Inside a gymnasium at the Kiaran Residence, three divine guards from the House of Kiaran were practicing footwork according to the scroll they received from the House of Han. The three of them moved nimbly around the gymnasium in a tight formation, but without bumping into each other.
Sha-t'o sat on a throne made of bones as he watched the three guards. He called the Highgod responsible for training the three to his side and asked, "So they have learned the combat formation?"
"I have been training them for the past three days according to the steps and movements recorded on the scroll. Although they are not the fastest learners and have not fulfilled the requirements, we should see some effects by now."
Sha-t'o nodded and commanded, "Well, let's see if they have any effect. He randomly selected three of his family clan's divine guards and sent them down to the battle arena.
The three selected walked smilingly into the arena. They, along with many of the Kiaran family, thought that the three of them practising the battle formation were wasting time, that the training method provided by the House of Han was useless.
The divine guards who practised the Han family's demonic combat formation and those who did not were all Late-stage Midgods. Both sides had the same individual strengths.
"Finally, we will see if the training method is actually useful. If it's not, the Han clan will get it! Let the battle begin!" shouted Sha-t'o after the divine guards were in place.
The Divine Guards fought at close quarters. The three who had briefly practised the demonic formation stood in a triangle with their backs to each other. They would move around the arena as a unit without breaking formation. From above, they looked like a spinning triangle.
Their opponents, wearing happy and relaxed smiles, spread out. Simultaneously, they launched their first attack at the divine guards who were constantly moving around in a triangular formation.
A miracle happened!
Although the three had attacked at the same time, two of the attacks missed their targets and only one of the wanderers missed. And immediately afterwards, the three wanderers launched their counterattack. They focused their fire on one of their opponents and blew him away. He was sent flying backwards.
Since everyone in the arena was a Divine Guardian of the Kiaran family, and they were only playing a friendly game, they only attacked with a small portion of their power. The divine guard who was sent flying backwards immediately got back on his feet and quickly returned to the arena.
He thought it was just a lucky hit and that he had taken it too lightly. He rejoined his comrades and they took a more cautious approach.
The three launched their attack a second time. Once again, two attacks missed and one of them was blasted away!
They continued to advance, and the three attackers were blown out of the arena again and again. However, the three divine guards, using a demonic combat formation, had always stayed inside the arena and had never been defeated.
At first, the Kiaran Family spectators were all in a jovial mood. But gradually, they fell silent and their expressions turned serious. They were all watching the battle with their full attention.
Sha-t'o, who had been sitting lazily, now sat up straight and leaned forward slightly. His eyes were wide open and glittered with excitement as he watched his divine guards battle it out.
After staring for a long time, he took a deep breath and commanded, "Stop, that is enough.
He then turned to the senior members of his house and asked, "What do you think?"
"Wonderful! Absolutely miraculous!" One of them took a deep breath, his eyes glowing with excitement as he exclaimed, "The House of Han is indeed something. They have only been practising the technique for three days, yet they can already unleash such formidable power in team combat. Once they master the technique, they will be even more powerful!"
"Patriarch, it seems that we must obtain all the secrets of the House of Han. If we succeed, not only our House of Kiaran, but even the entire strength of our Witherbone City will increase manifold!" commented another senior member.
Sha-t'o nodded. With a determined expression he said, "Indeed. We must acquire all their secrets by any means necessary, no matter the cost!"
*** "One of our guards mysteriously disappeared last night!" Stratholme's face was grave as he said to Emily, "On our very first day here, we instructed them never to leave the compound without our orders. They will never disobey our orders. There's something very wrong about this!"
Emily knew that none of the House of Han guards dared to disobey her orders. From the day they entered the House of Han, they had been trained to be loyal, to obey their masters' orders to the letter. And given the current situation they found themselves in, it was even more unlikely that any of these guards would leave without permission.
"Try to search all our activity areas and ask around for this person," Emily suggested. She had a feeling something sinister had happened to the guard.
"I searched everywhere before I came to see you. I'm sure he's not here." Stratholme hesitated for a moment before saying, "Could it be...?"
Emily knew what Stratholme was about to say. They were in the Kiaran residence. The Han family's area of operation was very limited. Since it was impossible for a member of the House of Han to attack one of their own, this meant that the disappearance of the Divine Guard was most likely the work of the House of Kiaran.
""Cover it up as long as you can." Emily's face was grave as she said, "I don't want the House of Han guards to panic. Most of all, I don't want Sanguis and Gilbert to do anything reckless. They have only begun to calm down because of Bollands' beating. If they hear about this, all hell will break loose.
Given their current circumstances, Stratholme knew their only option was to continue to sit back and do nothing. Outnumbered as they were, any kind of fight would only end badly for them.
"I see..." Stratholme's heart ached, but he nodded, accepting the difficult decision.
"Sigh... This is all my fault. We should have gone to the Space Dominion instead of the Death Dominion. If we had gone there instead, none of this would have happened..." Emily remarked after letting out a sigh.
"Don't blame yourself, we all made that choice. At least we are still alive," Stratholme replied. He sighed and walked away with his head hanging.
***Beneath the Kiaran Residence, in an underground prison hidden beneath layers of defensive barriers.
In a prison cell sat a House of Han guard. There were bruises, wounds, and holes all over his body with some made to expose his bones. Some of his fingers and toes were missing, his chest had been badly charred and there were bizarre worms chirping as they happily munched on his rotting flesh. This House of Han guard had been tortured for an entire night and was barely recognizable. He had a numbed expression on his disfigured face and his weary eyes were staring into emptiness. There was not an ounce of energy left in him.
Click-dong! The prison gate was unlocked and slammed open. Sha-t'o walked down the stairs with his brows bunched. He glanced at the dying House of Han guard with disgusted eyes before asking in an annoyed voice, "I have given you one night. Have you gotten anything yet?"
The eerie-looking torturer put on a helpless expression and shook his head. Putting on a bitter smile, he answered, "Patriarch, I have seen many tough cases. However, this is the first time I have met someone who wouldn't budge to any kind of torture. I used more than twenty different instruments, but he wouldn't say a word.
"What a useless bunch of rubbish!" groaned Sha-t'o coldly before he scolded in a deep voice, "I've spent so many black crystal coins every year to maintain you, but you can't even do your job properly! Not only are you wasting my crystal coins and time, but I have to use my divine energy to do the job myself! Absolute rubbish!"
"Brother... Brother-in-law... I really tried my best... Not only didn't he say a word, he bit off his tongue. There's really nothing more I can do..." When the torturer saw that Sha-t'o was angry, he immediately changed the title from 'Patriarch' to 'Brother-in-Law'. It seemed they were related.
"He what?!" Sha-t'o was shocked by what he had heard. It wasn't that Sha-t'o had never seen someone do it before, but for a random, average guard to do such a savage thing to himself – that was the first time he had seen it and it terrified him.
The prisoner they abducted was just a very ordinary guard of the House of Han, possessing merely Mid-stage Midgod strength. He was pretty much a cannon fodder type of existence. And yet, this ordinary character was stauncher than even the toughest criminal god. If such a group of experts one day came to possess adequate strength, they would be completely unstoppable!
It seems that I have to change my plan. No matter if the House of Han hand over those secrets, they will have to die. I cannot allow such a formidable threat to exist. thought Sha-t'o inwardly. He impatiently gestured to the torturer to be dismissed. After everyone exited the cell and he was alone with the House of Han guard, Sha-t'o went forward and pressed his hand on the dying guard.
A hazy mist glowing with eerie green light enveloped the guard's skull. It rummaged through his mind and extracted memories from the depths of his divine soul.
Moments later, Sha-t'o retreated. The House of Han guard had bled from his seven orifices and showed no signs of life.
Sha-t'o walked out of the cell with a grave face. When he was in front of his Highgods, he ordered: "Tell the House of Han to hand over every training method of their demonic combat formations within three days. Three days is all they have."
"Patriarch, did you get any useful memories? What did you find out?" asked one of the Highgods.
"The House of Han is more formidable than we thought!" exclaimed Sha-t'o. From the guard's memories, he learned that Han Shuo had killed Larikson's highgods on their way to the Soaring Cloud Mountains, attacked Hushveil City, defeated City Lord Hofs, and other things. Sha-t'o began to worry.
"Understood!" the Highgods replied immediately. Then he quickly went to Dagassi and gave the House of Han the ultimatum.
That night, Han Shuo, who had been speeding all the way, finally entered the domain of Witherbone City. At his current speed, he would reach the city within half a day.