Han Sen looked around him, and he was able to understand why there were no other creatures around. They must have vacated the area in fear of the big purple crab. Watching the big purple crab use its shell to block the king spirits' attack was enough for Han Sen to tell how strong it was.
While the crab was occupied by the king spirits, Han Sen took the time to examine it. Its shell was black and purplish, like obsidian. Its entire body was like that, and you couldn't see a single gap or crevice in its form. It was like it had been wholly forged from steel.
Its body was a little bigger than an excavator, but it moved frighteningly quickly. It was more akin to a spider than a crab.
The six king spirits surrounded the fiend, but they were unable to damage it. They seemed to be at an impasse. Han Sen stopped running and watched until the six king spirits ended up getting chased away by the crab, which was a fearless monster.
It just let their super geno cores bang against its shell, all the while it suffered no damage. Between the crab and the corpse of the shell king, there was very little room in the tunnel.
"Me and Ghost Shadow will keep this guy busy. You go after the human and kill him!" one king spirit shouted.
"This monster is extremely strong. I'm not sure you two can hold it by yourselves. I'll stay. Let Ghost Claw and the other two deal with the human," another king spirit said.
"Okay." The other king spirits agreed, and the six of them split into two equal-numbered teams. One group would remain with the crab, while the other went over the shell to resume their chase of Han Sen.
Han Sen rolled his eyes. Instead of running, he simply flapped his wings to meet with the three king spirits that were coming for him.
The king spirits were happy about this. The Underworld was not their territory. They were worried they might not be able to catch Han Sen there, but now it seemed their need to pursue him had ended; he was coming straight to them. This was good.
But Han Sen did not want to spend time with them exclusively. After he dodged them a few times, he flew right by them and landed on the shell near the crab.
The crab saw Han Sen and tried to attack him with its pincer. He dodged the pincer, and then the crab saw the three spirits that were directly behind Han Sen. It quickly moved to attack them.
The scene suddenly became weird. Considering Han Sen's reaction and judgment skills, the king spirits were far worse off than he was. He fought the king spirits near the crab so smoothly that it almost looked like he was co-operating with the shelled-fiend.
In truth, the crab was trying to attack Han Sen, too. But with his movement and ability of prediction, he was able to lead the crab into actually attacking the king spirits.
The crab was incredibly powerful. Its body was tough and lethally fast. But even after all that time, Han Sen had yet to learn what its geno core was. Whatever it was, if the creature used it, it'd undoubtedly be a scary item.
The king spirits were feeling the heat of defeat, and they were struggling to understand whether or not the crab was neutral. It attacked them every time, and Han Sen was benefitting from each and every move it made.
The king spirits didn't want to go back empty-handed. They couldn't report back if they didn't kill Han Sen. Furthermore, they couldn't deal with the humiliation of finding themselves being manipulated and toyed with by a human, either.
"You guys stay here, don't let him run! Let me use my cauldron to take out the monster. Then, kill the human," said the king spirit with the bronze cauldron. He had noticed they'd be unable to kill Han Sen without first removing the crab from the field of play.
"Okay." A few of the spirits agreed. They split up and blocked all the routes that Han Sen might use to escape.
The king spirit with the cauldron gripped the item, making it glow with Elysium power. He opened the cauldron, and something green emerged from it. It was headed for the crab.
The crab was big, but it was soon covered by that green light. It was then pulled into the bronze cauldron. The king spirit immediately closed the lid of the cauldron, and you could see a flame flicker around the rim. The crab was being refined on the inside.
The bronze cauldron began to rattle and shake, prompting the king spirit to try his hardest to calm it down. The crab was raging like mad on the inside, wishing nothing more than to break free.
"Kill the human, quick! This beast is too strong, and my cauldron cannot hold it for long," the king spirit shouted as he clutched the cauldron tight.
The other king spirits did not say anything; they simply folded in on Han Sen. They were angry, and their desire to crush Han Sen was high.
Han Sen saw there were no escape routes, but he wasn't planning on leaving. He could tell the Elysium Cauldron was far weaker than the Elysian Umbrella. It wouldn't keep the crab down for long. Han Sen just had to hold on until the crab got free. Once it was, the spirits would be done for.
Han Sen's movements and sword skills were firing on all cylinders, but he was still on the losing side. He was up against five, after all.
"Dad, you can do it! Dad, you can do it!" Bao'er was on Han Sen's back. She shouted support as she clung to his neck.
Han Sen's arm was nicked by a sword, and so he asked, "Bao'er, your gourd absorbed their mist. Can you use it to grab their weapons?"
"Yes," Bao'er said straightforwardly.
Han Sen glanced at her in surprise, and he almost got hit again. He'd asked the question casually, not expecting Bao'er to actually be able to do this.
"Why don't you use the gourd to take their weapons away, then?" Han Sen asked as he dodged another weapon.
Bao'er lowered her head and said, "You said you would keep teaching me to do things on my own. I need to grow up and be independent to be useful."
Han Sen almost coughed up some blood. He always wondered why the gourd only worked sometimes and not all the time. It did work, she just never planned to make use of it.
But right now, Han Sen couldn't ask Bao'er for help. If he did, he'd be going against his own word.
"I can bleed, but I sure can't afford to embarrass myself." Han Sen gritted his teeth, realizing he couldn't ask Bao'er for help anymore.
"Dad, you can do it! Dad, you can do it!" Bao'er chanted her support for Han Sen again, but he wasn't really fond of it.
"Hurry up! I'm not going to last." A number of green vines were wreathing around the king spirit that was holding the cauldron. His entire body smoked and trembled as he clutched the cauldron. He was at the end of his rope.