Chapter 114: Changes in the swamp
Han Shuo pushed off with all his strength and flew out using the pliable branch, his body drawing an arc through the air. When he returned to his starting point, he stomped down on the branch fiercely with both feet and his body once again flew out like lightning.
After swinging back and forth like this a few times, the degree to which Han Shuo’s body was swinging out became larger and larger, and his speed increased further and further as well. The group watched him with astonishment as their hearts fluttered up and down in accordance with Han Shuo’s swinging.
Just as Han Shuo felt that the speed of his swinging had reached its maximum, he called out loudly, “Angelica, prepare the Grim Wind spell!”
Han Shuo suddenly let go and flew out towards the other side of the swamp under the enormous momentum behind his motions. At the same time that he left the branch, the simple hang glider that he’d stored back in his space ring reappeared. It was as if a pair of wings had suddenly appeared beneath Han Shuo as he held them beneath his body.
At the same time, Angelica confidently chanted the Grim Wind spell, and a violent gust started blowing where Han Shuo was, propelling him forward as he hovered over the swamp.
If it hadn’t been for the hang glider, Han Shuo would’ve surely flown out like lightning, and possibly fallen into the swamp like lightning as well, but with the aid of the hang glider and the movement afforded by the Grim Wind spell, it allowed Han Shuo to magically, but slowly float towards the center of the swamp with an unhurried, unrushed pace.
“Oh, my gosh, he’s really doing it!” Nia exclaimed in surprise with a look of incredulity on her face.
The other observers were equally astonished, with only Trunks maintaining his calm as he said lowly with a look of gravity, “The toxic gas within the center of the swamp is the heaviest, and the man-eating plants there are equally difficult to manage. It won’t be that easy to grab the Fruit within a short period of time. I hope he succeeds as he wishes.”
Everyone finally remembered Han Shuo’s goal when they heard Trunks’ words. He wasn’t simply traveling across the swamp, but the most important thing was that he needed to gain the Fruit of Dagmar. After Trunks’ splash of cold water, everyone’s expression grew heavy once again.
As he slowly approached the center of the swamp, Han Shuo focused his concentration and tightly gripped the Demonslayer Edge within his hand. His eyes however, were tightly closed as he observed all abnormalities within the center through the original demons.
Finally, the Demonslayer flew out Han Shuo’s hand with an ear piercing whistle. The man-eating plants all extended their life reaping branches and twigs as soon as the Demonslayer Edge entered the swamp, attempting to entangle it within the swamp. However, the Demonslayer Edge’s keenness didn’t let Han Shuo down. Large patches of the branches and leaves were sent falling into the swamp under the Demonslayer Edge’s dance.
A patch of man-eating plants had already been cleared away in the span of an instant. As Han Shuo approached with his hang glider, the Demonslayer Edge hewed through everything according to Han Shuo’s will as expressed through the Demonslayer Edge. In this moment, Han Shuo, with his eyes closed, seemed to have reached some accord with the Demonslayer Edge, as if he had suddenly become that indestructible blade.
The three original demons appeared in that area at the same time, observing all changes around the Fruit of Dagmar from three different directions. As Han Shuo slowly approached, the patch of man-eating plants broke apart beneath the Demonslayer Edge’s slashing.
When Han Shuo was a few meters away from the center, Han Shuo suddenly opened his previously firmly closed eyes. His body slanted at the same time as his hand grabbed one of the ropes, fully focusing his eyes on the Fruit of Dagmar. He paid no heed to the man-eating plants around him, including the slowly spreading but faint, poisonous gas, as if none of these dangers existed.
The people observing around the outside were also quite nervous right now. Angelica’s breathing was increasingly heavy and her face was red with excitement, as if thinking that this situation was quite thrilling.
Whoosh the rope suddenly flew out, with the Demonslayer Edge that had been ripping through the man-eating plants suddenly flying upside down towards Han Shuo. Under Han Shuo’s will, the end of the Demonslayer Edge brought the rope with it as it flew to loop around the Fruit of Dagmar.
A disgusting stench suddenly permeated Han Shuo’s surroundings, making his chest suddenly feel tight in that moment. His mind was briefly disoriented, and the Demonslayer Edge, that had been making for the Fruit of Dagmar, suddenly descended, directionless, as Han Shuo lost his bearings.
“Be careful, hang on!” Aphrodite suddenly called out loudly from the shore as she reminded Han Shuo to keep his concentration focused.
His magical yuan automatically flowing to his chest, slowly removing the heaviness in his chest wherever the miraculous magical yuan passed through. His slightly dizzy mind finally stabilized. As his thoughts moved, the Demonslayer Edge, that had been about to sink into the swamp, suddenly emitted a shrill scream, its sharp edge trembled a few times as it flew like lightning towards the Fruit of Dagmar, bringing the rope with it and landing around the neck shaped part of the Fruit of Dagmar.
Han Shuo took a deep breath in and tugged sharply with his hand, the rope pulled tight on the man-eating plant. Having completed its mission, the Demonslayer Edge churned as branches and leaves were cut off, with multicolored liquid flowing out of some of the leaves.
Just as everyone’s hearts were in their throats, the Fruit of Dagmar slowly left the swamp, little by little. Han Shuo increased his strength and then, with the aid of the Demonslayer Edge, cut off the Fruit of Dagmar from the waist. Han Shuo then abruptly lifted up and the Fruit of Dagmar came flying out of the swamp, along with the neck and arm-shaped portion of the plant.
Slowly exerting force and withdrawing the Fruit of Dagmar, the hang glider enabled Han Shuo to fly through the center of the swamp and slowly travel to the other side.
“Rob them!” A shrill yell suddenly rang out at this moment, following shortly thereafter by four arrows, blazing with fire, flying directly at Han Shuo’s body. At the same time, the sludge on the ground suddenly formed into an enormous hand and grabbed at Han Shuo’s legs.
“Oh, damnit, enemies!” On the shore, Trunks suddenly cursed and yelled loudly.
Up in the hang glider, Han Shuo was only ten or so meters from shore. The threat from the sludge formed hand proved to be of greatest threat, forcing Han Shuo to call back the Demonslayer Edge to handle the great hand.
The four burning arrows would obviously not be that easily handled. Han Shuo had no place to exert force from in the hang glider and thus appeared a bit bedraggled. He blocked two arrows with some difficulty, with one of them still connecting with Han Shuo’s calf, bringing him a fiery pain.
Han Shuo could only slightly divert the other arrow’s direction, but it still landed on the bottom part of the hand glider and caused to it start burning.
“Be careful, he’s making it to shore!” More than ten people stood on the other side of the swamp, all of them waiting in readiness for Han Shuo to make it over. Their outfits seemed to indicate that they were mercenaries or some sort of private troops. All sorts of professions were mixed in.
Boundless fury suffusing his heart, Han Shuo itched to kill every single person standing on the other shore at this moment. These people looked like they had arrived on the other side of shore by coincidence. Because Trunks and the others were separated by the entire swamp, and they’d been too focused on Han Shuo, their alertness had greatly decreased and thus hadn’t discovered this group which resulted in them successfully ambushing Han Shuo.
The Fruit of Dagmar was finally stored within Han Shuo’s space ring during this entire process. He was in great pain now that a flaming arrow was stuck to his calf. The hang glider was also slowly burning and was crisping the sleeves of Han Shuo’s shirt, forcing Han Shuo to endure the agony of being burned.
These people were ruthless alright. As the burning Han Shuo and hang glider drifted inexorably towards the ground, some of them fitted another round of crossbow bolts into their crossbows and attempted to shoot Han Shuo dead in mid air.
The manticore’s roars suddenly rang out at this time. Han Shuo then saw a furious Trunks with killing intent shooting out of him dash towards this group of people with an upraised sword. Not too far away, Aphrodite and the others were also extremely enraged and quickly approached the other shore.
At this time, thanks to the efforts of the Demonslayer Edge, the sludge hand, that was likely to have been formed by an earth mage had returned to a peaceful state. When the whistling sounds from arrows rang out, the Demonslayer Edge had returned to Han Shuo’s side and helped pulverize the crossbow bolts.
Bearing the agonizing pain, vast swathes of his arms being burned, and crisp hair, Han Shuo finally landed onto the other shore with the hotly flaming hang glider with soul searing hatred.
When Han Shuo yanked out the arrow stuck in his calf, he stood up resolutely with a scarily grimacing expression. A pair of proud, cold, and incredibly dangerous eyes shot towards these ambushers.