"May I ask what brings Lord Locke to Rockpeak City?"
the City Lord asked.
"If Lord Locke intends to challenge me and claim the position of Rockpeak City Lord, you may directly arrange a match at the dueling platform."
"Rest assured—once the challenge is issued, I will respond immediately. I will not deliberately delay your time."
Though slightly awkward, the City Lord smoothly shifted the topic.
From his perspective, someone like Locke—who could casually produce hundreds of millions of inkstones—was surely a scion of some ancient, powerful clan. In that case, the only thing in Rockpeak City even worth coveting would be the position of City Lord itself.
Rather than dragging things out and risking resentment, the City Lord felt it was better to be straightforward. If a battle was inevitable, then fight quickly and yield the position cleanly.
After all, with his strength, even if he lost the title of City Lord, he would still easily retain a Vice City Lord position.
In fact, following behind someone like Locke might bring him far greater benefits than ruling Rockpeak City ever could.
At their level—both the City Lord and Vice City Lord Ryan had already reached the peak of what they understood—neither had the faintest clue how to take the next step in cultivation.
In terms of Laws or Edicts, as Highgods, they felt they had already reached the end of the road.
And as special lifeforms, their bodies had been refined to a level several times stronger than Highgod artifacts, granting them physical offense and defense far beyond ordinary Highgods.
At present, the only way they could think of to grow stronger was to push their souls deeper into the divine power ocean, absorbing even purer divine power.
But their souls, too, had reached their limits.
At most, they could descend to around 330 meters, absorbing divine power roughly three times stronger than that of ordinary Highgods—and that was already the ceiling.
They had no idea how to advance further.
Yet Locke's appearance gave them a faint glimmer of hope.
If they followed behind Locke, perhaps one day they, too, could become as strong as him.
Of course, not Locke as he was now—but Locke after reaching the Highgod realm.
Judging from the strength Locke had already displayed, once he advanced to Highgod, his power would increase by at least tenfold.
At that point, neither the City Lord nor Ryan would have any ability to resist him.
"No, City Lord—you've misunderstood."
Locke shook his head calmly.
"I have no intention of competing with you for the position of Rockpeak City Lord."
Locke was completely unaware of the City Lord's and Ryan's internal calculations.
After all, he didn't have any backing force to speak of.
The one person he had once relied on—Lord Celes—might very well already be weaker than him now.
"Oh?"
The City Lord glanced at Ryan. Ryan shook his head as well, equally puzzled.
The City Lord then spoke directly:
"Then please speak plainly, Lord Locke.
As long as it's within my ability, I will not refuse."
"Very well."
With a flip of his hand, four waist tokens marked with the character 'Rock' appeared in Locke's palm—along with a miniature, fire-aspected metal lifeform shaped like a tiny divine beast.
"City Lord. Vice City Lord Ryan.
Do these two items look familiar to you?"
The City Lord examined them briefly, then nodded without denial.
"These waist tokens belong to the Rockpeak City Guard."
"And this metal lifeform—if I'm not mistaken—belongs to Vice City Lord Evi."
"As long as you recognize them, that's enough."
Locke had deliberately preserved the metal lifeform's original appearance after binding it, precisely so it could serve as evidence.
Now, it seemed he had indeed found the mastermind behind the scenes.
"City Lord. Vice City Lord Ryan."
"I arrived in Rockpeak City over ten years ago and purchased some items at VioletljadeCastle."
"Half a month ago, I left the city to continue my travels."
"However, outside Rockpeak City, I was attacked by a metal lifeform piloted by six Gods."
"After killing them in self-defense, I recovered these waist tokens from the spatial rings of four of those Gods."
"The other two spatial rings could not be opened, as their owners possessed additional divine clones."
"To determine who was targeting me, I returned to Rockpeak City."
"What I didn't expect was that upon entering the city, Vice City Lord Ryan immediately mobilized the city guard and surrounded me—accusing me of robbing and killing guards."
"Ahem… haha…"
Ryan's face reddened slightly in embarrassment.
"I was… deceived by those two."
Locke ignored Ryan and instead took out the two unopened spatial rings, placing them before the City Lord and Ryan, then gestured politely.
"City Lord. Vice City Lord Ryan.
These are the two spatial rings that could not be opened."
"Their Demigod clones have already been killed by me."
"If they have no other clones, these rings should now be accessible."
"But if they still possess additional divine clones…"
The City Lord and Ryan exchanged a glance.
By now, they both essentially understood the truth.
The City Lord waved his hand, letting a drop of blood fall onto one spatial ring.
Ryan did the same with the other.
Ryan's attempt failed.
Clearly, that God still had another clone alive.
But the City Lord's binding succeeded.
When his divine sense entered the ring, he let out a quiet sigh. Another Rockpeak City Guard waist token appeared in his hand.
"I apologize, Lord Locke."
"This was a failure of my governance. My subordinates have offended you."
"I will have Vice City Lord Evi summoned immediately."
Vice City Lord Evi was a Highgod who had appeared in Rockpeak City hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Back then, he had challenged Ryan and been easily defeated. It was the City Lord himself who intervened, spared Evi, and appointed him as Rockpeak City's second Vice City Lord.
After all, both the City Lord and Ryan were preoccupied with seeking a path beyond their current limits and had little time to manage city affairs.
Having another Highgod take on responsibilities suited them perfectly.
But now, it seemed that Vice City Lord Evi had never been content with merely managing the city.
Over the years, incidents like Locke's had likely occurred more than once.
It was just that none of Evi's previous victims possessed Locke's terrifying strength—they had all perished silently.
Had Locke not been a God with power rivaling powerful Highgods, the City Lord and Ryan might still be completely in the dark.
"Bad news, City Lord!"
Before long, the steward who had earlier escorted Locke and Ryan rushed into the hall.
"City Lord, Lord Locke, Vice City Lord Ryan."
After bowing to all three, he spoke hurriedly.
"Per your orders, I went to Vice City Lord Evi's palace to summon him."
"But upon arrival, I discovered that Vice City Lord Evi was no longer there."
"According to his guards, Vice City Lord Evi left in great haste a few minutes ago."
"What?!"
The City Lord and Ryan stood up abruptly.
They hadn't expected Evi to flee at such a moment.
Despite Evi's grave misconduct, neither the City Lord nor Ryan had intended to abandon him.
After all, Evi was still a Vice City Lord of Rockpeak City.
If word spread that Rockpeak City couldn't even protect its own Vice City Lord, how could anyone respect its authority?
Not to mention—
Evi was a Highgod.
In this era, the value of a Highgod was immense.
"Lord Locke, this…"
Even the City Lord didn't know how to explain the situation anymore.
"City Lord," Locke said calmly,
"since Vice City Lord Evi has left Rockpeak City, may I consider him no longer affiliated with it?"
"Yes."
The City Lord nodded.
"From the moment Vice City Lord Evi abandoned Rockpeak City, he ceased to be one of us."
Hell was never peaceful—slaughter and conflict were its norm.
That was why beings formed groups, hoping to rely on one another in times of danger.
But Evi had never shown any intention of standing alongside them.
Secretly robbing travelers was one thing.
Abandoning Rockpeak City and fleeing alone when exposed was another.
Compare that to Ryan.
Even after realizing he had been used as a blade by Evi, Ryan still chose to defend Rockpeak City's dignity and did not sell Evi out outright.
The difference was clear.
"I see. Then I'm relieved."
Locke nodded.
At that moment, his soul power spread outward, quickly locking onto the aura of a Highgod rapidly fleeing eastward.
With a flick of his hand, the metal lifeform seized from the six Gods appeared once more.
Locke tossed it upward.
The metal lifeform expanded instantly, spreading its wings above the City Lord's manor.
Whoosh!
Locke leapt inside, channeling divine power into its core. The metal lifeform transformed into a streak of light, shooting eastward.
"This…"
The City Lord and Ryan exchanged stunned looks.
(End of Chapter)
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