For now, however, the Four Overgods had yet to establish the Sovereign Pact, and the Seven Law Chief Sovereigns were still busy harvesting faith to further strengthen themselves.
Although the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns now possessed Chief Sovereign–level combat power, they still lacked universal recognition.
Of course—
All they needed was a single battle to prove it.
"Hahaha, Locke, we truly owe this to your reminder," Redding laughed.
Yes, he had sworn to protect Locke from Sovereign-level threats for one hundred million years.
But in Redding's eyes—
It was more than worth it.
"You're too kind, Sovereign Redding. Even without me, the four of you would have gathered eventually."
Locke lowered his head respectfully.
That wasn't false modesty.
In the history Locke remembered, the Four Divine Beasts had united even without his interference.
Only Hongmeng—who could perceive much of the universe's fate—might know how inevitable that convergence truly was.
"Big Brother," Eres said thoughtfully, "if the four of us separate, we can be defeated individually."
"Our fusion innate ability requires all four of us."
"We should reside in the same plane."
"What do you think?"
Redding rarely showed hesitation.
Eres was correct.
Only together were they terrifying.
Separated?
Even a Chief Sovereign could annihilate them instantly.
Their strength was collective.
Lose one—
And their deterrence vanished.
But which plane should they choose?
Water? Earth? Wind? Fire?
As Elemental Sovereigns, each gained slight enhancement in their respective Divine Plane.
Choosing Water would benefit Redding—but would appear biased.
Besides, the elemental boost meant little compared to their fusion ability.
Bowen was easy—he had already shown he would yield for harmony.
That left Wind or Fire.
Whichever Redding chose would subtly favor either Eres or Nemo.
Choose Wind—Eres gained advantage.
Choose Fire—Nemo gained advantage.
The tension was obvious.
Locke wisely remained silent.
He knew the future—the Four Divine Beasts would eventually establish themselves in Hell's Skyrite Mountains.
But how could a mere Highgod dictate a Sovereign's decision?
Yet Redding suddenly brightened.
Of course.
If choosing among the four Divine Planes risked bias—
Why not choose a plane outside them?
And since he had sworn to protect Locke—
What better place than the Hell itself?
Redding spoke.
"Brothers, I previously swore an oath to Locke."
He explained the agreement—protection for one hundred million years in exchange for the fusion secret.
"Our strength lies in our fusion innate ability."
"The elemental boost of a Divine Plane is negligible."
"Let us relocate to Hell."
"It simplifies my oath—and avoids drawing hostility within our native Divine Planes."
The others nodded.
Though their fusion attack rivaled a Chief Sovereign—
It was not invincible.
In spatial turbulence they had discovered:
The time-space freeze had limited range.
If a Chief Sovereign remained outside that range—
The attack might miss.
They lacked speed.
Lacked raw power.
Lacked willpower parity.
They possessed only Chief Sovereign–level soul offense.
They could defend.
Even dominate in a direct clash.
But they could not pursue.
Not even Intermediate Sovereigns matched Chief Sovereigns in speed—let alone them.
Thus—
Hell it would be.
"Then we depart for Hell at once."
"Locke, will you accompany us?"
Locke's heart skipped.
"No, Sovereign Redding. That would trouble you too much."
He refused immediately.
He had already obtained everything he needed.
Traveling through spatial turbulence alongside Sovereigns?
Far too risky.
If Redding had the slightest malicious intent—
Locke would be stranded forever.
Yes, his material defense Sovereign artifact would protect him from destruction—
But being trapped in spatial turbulence would ruin everything.
His Water divine clone was essential to expanding Fiend Castle.
Without it, he could not dominate the 108 Prefectures.
Without expansion—
His Fate divine clone would stagnate.
Two potential Paragon-level paths would collapse.
So he declined.
"Sovereigns, I shall take my leave."
Without waiting for a response, Locke activated Water Elemental Movement and vanished.
Hell.
Nightblaze Prefecture.
Top floor of Fiend Castle.
Locke's main body opened his eyes.
The Water Divine Plane expedition had been enormously profitable—
But politically delicate.
Forcing Redding to swear by the Overgod had signaled distrust.
Refusing Redding's escort reinforced it.
For now, Redding was euphoric.
Later—
He might not be.
Now that the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns were relocating to Hell—
Locke had no intention of exposing himself.
He concealed his soul fluctuations completely and disappeared.
Minutes later—
He sensed turbulence across Hell.
Earth, Wind, Water, Fire Laws collided with the Edicts of Destruction.
Then calm returned.
Clearly—
The Four Divine Beast Sovereigns had clashed with Infernal Sovereigns before moving the confrontation into spatial turbulence.
Hundreds of years later—
Word quietly spread.
The Four Divine Beast Sovereigns had taken the Skyrite Mountains as their base.
Locke's Water divine clone transferred excess resources—
A spare Water defense Sovereign artifactDivine beast blood essencePortions of Sovereign's Might
—to his Saint-level original body.
Then he resumed cultivation.
Now—
He had zero doubt Fiend Castle would spread across Hell.
Unless a Paragon emerged within the next hundred thousand years to suppress him—
Nothing could stop the expansion.
One Prefecture per thousand years.
He would not slow.
In fact—
Expansion exceeded his expectations.
Four hundred years later—
Fiend Castle covered all of Nightblaze Prefecture.
Locke had intended to stabilize at that point.
But momentum had become unstoppable.
Cities preemptively constructed Fiend Castles near the Violet Castle hubs.
All they needed was one infused Violet Crystal bearing Locke's soul imprint—
And business began instantly.
It was inevitable.
In Bloodriver Prefecture—
Before Locke even challenged Prefecture Lord Bella Cox—
One-third of its cities already housed Fiend Castles.
By the thousand-year mark—
Half the Prefecture was integrated.
Compared to the duel with Krurus a millennium ago—
This upcoming battle drew far greater attention.
Because the previous duel had only ten years' notice.
Many simply couldn't arrive in time.
This time—
The challenge had been declared a thousand years in advance.
Experts from across Hell were converging on Bloodriver Prefecture.
All wished to witness—
Just how powerful
The legendary Seven-Star Fiend truly was.
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