Han Shuo realised that Salas would do everything in his power to find him, and in the process, Salas would find the Pandemonium. It would only be a matter of time.
Han Shuo was well aware of Salas' strength and the defensive power of the Pandemonium. The demonic formations within the Pandemonium might be able to stall Salas for a while, but they would definitely not be able to kill him. Han Shuo was afraid that Rose and the five elite zombies living in the valley might lose their lives.
Therefore, Han Shuo rushed to the Pandemonium with all his might, hoping that he wouldn't arrive too late.
But Han Shuo had underestimated the intelligence and treachery of his five children. He had also not expected Ossora to defend the Pandemonium for him.
As Han Shuo raced towards the Pandemonium at the speed of light, Salas' troops were being massacred in the valley. It was like a scene out of hell.
At the centre of the Pandemonium was a monolith carved with the outline of the Cauldron. Mysterious lights flowed through the etching like blood through a living organism. When Sala's experts perished, their divine souls floated into the monolith in the form of thin smoke.
A Soul Gathering Formation and a Storage Formation were set up on the monolith. It was made so that Cauldron Spirit could collect the divine souls of the Pandemonium invaders while he was away. Later, when Han Shuo returned to the valley, he could collect the souls and process them. That way, the souls of those who had died wouldn't just vanish and go to waste.
Salas had a grave expression on his face at this moment, still trapped in a demonic formation. The divine energy in his body was being rapidly depleted to defend against the energies bombarding him from all directions.
The Yuan energies that powered most of the demonic formations in the Pandemonium were being directed at the formation trapping Salas. This reduced the destructive power of the lesser demonic formations, as well as the pressure on those trapped within them. As a result, some of Salas' troops managed to escape death.
Beneath the pandemonium, Goron and his subordinates had used the emergency escape tunnel built by Earth Elite Zombie. Only the Five Elite Zombies, Rose, Romon and Zovic had yet to leave.
"That's almost everyone. It's our turn to evacuate," Romon remarked.
Han Mu, Han Huo, Han Shui, Han Tu, Han Jin and Rose were reluctant to leave the valley they had fallen in love with. This was especially true for the five elite zombies who had helped build the place. They had truly considered the Valley their home. Their hearts ached as they considered the likely scenario that it would soon be destroyed by Salas.
"I think Ossora will stop Salas as he promised. Don't worry, the base will be fine," Zovic comforted the group.
""Let's go," Han Tu sighed somewhat melancholically, "if the worst comes to the worst, we'll just take another two years to rebuild it. It's no big deal!"
"Let's go. I hope Ossora keeps the place mostly intact," Han Jin said before stepping into the evacuation tunnel.
With nothing else to do, the remaining Pandemonians fled into the tunnel. The tunnel was sealed and there was no one left in the Pandemonium but Salas and his troops.
*** Ten minutes later.
Salas breathed a long sigh of relief as the bizarre energies suddenly stopped bombarding him. He felt the brief joy of escaping death.
Unknown to Salas, the Pandemonium had only collected a limited amount of Yuan energy, and the formation could not trap him indefinitely. Still, it had consumed a great deal of Salas' divine energy. At this rate, his divine energy would be completely depleted within five days.
Salas stood up and looked around. He was surprised to see that most of the demonic formations had ceased to function. He also saw a land filled with the bodies of his troops.
Before the attack, the invading force assembled by Salas had been nearly a thousand gods strong. But after the slaughter, less than three hundred were left alive, most of them wounded and exhausted.
Salas had fought countless wars and battles in the Fringe for eons, but never before had he suffered such a crushing defeat. More than half of his troops had been killed, yet he had not even seen the silhouette of Han Shuo, his main target.
He had already lost a large number of his troops in the attack on Empyrean Peak several months ago. Combined with the losses he had suffered today, he had almost no army left. For a lord like him, nothing could be more humiliating like this.
"Search the valley! Kill everyone you find! Do not leave an ant alive!" ordered Salas with a dark face, determined to wipe out Han Shuo and his people.
Those troops of Salas who were lucky enough to survive dragged their weary arms and legs and wandered cautiously around the valley, trying to find their enemies and kill them in the hope that this would appease Salas.
This bizarre valley had wiped out more than half of them. But during the entire invasion, they had not met a single defender. The experience had shaken them to the core.
The exhausted survivors searched every chamber and tunnel but could not find Rose, the five elite zombies or the other Pandemonians who had evacuated the valley. After half an hour of futile searching, the followers of Salas returned to their lord, heads bowed.
"My lord, there is not a single person here!"
"It's empty, there's nothing of value left!"
"My lord, what shall we do?"
"..."
Salas became so angry that the blood vessels in his brain nearly burst. He went to great lengths to gather his followers from all over the Fringe to invade the valley. Although he had successfully captured it, his enemy had managed to escape. All the men he had sent to their deaths had been for nothing. If the outside world found out, it would be a fatal blow to Salas' reputation. He could start planning his retirement.
"Destroy it, destroy everything. Destroy it to nothing," Salas ordered, gritting his teeth. By now, even Salas was wondering how he was going to face the world after such a humiliation.
At that moment, Salas' troops had flickering lights in their eyes as they looked at him. They began to suspect that the Sovereign they trusted so much might not be as terrifying as they had imagined. He had misjudged the situation and given erroneous orders that had directly contributed to the deaths of their comrades.
"I said destroy everything!" a furious Salas shouted, as if he had read the minds of his followers.
Shocked, Salas' followers hurried back into the Pandemonium to carry out his orders.
"Long time no see, Salas!" Ossora slowly emerged from the darkness with an almost mocking smile on his face.
Salas narrowed his eyes and asked coldly, "Ossora, why are you here?"
"To convince you," Ossora explained. "The owner of this place has spent a considerable amount of resources to build it. He wishes that you do not destroy this amazing valley."
Salas's voice lowered and he replied rudely, "Is your brain clogged with dirt? Bryan's presence in the Fringe will only upset the current order we have established over countless years. How could you side with him? Don't tell me you want to carve out some of your possessions from the Fringe and share them with Bryan?"
Ossora shook his head with a smile and replied, "Of course not. But it seems to me that Bryan isn't interested in us. You're the one who had bad luck."
Salas was in a bad mood and couldn't stand Ossora's mockery. He shouted angrily, "Ossora, what exactly do you want? You want to defend this outsider?"
"Well, not really. If you had killed Bryan, I wouldn't care if you destroyed this place. But now I've promised someone to take care of this valley. So please do me the honour of leaving without destroying the place," Ossora replied politely.
"You short-sighted fool!" Salas shouted angrily, "Fine, let's see if you can stop me!" Salas rolled up his sleeves, ready for battle.
The smile on Ossora's face did not fade. He chuckled as he said, "Salas, oh Salas. Can't you see it's very unwise to fight me now? You've spent much of your divine energy in the Pandemonium, and the few followers you have left cannot help you. You should reconsider your decision."
"Cut the crap. I'm going to lay waste to this valley. No one can stop me!" shouted Salas angrily before attacking Ossora.
Salas' troops were incredibly exhausted, having barely survived the demonic formations. Many of them were injured and far from their best. If they were to stand nearby while two overgods fought, they were bound to be seriously injured, if not killed, by the overwhelming stray energies and shockwaves generated. As a result, the troops of Salas who were prepared to destroy the Pandemonium hastily retreated to a safe distance.
Ossora saw that a battle was inevitable. Rather than have the shockwaves destroy the Pandemonium as they fought, Ossora decided to take them elsewhere.
Salas was almost mad with rage at this moment. He lunged at Ossora without thinking.
Bolts of lightning expanded, filling the sky in an instant before converging on Ossora as he stood on the ground. In response, Ossora used clouds of dust to congeal two giant monsters and block the lightning.
Two Overgods began to fight near the Pandemonium. Deafening explosions shook the sky and ground. The terrifying lightning and earth energies collided, destroying two mountains near the valley.
Normally, a battle between two Overgods would take a long time. The two Sovereigns were about evenly matched, and it would take at least a day or two for a winner to emerge.
The other three Sovereigns simultaneously felt a great surge of energy. Following their senses, Tyre, Logue and Wasir rushed towards the Pandemonium without the slightest hesitation.