Netherworld, Lotus Rock Island.
After Chief Sovereign Locke and the Chief Sovereign of Destruction entered the spatial turbulence, the soldiers of Locke's Sovereign Army immediately looked toward the sky with grave expressions.
There still stood an existence even more terrifying to them than a Sovereign.
After all, just as Chief Sovereign Locke and the Chief Sovereign of Destruction had said earlier, no matter how powerful Sovereigns were, due to certain agreements among the Sovereigns, they could not casually attack god-level beings.
But Dunnington was different.
He was not a Sovereign. No matter who he attacked, he would not violate the rules.
If Figaroa hadn't possessed the protection of being a captain within the Sovereign Army, then by the time Dunnington had reached the level of a Prefect-level expert, he probably would have already charged into the Sovereign Army and killed Figaroa.
Although Oakes was powerful, before opponents of the same level, protecting his son from harm was still an extremely difficult matter.
Not to mention anything else—even the aftershocks from a battle between Oakes and Dunnington, two Prefect-level experts, could potentially kill Figaroa.
After all, without forming a magical formation, Figaroa was merely a Five Star Fiend who had fused two Profound Mysteries.
Now, their greatest backing, Chief Sovereign Locke, had been held back by the Infernal Realm's Chief Sovereign of Destruction. If Dunnington attacked them, they would undoubtedly have no chance of survival.
Of course, everyone knew that although Dunnington was a Paragon and had the protection of the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, he still would not dare slaughter ordinary soldiers of the Sovereign Army.
Otherwise, Chief Sovereign Locke would absolutely not spare him.
However, if Dunnington merely killed Figaroa for revenge, then under the protection of the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Chief Sovereign Locke would be unable to do anything to Dunnington.
Just as the Chief Sovereign of Destruction had said, Dunnington was carrying out a Sovereign mission he had assigned. Matters between god-level beings were to be resolved by god-level beings themselves.
If Chief Sovereign Locke wished to seek trouble, he could only seek trouble with the Chief Sovereign of Destruction.
Otherwise, Chief Sovereign Locke himself would be violating the Sovereign agreements.
After taking a deep breath, Oakes flew into the sky and stopped before Dunnington.
"Lord Dunnington, you were willing to surrender your freedom and become the Chief Sovereign of Destruction's Sovereign Emissary just to settle this grudge with my son Figaroa. Even this old man cannot help but admire such conviction."
These words came sincerely from Oakes.
A Paragon…
That was a realm forever beyond his reach.
As far as Oakes knew, over all these years, the only Paragon he knew of, was Lord Locke.
Oakes more or less understood how powerful Lord Locke had once been.
Before a Paragon-level expert, Oakes knew he had no power to resist.
Indeed, in terms of survival ability, he had received a material defense Sovereign artifact bestowed by Lord Locke, allowing him to remain unharmed against a Paragon's material attacks.
However, one must not forget that Paragons had no weaknesses.
A single soul attack imbued with willpower would be enough to send him to his death.
Yet Oakes had no choice but to stand forward.
Because Figaroa was his son.
"This old man does not possess Lord Dunnington's determination, but I also possess the conviction to protect my child."
"I wonder whether Lord Dunnington would be willing to let this old man personally take on the grudge in my son's place?"
Although Oakes was not Dunnington's match in strength, in terms of bearing, he was not inferior to Dunnington in the slightest.
This was the resolve of an old father willing to protect his child.
"I think that killing me and forcing my son to live forever in regret and guilt would be better than simply killing my son and granting him a quick death, wouldn't it, Lord Dunnington?"
Hearing Oakes's words, even Dunnington's gaze contracted slightly.
Within the Divine Planes and Higher Planes, strength reigned supreme.
Many beings who grew up in such an environment had descendants.
But when their children faced mortal danger, almost none of those elders would exchange their own lives for their children's.
Because to them, their own strength was the foundation maintaining their family and faction.
If they died, their weaker descendants would inevitably be unable to preserve their legacy and would only fall into even more miserable circumstances.
Thus, when descendants encountered mortal danger, their elders might grieve deeply, but they would not sacrifice themselves in their place.
"Father, no!"
Before Dunnington could respond, Figaroa suddenly shot upward from the ground.
"Lord Dunnington, I was the one who killed you in the material plane. If you seek revenge, then come for me alone. A man should bear responsibility for his own actions—"
"You unfilial brat, get down!"
Before Figaroa could continue speaking, Oakes let out an angry roar. Instantly, Figaroa lost consciousness and fell from the sky.
Clearly, Oakes's roar had not merely been a reprimand. It had also contained a certain degree of soul attack.
After resolving the matter of Figaroa recklessly rushing out, Oakes turned back toward Dunnington and said, "My apologies, Lord Dunnington. I wasted some of your time."
"But I believe that having me take on the grudge in my son's place would be best for all of us."
"My son's talent is mediocre. If I am killed by Lord Dunnington, then he will never possess the ability to seek revenge against you. He will only spend eternity drowning in endless regret and self-blame."
"But I am different."
"I am a soul mutate personally discovered and taught by Lord Locke. My future possesses limitless potential."
"Soul mutates possess the ability to fuse different divine powers and different Laws."
"Give me enough time, and in the future, I will surely not lose to a Paragon. I may even surpass Paragons."
In order to preserve his son's life, Oakes had practically revealed all the expectations Chief Sovereign Locke once had for him.
Of course, while saying these words, Oakes could feel his face burning.
There was no helping it. These truly had been Lord Locke's expectations for him as a soul mutate.
Unfortunately, in the end, he had disappointed Lord Locke.
Not to mention surpassing Paragons—he had not even touched the edge of that realm.
Still, that did not prevent Oakes from using those words to deceive Dunnington.
Sure enough, after hearing Oakes's words, the way Dunnington looked at him changed somewhat.
He had not expected that Teacher Locke had held such expectations for Oakes.
At the same time, Oakes's explanation about being a soul mutate also allowed many people to understand the secret behind Oakes's great strength.
The fusion of two types of divine power increased divine power strength tenfold. This was already equivalent to Oakes having fused one extra Profound Mystery compared to others.
In other words, Oakes was essentially a Paragon without willpower.
Of course, the same issue still remained—this was before using Sovereign power.
Once Sovereign power was used, the strength of Sovereign power would override the fused divine power, returning Oakes to his original state and stripping away his prior dominance.
However, anyone with even a shred of intelligence could see the future potential of fusing different Profound Mysteries.
Single-element gods could at most fuse six Profound Mysteries.
But soul mutates could fuse twelve Profound Mysteries across two elements. The difference between the two could not be compared on the same level.
At this moment, even Dunnington was considering whether a dual-element soul mutate who completed the fusion of all twelve different Profound Mysteries would still remain weaker than a Sovereign.
At the same time, Dunnington also found himself in a difficult position.
Oakes and Figaroa were different.
Figaroa was merely Oakes's son and did not have much direct connection to Teacher Locke. At most, he was just an ordinary captain.
But Oakes was one of Teacher Locke's trusted subordinates personally cultivated from the very beginning, and he was also Teacher Locke's Sovereign Emissary.
Killing Figaroa was one thing.
But killing Oakes and leaving Teacher Locke without capable subordinates—that was not Dunnington's intention.
"Boastful nonsense."
After shaking his head, Dunnington threw out a punch.
Oakes let out a furious roar as indigo fused divine power erupted from his body. He launched a fist imprint to meet Dunnington's attack head-on.
Puchi—
There was no surprise whatsoever.
Oakes's attack was instantly shattered by Dunnington's punch.
Immediately afterward, Dunnington's fist slammed directly into Oakes's body, blasting him downward from the sky.
Rumble rumble rumble…
Like a meteor, Oakes crashed into Lotus Rock Island.
The tremendous force smashed him thousands of meters deep into the island, triggering a small-scale earthquake throughout Lotus Rock Island.
After sending Oakes flying, Dunnington flew toward the direction where Figaroa had fallen earlier.
Seeing this, Celes became anxious.
Although there had been some unpleasantness between him and Figaroa because of Mira, over all these years the two had deeply admired each other's attainments in magical formations.
In private, they often exchanged insights on magical formations through sarcasm and mockery.
Now, seeing that Oakes and Figaroa were about to be killed, Celes roared loudly.
"Fifth Battalion, assemble! Formation!"
"Yes, sir!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Sovereign Army soldiers had already been frightened by Dunnington's terrifying strength.
But upon hearing Celes' command, they instinctively flew out and instantly formed a magical battle formation.
Boom!
After taking command of the magical formation, Celes swung his sword.
A thousand-meter giant sword, gathering the might of a thousand Highgods, slashed down toward Dunnington.
This strike from Celes had clearly reached the level of a Prefect-level expert.
From this alone, one could see that over these years, Celes' attainments in magical formations had improved tremendously.
Unfortunately, even super experts among Prefects like Oakes had been defeated by Dunnington in a single blow.
How much less capable were they, who had only reached this level through reliance on magical formations?
With merely a casual wave of his hand, Dunnington shattered the incoming thousand-meter giant sword.
Then a flash of divine light appeared in his eyes.
A gray soul attack carrying powerful willpower instantly broke apart Celes' thousand-man formation.
For a time, the Sovereign Army soldiers who had been knocked unconscious by Dunnington's soul attack fell from the sky like torrential rain.
(End of Chapter)
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