Could it be…
Just as Lord Kurusus had suspected?
Was the Fiend Castle attempting to intimidate him with the title of "Seven-Star Fiend," hoping he would concede without a fight?
With that thought in mind, Dalton immediately began a far deeper investigation into the Fiend Castle.
What he uncovered made his expression steadily darken.
"Locke…"
"So, he was originally registered in the Fiend Castle as a Five-Star Fiend."
He flipped through projection records one after another.
"And according to accumulated intelligence… the Fiend Castle was very likely founded by this very Locke."
His eyes narrowed.
"And the first place he appeared… was Rockpeak City."
"Defeated the former vice city lord, Ryan… while still a God?"
Dalton froze.
"Ryan… confirmed. Five-Star Fiend."
"How is that possible?"
Over the past three hundred years, the Fiend Castle had expanded across most of Nightblaze Prefecture. Ryan had fought often during that period.
From those battle projections alone, his strength was unquestionably Five-Star Fiend level — and not a weak one.
Dalton knew with certainty:
If he himself fought Ryan, he would likely lose.
And yet—
That same Ryan had once been defeated by Locke while Locke was still only a God.
Now Locke dared to challenge Kurusus.
Which meant only one thing.
He had broken through to Highgod.
And based on his previous combat record…
The moment he became a Highgod, his strength would rise to at least Six-Star Fiend level.
That alone would qualify him to battle a Prefecture Lord.
Dalton slowly exhaled.
"If Locke truly possesses Seven-Star Fiend strength…"
He closed the compiled records.
"Then the balance of Hell may shift."
Dalton did not immediately carry out Kurusus's earlier instruction to prepare a purge of the Fiend Castle.
After reviewing everything, he made a different judgment.
From the evidence available, Locke was at minimum comparable to Kurusus in strength.
And within the Fiend Castle were numerous experts no weaker than himself.
If war broke out between Nightblaze Prefecture and the Fiend Castle—
As long as Locke could restrain Kurusus—
The prefectural army would be crushed.
It wouldn't take much.
Seven or eight more Five-Star Fiends like Ryan and Rockpeak would be enough to tear through Nightblaze Prefecture's defenses.
The smartest course?
Do nothing.
If Kurusus won, the problem solved itself.
In Kurusus's hands, even Five-Star Fiends were little more than insects.
If Kurusus lost…
Dalton had already prepared himself to relinquish Nightblaze Prefecture.
After all, with Kurusus's strength, he could simply leave and challenge another Prefecture Lord elsewhere. Victory would not be impossible.
This was Hell.
Power, wealth, status — all illusions.
Only strength was real.
With strength, everything else could be reclaimed.
Without strength, no matter how much you owned…
You were meat on a chopping block.
If a stronger being chose not to take from you today—
It was only because they did not yet need what you had.
The day they decided they did—
You would have two options.
Hand everything over willingly.
Or watch your entire clan exterminated before it was taken anyway.
Thus, every god who had survived long enough in Hell understood a simple principle:
Know your limits.
Eat only what your strength allows you to digest.
Reach beyond your bowl, and you invite disaster.
Eight Years Later
"About time," Locke murmured.
Eight years earlier, after breaking through to Highgod and issuing his challenge to Kurusus, Locke's Saint-level original body and his Fate divine clone had both left Rockpeak City and rejoined him in Barkley City, merging once more with his water-element divine clone.
In the past, he had left his original body behind as insurance — a safeguard in case something went wrong during the Fiend Castle's expansion.
But now?
His water divine clone possessed Seven-Star Fiend strength.
In this era, that meant he stood at the very pinnacle beneath the Sovereigns.
What did he have left to fear?
"Little White."
"Yes, Lord Locke."
"Prepare the metal lifeform. Inform the Fiends — we depart for Nightblaze Prefecture immediately."
"All Fiends wishing to accompany us may begin registering now."
"First three hundred names will travel with us."
"The rest may make their own way — they may carry the banner of the Fiend Castle."
He paused.
"And tell them this: any traveling group should include at least one Fiend with a divine clone stationed elsewhere."
"If they are ambushed, the information must spread instantly to every Fiend Castle."
"A bounty will be issued."
Little White bowed.
"Yes, Lord Locke."
News of Locke's departure spread like wildfire through the Fiend Castle network.
Soon, nearly every major faction in Hell was paying attention to this coming battle.
Even the Sovereigns.
Unlike ordinary Highgods, the Sovereigns had already completed large-scale fusion of profound mysteries through the use of faith energy.
To them, the Fiend ranking system was no mystery.
It corresponded almost perfectly to the degree of profound mystery fusion.
What Dalton could discover was trivial in their eyes.
Now, the Sovereigns of Hell were all asking the same question:
Which Sovereign stood behind Locke?
Because in this era, only Sovereigns fully understood the structured fusion of profound mysteries.
Even if a Highgod accidentally fused mysteries, they often did not comprehend how they had done so.
When Locke defeated Ryan, he had only been a God.
Ryan's strength was well known among the Sovereigns.
A special lifeform. His body alone made him vastly stronger than ordinary Highgods — Four-Star peak, briefly comparable to Five-Star Fiends.
Locke, on the other hand, was merely human.
Which meant—
For a God to defeat Ryan—
He must have fused at least three profound mysteries.
That implied something extraordinary.
From the very beginning of his cultivation, Locke must have known that profound mysteries could be fused.
And he had successfully walked that path.
This was not the distant future, more than a thousand epochs later, when Sovereigns inherited vast reserves of faith energy from predecessors and could instantly fuse five mysteries upon refining a Sovereign spark.
Now?
Everything had to be built from scratch.
Though the Sovereigns had dispatched their Sovereign Armies to countless material planes to harvest faith, it had only been ten million years.
The accumulated faith energy was nothing compared to what future Sovereigns would possess.
Some Sovereigns now might have fused four mysteries.
Perhaps five.
Only a handful of Paragon-level Sovereigns might have reached the pinnacle.
And now—
A Highgod appeared who had never used faith energy—
Yet fused profound mysteries at a speed not inferior to theirs.
How could they not observe?
Perhaps, by watching this so-called "Sovereign's descendant," they might glimpse a new path.
Thus—
From time to time—
Invisible gazes descended upon Locke.
The gap in strength was too vast.
Locke felt nothing.
Had he sensed the Sovereigns watching him…
Who knew what unpredictable move he might have made?
Inside the Metal Lifeform
"Lord Locke… should we change metal lifeforms?"
Little White knocked and entered carefully.
Locke opened the door.
He paused.
Little White… looked uneasy.
After years managing the Fiend Castle, Little White had grown composed, sharp, and reliable.
His strength might not be top-tier among Fiends.
But his strategic mind and logistical ability were irreplaceable.
He could allocate manpower between cities with precision.
Balance task distribution.
Manage expansion.
That was something even Five-Star Fiends like Ryan could not do.
Yet now—
Fear flickered in his eyes.
Locke's gaze sharpened slightly.
"Why?"
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