GDK 982: The Goddess of Destiny’s Secret
Translator: Ryogawa
TLC: Hedonist
Back at Pandemonium, Han Shuo had spent some time to locate all his family members and took them back here. When they all saw the current state of Pandemonium, they shook with rage and hatred for the godhunters.
Pandemonium was now nothing but an area covered in rubble and debris. Even the ground was cracked all over with rocks piled up unevenly across it. The countless buildings as well as decorative and defensive pillars and energy towers were nowhere to be seen.
To Phoebe, Stratholme and the rest, Pandemonium was the true home base of the House of Han. They were quite sentimentally attached to the place and couldn’t bear to see it in its current state. Even Han Shou felt rather taken aback, for he had invested the most time and effort into the place out of everyone here. The defensive formations alone cost him countless black crystal coins and ores apart from many other precious treasures. Seeing it all gone was quite a huge mental blow.
“Don’t be too sad. I will rebuild the whole place. With Han Tu, Han Mu, and Han Jin helping out, we’ll be able to restore Pandemonium to its former state in a year or two. By then, it will be among the most mystical places in all of Elysium. We shall perfect it even further and make it more suitable for the cultivation of many different types of energies,” Han Shuo said to console Phoebe and the other downtrodden women.
They were all unharmed, thanks to Andrina and the Five Elite Zombies leading them away the moment the situation seemed odd. There was nobody who could stop Han Tu and Han Jin from sneaking away.
The women’s moods gradually recovered with his consolation. The thought of how amazing Han Jin and Han Tu’s abilities were made them confident that rebuilding Pandemonium was not too difficult a matter.
Salas and Wasir didn’t come to Pandemonium with him. Now that Nestor, Judas, and the Goddess of Destiny had left the Fringe, Han Shuo believed that there wasn’t anybody else out there that could harm them now. With the state of Omphalos still being unknown, he needed Wasir and Salas to go there and scout it out.
“Han Tu, come here.” Han Shuo waved to him, interrupting his thought about how he should rebuild the place.
Smiling, he quickly came to Han Shuo and asked, “Father, are we going to start rebuilding right away? The underground hasn’t changed much. All we need to do is to reconnect the severed tunnels. If we spend a bit of time restoring the underground palace, the underground routes will soon be back to normal.”
“Let’s leave all that for a later time. I doubt the godhunters will ever dare to come back here again, so we wouldn’t need to worry about this place too much.” He then took out a shining crystal ball and handed it to him. “This is Ossora’s divine soul. There’s still a trace of the earth divine energy Ossora used within it. If you assimilate it, your abilities should grow quite a bit. Where you’re an overgod, given your talent, rebuilding Pandemonium will be a piece of cake for you.”
Han Tu could immediately feel the power coming from the crystal ball. Han Shuo had already erased all of Ossora’s self-awareness from his soul, leaving behind only the comprehensions he had on earth energy as well as the complexities of breaking through to his level. It was nothing short of a treasure trove for Han Tu and would definitely help him improve at an explosive rate.
He received the ball excitedly and said, “Thank you Father! Thank you!”
Han Shou chuckled when he saw how startled the other four elite zombies were. “Don’t be too envious. I’ll go kill the three Hegemons that cultivate in water, fire, and life energies with Han Hao and give you their divine souls.”
Han Shui, Han Huo, and Han Mu cheered. Only Han Jin continued to sulk, but before he could say anything, Andrina put her hands on her hips and snapped, “Bryan, what about Jin here?”
“Umm… The energy Han Jin cultivates is a little different from the others. I still don’t have a candidate that can help him improve. The twelve Hegemons don’t really cultivate any rare energies, after all. I don’t have a choice in this matter.”
“Andrina, Father treats us all the same. I’m sure you also know that my energy just isn’t a good match,” Han Jin added. The metal energy was too rare in this universe, with them only encountering one or two practitioners in a long while. Even then, they were weaker than Han Jin and wouldn’t be of help.
Andrina had no choice but to accept the explanation. “You’re always honest to a fault. You let them get all the good stuff.”
Han Jin laughed dryly, as if he was a little afraid of her. Hearing their conversation, Han Shuo found it rather interesting. He didn’t think that Han Jin would actually be the first among his brothers to gain a fruitful romantic relationship. These days, Han Shuo noted that Han Jin’s soul was slowly transforming after he spent so much time with her. Not to mention, the energy in him was also growing rather quickly.
Gradually, Han Shuo observed Han Jin showing some rather complex emotional responses when it came to Andrina. He could no longer see any idiosyncrasies of lower lifeforms within Han Jin, who had his own thoughts and feelings that were still evolving to this day.
Based on this and Han Hao’s relationship with Scarlett, it seemed that the Five Elite Zombies were developing genuine emotions, which allowed them to continue breaking through again and again. It wasn’t just a question of pure power, but rather something essential that came from within the depths of their souls. Finding that would make them a new, better lifeform.
“Are you going to take on the Hegemons?” Andrina asked.
Han Shuo nodded. “That’s right. The Hegemons dared to stop retreating from the Fringe. They are turning their attention to Omphalos. Since that’s the case, I’ll make sure they never get to leave the Fringe alive.”
“I’ll come with you!” Andrina said resolutely.
Han Shuo was a little taken aback. He knew that Andrina loathed godhunters, so refusing her wasn’t an option. After some hesitation, he asked, “Why do you hate the Godhunter Alliance so much, Andrina? You’ve always kept it from me up till now. I wonder if this is the right time to ask.”
Andrina paused for a while before she said, “My father was killed by godhunters and I used to be captured by them. They forced me to make energy crystal cannons. My lifeforce was almost used up entirely before I even managed to grow up!”
Han Shuo was shocked to hear it. “How could this be possible with how powerful your mother is? Not to mention, shouldn’t someone your mother fell for be able to defeat godhunters?”
The Goddess of Destiny was a widely respected figure. No matter how daring the Godhunter Alliance was, there was no way they would even dare to touch her husband and daughter.
“Back then, my mother hadn’t yet obtained the Mirror of Destiny. She also didn’t know that she was the Goddess of Destiny and wasn’t even an overgod. Before she awakened her powers, my mother was just a normal woman without the wisdom she has today. She was only a weak lowgod,” she said after some hesitation.
“What in the world? So your mother isn’t like the other Quintessence Overgods who gained their power quickly?”
Nodding, Andrina said, “The God of Destiny’s power lay dormant in my mother’s body as it was sealed. My mother’s divine soul is a reincarnation. Before she awakened her true powers in the edict of destiny, she didn’t know her true identity. But even back then, she could already have a vague feeling about what would happen. But her limited abilities meant that she wasn’t able to avoid the fates her foresight had predicted.”
That threw Han Shuo in for a loop. He didn’t think the goddess had that kind of history. If Andrina had not told him this, it might be something he would never find out for the rest of his life. The Goddess of Destiny’s powers were completely unique. Yet, what kind of person could be powerful enough to seal away the powers of someone respected by the other eleven Quintessence Overgods and cause her to reincarnate? Gradually, he seemed to have gained an insight into something.
“Andrina, your mother should’ve avenged you and your father already, right?”
“That’s right, but she didn’t kill all the godhunters even though she has the power to. Every time I asked her why she didn’t do it, she wouldn’t tell me anything. Doesn’t she know nothing is more important to me than avenging my father?!” It seemed that she had run away from home because of this reason.
“Alright. We’ll go to Omphalos together then,” Han Shuo suddenly agreed.
“Father, I will go with her, right?” Han Jin said longingly.
Chuckling, Han Shuo nodded. He half expected this reaction. “Alright. The two of you shall come with me.”