"L-Lo-Lo-Locke… y-you're a Sovereign?"
The teleportation jolted Celes out of his daze.
He stammered as he asked the question, his whole body was trembling.
Celes—normally silver-tongued and composed—was actually stuttering in front of Locke.
At the Ironblade Gorge in Hell, the soldiers guarding the interplanar teleportation array had just been about to tell Locke and Celes to step down—
when they heard Celes's words.
They nearly bit their tongues in shock.
What the hell?
A Sovereign just used their teleportation array?
What are we supposed to do now?
Help—urgent answers needed…
Though Celes's tone was phrased as a question, his expression already held certainty.
After all, he knew the distance between the Nether Mountain Range and the Undead Sacred Mountain.
He and Mila had taken nearly a thousand years to traverse it.
Even accounting for detours while doing Fiend missions, a straight-line journey would still take at least three to four hundred years.
And Locke?
He had brought Celes here in less than half a day.
Was that something a god could do?
"Heh…"
Instead of answering, Locke spread his divine sense.
In an instant, every Sovereign in Hell sensed his presence.
…
"How is that possible? Why has he come to Hell?"
On Bloodpeak Continent, within the Skyrite Mountains, the Four Divine Beasts Sovereigns looked toward Ironblade Gorge with grave expressions.
"Could it be that Sovereign Locke intends to make a move against us?"
As sworn brothers, Azure Dragon Redding voiced his concern to the others.
Though Gislason, Nimitz, and Bozai felt their elder brother was overthinking things—given Locke's character, he shouldn't attack them—
after all, they had once traded with Locke, giving him five hundred drops of Sovereign's Might and twenty drops of Sovereign blood essence.
Still, in both word and action, they stood firmly with Redding.
The Four Divine Beasts Sovereigns were one unified whole—each indispensable.
Now that Locke had arrived in Hell so openly, they were instantly on high alert.
Besides them, another Sovereign was nearly jumping in anxiety.
Bloodpeak Sovereign Pash.
He knew better than most just how terrifying Locke was.
So why had Locke come to Hell?
Without hesitation, Pash extended his divine sense.
…
Rumble—
Just as Locke and Celes were about to step off the teleportation array, an overwhelming pressure descended.
In an instant, everyone around Ironblade Gorge—including Celes—was forced to their knees.
Only Locke remained standing.
Above them, vast amounts of black Destruction Sovereign's power gathered into a massive dark visage, looking down from the sky.
"Greetings, Lord Locke."
"May I ask what brings you to Hell?"
The voice of Bloodpeak Sovereign Pash echoed from the projection.
"Oh, Pash…"
Locke glanced up slightly, activating his soul-vision. In an instant, he understood Pash's intentions.
"Relax, Pash."
"I'm not here to beat you up this time. I've come to discuss something with Chief Sovereign Wordred."
"You can rest easy."
"Haha… Lord Locke sure knows how to joke…"
Even so, Pash genuinely relaxed.
Locke was a Chief Sovereign—being defeated by him wasn't exactly disgraceful.
At this point, Pash had conveniently forgotten that Locke hadn't even been a Sovereign when he defeated him.
Still, Pash was already thinking about how to avoid drawing Locke's attention.
After all, before Locke became a Sovereign, Pash had made a few moves against him.
There were no eternal secrets in this world.
Especially since Pash had involved Muya as well.
So, before that matter came to light, Pash needed to find a way to appease Locke.
Otherwise, once exposed, if Locke came to kill him—even Chief Sovereign Wordred wouldn't defend him.
Thinking carefully…
Locke's soul power seemed absurdly strong.
Perhaps he could create some kind of soul-based game—one where Locke would inevitably be the strongest player…
If so, maybe Locke would show mercy in appreciation of his "good intentions"?
…
After Pash's projection dispersed, Locke didn't linger.
He grabbed Celes and flew toward the Chaos Sea.
Celes, meanwhile, was completely stunned.
He had guessed Locke was a Sovereign.
But he hadn't imagined Locke was this powerful even among Sovereigns.
From Pash's reaction, Locke's standing was clearly far higher than he had imagined.
Locke's speed was astonishing.
Two hours later, they had already arrived at Wukun City in the Chaos Sea.
"Lord Wordred, Locke requests an audience."
Locke remained outside the city, releasing his aura and sending a message via divine sense.
Whoosh!
The moment he received the message, Chief Sovereign of Destruction Wordred shot out from the city lord's residence, appearing before Locke with overwhelming battle intent.
"Locke, have you come to challenge me after making a breakthrough?"
Unlike the Chief Sovereign of Death, Wordred had no treasure like the Netherworld Heart to monitor the entire plane.
He had only sensed Locke when the latter approached the Chaos Sea.
After all, a Sovereign flying at full speed was impossible to ignore.
Though Wordred regarded Locke highly, in terms of status, he still ranked above him.
Thus, since Locke had not greeted him first, Wordred did not initiate greetings either.
This wasn't about personal feelings—it was about protocol and hierarchy.
The Sovereign Pact existed, in essence, to maintain order and rank.
If one disregarded such etiquette, stronger Sovereigns could use it as justification to strike.
"Lord Wordred jests."
Locke stepped forward, shielding Celes from the oppressive battle intent.
"If breakthroughs were that easy, I wouldn't have revealed myself at the last Sovereign assembly. I would have waited until after advancing."
That was, of course, a lie.
But Locke had no intention of casually revealing the truth of his cultivation.
Being slightly ahead of others made one a genius.
Being thousands—or millions—of times ahead made one an anomaly.
People could accept geniuses.
They would not tolerate anomalies.
By revealing his strength at the Sovereign assembly, Locke had avoided appearing secretive or suspicious.
Geniuses had pride. Displaying strength appropriately reduced trouble.
If Locke had hidden his power and posed as merely an Intermediate Sovereign, what would he have done when challenged by a Chief Sovereign?
Fight back? Then how was an Intermediate Sovereign stronger than a Chief Sovereign?
Endure silently? Then what was the point of cultivation?
After revealing his edge, however, one must also know when to conceal it.
His current words about the difficulty of fusing different Laws served precisely that purpose.
"That makes sense."
Wordred nodded.
Only those who had reached Paragon understood just how difficult full fusion of Laws truly was.
Locke had already fused three Water Laws into the Fate Laws—his talent was unmatched.
But fusing a fourth different Law?
That would be ten times harder.
If Locke hadn't made progress, that was only natural.
Seeing that Locke hadn't broken through, Wordred reined in his battle intent.
"Then, Sovereign Locke, why have you come to see me?"
"It's like this, Lord Wordred…"
Locke proceeded to explain his relationship with Celes, as well as Celes's situation with the Water Sovereign.
Behind him, Celes stood stiff as a statue.
In just a few hours, the shocks he had experienced had shattered his entire worldview.
He could never have imagined—
that the Saint he had once discovered secretly advancing…
the trembling Water Deity who had stood before him…
the Highgod who had once joked and called him "Your Majesty Celes"—
had now become an untouchable Sovereign.
And from Locke's conversation with the other Sovereigns, Celes also learned something else:
Even among Sovereigns, there were tiers.
At the very least—
there were ordinary Sovereigns…
and Chief Sovereigns.
(End of Chapter)
⭐ Enjoying the story?
You can read ahead and support the translations by joining my Patreon! Your support helps me update faster and take on more projects. Thank you for reading!
Read up to 50 chapters ahead!
patreon.com/AminaSims
Next Bonus Chapter at 1100 Powerstones