care of in the city and our family is rather strapped for manpower."
"Don't worry. Your father will do well with the support of the Overgod of Darkness. No one will dare make trouble for him. Besides, you can't be here to help him forever, and I need an extra pair of hands for the many problems in the Fringe." He took her hands in his own and smiled sweetly. He was indeed quite busy in the Fringe, but thanks to Phoebe, Emily and the many other members of the House of Han, he didn't really need extra manpower. It was just a convenient excuse.
"I'll talk to Father about it," she said happily. It seemed that she was now serious about arranging her departure.
"I'm sure your father will let you come with me," he said as he stroked her hair. "All right, I will say goodbye now. I'll come and get you when things are settled."
Donna was a little reluctant to see him go, wanting to spend a little more time with him. But after remembering how strange his avatar was, she discarded the idea and let him go after asking him to stay safe.
Han Shuo then left for Mirage City. According to Felder, the Shrine of Darkness was located in the murky forests of Myrkvidr, which lay between Hushveil City, City of Shadows and Mirage City. The trees in the forest towered high into the sky, blocking out sunlight and moonlight alike, making it dark and gloomy even on the brightest of days.
Han Shuo had long suspected that the Shrine of Darkness would be there; after all, Myrkvidr was forbidden to most people. Anyone who entered without permission would never leave alive. Even though Han Shuo had a hunch about its location, he didn't dare to check it out for himself. Back then, when he was still weak, the Quintessence Overgods were practically a myth to him.
Although it was quite a distance from Hushveil City, Han Shuo's speed had improved considerably and he managed to reach the entrance in half a day. Feeling the dark element permeating the surroundings, he took a deep breath and stepped into the forest. Even though he was confident in front of Felder and Donna, he was a little worried about entering Myrkvidr. If the three Quintessence Overgods decided to wipe him out there, he wasn't sure he could leave such a unique place so easily.
After entering, he expanded his consciousness and felt the flow of the Darkness Element before descending into the depths. I wonder what the Overgods of death, destruction and darkness really want to see me for? No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't find an answer.
According to Nestor, they hadn't invited him just to discuss a simple alliance with the Fringe. Han Shuo had never planned to join the Battle of the Gods, but Nestor made it sound like it was something he couldn't avoid. Even the ever-neutral Dominions of Destiny and Space wouldn't be able to avoid the consequences of the upcoming battle, so it definitely wouldn't be an ordinary one.
Based on the secrets he had managed to extract from the Kauzu soul about how the Godhunters were actually part of the machinations of the Twelve Overgods, Han Shuo began to be very suspicious of them. He didn't understand why they were watching as he slowly grew stronger. It seemed that they were planning to use his strength to open Aethernia for some purpose. He had taken the risk to come here to put his doubts to rest.
He walked deeper and deeper into the forest at a leisurely pace, stepping on the soft fallen leaves as he went, correcting his course by sensing the Dark Element to ensure that he was always heading towards the centre. Han Shuo detected no sign of life in his surroundings, which made it eerily quiet. As he went deeper, he noticed that the concentration of the other elements became thinner, while that of the Darkness Element became denser.
Suddenly the light around him disappeared and he found himself in pitch black darkness. He also noticed that there was no trace of any of the other elements except the Darkness Element around him. His consciousness told him that he still wasn't at the place with the highest concentration of the Dark Element, so he definitely wasn't in the Shrine of Darkness.
He could no longer rely on his sight, so he used his Consciousness to feel his way to the shrine. After some time, he found himself at a source of darkness, with a dark element pouring out in all directions. The amount of dark energy seemed boundless, like an ocean. It was as if this was the source of all the Darkness Element in Elysium.
It was the power of the Quintessence! He knew immediately that he had reached his goal. Soon he would be able to see the Overgod of Darkness. Only the Quintessence could possess such boundless power.
Han Shuo cleared his throat to make his presence known. Then he noticed that the dark element around him suddenly energised, pressing down on him like a constricting cage, pressing against every corner of his body. Feeling the terrifying power, he didn't hesitate and immediately split his avatar in two, undoing the powerful binding he had created with spatial energy.
He had never been able to truly merge these two composite avatars. Although he appeared to be one person, he was actually quite unstable due to the conflict between the energies of his avatars. While he could afford to take on weaker opponents in this state, he didn't dare risk it against the Quintessence Overgods.
The two halves split wide apart, unleashing the clashing energies. He didn't care what the Overgod of Darkness was up to, and immediately erected his strongest barrier to protect himself. His avatars, which had made easy work of Gyál, changed under the sudden, enormous pressure. The dense dark element pressing down was transformed into drops of pure dark essence, each containing the power of a Highgod.
These drops then fused together to form an ocean that completely submerged Han Shuo before turning into a vortex that spun his two avatars around in circles, threatening to swallow him whole. With each rotation of the vortex, the defences of his avatars weakened. Soon, the barriers protecting them were completely shattered.
Utterly shocked, Han Shou now felt that he had been too reckless to invade someone else's home. He had never expected to be suddenly attacked without so much as a word, and even to be threatened with the loss of his two avatars. The power of a Quintessence Overgod was truly unfathomable.