Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?-Chapter 889 - 90: There Are Differences Even Among Demigods
"I’m supposed to fight Latan?"
The astonished voice echoed in the Gael Fortress, achieving an effect akin to a dark comedy.
If it weren’t for the fact that the great ravens of Galide couldn’t fly, it would have been a classic comedy scene of "a crow flying across the sky, leaving behind cawing sounds."
Fanen swallowed a gulp of saliva, only to realize his throat was extremely parched, his lips had lost their moisture.
It was probably due to the continuous heavy breathing after witnessing the magnificent scene.
Setting aside the trivial matter of quenching thirst, he turned his gaze toward the Teleportation Gate beside the treasure chest.
The light near the Teleportation Gate gathered into a vortex and was sucked inside, as if saying "come on in" to tempt people. Adventurers normally have to tread through a mine even knowing it’s a mine just to taste the saltiness of the mine.
Moreover, if Fanen’s guess was correct, this Teleportation Gate should lead back to Red Lion City, allowing them to continue their challenging journey and participate in the Battle Festival upon returning.
Thinking of this, a bead of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
"I suddenly feel a bit like I don’t want to fight anymore..."
Even though the scene froze at the most crucial moment, preventing him from seeing the final outcome of the battle.
However, judging from the protective talisman’s description, there was no doubt about Latan’s victory in this battle.
That "Shattered Star" title must have been earned because of this battle, right?
He truly was one of the peak powerhouses among the strongest, Fanen mused to himself: How did the ancients seem stronger than people now?
Aside from the Shattered Star General’s extraordinary display of power, the most profound impression left on him by the footage was another scene that seemed not to have been the focus in the video—
The stars in the sky stopped moving.
Even now, Fanen couldn’t comprehend what kind of power could stop the stars from spinning, is it because the name "Demigod" has a "God" in it? This is indeed something only a God could do.
"Sealing the stars, directly using one’s powerful strength to stop the stars from moving? How overbearing must that power be?"
Even someone like Fanen who hadn’t been in contact with esoteric studies knew the stars must involve many peculiar things, and are things that shouldn’t be touched lightly.
Like that Evil God in the starry sky, the Hidden Dull Star.
That’s why Ainz III’s daily behavior of firing rockets to provoke the Evil God was praised by the public as even more berserk than the Berserker.
"If the Shattered Star General can really deal with the starry sky, doesn’t that mean the Evil God is no match for him?"
Once a comparison was made, the strength of the Shattered Star General instantly increased in people’s minds.
"I can’t think about this anymore," Fanen promptly halted his wild thoughts, fearfully saying:
"Thinking further would almost erase my sanity."
As it turned out.
Trying to gauge Latan’s power using Greg’s strength was an extremely wrong decision.
It’s not like he intended to deliberately insult Greg, but...
It felt like even Asam’s few meteors would be more than enough to smash Greg.
"I finally understand why those residual shadows seemed to look down on Greg."
Fanen sighed deeply, murmuring to himself:
"Weakness is the original sin."
After witnessing the other demigods’ power, Greg who could only use some limb attachment capabilities suddenly felt like a primitive character post-game update, and this was even after Gong Qiying’s enhancement.
"No, I shouldn’t think this way." He shook his head, "Beating Greg is already the mark of an excellent adventurer, as for Latan... it’s really not something we can overcome."
Just like when facing Artorias, there’s no need to take on an enemy you stand no chance against.
Looking back at that spiritual body always chanting about defeating the White-Haired Lion to participate in the Battle Festival, Fanen suddenly felt that perhaps Jie Lian sending them here wasn’t merely to use the White-Haired Lion as a test for those wanting to join the Battle Festival.
Could it perhaps also have been to test their courage through the Legend of Shattered Star?
If someone feels motivated enough to challenge the Shattered Star General after watching the footage, they must truly be a one-in-a-million Hero, worthy of challenging Latan in the Battle Festival.
"Do I have the qualification?"
He clenched his hand, pondered for a moment, then released it.
However, his eyes didn’t show cowardice like a coward’s, instead, it was as if he had found his goal, murmuring:
"I’ll only feel qualified to challenge Latan after honing myself to defeat Greg with my strength."
Though people say there’s no need to challenge enemies you can’t defeat.
But striving with such an enemy as a target seems to be quite a passionate pursuit, right?
With this in mind, he touched the Teleportation Gate, and instantly the whole person was sucked into it by a force.
"Might as well go take a look at the Battle Festival, and witness Latan’s strength firsthand."
However, he seemed to have overlooked one matter:
What was the actual purpose of the Battle Festival again???
A few seconds of teleportation later, Fanen found himself in a familiar place, namely the Red Lion City.
Though it wasn’t the place where they were first teleported away from by the Teleportation Array, but rather in front of the city gate, some distance away from the thoroughly barricaded gate by heavy iron bars, the road filled with spiked obstacles. The only fortunate thing was that the catapults could not hit targets so close by.
"In the end, we still have to fight again..." he couldn’t help but complain. The teleportation gate beside him was still glowing brightly. It seemed like he could use it to quickly reach Gael Fortress in the future. A little shortcut born out of misfortune?
Looking around, all he could see were the corpses of monsters and soldiers. There were hardly any living beings visible. The result of the battle just now was incredibly tragic.
Abel and Moer were nowhere to be found.
The monsters were completely annihilated, and the Red Lion soldiers suffered heavy losses. The remaining soldiers seemed to have gathered at the city gate, and Fanen was nowhere to be seen.
"Is everyone still not here?"
He decided to use a roadblock as a shelter and sat down to rest while waiting for his companions to return. As he rested, he examined the protective talisman in his hand, "Legend of Shattered Star".
As soon as he put the talisman around his neck, he immediately felt a power awaken within his body, as if he wanted to find something to punch and vent that extra power.
But this power quickly had a negative effect on his body, with warm blood flowing from his nostrils.
Fanen immediately took off the talisman and tossed it into the protective talisman bag.
This not only enhanced the effects brought by the talisman but also dispelled the negative impact.
"Great." He smiled with satisfaction.
After waiting for a few minutes, the teleportation gate flickered, and the familiar Uffie appeared there.
Fanen was about to stand up and greet her, but suddenly saw her standing still, clutching the talisman, unaware that she had been teleported.
He immediately understood. The symptoms were exactly the same as his just moments ago. Perhaps she had been engrossed in something before, and might have triggered the teleportation gate by accident.
"Uffie?"
He tentatively called out, and just as he was about to grab her shoulders to wake her up, Uffie seemed to be startled and jumped back.
"Who...who’s there... oh it’s you, you scared me..."
Uffie, who had just been like a startled rabbit, seemed to relax upon seeing Fanen, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead. Her eyes were still a bit dazed and bewildered, clearly not fully recovered.
It was rare to see her so vulnerable. Fanen felt like he had discovered a new world, and suddenly wanted to know how she felt after seeing the image of the Shattered Star General. It must have been quite entertaining.
As he became more eager to find something fun, the teleportation gate flickered again, this time bringing out Luluwo.
"Whoa!"
The moment she arrived, she screamed and darted behind the roadblock at lightning speed, peeking out cautiously after a long pause. She seemed terrified.
"What’s with you..." Fanen had never seen anyone sneak around so seriously, and for a moment didn’t know what to say.
"Shut up, you don’t understand the fear someone like me, who has personally fought against Esti, just experienced!" Luluwo promptly ended the discussion.
As someone who had participated in the meteor shower event from the beginning, revisiting memories of seeing Esti in the images was understandably distressing for her, and not even the heroic display of the Shattered Star General could fully ease her mind.
After Luluwo recovered, others returned as well.
Though their reactions were somewhat peculiar in their own ways.
Mila was talking endlessly about her admiration for the Shattered Star General’s heroism, like a river flowing incessantly. Tami seemed to have found a new idol, trembling with excitement, while Asam was gasping as if she had just finished an intense workout.
"Between Latan’s two swords and Smough’s hammer, which is heavier?" Luluwo finally asked such a question.
The concerns of the Skyrim Strategy Group were quite peculiar, and Fanen wasn’t sure if he should comment on it.
After lingering for a good while, some communication revealed that they had all been teleported to Gael Fortress at the same time but encountered no one else, leaving everyone puzzled by the strange situation.
But since they were out now, there was no need to dwell on it. Adventurers never concern themselves with past events.
Predictably, the conversation could not escape the topic of "Latan".
"Who would’ve thought that the legendary Latan possessed such divine power. Is this what demigods are truly capable of?"
"If all demigods have this kind of power, what are we even fighting for? Perhaps we should turn our attention to challenging the Full Moon Queen instead."
"She’s clearly no less trouble either. Greg seems a lot friendlier in comparison."
"There are also differences even among demigods...."
It seemed everyone was daunted by Latan’s power, causing the conversation to grow increasingly pessimistic.
Not wanting the situation to deteriorate further, Uffie quickly clapped her hands to draw everyone’s attention.
"Have you all rested well? Next, we must continue with our original goal!"
The original goal, of course, was to participate in the Battle Festival.
"Oh..."
Her announcement was met with somewhat indifferent responses.
An angry cross appeared on Uffie’s forehead as she commanded with general-like authority, "Be spirited!"
"Alright..."
Yet, the adventurers remained unfazed.
"...."
In any case, after a lot of convincing, everyone, although somewhat lacking in fighting spirit, set off on the journey towards Red Lion City.
A joyful occasion, indeed.
