"Oh? You didn't see anyone?"
Hearing his subordinates' report, the younger of the two gods frowned.
"Big brother, do you think that person never actually left the metal lifeform?"
"Otherwise, with so many of us searching, there's no way we wouldn't have found them."
"No," the older god replied, shaking his head. "Second brother, I saw with my own eyes that someone got off the metal lifeform."
"If we didn't find them, it can only mean they're hiding extremely well."
"And besides…"
At that point, the older god's lips curled into a smug grin.
"That person shouldn't be very strong."
"If it were a Highgod, after all this searching, they would've shown themselves long ago to teach us a lesson."
"But so far, aside from us, there's been no disturbance in the area at all."
"That clearly means the fellow noticed us, but is wary of our strength and has quietly hidden himself."
"Go tell everyone—check every tree and every rock carefully with divine sense. As long as we dig out this fat sheep, it'll be enough for all of us to enjoy ourselves in Yilan City for a good while."
"Oh!"
The bandit leader didn't bother to lower his voice at all. It was almost as if he were deliberately saying this for Locke to hear, hoping to scare him into making a mistake.
Unfortunately for him, while Locke still lacked confidence when it came to raw strength, when it came to concealment—
He felt that even a highgod, if their attainments in soul-related arts weren't deep enough, would have no hope of finding him.
Deceiving divine sense. Deceiving the soul.
These were Locke's specialties.
He could say with certainty that in the entire Coiling Dragon universe, he was probably the only one who had chosen to study the soul primarily through completely non-lethal "illusionary techniques."
As expected, no matter how the bandits scoured the forest with their divine senses, as long as Locke remained perfectly still and made no sound at all, they simply couldn't discover him.
In the end, even the seemingly seasoned bandit leader began to doubt his own judgment.
"Well, big brother? Should we give up the search?" the younger one asked.
"This…"
The bandit leader glanced at his subordinates, who were already showing signs of fatigue, and clenched his teeth.
"Everyone, my Saint-rank true body is hidden at the gates of Yilan City. During this entire time, I haven't seen a single being enter the city from this direction."
"In other words, that fat sheep is still here."
"However, judging from our search so far, that sheep clearly possesses some kind of treasure capable of concealing their body and aura."
"We'll search one last time!"
"But this time, stop wasting divine sense. Launch direct attacks across this entire area!"
"I refuse to believe that under our bombardment, that fat sheep can still stay hidden!"
"Whoo—whoo—whoo—"
As he finished speaking, the bandit leader raised his right hand high.
In an instant, blazing fire-element energy gathered in his palm, condensing into a glowing sphere about the size of a basketball. Dense divine power and law fluctuations radiated outward from it.
Then, he hurled the sphere downward.
Boom!
A deafening explosion erupted as a mushroom cloud rose over a hundred meters into the air. A terrifying shockwave swept through the area, uprooting trees and sending debris flying.
When the aftershocks finally subsided, a massive crater nearly a hundred meters wide had appeared in the forest. The rocks around it looked as if they had been scorched into molten red magma by extreme heat.
"Gah… that's terrifying…"
Locke's heart jumped. This single attack from a god, even in Hell, had destructive power comparable to a Saint unleashing their full might in a material plane.
If such an attack landed on him, even if it didn't kill him outright, he would be severely injured.
Under the mid-god's lead, the other bandits began channeling their own divine power and law energies. Rising into the air, they launched indiscriminate bombardments at the forest below.
"It seems there's no peaceful resolution today."
Locke took a deep breath and retrieved the Rising Sun Spear from his spatial ring.
Among this group of bandits, the only real threats to him were the two god-level leaders.
As for the rest of the demigods—this wasn't arrogance, but if given enough time, Locke was confident he could wipe them out without suffering a single injury.
Amid the continuous explosions, the faint law fluctuations caused by Locke's quiet movements went completely unnoticed.
After all, when god-level experts were fighting, who didn't have law energy surging around them?
With so many people attacking the forest at once, who would pay attention to whose fluctuations belonged to whom?
Following the trail of destruction left behind by the bandits, Locke silently approached directly beneath the two gods.
After estimating the distance, divine power erupted from his body. He leapt explosively off the ground, shooting straight toward the sky where the two mid-gods were positioned.
Boom!
"Hm?"
Locke's sudden burst of movement caused the Floating Shadow Technique layered on his body to collapse, revealing his form.
"Oh? So you were hiding here!"
Both bandit leaders were gods. The instant Locke moved, they detected him.
When their divine senses swept over Locke, delight spread across the older bandit leader's face.
Just as he'd predicted.
This fat sheep who had disembarked from the metal lifeform wasn't an Highgod at all—he wasn't even a god.
A mere demigod, actually daring to launch an attack on gods.
This was the textbook example of a pampered child who'd never suffered the beatings of the outside world.
Did he really think strangers would play house with him like the people in his family?
Then let him personally teach this child just how terrifying Hell could be!
A savage grin crept onto the bandit leader's face. With a flip of his hand, a black saber appeared in his grasp.
"The distance… is enough!"
The instant his soul power made contact with the bandit leader's soul, a flicker of joy flashed through Locke's eyes.
He had been prepared to face an attack the moment he closed in and was ready to dodge at any time.
But to his surprise, these two gods were far less vigilant than he'd expected.
Perhaps seeing that he was only a demigod had made them instinctively dismiss him as no threat.
For Locke, that was nothing short of wonderful news.
"Celestial Dance Treasure Wheel—"
"Five Senses Deprivation!"
In an instant, Locke's soul power invaded the minds of both gods, transforming into a thin membrane that sealed off their five senses.
Their souls plunged into absolute darkness.
"Hiss—hiss—hiss…"
Locke poured divine power into the Rising Sun Spear in his hands, no longer suppressing its might.
(End of Chapter)
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