With a wave of his hand, Locke dispersed the floating projection within the Sovereign's Palace before looking at the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta in surprise.
He had never imagined that he would possess such overwhelming deterrence in Augusta's mind.
Simply because Beirut had said that he had come to seek an audience with him to ask how the remaining three Sovereign sparks left behind by the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns should be handled, Augusta had become so wary that he no longer dared attack Beirut.
"Very well. I now understand why the two of you have come to see me."
Augusta and Beirut immediately bowed.
"Lord Locke is wise."
Although the difference in strength between the two was as vast as heaven and earth, both of them were equally shaken by the methods Locke had displayed.
If they hadn't heard incorrectly just now, after opening the projection, the words Locke had spoken were "Reverse Time," weren't they?
Afterward, the images within the projection had been displayed in reverse until the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta appeared, at which point time resumed flowing normally, revealing everything that had happened between Augusta and Beirut.
Why was the Azure Dragon Sovereign's innate divine ability regarded as the strongest in the magical universe?
Because the Azure Dragon Sovereign's innate divine ability, Dragon Roar, was the only innate divine ability in the magical universe capable of affecting the flow of time.
Since that innate divine ability directly influenced the rate at which time flowed within a certain area, no matter how powerful someone was, anyone caught within its range would inevitably be affected.
The only reason the Azure Dragon Sovereign wasn't invincible was because he was merely a Lesser Sovereign. Had he instead been a Law Chief Sovereign, then perhaps even the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta would not have been his match.
Just as the Azure Dragon Sovereign occupied an unparalleled position among Lesser Sovereigns.
Although he wasn't a Paragon, his body had reached the toughness of a Sovereign artifact. Coupled with his innate divine ability that could affect the flow of time, he reigned supreme among Lesser Sovereigns. Even when facing an Intermediate Sovereign, he could still preserve his life.
But the method Chief Sovereign Locke had just displayed was not the Azure Dragon Sovereign Redding's Time Slow.
It was Time Reversal.
Although Augusta and Beirut knew very little about the Laws of Time, they could still understand that "Time Reversal" and "Time Slow" existed on completely different levels.
Moreover, if Chief Sovereign Locke had mastered Time Reversal, how could he possibly not have mastered Time Slow?
Chief Sovereign Locke's abilities were clearly far more powerful than they had imagined.
"Augusta. Beirut..."
"Lord Locke."
"As for the three remaining Sovereign sparks of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns, I will not forcibly require either of you to hand them over to anyone."
"As for who those three Sovereign sparks belong to..."
Augusta and Beirut both held their breath.
What Chief Sovereign Locke was about to say could only be described as a judgment upon both of them.
If ownership of the Sovereign sparks was awarded to Augusta, then naturally, the remains of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns should also belong to him.
If that happened, Augusta would be able to complete the task entrusted to him by the Fate Chief Sovereign, Oden, extracting the Sovereign blood essence from the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' corpses and delivering it to him.
For Beirut, however, that would amount to a sentence of lifelong imprisonment within the Yulan Continent.
Without those three Sovereign sparks, there would be no way for him to find a Law Chief Sovereign willing to protect him.
But if Locke awarded ownership of the three Sovereign sparks to Beirut, then Augusta would have no choice but to accelerate the destruction of the Four Divine Beasts clan in order to obtain more corpses from which to refine Sovereign blood essence.
At the same time, Beirut would finally seize a glimmer of hope for his own survival.
"Beirut."
"As a Deity, you dared risk being killed by a Sovereign in order to seize the remains of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns from another Sovereign."
"Therefore, the Sovereign sparks of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns are the reward you deserve for taking that risk."
"Of course, since you've obtained the rewards from your actions, you must also bear the consequences of them."
"The grievances between you and the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta are not protected by the Sovereign Covenant."
"After all, whether you stole a Sovereign's spoils while still a Deity or offended a Chief Sovereign after becoming a Lesser Sovereign, Augusta's desire to kill you would not be considered 'without cause.'"
"Do you accept this, Beirut?"
"Lord Locke, I do."
"Very well."
"Augusta, what about you?"
"I have no objections."
Since Chief Sovereign Locke had already established the principles governing the matter, Augusta naturally wouldn't object.
Furthermore, Locke's ruling was already quite favorable to him.
At the very least, Chief Sovereign Locke had preserved his right to pursue Beirut's responsibility.
"Very well."
"Since the matter that brought the two of you here has been settled, each of you may return to where you came from."
After speaking, Locke waved his sleeve.
In an instant, Beirut and Augusta vanished from the Death Chief Sovereign's Sovereign's Palace.
...
Within the Yulan Plane, Beirut's dark-element divine clone felt momentarily dazed.
When his vision cleared, he discovered that he was already standing before his Sovereign original body.
The two bodies looked at each other for a long while before Beirut suddenly smiled.
"Chief Sovereign Locke truly deserves his reputation as the Sovereign who established the Sovereign Duties, with no Sovereign daring to violate them."
"With abilities like this... who would dare disobey him?"
If Chief Sovereign Locke could instantly send him from the Sovereign's Palace atop Mount Nether in the Netherworld back to the location of his Sovereign original body within the Yulan Plane...
Then naturally, Chief Sovereign Locke could just as easily move his Sovereign original body out of the Yulan Plane into the outside world.
With such abilities, Beirut no longer believed that Chief Sovereign Locke was merely a Sovereign.
Those abilities had already surpassed the domain of Sovereigns.
Looking at the three Sovereign sparks before him, Beirut hesitated.
Although Chief Sovereign Locke had already said that ownership of these three Sovereign sparks belonged to him and that he could decide how to use them...
The fact that Chief Sovereign Locke had created an entirely new plane within the Yulan Plane where Prefects could battle freely clearly demonstrated that he also wished for new Sovereigns to appear as soon as possible so they could fulfill the duties of Sovereigns, regulate the development of the Divine Planes, preserve their stability, and ensure they continued improving.
In that case...
Should he still keep these three Sovereign sparks in reserve while waiting for the people he had envisioned?
After pondering for a long time, Beirut suddenly laughed.
In reality, this wasn't much of a problem at all.
He simply needed to establish the qualifications required for the people he sought.
Then whoever ultimately obtained these three Sovereign sparks would naturally become the people he needed.
With that thought, Beirut no longer hesitated.
He immediately stored away the three Sovereign sparks and entered the Divine Plane he had created.
Ten years later...
Endless Sovereign power gathered above the Yulan Continent.
A colossal face over one hundred meters wide appeared in the sky above the continent.
"Greetings, Lord Sovereign!"
"Greetings, Lord Sovereign!"
At that moment, not only the experts who had come to the Yulan Plane from the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes, but even the native inhabitants of the Yulan Plane instinctively thought of two words:
Sovereign.
At the same time, the significance carried by those two words welled up within their hearts.
Thus, every living being throughout the Yulan Plane knelt toward the Sovereign projection.
"The Four Divine Beast Sovereigns have fallen, leaving behind their Sovereign sparks within this plane."
"This is the sorrow of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns."
"But it is a celebration for all you Deities."
"Out of compassion, Chief Sovereign Locke has entrusted me with selecting the next generation of Sovereigns."
"Therefore, I have created the Necropolis of the Gods within the Yulan Plane."
"I have placed the Sovereign sparks of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns within it."
"Any living being who wishes to obtain a Sovereign spark may enter the Necropolis of the Gods and compete for them."
"The Necropolis of the Gods contains eighteen floors."
"Only by finding the gateway to the next floor may you proceed onward."
"If fortune smiles upon you, you may travel unimpeded all the way to the eighteenth floor."
"If your luck is poor, you may perish on the very first floor, becoming yet another soul buried within the Necropolis of the Gods."
"Furthermore..."
"The Necropolis of the Gods opens once every thousand years, with each opening lasting one hundred years."
"The first opening will occur ten years from now."
"Any living being wishing to enter the Necropolis of the Gods should gather under the dark-element Deity, Beirut."
"He is my emissary and is responsible for overseeing the Necropolis of the Gods."
After announcing the opening schedule of the Necropolis of the Gods, Beirut dispersed his Sovereign projection.
Then he stationed his dark-element divine clone within the Forest of Darkness on the Yulan Continent to await those Deities wishing to compete for the Sovereign sparks.
...
"Hahaha! I knew it!"
"We've practically searched every corner of this plane several times without finding the Sovereign sparks. So the Sovereigns had already collected them!"
"Competing for the Sovereign sparks within the Necropolis of the Gods is far more reasonable than relying purely on luck."
"Heh, don't speak too soon."
"Didn't Lord Sovereign just say it?"
"If your luck is good enough, you might pass all the way to the eighteenth floor without encountering any obstacles and obtain a Sovereign spark!"
After Beirut's Sovereign projection disappeared, every Deity within the Yulan Plane erupted into excitement.
Immediately, they all flew toward the Forest of Darkness.
Gislason looked up at the sky.
Each streak of colored light represented a supreme expert at the Prefect level.
"Big Brother, let's go."
After gathering together the more than two hundred remaining Six-Star Fiends and seven Seven-Star Fiends of the clan, Feynman arrived behind Gislason.
"Mm."
Gislason nodded.
Then he turned to Gaia.
"Little Sister, don't worry."
"No one can resist the temptation of obtaining a Sovereign spark."
"Once we reach the Forest of Darkness, as long as you recognize those who ambushed you, we'll immediately send word back to the Infernal Realm and have the clan investigate their identities."
"Not only that..."
"We'll also determine exactly which factions they belong to."
"Then Gesser and Tia will uproot those five Prefects' organizations completely."
"We'll show everyone who dares look down upon the Four Divine Beasts clan that although our clan has declined, we're still not something these insignificant nobodies can provoke."
"However, Little Sister..."
"Our primary objective in coming to the Yulan Plane is to obtain a Sovereign spark and allow our Four Divine Beasts clan to produce another Sovereign."
"Our secondary objective is to recover Father and our uncles' remains."
"So after you identify those people..."
"I hope you'll remain rational."
"Although our clansmen still possess some Sovereign's Might, you know as well as I do that the moment we attack those five, every other Prefect-level expert will immediately unite to eliminate the Four Divine Beasts clan first."
"Mm."
Gaia nodded.
"Don't worry, Big Brother."
"I know that the clan comes first."
Seeing that Gaia had calmed down, Gislason quietly relaxed.
Even so, he wasn't very confident that they would truly be able to avenge her husband's death this time.
After all...
The hundred-man team led by Gaia had indeed been somewhat weaker because Gaia herself wasn't as strong.
Whenever they encountered other Prefect-level experts, some of the clan members had to expend Sovereign's Might to fight.
But how had those attackers known precisely when the Four Divine Beasts clansmen had exhausted their remaining Sovereign's Might?
Without accurate intelligence...
How could merely five Prefect-level experts have dared attack a Four Divine Beasts clan team?
Just look at the teams led by Gislason and Feynman.
Because the two of them were powerful enough, ordinary Prefect-level experts would only be killed if they confronted them.
Feynman possessed an offensive Sovereign artifact.
Gislason possessed the physical strength inherited from a second-generation divine beast descendant. After transforming into his Azure Dragon form, his physical attacks increased severalfold.
Combined with his innate divine ability, Dragon Roar, which prevented enemies from escaping...
During these past several decades, more than ten Prefect-level experts had already fallen to Gislason and Feynman.
Only Gaia's offensive power was noticeably weaker than Gislason's and Feynman's, who wielded an offensive Sovereign artifact.
Unless she used Sovereign's Might, she had never succeeded in killing a Prefect-level expert on her own.
Otherwise, after the clan split into three groups, only Gaia's team would not have become the target of that ambush.
Furthermore...
Those people had known exactly how much Sovereign's Might the clansmen still possessed...
There were many things Gislason wasn't unaware of.
He simply didn't want to think about them.
But what had happened to his younger sister forced him to consider the worst possibility.
There were members within the clan whose hearts were no longer with the clan.
Or perhaps...
Some powerful expert had enslaved the soul of one of their clansmen, thereby learning many of the clan's secrets.
If that was truly the case...
Then when he sent word to Gesser and Tia this time, he would have to warn his two younger siblings to be especially cautious.
Within the Four Divine Beasts clan...
Aside from the siblings themselves, the other clansmen could still be entrusted with carrying out tasks.
However...
They could no longer be told the true significance behind those tasks.
Otherwise...
The Four Divine Beasts clan would collapse at a rate one hundred times faster than it already was.
(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 3400 Powerstones