Shock

Olga flew at the very front of the group, looking somewhat distracted.

Still, every so often, he spread out his divine sense to check whether any bandits were approaching.

As a Five-Star Fiend, Olga could spread his divine sense up to three thousand miles in Hell. That was more than enough distance for the group to prepare.

"Everyone, be alert! Enemies are approaching!"

"At this speed, they're High-Gods!"

Suddenly, Olga's expression darkened, and he immediately sounded the alarm.

Low-Gods could travel at nearly two thousand meters per second.

Mid-Gods could travel at around three thousand meters per second.

High-Gods could reach speeds of five thousand meters per second.

Their approximate strength could be judged from their flying speed.

"There are seven of them!"

At Olga's warning, the merchants in the caravan immediately paled.

Even the ten Mid-Gods who were Two-Star Fiends looked grim.

Their side had only two High-God Fiends.

Even if they faced the enemy two to one, the other side would still have three High-Gods left.

The head of the merchant association might have been a High-God, but he probably wouldn't last long in a fight.

Two High-Gods could kill them all several times over.

"Should we run?"

Several Two-Star Fiends exchanged glances, tempted by the idea.

When they encountered an enemy they couldn't defeat, Fiends were allowed to abandon their mission and flee.

They would receive a record of failing the mission, but it wouldn't count as violating their contract.

In an instant, four Two-Star Fiends dropped to the ground and disappeared into the forest.

The merchants in the caravan were furious, but there was nothing they could do.

Fortunately, Olga and Aier hadn't fled.

But could they protect everyone?

Olga's warning had naturally alerted Aier to the approaching enemies as well.

However, Aier didn't think these seven High-Gods posed any threat to his group, so he hadn't paid them much attention.

If anything, he'd already set his sights on their Godheads!

A High-God Godhead was worth ten million Inkstones.

If any of the seven were Earth-element High-Gods, perhaps their Godheads could even help Aier fuse six Laws and Profound Mysteries.

At that thought, Aier blinked.

Come to think of it, the Four Edicts of the Coiling Dragon Universe were different from the seven elemental Laws.

The Profound Mysteries of the Edicts formed a whole.

If Aier had refined a Godhead from the Rule Category back then, perhaps refining all those Low-God Godheads of the Rule Category would have already made him a Paragon.

But in the end, Aier shook his head.

Since he knew the path to transcendence in the Coiling Dragon Universe, he naturally had to follow it.

Becoming a Paragon was nothing. Even that fell far short of becoming an Overgod.

If he couldn't transcend, then what would be the point of cultivating all eleven of his Divine Clones to the Paragon level?

Only if he tried and found that this path didn't work would Aier consider refining Godheads outside the four elements of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire to explore a new path to transcendence.

"Lord Olga, leave these bandits to me!"

"Please keep an eye on President Eric and the others."

Olga gave Aier a long look, then nodded without insisting on joining the fight.

Seven High-Gods looked like a formidable band of bandits.

But as long as none of them were stronger than a Five-Star Fiend, Olga wasn't afraid of them.

In fact, if these seven High-Gods were only Three- or Four-Star Fiends, Olga alone could kill them all.

As it happened, Olga wanted to see what Aier could do.

Although Olga had abandoned the idea of making another move against Aier after their earlier confrontation.

After all, if Aier was telling the truth and his strength far exceeded Olga's imagination, then not only Olga but West would die as well!

Earlier, the possibility that Aier possessed a Heaven and Earth Wonder had clouded Olga's judgment. Now that he had regained his reason, he wasn't about to act recklessly.

Still, a little unwillingness lingered in his heart.

What if?

Everyone knew that the fish that got away after being hooked grew bigger and bigger in the mind of the angler. It might have been only thumb-sized, but as the years passed, the angler's memories made it grow larger than a whale.

For a High-God traveling at five thousand meters per second, a distance of a little over ten miles was nothing more than a four-second flight.

The moment the seven High-Gods appeared in everyone's sight and began to spread out to surround Aier's group, Aier made his move!

In that instant, Aier seemed to teleport, appearing in front of the High-God at the very front. He threw a punch—

Boom!

The space in front of Aier's fist was blasted open, leaving a one-meter-wide spatial void. The High-God bandit, along with his Defensive Divine Artifact, was blown apart by a single punch. The spatial void swallowed the blood mist, leaving behind only a black Godhead.

Aier then opened his hand, reached into the spatial void, and grabbed the Godhead.

Spatial turbulence from the rift swept across Aier's arm, yet couldn't even scratch his skin.

"Gasp—"

Everyone present froze at the sight.

"H-How is this possible?"

"The space in Hell was shattered?"

Of everyone there, the bandits' strength was unknown, but the strongest on the caravan's side was Olga, who had the strength of a Five-Star Fiend.

Even Olga, at full strength, could at most make space ripple slightly.

And because Olga knew just how stable the space in Hell was, he understood how utterly unbelievable it was to do something like this!

"No wonder Aier said his strength was beyond the range of my imagination..."

Olga's back was drenched in cold sweat.

He was immensely relieved that in the end, he hadn't attacked Aier.

Otherwise, his fate wouldn't have been much better than that High-God bandit's.

"Was that too much force?"

As he pulled the Godhead out of the spatial rift, Aier frowned slightly.

He hadn't expected a casual punch to blast such a huge void in Hell's space.

But on second thought, it made sense.

His body was as tough as a Godhead, and he had already achieved Five-Fusion in the Laws and Profound Mysteries. Among those at the level of an Asura Prefect, Aier ranked among the best.

At this point, Aier's soul-related attainments were still a little lacking. Otherwise, calling him a "suspected Paragon" wouldn't have been out of the question.

Aier hadn't made his move to kill them all.

Taking their Godheads was his main goal.

If the Godheads of those he killed were swallowed by spatial turbulence, wouldn't all his effort have been for nothing?

Aier immediately spread his Divine Domain, enveloping the six remaining High-Gods.

"Heavenly Lock!"