CHAPTER 847: He's Mine

While Han Shuo was rebuilding Romon's body, Han Hao and Han Tu managed to locate Kage.

They were about five hundred miles south of Empyrean Peak. Kage and his gang had just robbed a merchant caravan and were counting their booty. They howled with laughter from time to time.

Han Hao and Han Tu were underground, directly beneath Kage. Through the tiny vibrations that travelled into the ground, Han Tu could pinpoint the exact location of people on the surface. He could even estimate their numbers and strength.

"Brother, besides Kage, there are four Highgods and sixteen Midgods. They are close together. Shall we attack them soon?" asked Han Tu.

Han Hao's purple demon eye glittered on his calm face. He shook his head and replied, "No, we must not attack recklessly. We will only attack if there is an opening."

Han Tu said nothing and continued to observe the situation on the ground.

After following them for three days, Han Tu suddenly said, "There seems to be another group approaching. They have great strength and are coming in large numbers. I'm not sure if they're with Kage."

"Where are they?" asked Han Hao.

"Fifty miles south of Kage and closing fast," Han Tu replied confidently after closing his eyes and sensing for a moment.

Han Hao released a demon general and let it fly out through a separate tunnel Han Tu had made. It avoided Kage and his party before flying in the direction Han Tu had indicated.

The demon generals Han Hao had refined were not as miraculous as the ones from the Cauldron of the Myriad Demon . Therefore, Han Hao had avoided using Demon Generals to track Kage, lest he accidentally alert Kage.

***

About fifty miles away from Kage, a group of experts who had concealed their auras stealthily approached Kage.

"Lord Polo, Kage is a follower of Salas. Wouldn't attacking Kage mean insulting Salas?" asked Kodiak, who was travelling beside Polo. He hesitated to follow his chief's order.

Polo smiled coldly and replied, "Salas may be powerful, but our Godhunter Alliance is even more so! The forces of our Alliance span the Twelve Dominions. Our Supreme Leader wouldn't be weaker than Salas. We need not worry too much about him."

After a short pause, Polo grinned and continued, "Besides, no one will know it was us. When the time comes, all we have to do is decorate the scene a bit and plant a few scapegoats. Salas is not omniscient. He will never suspect us.

"You're right, my lord!" Kodiak knew there was nothing he could say that would change Polo's mind once he had made up his mind.

"After you kill Kage, take his head and give it to Han Hao. Tell him to take it as a welcome gift from me," Polo said with a grave expression on his face, "I really did not expect him to have such a great power. Even with so many forces arrayed against them, they managed to slaughter five or six hundred people in an instant. Han Hao is a force to be reckoned with!"

"But from what I've heard, it wasn't Han Hao who killed them," Kodiak replied.

What had happened outside the Omphalos that fateful evening had spread like wildfire throughout the Land of Chaos. Polo, one of the Fringe's power brokers, heard about the incident in no time. He had had several encounters with Han Hao and knew that Han Hao was incredibly powerful. However, never in his wildest imagination did he think that Han Hao would possess such tremendous power.

Polo could tell that sooner or later Han Hao would move his forces to the Fringe. They were both Godhunters in the Godhunter Alliance and were on good terms, but Polo thought that further strengthening their friendship would be of great benefit to him. He saw the assassination of Kage as an opportunity to do so.

"It doesn't matter who actually killed them. What matters is that Han Hao must have a close relationship with that being!" Polo laughed mischievously and continued, "Knowing that is enough. That Kage was out of control and stole a lot of our business. I've wanted to finish him off for a long time."

Lately, Kage and his men had been making frequent incursions into the territories under Kodiak's control. It had enraged Polo, but they couldn't touch Kage because he had Salas behind him.

Kodiak stared blankly for a moment. It suddenly occurred to him that maybe this was the real reason why Polo had decided to kill Kage. Kodiak knew his chief's temperament well. Although Polo was incredibly patient and cunning, he could sometimes do something relatively irrational out of anger.

It seemed that Polo had thought about killing Kage for more than a day or two. Han Hao was just the last gentle nudge Polo needed to carry out his plan.

***Back in the underground tunnel.

Han Hao's eyes had been rolling around under his eyelids. He suddenly opened his eyes and said quietly, "So it is him!"

Han Tu was puzzled and asked, "Brother, do you know the approaching party?"

Little Skeleton nodded. He had a somewhat confused expression on his face, as if he found it puzzling that someone would try so hard to win his favour. He turned to Han Tu and said seriously, "Get ready, we will strike soon. The approaching party is not an enemy, but a friend. Make sure you do not use friendly fire."

"Brother, you have friends in the fringe?" Han Tu turned even more confused.

"Not exactly a friend. He is friendly to me with an ulterior motive." There was no such thing as 'friends' for Han Hao. Except for Han Shuo and the elite zombies, everyone was either his subordinate or his enemy. He did not need a friend.

"Okay, understood. I'll be ready in no time," Han Tu replied excitedly.

***

"My Lord, we will soon reach our underground base. Even Lord Salas was very pleased with the ores your lordship presented. Hehe, the lord will surely pay more attention to us!" a bald man flattered Kage.

The gloomy and cold looking Kage replied, "We must use this opportunity to expand our business. Our size is growing fast. Soon, we will be doing nothing but big business!" said the ambitious Kage. He had never expected that all his followers in his base had been decimated by Han Shuo.

"You are right, my lord. Yes, I have heard that Ethereal City has a new owner. Perhaps we should expand our trade to the city again. Back when Baum was around, he gave us some fantastic deals every year. Perhaps we could start by bribing the new City Lord with something of value," the bald man suggested.

"Shut up and stop giving me your stupid ideas!" Kage groaned coldly and scolded, "Do you not know who made McKinley the City Lord? It was the Space Overlord who personally paved the way for his ascension! Who do you think we are? Don't mention or even think about Ethereal City!"

Upon hearing the rebuke, the bald man immediately lowered his head and scowled. He could not utter a sound.

"Enemy!" Kage suddenly shouted in alarm, putting on his alert face. He said, "Be careful, someone is approaching!"

Those in Kage's group were all fierce gods who had been through thousands of battles. Following his warning, they began to pay attention to their surroundings. They noticed that the trees around them were shaking slightly, and they heard faint rustling noises slowly approaching them.

"Hello, Kage! Long time no see!" Polo's voice sounded from behind a large tree before his tall and strong figure slowly appeared.

Kage frowned and said in an annoyed voice, "Polo, what do you mean? We have never interfered in each other's affairs. What? You want to be my enemy?"

"Kage, oh, Kage. Haven't you noticed that you have stretched your greedy hands a little too far?", Polo said with a dark, cold smile. He was buying time for his subordinates to get into position to surround Kage and his party.

Kage was an experienced predator himself and was aware of his trick. When he saw the flickering light in Polo's eyes, he knew that Polo had not just come to greet him. Kage hadn't brought many people with him and his strength wasn't as brave as Polo's. His heart trembled as he knew he was in deep trouble. Immediately, he shouted, "Don't you dare, Polo. If you touch me, Lord Salas will destroy you and your men!"

Polo began to laugh as if he had just heard a joke. "But how are you going to tell him that when you are dead?" His laughter suddenly stopped and he ordered in a cold voice, "Kill them!"

Polo's men, who had surrounded Kage and his party, suddenly began to charge forward, rapidly shrinking the circle. These ferocious godhunters screamed and made intimidating noises as they launched their attacks. They began to kill in groups of three to five. They knew how to fight as a team.

"How dare you, Polo!" Kage was very alarmed. He had not expected that Polo would leave no room for discussion before killing his people.

"Why not?" Polo started to laugh again. "Do you really think that no one can touch you just because you have Salas covering your ass? Kage, you know what kind of person I am, and yet you dared to operate in my territory. You should know the consequences of not respecting my boundaries!" Polo's smile became more and more malicious. He shouted, "My brothers! Kill, kill them all! Take their divine energy!"

Polo's subordinates were inexplicably excited, and they swarmed over Kage's party. The former outnumbered the latter by a factor of five or six. They struck and killed Kage's men in a matter of moments before beginning to drain their divine energy.

Moments later, five or six of Kage's followers were dead. When the Godhunters found suitable prey, they became strangely excited and even more vicious in their attacks. Kage's men were quickly defeated.

"Polo, there could be a misunderstanding!" Kage's heart trembled even more. He had not expected that Polo would have no qualms about possibly insulting Sovereign Salas.

Kage had only dared to invade Polo's territory and conduct operations there because he had the backing of this huge figure called Salas. He tested the waters by conducting a few operations in Polo's territory. When he saw that Polo did nothing, he assumed that Polo was afraid of his sovereign and began to act ruthlessly.

He did not expect that Polo would do absolutely nothing for so long before suddenly, without warning, trying to destroy him and his gang in one fell swoop. Kage was startled.

"Oh? Now you are afraid? Hehe, sorry, but it's too late. I cannot let you live. If I let you go and you complain to Salas, I'll be in trouble!" Polo laughed grimly and started to charge forward to kill Kage.

"Polo, don't touch him. He is mine," a calm, monotonous voice suddenly sounded from the underground. Han Hao's figure bizarrely appeared on the battlefield, pointing the bone spear in his hand at Kage.