After taking action against the Golden Turtle Tribe, Locke fell silent once more.
Just as he had expected, the tribe's fate quickly drew the attention of the Sovereigns.
And, just as Locke had predicted, many of them connected the incident directly to him.
After all, within Hell, the only person capable of acting without being detected by them was Locke.
Moreover, the method used in the Golden Turtle Tribe—where one glance caused information to appear directly within the soul—was one of Locke's most recognizable tricks.
Most of them had believed that Locke had already left Hell.
But judging from the events at the Golden Turtle Tribe, it was clear that his earlier "departure" had merely been a deception.
Furthermore, from the nature of the attack itself, the power used was unmistakably tied to the Edicts of Fate.
Could it be that, in addition to a water divine clone, Locke also possessed a divine clone cultivating the Edicts of Fate?
Or was that Fate clone actually his Sovereign clone?
Filled with caution toward Locke, the Sovereigns of Hell occasionally spread their divine senses across the entire plane, hoping to find him.
Unfortunately for them, Locke had completely sealed his soul aura.
Unless he personally acted and revealed himself, there was no way for them to detect his presence.
"Hello. These are our Fiend badges. We're here to submit a mission."
Within Tian Mountain Prefecture, Oakes and Yagonia entered Fiend Castle and handed their badges to the attendant.
"Of course. Please wait a moment."
When the staff member saw the three stars and four stars on their badges, a polite smile appeared on his face.
With a sweep of divine sense, he read the mission records stored within the badges.
After confirming the details, he picked up a document and spoke briefly to someone behind him.
Less than a minute later, that person returned carrying two interspatial rings.
"Lord Oakes, Lady Yagonia. These are the rewards for your completed mission. Please confirm the receipt."
Oakes and Yagonia accepted their Fiend badges along with the rings.
After binding the rings with a drop of blood and inspecting their contents with divine sense, both nodded.
"The amount is correct. Ten thousand inkstones."
"Mine is correct too. Three thousand five hundred."
After transferring the inkstones into their personal interspatial rings, they removed their blood bindings from the mission rings and returned them to the attendant.
"Very well. Safe travels to both of you."
"If you wish to accept additional missions, please visit the mission hall."
"And we recommend that all Fiends take missions registered through Fiend Castle. If a privately arranged mission goes wrong, Fiend Castle will not be responsible."
"We understand. Thank you for the reminder."
Oakes nodded politely before leaving Fiend Castle with Yagonia.
Their purpose in coming to Tian Mountain Prefecture was to wait for Fiend Rhein.
Until Rhein arrived, they had no intention of accepting new missions. They didn't want to risk missing him.
After all, if they missed him once, who knew how long it might be before their paths crossed again?
Hell was small. For Sovereigns, crossing the entire plane took only half a day.
Traveling through spatial turbulence could be even faster.
But Hell was also vast.
Sometimes, once two people missed each other, even with eternal lifespans, there was no guarantee they would ever meet again.
During the past century, Oakes had occasionally participated in missions to earn more inkstones.
He had even taken the Four-Star Fiend certification test and successfully passed.
Now his rewards for missions were more than three times Yagonia's.
To be honest, if he were already a Highgod—or had fused a few more profound mysteries—Oakes would have attempted the Five-Star Fiend examination.
After all, the rewards for Five-Star Fiend missions were at least ten times those of Three-Star Fiends.
But Oakes knew his greatest trump card was the fusion of divine power.
Lord Locke had warned him not to reveal the truth of his soul mutation before he was strong enough.
So, Oakes merely entertained the thought without acting on it.
"Lord Oakes! I've finally found you!"
Just as they stepped out of Fiend Castle, a burly man rushed toward them, excitement written all over his face.
"Hm? And you are…?"
Seeing the man, Oakes felt a faint sense of familiarity.
But the memory was vague, as though they had only met once.
"Arman?"
At last, Oakes remembered and called out the name.
"Arman?"
Yagonia looked at Oakes curiously.
Over the years since leaving Blackstone Tribe, the two of them had hardly been apart.
When had Oakes met someone she didn't even know?
Noticing her suspicious glance, Oakes quickly explained.
"Yagonia, don't you remember? This is the person I told you about—the one I thought had great potential. I wanted to recruit him as a subordinate, but I couldn't solve his problem, so I sent him to Blackstone Tribe to seek help from Lord Locke."
"Oh! So that's him."
At once, Yagonia recalled the story.
It had been their very first Fiend mission after leaving Blackstone Tribe.
After the battle, Oakes had lamented missing the chance to recruit a promising subordinate.
After all, once Arman met Lord Locke, there was every chance Locke would recruit him instead.
Between serving Oakes or serving Lord Locke…
Anyone with sense knew the better choice.
"Lord Oakes, I'm no longer called Arman."
The burly man gave a wry smile.
"Following your advice, I went to Blackstone Tribe and met Lord Locke."
"Lord Locke erased the soul aura recorded in the bounty notices against me. As far as Fiend Castle is concerned, I'm already dead."
"But Lord Locke also reminded me that only the aura in the bounty notices was erased—my actual soul aura hasn't changed."
"If someone familiar with me sees me, they could still recognize me."
"So, I changed my name."
"My name now is Amane."
"Haha! Amane. Did Lord Locke send you here with instructions for me?"
In Oakes's mind, anyone who had met Lord Locke was likely now one of Locke's subordinates, just like himself.
If Amane had come looking for him, it probably meant Locke had issued a new order.
But to Oakes's surprise, Amane suddenly dropped to one knee.
"Lord Oakes, a century ago you invited me to serve under you despite my situation."
"Because of my circumstances, I couldn't swear loyalty to you at the time."
"Now that my troubles have been resolved, I have come to offer my service."
Originally, Amane had been the leader of a powerful tribe.
Even after being forced into a bandit group, his strength had been enough that the bandit leader dared not treat him poorly.
Someone like that should have possessed a certain pride.
But after being easily defeated by Oakes—and after witnessing Locke's overwhelming power, capable of destroying his entire tribe with a mere gesture—Amane had glimpsed a far greater world.
In that vast world, he had no right to arrogance.
Even the Golden Turtle Tribe had only been spared because Locke showed consideration for Oakes.
On his way to Tian Mountain Prefecture, Amane had returned briefly to check on the tribe.
Although the god-level experts were gone, every person who passed through Locke's barrier learned its message.
It clearly stated:
Only if the people of the Golden Turtle Tribe left the barrier could outsiders act against them—and doing so would condemn them to ten thousand years of slavery.
Under the shadow of that decree, no one dared harm the tribe within the barrier.
No one wanted to risk offending the mysterious being who had created it.
"Oakes…"
Seeing Amane kneeling before him, Oakes was momentarily stunned.
Lord Locke hadn't taken Amane as a subordinate?
"Amane, stand up first," Oakes said quickly.
"Let's find somewhere private. Then tell me everything that happened after you met Lord Locke."
He had already noticed people watching them outside Fiend Castle.
"Yes, Lord Oakes."
"I've already booked rooms for you and Lady Yagonia. I'll take you there now."
"Alright."
After arriving at the inn Amane had arranged, they returned to their room.
Only then did Amane recount everything that had happened when he met Locke.
As they listened, both Oakes and Yagonia were left just as shocked as Amane had been.
They had known Locke for many years.
Oakes had even been personally trained by him.
Yet neither of them had ever seen Locke fight.
But Oakes knew more than Yagonia did.
From the mission Locke had given him, it was clear that the Locke living in Blackstone Castle and the legendary founder of Fiend Castle were the same person.
Yet even the legendary "Shura" Locke described in stories had never displayed power as terrifying as the one Amane described.
Something about it felt… far beyond even the legends.
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