Yes.
A discarded piece.
At this point, Vishto Belloso was completely clear-headed.
Locke had a Sovereign behind him.
If Belloso had truly gravely wounded Locke with Sovereign's Might, the Sovereign backing Locke would undoubtedly have intervened.
What would have followed, Belloso did not know.
But he did know one thing—
As the one who had injured Locke, he would have died without even a grave.
To offend a Sovereign… even if the Sovereign did not act personally, there would be no shortage of those eager to curry favor and establish ties who would gladly eliminate him.
And now, having accepted a mission from another Sovereign—yet failed to complete it—he would be discarded just the sa.
"Heh…"
Belloso let out a bitter laugh.
Now he truly understood.
The mont he was dragged into a struggle of this magnitude, his fate had already been sealed.
When the flas of Sovereign's Might from the Sovereign of Destruction completely dissipated, a profound emptiness flooded Belloso's heart. The sensation of becoming a hundred tis weaker in an instant was enough to drive one mad.
But to Belloso now—
It felt like release.
A faint radiance ignited around him as he began burning his soul.
Looking at Locke, he spoke with quiet resignation.
"Lord Locke… this ti, it was I, Belloso, whose mind was clouded. I chose the wrong path."
"I alone will bear the consequences. I beg you—please, in your magnanimity, ask that Sovereign to spare my kin."
"Belloso," Locke replied calmly, "do you truly think I can sway the will of those Sovereigns?"
He did not answer directly. Instead, he lifted his gaze to the sky.
With Locke's current strength, if the Sovereigns deliberately concealed themselves, he could not detect their divine senses.
Yet his profound attainnts in the soul still allowed him to perceive faint traces of emotion within those hidden gazes.
Among the six divine senses present, there were flickers of surprise and curiosity.
But one remained unchanged—utterly indifferent.
Was it that one?
Or had that Sovereign refrained from extending their divine sense, wary of so many others observing?
"However," Locke continued, lowering his gaze, "if your kin leave Blood River Prefecture imdiately and quietly enter a material plane to live… I doubt anyone would trouble them."
"Thank you."
Belloso nodded deeply.
Though Locke had said he could not alter a Sovereign's will, he had spoken publicly. If Belloso's family departed Hell at once for a material plane, none would dare interfere.
To harm them would be to insult Lord Locke.
Given Locke's current strength—and whatever stood behind him—few would dare make an enemy of him.
With that, Belloso ignited his soul completely.
His divine body disintegrated into divine power and dispersed into the air.
All that remained was a Highgod Divine Spark of Destruction.
After collecting the divine spark, Locke transford into a streak of light and departed the Duel Platform of Blood River Prefecture. He returned to the Fiend Castle within Blood River Prefecture, handed Little White a spatial ring filled with refined athyst crystals, and ascended to the highest level of the castle.
The mont he left—
The spectator stands erupted into deafening noise.
Everything that had transpired today had shocked them repeatedly.
From Belloso's use of a mysterious treasure to elevate himself to Shura-level strength, to Lord Locke's own advancent from Seven-Star Fiend to Shura—none felt their journey had been wasted.
And the revelations that followed left them reeling.
To think that this battle between Locke and Belloso had involved Sovereigns in secret contention.
From the outco, however, it seed clear that the Sovereign behind Locke held the upper hand.
After all, Locke's strength had been cultivated step by step—true Shura-level power.
Belloso had relied on external ans.
If even a discarded pawn like Belloso possessed such a treasure, who could believe Locke lacked similar resources?
If Lord Locke could reach Shura-level strength without using such items—
What heights would he reach if he did?
Discussions flared everywhere. Those who had recorded the battle with scrying stones activated them imdiately, replaying every mont.
Others hurried straight from the Duel Platform to the Athyst Castle of Blood River Prefecture, eager to sell firsthand information for a premium.
To Locke's mild surprise, after returning to the highest floor of the Fiend Castle, none of the seven Sovereigns' divine senses descended to observe him or communicate.
He let out a quiet breath.
Bringing the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns into Hell ahead of ti had been the correct decision.
Now, the Sovereigns of Hell likely believed the one backing him was one of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns.
For the next hundred million years, that assumption wouldn't even be wrong.
But Locke had no intention of entangling himself too deeply with them.
From the later conduct of the Four Divine Beast clan, it was evident how arrogant they had beco after being labeled "Overlords."
One could say they offended nearly every Sovereign.
So much so that after their deaths, not a single Sovereign stepped forward to speak on behalf of their clan.
Even Beirut, who inherited the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' legacy and beca a Sovereign himself, only used his Dark divine clone to beco Prefect of Youlan Prefecture—protecting the Four Divine Beast clan from annihilation, nothing more.
"…The expansion of the castle is still too slow."
Seated cross-legged at the top of Blood River Prefecture's Fiend Castle, Locke closed his eyes in thought.
Previously, he had felt that spreading the Fiend Castle to one prefecture every thousand years was acceptable.
But the Sovereigns' attention today made him realize—
It was not enough.
Only by reaching Paragon, possessing Willpower Authority, could one survive even before a Sovereign's projection.
"My Water divine clone… within ten thousand years, I'm confident I can fuse five Profound Mysteries completely."
"That would elevate my strength further."
"But…"
He shook his head.
The sixth fusion was another matter entirely.
Even he did not possess absolute confidence in achieving Paragon through Water.
"I need to accelerate the expansion of the Fiend Castle."
"The effect of Belloso's use of Sovereign's Might will spread throughout Hell."
"Soon, many will begin seeking Sovereign's Might."
"If that's the case… I might as well subcontract the establishnt of Fiend Castles."
"Let others build them across different continents."
"For each prefecture where a Fiend Castle is successfully established, the reward will be one drop of Sovereign's Might."
"The Prefects themselves would surely be eager to participate."
"…But that ans I'll need at least one hundred and six drops."
His divine sense swept through his spatial ring.
He hesitated.
At present, he possessed five hundred drops each of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire Sovereign's Might.
But those were reserved for research alongside the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' essence blood.
It might very well be the first—and last—ti he obtained Sovereign's Might directly from Sovereigns.
While he could extract Sovereign's Might from currencies of other Divine and Supre Planes, that required vast quantities of such currency.
For now, the Fiend Castle generated abundant inkstones through mission commissions and intelligence trades.
But in Locke's long-term plans, the Fiend Castle was ant to be discarded eventually—severed entirely from him.
Thus, obtaining large amounts of Sovereign's Might in the future would be extrely difficult.
"In that case… while the Fiend Castle is still useful, I'll refine all available inkstones into Sovereign's Might first—then issue the task."
With that thought, Locke extended his divine sense and quickly located Little White's soul aura.
At that mont, Little White was directing staff within the Fiend Castle, organizing marked athyst crystals into designated positions.
"Little White. Co see ."
"Yes, my lord."
After giving a few instructions to those beside him, Little White imdiately headed upstairs.
The others watched his retreating figure with envy in their eyes.
Little White's strength, at the current scale of the Fiend Castle, was no longer remarkable.
After all, he was rely a Highgod who had refined a godhead.
Yet because he was Lord Locke's attendant, even powerful Five-Star Fiends like Ryan and Rockpeak greeted him respectfully.
Now that he was summoned upstairs, it was surely by Lord Locke himself.
For them, they might go thousands—tens of thousands—of years without seeing Locke once.
Little White, anwhile, could ascend to the highest level whenever called.
It was hard not to feel jealous.
"My lord."
"Co in."
Within the cultivation chamber, Locke opened the door with a thought.
"Little White, if I require all inkstones the Fiend Castle can mobilize without disrupting operations—how long would it take?"
Little White paused, surprised by the question.
But as Locke's servant, he never questioned motives. He simply calculated silently.
"My lord, given the current distribution of Fiend Castles, transporting all available inkstones here would not take too long."
"We only need to issue escort missions across all branches."
"For safety, however, escorts should be at least Four-Star Fiends."
"At that rate… it would take approximately seventy years to gather everything at Blood River Prefecture."
"Seventy years…"
Locke nodded slightly.
"That's not long at all."
(End of Chapter)
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