Otherwise, there was no way Lord Locke would have looked so surprised when I mentioned that Celes had joined the Sovereign Army.
It was just that Oakes couldn't understand why, after the two of them had arrived here, Lord Locke had still never summoned them.
Perhaps… Lord Locke had simply been too absorbed in his cultivation at the time and forgotten.
After all, the moment Lord Locke learned that Celes and Lady Mira wished to see him, he had immediately ordered Oakes to bring them before him.
"All right, Lady Mira, Celes—since you're both here now, let's go meet Lord Locke."
"Mm."
Under Oakes's guidance, Celes and Mira passed through the mist for the very first time and arrived at the foot of Nethermountain.
Before them, countless arcs of lightning had formed chains of thunder, completely wrapping around the entire mountain.
The lightning plunged into the ground, impossible to tell whether it rose from the earth below or descended from the heavens above.
The chains crisscrossed one another, leaving gaps a little over a meter wide.
Seeing this, Celes suddenly felt that perhaps he had misunderstood Locke's situation.
The power of these lightning chains might be terrifying, but with gaps like these, one could probably slip through the lattice with enough care.
There was no way Locke could truly be trapped by something like this.
Just as Celes was about to step through the lightning grid, Oakes abruptly grabbed him by the arm.
"Wait, Celes. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"Hm?"
Seeing the confusion in Celes's eyes, Oakes sighed.
Honestly, the Sovereign who had forged these lightning chains had a rather wicked sense of humor.
Without another word, Oakes stamped the ground.
Bang!
A small stone bounced up from the earth and landed in his hand.
Then Oakes casually tossed it toward the gap in the lightning grid.
Crackle—snap—
In an instant, a violet barrier flared to life within the lattice, countless bolts of lightning racing through it as the stone was instantly annihilated.
"Hiss…"
Celes sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of the net-like wall of thunder before him.
Thank goodness Oakes had stopped him just now.
Otherwise, he would have already been severely wounded by that lightning barrier.
But what Oakes said next made Celes realize just how shallow his assumptions had been.
"You'd better be careful. The lightning around Nethermountain was set up by the Sovereign herself to prevent living beings from entering or leaving as they please."
"Even a Lord Prefect-class Asura would be seriously injured if struck by it."
"Quite a few overconfident Seven-Star Fiends have already been obliterated by these bolts."
"Even Seven-Star Fiends can be killed by it?"
At that, unease deepened in Celes's heart.
Could defenses of this level truly be meant only to keep outsiders from entering Nethermountain—and not to prevent Locke from escaping?
At that moment, Celes deeply regretted ever voicing his suspicions to Mira.
If his guess turned out to be true—if Locke really was being imprisoned by the Sovereign, and Mira insisted on risking her life to rescue him—
…then what was he supposed to do?
He wasn't even that close to Locke, honestly…
He could only hope the Sovereign would spare him on account of that.
"Then how do we get in?"
"There's no way around it. We wait for the Sovereign to open the barrier."
"Otherwise, I could go in, but the two of you would likely be killed by the lightning."
"And when will the Sovereign open it?" Mira asked.
"That depends on the Sovereign's mood."
"She definitely already knows we're here."
"If she is willing to receive you, she'll naturally open the lightning barrier."
"But if she isn't… then you may have to wait until she remembers you. That could take some time."
"Ah? What?"
Hearing that, Celes was speechless.
"So, you're saying that if the Sovereign doesn't want to be disturbed right now, we might have to stand here for hundreds… or even thousands of years?"
"That's right."
"But don't worry. Since Lord Locke specifically told me to bring you here, the Sovereign will definitely let you in."
Oakes offered the reassurance calmly.
And indeed, if Lord Locke had already instructed him to bring them here, there was no way they would be left waiting for long.
Sure enough, no sooner had Oakes finished speaking than the lightning chains before them suddenly parted, revealing an arched gateway over three meters tall and a little more than a meter wide.
"All right, the Sovereign has opened the barrier. Let's go."
With that, Oakes stepped through first, Mira close behind him.
Celes eyed the crackling lightning at the edge of the gateway, shivered, and hurried after them.
Once inside Nethermountain, Oakes led Celes and Mira through vast groves of Netherfruits.
The magical beasts hidden among the trees sensed the presence of strangers and immediately poked their heads out.
But the moment they saw Oakes, they shrank right back into hiding.
There was no helping it.
Oakes was a frequent visitor to Nethermountain and deeply trusted by the two Sovereigns.
Because of that, Inavie and Jin had more than once tried to make trouble for him.
Later, with a few seemingly casual hints from Locke, Oakes had thoroughly beaten the two of them and made the difference in strength painfully clear.
And when Inavie and Jin complained afterward, neither the Chief Sovereign of Death nor the Nether Sovereign had the slightest intention of standing up for them.
From then on, every magical beast within Nethermountain knew exactly who they absolutely could not afford to offend.
When they reached the mountainside, the mist parted to form a clear passage.
Following it, the three entered Locke's Water Manor.
The moment Oakes saw the two figures seated at the front of the main hall, he immediately dropped to one knee.
"Oakes greets Lord Locke. Oakes greets Sovereign."
"Hm? Hm?"
"Sovereign?"
Hearing Oakes's form of address, Celes didn't even dare glance again at the woman seated beside Locke.
He hurriedly pulled Mira down with him and knelt.
"Celes and Mira greet the Sovereign."
As a former battalion commander of the Frost Sovereign's army, Celes had never personally met a Sovereign.
But he knew all too well that a Sovereign was an existence completely beyond gods.
With a single thought, a Sovereign could casually erase millions of divine experts.
Before a Sovereign, calling gods ants was practically flattering the ants.
"Mm. Rise."
The Chief Sovereign of Death responded with a slight nod.
Only after hearing the Sovereign's permission did Celes finally breathe a sigh of relief and stand.
But the moment he rose, he realized something strange—
of the three of them, only he had stood up.
Commander Oakes and Mira were both still kneeling.
"All right, Oakes. Mira. You may both rise as well."
"Yes, Lord Locke."
"Yes, Teacher."
Only after Locke spoke did Oakes and Mira rise to their feet.
And at that moment, Celes was utterly baffled.
What was this supposed to mean?
At Commander Oakes's level, the Sovereign's words carried less authority than Locke's?
This was a Sovereign, for heaven's sake!
The Sovereign herself had told them to rise, and Oakes had actually dared to remain kneeling?
Wasn't he afraid of offending the Sovereign and being killed on the spot?
In truth, Oakes himself had once been troubled by the same question.
Just how close was Lord Locke to this Sovereign?
Did the Sovereign's words count as orders to him as well?
When he had brought up this confusion with his wife, Yagonia, she had given him a rather exasperated look.
Still, despite her annoyance, she had helped him think it through.
From that day onward, whenever both the Chief Sovereign of Death and Locke were present, Oakes obeyed only Locke's commands.
Neither Locke nor the Chief Sovereign of Death had ever made any effort to change that.
And indeed, from their own perspective, there was barely any distinction between them.
Hadn't the Overgod Talisman for the Chief Sovereign of Death's mission been handed directly to Locke so he could help gather the mission tokens?
But for Oakes, he was Locke's Sovereign Emissary, not the Death Sovereign's.
Locke had no desire to burden Oakes with an extra superior just because of his own relationship with the Chief Sovereign of Death.
Even as a Sovereign Emissary, Oakes was still free—he had his own thoughts and choices.
On this point, Locke never intended to force him.
The Chief Sovereign of Death, even less so.
She had emissaries of her own.
"It's been a long time, Emperor Celes."
Once Oakes and Mira had risen, Locke turned toward Celes with a smile.
"Locke, don't make fun of me."
Celes gave a bitter laugh.
"I already said back when you returned to the material plane that your strength had surpassed mine."
"I'm no longer the emperor of the Frostsnow Empire."
"Just call me by my name."
"Indeed, Locke."
Unexpectedly, the first one to agree was the Chief Sovereign of Death.
"Your status is different now. You should simply address him by name."
"Even if said in jest, he cannot bear such honorifics from you."
"It may bring calamity upon him in the future."
"All right."
In truth, even if the Chief Sovereign of Death hadn't said it, Locke already knew.
A Sovereign stood at the highest rank in the Coiling Dragon universe beneath only the Overgods.
The respect of a Sovereign was not something just anyone could bear.
At the very least, only a Paragon was truly worthy of such honor.
Otherwise, if an ordinary god received a Sovereign's respect and word of it spread—
what would the other Sovereigns think?
And what would all the other divine experts think?
(End of Chapter)
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