"Going to the Infernal Realm? You want the Chief Sovereign of Destruction to back you up?"
Because her memories had recovered, Lilia naturally knew about the grudge between Dunnington and Figaroa, one of the captains under Locke's Sovereign Army.
Compared to Figaroa, the Chief Sovereign of Death clearly appreciated Dunnington more.
As such, she didn't have any particular thoughts regarding Dunnington's choice.
"Mmm, that makes sense. Among the four Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts, the Life Chief Sovereign, Wawaya, doesn't like meddling in other people's affairs, while the Fate Chief Sovereign, Orloff, has offended Locke before. Neither of them would likely antagonize Locke over a mere Paragon like you."
"That leaves only the Chief Sovereign of Destruction as someone who might stand behind you."
"In fact, there's a good chance that fellow will use this opportunity to challenge Locke."
"Hm?"
Upon hearing the Chief Sovereign of Death's words, Dunnington was startled inwardly.
At the same time, he also felt somewhat fortunate that he had come here before going to the Infernal Realm.
Although he wanted revenge against Figaroa, if his actions were to bring trouble to Teacher Locke, that was something he absolutely could not accept.
Seeing the change in Dunnington's expression, how could the Chief Sovereign of Death not know what he was thinking?
While inwardly amused, she also felt that Locke's judgment of people truly was excellent.
Immediately, Lilia chuckled softly. "Dunnington, are you worried that you'll bring trouble to your teacher?"
"Mm."
After hesitating for a moment, Dunnington still nodded.
"Don't worry."
"I don't know exactly what your teacher told you."
"But among the Sovereigns, your teacher is also the strongest."
"The reason your teacher refuses to accept the Chief Sovereign of Destruction's challenges is simply because he has no interest in bullying the weak."
"But if the Chief Sovereign of Destruction really uses this as an excuse to challenge your teacher, your teacher wouldn't mind beating him up either."
"Is that so?"
Hearing the Chief Sovereign of Death say this, Dunnington immediately relaxed inwardly.
"You think I'd lie to you?"
"To be honest, I've been unhappy with the Chief Sovereign of Destruction for a very long time already. It's just that your teacher kept stopping me with nonsense like, 'The strong should challenge those stronger than themselves. Only the weak draw their blades against those weaker than themselves…'"
"Otherwise, I would've already run over to the Infernal Realm and beaten Wordred several times over."
"Uh…"
Dunnington's heart jumped.
Although Dunnington didn't fully understand the strength rankings among the Sovereigns, from the conversations he'd had with Teacher Locke before, the Chief Sovereign of Destruction was clearly someone second only to Teacher Locke even if he wasn't quite as strong.
And yet now, this Sovereign who told him to call her Master's wife was saying that if Teacher Locke hadn't stopped her, she would have already beaten the Chief Sovereign of Destruction several times.
Could it be…
After arriving at a few guesses in his heart, Dunnington chatted with the Chief Sovereign of Death a little longer about Locke before finally taking his leave from Mount Netherworld.
After passing through the lightning barrier, Dunnington turned back to glance once at Mount Netherworld.
"The strong challenge those stronger than themselves, while the weak only draw their blades against those weaker…"
"Teacher, are you trying to remind me of something?"
Shaking his head, Dunnington stopped thinking further.
After all, he hadn't heard those words directly from Teacher Locke himself, but only through this Sovereign Master's wife's retelling.
However, judging from Teacher Locke's attitude toward the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, he indeed seemed to live by that principle.
After Dunnington left, the smile on Lilia's face faded.
Because she had accompanied Locke in restoring Dunnington's memories, Lilia also knew about the grudge between Dunnington and Figaroa.
But unlike Locke, who remained neutral between the two sides, Lilia stood on Dunnington's side.
It had nothing to do with right or wrong. It was simply because Dunnington was stronger.
Now that she had already decided to bear children with Locke, the Chief Sovereign of Death naturally wanted to prepare some protectors for their future children, to ensure they wouldn't suffer harm during their growth.
Previously, Oakes had barely qualified.
But after Dunnington appeared, the Chief Sovereign of Death felt that while their child was still at the god level, what kind of protector could possibly compare to a Paragon?
Given the favor Locke had shown Dunnington, having Dunnington, a Paragon, serve as the guard of her and Locke's child for a million years shouldn't be a problem.
After forming such thoughts, people like Figaroa and Oakes naturally no longer mattered in the Chief Sovereign of Death's eyes.
At the end of the day, if the person responsible for seizing the Blackstone Robe hadn't been Christina from her own Sovereign Army, the Chief Sovereign of Death would have wanted to openly support Dunnington herself and recruit him as her own Sovereign Emissary.
Although Christina and Mira hadn't personally taken action, when all was said and done, the matter still couldn't be separated from the two of them.
Under such circumstances, if she were to stand up for Dunnington, where would that leave Christina and Mira?
In any case, judging from the fact that Dunnington had specifically come to inform Locke before going to seek the Chief Sovereign of Destruction as backing, so long as Locke's requests weren't excessive, Dunnington would most likely not refuse.
Thus, the Chief Sovereign of Death stopped concerning herself with the matter.
"Still, I need to hurry up on my side as well."
"Otherwise, when Wordred brings Dunnington to the Netherworld and I still haven't become a Paragon, wouldn't all of Locke's efforts over these years have gone to waste?"
...
Time spent cultivating passed unnoticed.
Immersed in cultivation, Locke had no particular sense of the passage of time in the outside world.
Until one day, a tyrannical divine sense spread into the Sovereign Palace of Locke's Water Divine Plane, jolting Locke awake from his cultivation.
"Who is it?!"
Anyone interrupted during cultivation would become furious.
Naturally, Locke was no exception.
However, the anger he felt ultimately had nowhere to vent itself.
Because the moment Locke regained consciousness, he immediately discovered that the one who had awakened him was none other than the Chief Sovereign of Death's divine sense.
"Uh… Lilia, your memories recovered?"
Locke spread out his divine sense and transmitted to the Chief Sovereign of Death.
In Locke's mind, only if the Chief Sovereign of Death had recovered her memories would she know that he was in the Water Divine Plane.
However, Locke never could have imagined that not long after he left the Netherworld, the Chief Sovereign of Death had already recovered her memories through the water estate.
"Yeah, they recovered."
"That's great. Then I'll return to the Netherworld right now."
Hearing Lilia say this, Locke immediately rose from the throne within the Sovereign Palace. His Fate Sovereign true body separated from him as Locke prepared to return to the Netherworld at once.
However, before Locke's original body could step into the spatial turbulence, the information transmitted afterward by the Chief Sovereign of Death caused him to halt his movements.
"Lilia, you're saying that the Chief Sovereign of Destruction and Dunnington have already arrived in the Netherworld? And they're currently outside my Sovereign Army's base in the Nethersea?"
"Mm. So if you're coming back, you'd better bring your strongest Sovereign true body."
"Judging from Wordred's expression, I doubt you'll be able to avoid fighting him this time."
"That's fine too."
Locke nodded. "If Wordred challenges me this time, then I'll reveal a bit more of my strength."
"After the battle is over, we'll convene a Sovereign Assembly, spread the news of the Overgod mission among the Sovereigns, and while we're at it, summon the Death Overgod during the assembly and make our wish."
"Mm, that's what I was thinking too."
On the Netherworld side, the Chief Sovereign of Death was slightly surprised.
Locke had said that if the Chief Sovereign of Destruction challenged him, he would reveal a bit more of his strength.
However, based on the Chief Sovereign of Death's understanding of Locke, it was impossible for him to have made any major breakthrough in such a short amount of time.
Then what Locke meant by "revealing a bit more strength"… could it be that he intended to use the Laws Sovereign artifact containing willpower?
Although the Chief Sovereign of Death did not want Locke to expose the Laws Sovereign artifacts during his battle against the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Wordred—since she wanted to leave those two Laws Sovereign artifacts behind as protection for their future children—
Locke clearly had his own plans if he said such things.
Thus, the Chief Sovereign of Death said nothing further.
Recalling his Fate Sovereign true body, Locke stepped forward.
Without tearing open a spatial crack, Locke directly relied on his attainments in the Laws of Space to effortlessly enter the spatial turbulence.
This time, however, Locke did not conceal himself as before, but openly flew toward the Netherworld.
After all, because of the Chief Sovereign of Destruction's actions, nearly all the Sovereigns had already gathered outside the spatial turbulence surrounding the Netherworld, spreading out their divine senses into the Netherworld to observe how this matter would unfold.
...
At this moment, above Lotus Rock Island in the Nethersea, only two figures stood in the sky.
One was the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Wordred, seated upon a black throne.
The other was the recently famous and newly confirmed Death Paragon—Dunnington!
Nearly a hundred million years had passed since Locke's era. The living beings of the Divine Planes and Higher Planes had already gone through several generations of change.
Those beings from Locke's era had either died, become elders within certain powers, or secluded themselves somewhere in retirement.
Under such circumstances, the legends of that era had gradually begun to fade.
But Dunnington was the sole legend of the current era.
Compared to Locke, Dunnington had been anything but low-profile during his years in the Infernal Realm in order to gain the Chief Sovereign of Destruction Wordred's attention.
During that time, other Sovereigns had also taken notice of Dunnington and attempted to recruit him as their Sovereign Emissary.
Toward these Sovereigns' invitations, Dunnington did not reject them outright.
After all, although he had become a Paragon, Dunnington had also learned from Teacher Locke about the enormous gap in strength between a Paragon and a Sovereign.
Thus, even though Dunnington did not wish to become the Sovereign Emissary of those Sovereigns, he also did not wish to offend them.
So Dunnington simply directly explained the grudge between himself and a captain under Sovereign Locke's Sovereign Army, openly stating that whichever Destruction Sovereign within the Infernal Realm was willing to back him would earn his willingness to become their Sovereign Emissary.
Sure enough, from the reactions of those Sovereigns, Dunnington gained an even more direct understanding of his teacher's standing among the Sovereigns.
(End of Chapter)
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