At these words, Locke extended his right hand toward Argenis.
In an instant, Argenis felt as though an enormous hand that blotted out the heavens had reached into his soul and extracted that cluster of gray flames from within it.
The moment Orloff saw Locke remove Bloodshadow Flame from Argenis's soul, his expression changed.
He actually hadn't discovered this flame within Argenis's soul?
In merely an instant, the Chief Sovereign of Fate was able to guess that Locke's purpose in coming here to find Argenis was likely not to destroy the Sovereign artifact left behind by the Nine Nether Sovereign, nor to revoke Argenis's status as a Sovereign Emissary, but rather for this gray flame.
Even though the flame was right before his eyes, Orloff still couldn't sense its aura, as though the flame simply did not exist.
Perhaps this flame was the crucial clue to finding the creature born within the spatial turbulence.
Or perhaps this gray flame itself was the treasure that had been born within the spatial turbulence last time.
Thinking this, the Chief Sovereign of Fate immediately grabbed toward the flame while simultaneously shouting angrily at Locke, "Sovereign Locke, making a move against my Sovereign Emissary right in front of me—are you treating me as though I don't exist?"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Under the immense pressure of the Chief Sovereign of Fate's Will, Orloff's palm strike shattered space layer by layer. Countless fragments of space radiated dazzling colors as they were sucked into the spatial turbulence.
"Lord Orloff, are your eyes failing you?"
"I merely reclaimed something that never belonged to Argenis. When exactly did I attack him?"
Faced with Orloff's attack, Locke showed not the slightest fear.
Clenching Bloodshadow Flame tightly in one hand, Locke swept out his left hand. The fused Laws of Water and Fate condensed into a translucent pale-blue barrier before him.
Orloff's palm slammed into the transparent defensive barrier, and a mere trace of the collision's power leaked outward.
BOOM!
Though it was only a trace, that was merely relative to existences on the level of Locke and Orloff.
To anyone beneath the Sovereign level, it was the collapse of heaven itself!
A wave of power spread outward with Locke and Orloff at its center. Instantly, Orloff's entire estate was reduced to dust.
Naturally, the Deities within the estate had no ability whatsoever to resist such terrifying shockwaves. Their divine bodies exploded instantly, leaving only their divine sparks to be sucked into the spatial turbulence.
As space shattered, neither Locke nor Orloff resisted the pulling force of the spatial turbulence.
With their level of power, even a Higher Realm could not withstand the destruction caused by a Sovereign battle.
If the two of them fought within the Celestial Realm, the realm itself would likely shatter before a victor was even decided.
At that point, they would likely share the same fate as the two Sovereigns who had once destroyed material planes. The Four Overgods of the Edicts would undoubtedly force them into eternal slumber.
Neither the Chief Sovereign of Fate nor Locke wished to provoke the Overgods.
After entering the spatial turbulence, the two no longer had any reservations.
A Sovereign artifact longsword appeared in Orloff's hand as he slashed toward Locke.
At present, Locke's own Sovereign artifact was still being refined by his original body. There was still some time before it was completed.
Thus, Locke currently had no Sovereign artifact in hand.
However, facing the Chief Sovereign of Fate's attack, Locke still showed no fear.
The power of the fused Laws of Water and Fate condensed within his hand. Using his palm as a blade, he slashed out a pale-blue blade aura that collided with the Chief Sovereign of Fate's Sovereign artifact sword.
BOOM!
A violent explosion erupted. It was as though a deep-sea bomb had detonated within the spatial turbulence itself, causing the entire turbulent expanse to quake violently.
And such a phenomenon naturally could not escape the notice of the Sovereigns.
Aside from the Sovereigns who had already spread their divine senses through the spatial turbulence in preparation to watch the excitement, even the Sovereigns currently organizing the Laws within their Divine Planes extended their senses to observe this battle between rulers.
…
Within Mount Abyssal of the Netherworld, a light screen floated before Locke and the Chief Sovereign of Death, displaying the scene of Locke conversing with the Chief Sovereign of Fate.
Because Locke did not wish for Orloff to discover that he was using the Water Laws fused with the Edicts of Fate to employ a scrying technique and watch the battle live, the screen displayed no sound.
The voices of Locke and the Chief Sovereign of Fate were both being dubbed by Locke himself.
When she saw Locke extract Bloodshadow Flame from Argenis's soul and the Chief Sovereign of Fate attack Locke, the Chief Sovereign of Death became furious.
"This Orloff really has no shame."
"He claims you attacked his Sovereign Emissary right in front of him, but then immediately turns around and tries to seize Bloodshadow Flame."
"Hahaha, Lilia, you should know that for people like Orloff and Deya, things like dignity simply aren't important."
As for the Chief Sovereign of Death saying Orloff had no shame, Locke did not refute it. In fact, he agreed wholeheartedly.
Before the Chief Sovereign of Fate attacked him, Locke had also wondered why Orloff—who supposedly retained only positive emotions—was so wary of him.
Shouldn't Orloff have been delighted to find another fellow traveler on the path of exploring further realms of cultivation?
But the moment Orloff reached for Bloodshadow Flame, Locke suddenly remembered the true nature of the Chief Sovereign of Fate—a nature he himself had overlooked.
Indeed, Orloff had separated all his negative emotions into Augusta, leaving only positive emotions within himself.
But those so-called positive emotions were merely Orloff's outward disguise.
Whenever he encountered something capable of increasing his power, the Chief Sovereign of Fate's heart was even darker than Augusta's.
Just look at Linley from the original story. The Chief Sovereign of Fate had toyed with him like a fool.
In order to obtain the Four Divine Beast Sovereign blood essence in Linley's possession, the Chief Sovereign of Fate and his clone Augusta staged an elaborate act, deceiving Linley into believing he could exchange the blood essence for his mother Lina's freedom.
But what happened in reality?
The Four Divine Beast Sovereign blood essence ended up in Orloff's hands.
As for Linley's mother Lina's freedom?
What was that supposed to be?
Only later, when the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Wordred, learned of the transaction between Linley and the Chief Sovereign of Light, Augusta, did he reveal the two methods of releasing an angel from its soul bond.
The first was for the Sovereign of Light to relinquish ownership of the Angel Rebirth Pool. At that point, all angels belonging to that Angel Rebirth Pool would regain their freedom.
The second was for the Sovereign controlling the angel to die.
Once angels regained their freedom, their memories would naturally return as well.
It was precisely because Linley realized he had been deceived that he later raised his sword against the Chief Sovereign of Light, Augusta, ultimately killing him before Augusta could merge with the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff.
Once Locke understood the Chief Sovereign of Fate's true nature, all of his "original-story filter" toward Orloff vanished completely. He immediately unleashed his full power and battled Orloff within the spatial turbulence.
BOOM!
After merely a single collision, the Sovereign artifact sword in the Chief Sovereign of Fate's hand shattered instantly. The terrifying force directly blasted Orloff flying backward.
Pfft!
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, the retreating Orloff's face drastically changed after sensing the power of Locke's fused Laws.
If Orloff hadn't used the extra portion of Will he had hidden for so long at the very last moment, then what he suffered now would not merely have been injury.
He might very well have been killed in a single move by Locke!
Since when had Sovereign Locke become this powerful?
The battle between Sovereign Locke and the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, had indeed concluded as quickly as the many Sovereigns had expected.
However, the victor and loser were completely opposite from what everyone had anticipated.
Indeed, Sovereign Locke was extremely powerful and publicly acknowledged as the strongest among the Laws Sovereigns.
Even the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns and the Chief Sovereign of Light, Augusta—both of whom possessed records of slaying Chief Sovereigns—held immense fear toward Locke.
The Four Divine Beast Sovereigns could kill the Water Chief Sovereign, and the Chief Sovereign of Light, Augusta, could kill the Dark Chief Sovereign, but if they themselves had to fight Sovereign Locke, they felt the one who would die would likely be themselves.
But no matter how powerful Sovereign Locke was, there should still have been at least a tenfold gap between him and the Four Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts.
Thus, everyone believed the outcome of this battle should have been Sovereign Locke fighting the Chief Sovereign of Fate for some time before being heavily injured and either fleeing back to the Netherworld or being rescued by the Chief Sovereign of Death.
Yet no one had expected that the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, would instead be instantly defeated.
Could it be that Sovereign Locke had already fused with a Water Sovereign spark?
The moment this thought flashed through the observing Sovereigns' minds, they immediately wondered which unfortunate Water Sovereign had become the stepping stone for Sovereign Locke's rise in power.
However, they quickly realized that the three surviving Lesser Sovereigns from after the Sovereign War—including the Snowfall Sovereign and the Azure Dragon Sovereign—as well as the Intermediate Sovereign Ripplewave, were all still present with their divine senses intact.
Could it be that Sovereign Locke had discovered a lost Water Sovereign spark?
They wondered what rank of Sovereign spark Locke's water divine clone had fused with.
Based on everyone's calculations, Sovereign Locke's Fate Sovereign true body had previously only been around ten times stronger than ordinary Laws Sovereigns.
After fusing with a Sovereign spark and obtaining an additional portion of Will through his Fate Sovereign clone, combined with the amplification of fused Sovereign power, Sovereign Locke's Fate Sovereign true body had reached the same level as the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Wordred, and the Chief Sovereign of Life, Vivia.
This also matched the scene everyone was currently witnessing.
After all, the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, was merely a Paragon of the Edicts of Fate, making him only a hundred times stronger than ordinary Laws Sovereigns.
Relying on his powerful techniques, the Chief Sovereign of Fate could fight the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Wordred, without falling behind.
But without realizing that Sovereign Locke's strength had already risen to the same level as the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, it was perfectly normal for Orloff to suffer a loss and be injured by Sovereign Locke.
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