*** Over in the centre of the Fringe, the Omphalos.
Tyre, Logue, Ossora and Wasir met in Tyre's Sovereign's shop to discuss the impending invasion of the Godhunter Alliance. As time passed, the four Sovereigns were able to gather more information about their enemies' movements. They had verified sources that all Twelve Hegemons of the Godhunter Alliance had arrived outside their borders.
The Great War could break out at any moment. The four Sovereigns had completed their preparations. They did their best to subdue as many Fringedwellers under their command as possible. All the normally aggressive Fringedwellers were suddenly monks and stopped slaughtering each other. The Stringers had been particularly active, constantly scouting and gathering information.
"Ossora, of the four of us, you are the closest to Bryan. Do you know why he is still not at the meeting?" asked Tyre, whose face was rather dark. He had sent messengers to the Pandemonium, inviting Han Shuo to attend their meetings. However, Stratholme had always declined the invitations on Han Shuo's behalf, using the excuse that Han Shuo was in solitary meditation. And now, Han Shuo was still refusing to attend the meeting when they received information that the Godhunter Alliance was just outside the Fringe. To Tyre, this was inexcusable.
Ossora shook his head and replied, "I sent people over as well. They've had the same response as yours. It seems that Bryan is at a critical point in his cultivation. In any case, we have long since agreed on our responsibilities and strategy. I think he would have made the necessary preparations.
"I hope so!" Tyre groaned and scornfully remarked, "If his side crumbles like a cookie, those Godhunters could march straight into the Omphalos and attack us from behind. None of us could afford the slightest lapse. Right, Ossora, please remind him again that the Godhunters could attack at any moment and that he had better be ready.
"Sure." Given the circumstances, Ossora agreed to Tyre's request immediately instead of arguing.
"I hope he can handle the pressure. He's been very dominant lately. He should have something to back up that attitude," Logue remarked with his wicked, sly smile.
**** Outside the Sovereign Shop
"Hey, you! Stop right there! You are not allowed in here!" suddenly came a shout from outside the Sovereign Shop.
Tyre's face suddenly darkened and he seemed displeased. The Sovereign Shop was in his name, and many in the Omphalos knew that he and the other Sovereigns were gathered there. The four most powerful beings in the Fringe were gathered in this room. Who would be so foolhardy as to invade the shop and interrupt their meeting?
Pow! There was a muffled thud outside the Sovereign Shop before the usual silence returned.
"Hehe, Tyre, looks like someone is taking a piss on your turf. Interesting, interesting!" teased Logue with a mischievous smirk.
Wasir and Ossora were stunned. They had no idea who the intruder was and couldn't understand how anyone could be so bold or foolish as to invade the area where four Sovereigns had gathered.
"Whoever it is, they just sent themselves to death!" Tyre suddenly turned from angry to amused. Instead of going outside to check on the situation, he sat in his seat and waited for the intruder to come to him.
Although Tyre did not step outside the chamber, using his powerful divine soul, he sensed that the intruder was a Death Energy cultivator who was only at the Mid-stage of the Highgod realm. Although such an expert was common in the Fringe and was quite powerful, Tyre, perhaps the strongest of the Sovereigns, could not feel less threatened by such power.
Still, Tyre found it strange that an expert of this class would dare to invade his territory. Besides, the henchman he had stationed outside the shop was a Late-stage Highgods expert who should be able to stop the intruder.
As Tyre pondered the strange situation, he was suddenly startled. He discovered that cracks had suddenly appeared in the boundary he had erected, allowing a figure to enter the conference room.
The intruder swept his gaze over the four Sovereigns before fixing it on Logue. He asked unenthusiastically, "Are you Logue?"
Logue was startled. As his gaze met the intruder's, he suddenly felt the divine energy in his body behaving rather strangely. It was becoming quite disorganised and out of his control.
Logue was overcome with shock at the abnormality. He immediately nodded and replied, "Yes, I'm Logue."
The intruder nodded before staring intensely at Logue. His powerful soul energy enveloped Logue in an instant. Logue's pupil disappeared and only the whites of his eyes were visible. He seemed frozen.
"Who are you? What have you done to Logue?" shouted Tyre as he stood up angrily. He glared at the intruder, ready to strike at any moment.
Wasir and Ossora rose from their seats and flanked the intruder on either side. They assumed hostile stances towards the person in preparation for an attack.
"Better not try to hit me or I will finish you." The person was slowly and thoroughly probing Logue with his mind, yet somehow he was still able to speak. His tone was one of utter arrogance and contempt, as if Tyre, Wasir and Ossora were puny ants that he could kill with the flick of a finger rather than mighty Sovereigns of the Fringe.
Tyre had met many haughty, conceited characters, but never one as condescending as this unknown intruder. The usually calm Tyre was infuriated by his attitude. He replied, "You think this is a place you can just enter and leave alive, even if you are the Hegemon of the Godhunter Alliance? End us all? Haha, let's see!" With those words out of his mouth, Tyre rose to his feet in preparation for an attack.
"Tyre, hold back!" Logue's pupils returned to his eyes and a shiver ran down his spine before he shouted the words just in time. He looked at the intruder with a frightened face and asked in a slightly trembling voice, "Is there anything I can help you with, my Lord?"
Tyre was stunned. He couldn't believe that the Logue was the same person he had known for ages. This notoriously treacherous and vengeful lord had never used honourifics when speaking to another person, or shown any fear of another being. But now Logue was visibly frightened and spoke in a humble tone.
"Tyre, do not attack!" repeated Logue as he slowly rose to his feet. He quickly turned to the intruder, bowed and asked, "How may I serve you, my Lord?"
"Name me every Death Element cultivator in the Fringe," the person asked calmly, smiling faintly.
"Han Hao, Lung-qi, Perseus..." Logue replied respectfully after a moment's thought.
"And where are they?" the intruder asked after nodding his head. He seemed pleased with Logue's attitude.
"I don't know where Han Hao is, but the others are at..." Logue replied hastily, his body still bent.
"Um-hmm. Good," the man turned on his heels and walked away, having gotten the information he wanted. He didn't even bother to look at Tyre, Wasir or Ossora.
The room remained silent long after the unknown intruder had left. Finally, Tyre looked at Logue with a grave face and asked, "Who is he? Your father? Your grandfather? Why are you so deferential to him?"
After a long sigh of relief, Logue slumped back in his seat. After taking some time to calm his mind, he grimaced and replied, "I wouldn't be that deferential to my father and grandfather. And if I were even remotely related to him, I wouldn't be living in the Fringe now."
"Then who on earth is he?" Even the usually taciturn Wasir couldn't help but ask.
"Overgod!" Logue replied stutteringly, as if it took a great deal of effort to get it out. After a short pause to make sure Tyre and the Order understood him, he added, "And obviously not the half-assed kind of Overgod that we are."
Hearing these words, Tyre, Wasir and Ossora were stunned. Shivers ran down their spines.
"No wonder... I should have guessed... If it weren't for him, Logue wouldn't have been so humble..." remarked Wasir, his face looking a little pale.
"I'm so glad I listened to you and didn't attack..." Tyre grimaced and continued, "Otherwise the Fringe would have been flattened before those Godhunters ever got here."
Why should he come to the Fringe? What does he want?" Ossora seemed somewhat confused. He muttered to himself, "Could it be that the Twelve Existences intend to wipe out the Fringe? How could that be...?"
Logue managed to calm down completely and with a calm face he gave his analysis, "That is probably not his intention. Otherwise the four of us would be dead by now. He must be after something else..." After a moment of thought with his eyes closed, Logue explained, "He seemed to be looking for something or someone... His soul had explored every part of my body. There was nothing on me that I could hide from him. He probably didn't find what he was after, so he spared me...".
"I really hope this is the case. Otherwise, oblivion would fall upon us no matter what we do." Ossora seemed a little pessimistic. He knew that even the combined might of the Fringe stood no chance against such a powerful being.
"I think we should call it a day. We all need some time to recover from this," Tyre said, ending the meeting decisively after seeing that the other three Sovereigns had no further desire to discuss defence against the Godhunter Alliance.
Wasir, Logue and Ossora agreed. Without Tyre saying another word, they left one by one. Even Logue went home to suck his thumb instead of staying to have another discussion with Tyre.
After all three had left, Tyre sat quietly in the chamber for a long time before he secretly left the Omphalos. He went to the dead volcano where Han Shuo was first introduced to the Sovereigns. He went behind a cliff, set up a barrier, took out a magic mirror and dialled Dhaka.
Not far from the cliff, a ghostly figure stood in the shade of a tree, watching Tyre...