The healing skill ended.
Without giving Tartaglia any more time to speak, Taro directly tossed him at the entrance of the Northland Bank.
The rest was his business.
"Ahh, that feels good~"
Stretching his arms and rolling his neck, Taro only felt relaxed all over.
Exercising a little after a meal really was good for one's health.
Tartaglia really was a good guy.
Not only did he treat him to breakfast, but he also stayed behind afterward just to help him digest.
"Sir~"
"Are you alright?"
Seeing the fight had ended completely, Yingda floated over.
"Mhm, I'm fine."
Taro nodded, then glanced at the Guyun Stone Forest below:
"Yingda, come with me down there for a walk."
"There are plenty of sealed demon gods here. I'll collect some materials."
"Ah?"
Yingda was startled, then asked:
"Sir, should we notify the Emperor first?"
After all, what was sealed down there were demon gods.
And not just one.
"No need, he already knows."
Taro took out a talisman and smiled:
"Don't worry, I don't intend to release any of them."
"At most, I'll just draw some blood, break off a horn, or pluck some scales."
This was something he had already agreed on with Zhongli.
So no extra notice was required.
"Understood."
Yingda gave a slight nod:
"Then I'll accompany you this time."
If the Emperor had already permitted it, then there was naturally no problem.
"Let's go~"
Activating the talisman in his hand, a thread of golden light wrapped around the two of them.
The scene shifted.
They now stood on top of a barrier made of sealing light.
Below them stretched a space formed from the sealing array, where countless demon gods were imprisoned.
Through the barrier, they could clearly see what lay beneath.
Naturally, demon gods could not simply be suppressed directly under the sea.
Zhongli's stone spear, together with this great array, constructed a large-scale extraterritorial domain.
The demon gods were sealed inside that pocket world, held tightly beneath the waves.
Without a method to unseal it, no attack from inside or outside could break it.
"Tch, quite a lot down there."
Looking at the scene, Taro raised an eyebrow.
There were snake-like ones, turtle-like ones, and even strange tentacled demon gods.
Easily more than ten were sealed here.
Of course, the old acquaintance Osial was naturally among them.
"Morax!!!"
"Die!!!"
"Rooooar~~~"
Perhaps sensing the talisman's aura, the demon gods below stirred.
Angry roars echoed one after another as their slumber broke.
The aura of their enemy—the one who sealed them for millennia—was right overhead.
How could they not rage?
Boom!
A cyan beam of light crashed into the barrier.
Soon, a mess of attacks followed.
Explosions rang out endlessly.
But… useless.
Not even enough force to make the barrier ripple.
Just wasted effort and a bit of comedy.
"Yingda, take this."
Taro handed the talisman over.
"Wait a moment, I'll go down and have a little heart-to-heart with them."
"Sir, please act carefully!"
"I'll be waiting."
Yingda accepted the talisman with solemn respect.
Taro nodded, and wrapped in golden light, his figure sank into the seal.
The demon gods below all froze.
They stopped their attacks.
And simply waited.
He was coming down.
He actually dared to come down!
The moment Taro's figure fully entered the domain, over a dozen monstrous demon gods instantly surrounded him.
Each was hundreds of zhang tall—massive forms hemming him in.
"DIIIEEE!!!"
"Roooar!!"
"Our thousand-year grudge, today—"
"Heh, just a bunch of rotten fish and shrimp~"
Surrounded, Taro's face only carried mockery.
"Mjölnir!"
With a flick of his right hand, the hammer at his waist leapt into his palm, instantly expanding to its true form.
An overwhelming aura burst forth, lightning flooding the entire domain.
Rumble rumble!
Thunder became the only color within this world.
"Violent, huh?" Boom!
"Trying to intimidate me, huh?" Crack!
"Roaring, huh?" Boom!
"Talking about thousand-year grudges, huh?" Clang!
"You sure talk big…" BOOM!
Holding Mjölnir, Taro finally stopped restraining himself.
With a single hammer strike, the group of demon gods was flattened.
"Mmm, finally quiet."
Taro sighed in relief.
Now the once-roaring monsters lay bound in thunder, unmoving at the bottom of the seal.
Quiet.
Peaceful.
Perfect for drawing blood, breaking horns, and pulling scales.
The hammer hummed, clearly dissatisfied, eager to keep going.
"There, that one's got eight heads—you can smash six more."
Taro pointed at Osial.
"The rest, only one each. Don't kill them."
"These are my material storage."
Whoosh!
The hammer streaked off, wrapped in thunder.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!
Six strikes.
Not one more, not one less.
Osial's six heads were pancaked.
Why not seven?
Because Taro had already smashed one himself.
That left one intact—alive enough.
The hammer obeyed perfectly, circling back.
The other demon gods were also floored, stunned rather than slain.
Not dead, just unconscious.
Satisfied, the hammer shrank back into an ornament and returned to Taro's waist.
"Alright, let's get to work!"
Rolling up his sleeves, Taro pulled out prepared tools from his personal inventory.
Time to harvest materials.
Outside the seal—
Yingda stood slack-jawed, utterly stunned.
Watching Taro casually bleed Osial, she could hardly process it.
These were the very demon gods the Emperor had defeated and sealed at great cost.
But this man?
He flattened them with one hammer.
Her worldview was crumbling.
'Yingda, how goes it?'
Zhongli's voice drifted into her mind.
"Emperor?"
She quickly came back to her senses and answered respectfully:
"All went smoothly. Sir struck once with his hammer and put all the demon gods to sleep."
"Now he's bleeding them, pulling scales, and… prying the shell off some turtle-looking thing."
Hearing this, Zhongli fell silent.
He had already suspected the truth.
Now it was confirmed.
That hammer—he himself probably couldn't withstand it.
If he couldn't, what chance did his old defeated foes have?
"And Osial?"
Zhongli gently asked, lifting his teacup.
He still had plans for Osial.
"…Eight heads: one smashed, six flattened."
"Should… still be alive?"
Pfft!
For once, Zhongli nearly lost his composure.
If Osial didn't heal well, he might not even be usable next time.
Taro, Taro… couldn't you have gone easier?
(End of Chapter)
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