From the surrounding conversations, Linley and Bebe learned that those currently sparring were the Fourth Battalion of the Locke Army and the Commander of the Locke Army.
According to rumor, the commander of the Fourth Battalion was actually the son of the Locke Army's Commander.
Because his talent was limited, he had only managed to cultivate to the level of a Five Star Fiend before reaching his limit. As a result, he had joined the Sovereign Army and devoted himself to the study of magic formations.
Ordinarily, a Deity with the strength of a Five Star Fiend could serve as a Company Commander in other Sovereign Armies.
However, within Locke's Sovereign Army, an ordinary Five Star Fiend could only hold the position of Squad Leader.
Unlike the other Sovereign Armies, however, advancement within Locke's Sovereign Army depended not only on strength but also on one's accomplishments in magic formations.
The commander of the Fourth Battalion had become a Battalion Commander—a position normally reserved for Seven Star Fiends—solely because of his attainments as a Grandmaster of magic formations.
Although only experts at the level of a Prefect could become Vice Commanders of the Locke Army, the magic formation battle array formed by the Fourth Battalion under his command was scarcely inferior to a Prefect.
Seeing that the battle in the sky would likely continue for quite some time, Linley and Bebe stopped paying attention to it.
Now that Linley knew there was a way to revive his father and sworn brothers, he didn't wish to waste any time.
After all, no one knew whether delaying even a single day might result in his father or Boss Yale encountering danger in the Necropolis of the Undead.
The two arrived before the third layer of mist.
From time to time, Deities staggered out of the mist like walking corpses.
The moment they left the mist's influence, however, powerful auras erupted from their bodies, and their minds instantly returned to normal.
Seeing this, both Linley and Bebe were startled.
Judging from the auras released by these Deities, the weakest among them possessed the strength of at least a Five Star Fiend.
Experts at the level of Six Star Fiends and Seven Star Fiends were also quite common.
Occasionally, someone would even release the aura of a Prefect.
From their condition, it was obvious that they were all experts who had failed to pass through the third layer of mist. Their souls had been deceived, causing them to unknowingly walk back out of the mist.
Suddenly, Linley's gaze narrowed slightly.
In one corner of the mist, two enormous metal chains stretched from the open area outside the mist all the way into its deepest depths.
Clearly...
This was a method devised by certain experts for passing through the mist.
What puzzled Linley, however, was that there wasn't a single person anywhere near those chains.
His eyes flickered briefly.
Without doing anything rash, he and Bebe entered the mist just like everyone else.
"Boss!"
The instant they stepped inside, Bebe's expression changed dramatically as he transmitted through their soul connection.
"This mist is incredibly disorienting."
"It feels just like when we got trapped inside the Amethyst Mountains!"
Back when Linley and Bebe had wandered into the mist of the Amethyst Mountains, they had both only been Demigods.
Even Linley had only possessed a God-level Wind divine clone.
Now, both of them were thousands of times stronger than they had been back then.
Yet within this mist, Bebe could still feel his sense of direction rapidly disappearing.
Had it not been for the soul connection linking him to Linley...
He felt that even his senses would soon begin to fail.
"Mmm."
Linley nodded.
"Bebe, be careful."
He, too, had already sensed how terrifying the third layer of mist truly was.
Fortunately...
Although the Azure Dragon Ring was damaged, it merely contained a hole.
Linley only needed to fill that damaged opening with his own soul power.
Under such circumstances, his performance was far better than Bebe's.
However...
As Linley continued moving forward, the soul power he had used to patch the damaged hole in the Azure Dragon Ring was gradually worn away.
Soon afterward...
Linley's five senses also began disappearing one after another...
When he regained consciousness again...
Both he and Bebe had already been expelled from the mist.
"Boss..."
"That mist..."
"It's terrifying!"
Grabbing tightly onto Linley's sleeve, Bebe's voice still trembled.
Among all the memories in his life...
The only thing comparable to this fear was the day he had been born, when his parents were killed and he had been forced to flee alone.
After growing stronger, his body had always been the strongest among those of the same level—and even stronger than those a level above him.
He had almost never suffered any truly life-threatening injuries.
After becoming a Deity, he had awakened the innate divine ability God-Eater, allowing him to refine divine spark essence and continuously strengthen his body.
Given Grandpa Beirut's enormous reserves of divine sparks, Bebe naturally never lacked such resources.
Now, Bebe had already become a Highgod.
His body was as durable as a divine spark itself.
Combined with his innate divine ability, unless someone possessed a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact or was a Paragon, no one even dared to raise their voice before him.
With such confidence...
Bebe had looked down on almost everyone besides Linley.
Yet now...
Even with Bebe's arrogant nature, he had developed genuine fear toward this mist.
Linley gently patted Bebe's head without saying anything.
In truth...
It wasn't just Bebe.
Even Linley himself still felt lingering fear when looking toward the third layer of mist.
The sensation of gradually losing all five senses...
Then eventually having even his consciousness sink into oblivion...
It was simply too terrifying.
Even so...
Linley had climbed to where he was today step by step from weakness.
That trace of fear didn't linger in his heart for long before he forcefully erased it through sheer willpower.
"Bebe."
"You stay outside."
"I'm going to try several more times."
Taking several deep breaths, Linley resolutely stepped back into the mist.
...
As expected...
This time, Bebe didn't have to wait long before Linley emerged once more.
With a flash, Bebe appeared instantly beside him, carefully scanning all the surrounding Deities.
Although they had already learned from others that Lord Sovereign had forbidden anyone from attacking those who had just emerged from the mist...
Bebe would never entrust his or his boss's safety to the assumption that everyone else would obey the rules.
Fortunately...
The situation he feared never occurred.
"How did it go, Boss?"
Looking up, Bebe immediately noticed that Linley's expression wasn't very good.
"Mmm."
"The soul attacks within this mist are simply too powerful..."
During his first attempt, the hole in Linley's soul-protecting Sovereign artifact had been plugged with both the faith energy he had accumulated and his own soul power, allowing him to withstand the mist for a longer period.
This time...
Linley hadn't sealed the damaged opening.
As a result, the mist's influence overwhelmed him almost immediately, causing him to rapidly lose his five senses.
Turning back to look at the final layer of mist separating him from Mount Nether, disappointment flashed across Linley's eyes.
It seemed...
With his current abilities, passing through this layer of mist and meeting Lord Sovereign was almost hopeless.
Even so...
Linley wasn't completely discouraged.
From his two attempts, he had discovered that the Azure Dragon Ring could block the overwhelming majority of the soul attacks within the mist.
If the hole he had patched hadn't eventually been broken through...
He might truly have become the first person in countless hundreds of millions of years to successfully pass through all three layers of Mount Nether's mist.
Thinking this, Linley turned to Bebe.
"Bebe."
"Next, I want to test a few things."
"I'll have to trouble you to stand guard for me."
"Mmm."
After giving Bebe a few instructions, Linley sat down cross-legged.
He mobilized his soul power and used it to patch the damaged hole within the Azure Dragon Ring.
Once he had repaired the ring, he entered the mist several more times.
Comparing how long it took before he lost his senses during each attempt...
Linley finally confirmed something.
The amount of time he could remain within the mist depended entirely on when the soul power sealing the hole in the Azure Dragon Ring was finally worn away.
Furthermore...
Even after entering the mist, the very first thing Linley lost was his sense of direction.
As a result, he had no idea how far he managed to travel before completely losing all five senses.
"If only there were something that could guarantee I wouldn't lose my sense of direction..."
"Then I could determine how far I still am from passing through this layer of mist."
"Boss..."
"The thing you mean..."
"The thing that can keep you from losing your sense of direction before your five senses disappear..."
"...isn't it that?"
Following the direction of Bebe's finger, Linley froze.
There...
Lay one of the enormous metal chains.
Both Linley and Bebe had noticed the chain before they ever entered the third layer of mist.
At the time, they hadn't understood why such a chain existed here.
But now...
It seemed the chain indeed served a unique purpose.
Linley took a deep breath and sat down.
Taking out several amethysts from his interspatial ring, he refined the soul energy within them to restore his soul power and repair the hole in the Azure Dragon Ring.
An hour later...
Linley and Bebe arrived before the chain.
The moment Linley followed the chain into the mist, many nearby Deities spread out their divine sense and began placing bets on how long it would take before Linley screamed.
Every one of them had once attempted to pass through the mist by following that very chain.
But in the end...
All of them had experienced the true horror hidden within the mist.
In their eyes...
This mist simply wasn't something a Deity could overcome.
...
With the chain serving as his guide, Linley advanced much more quickly this time.
Furthermore...
Having learned from his previous attempts, Linley now held more than ten Soul Pearls in his hand.
Whenever he sensed the soul power sealing the hole in the Azure Dragon Ring beginning to weaken...
He immediately refined another Soul Pearl, using its soul energy to repair the hole.
However...
By the time Linley had traversed roughly half the mist, this method gradually lost its effectiveness.
Thin strands of white mist began seeping directly into his soul power, affecting his soul itself and causing him to gradually lose his sense of direction.
Fortunately...
His hand remained firmly wrapped around the chain.
Although he no longer knew which direction he was facing, it didn't prevent him from continuing to move forward.
"Next..."
"...will be the loss of my five senses..."
Linley muttered inwardly.
He increased his speed once again.
As his hand slid rapidly along the metal chain, brilliant sparks flew.
This time...
Luck was on Linley's side.
The first sense he lost was taste.
Then hearing.
Then sight.
Then smell.
Finally...
Touch.
Once he lost his sense of touch, Linley could no longer tell whether his hand was still gripping the chain.
He didn't even know whether he was still moving forward.
An ordinary person would have given up under such circumstances.
But Linley didn't.
Relying upon his indomitable willpower, even after losing all five external senses, he continued forcing himself deeper into the mist.
However...
Because he had lost his senses, he could no longer refine additional Soul Pearls.
The soul power sealing the hole in the Azure Dragon Ring was consumed faster than it could be replenished.
Eventually...
It was completely worn away.
Several breaths later...
Linley suddenly felt sensation return to his soul.
But to his horror...
He found himself bound to a pillar.
Several little ghosts surrounded him, using iron pincers to pull out his tongue...
...
"Oh?"
Within the Chief Sovereign Palace atop Mount Nether, Locke let out a soft exclamation.
As someone watching the story unfold, Locke's soul power naturally remained focused on Linley.
Thus, he had known from the beginning when Linley and Bebe arrived at Mount Nether.
Originally, Locke had assumed Linley would have to wait until Lilia happened to be in the mood before obtaining a Netherfruit and entering Mount Nether.
To allow Linley to meet Lilia sooner, Locke had even been planning to suggest that they play another game involving Netherfruit after a few days.
Instead...
Linley gave Locke a pleasant surprise.
The greatest killing move hidden within Mount Nether's third layer of mist was the Three Layers of Hell created from Locke's Eye of Hell.
After Reisgem and the others forged that chain, countless Deities had attempted to use it.
Yet not a single one had managed to withstand the attack of the Eye of Hell and pass through the third layer of mist.
Under normal circumstances...
Linley shouldn't have been able to pass either.
However...
The Azure Dragon Ring wasn't merely a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact.
It was also an interspatial ring.
Linley kept all of his most valuable possessions inside it.
Among them...
Were several drops of Sovereign's Might left behind by the Azure Dragon Sovereign Redding, along with the Sovereign's Might he had obtained from the Four Divine Beasts clan.
Just before Linley was driven completely insane by the Three Layers of Hell created by the Eye of Hell...
He used a single drop of Sovereign's Might.
Under its protection...
His consciousness recovered briefly.
He was also able to repair the damaged hole in the Azure Dragon Ring once more, restoring his soul power to its peak condition.
Under those circumstances...
The Azure Dragon Ring temporarily regained the full defensive power of a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact.
Meanwhile...
The Eye of Hell Locke had left within the mist wasn't yet powerful enough to break through the defenses of a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact.
Thus...
Linley ultimately succeeded in following the chain all the way into Mount Nether.
"I never expected..."
"...that the Sovereign Linley would ultimately meet..."
"...would actually be me."
Watching Linley successfully pass through Mount Nether's third layer of mist, Locke slowly lowered the hand that had been supporting his chin.
Although there were as many as seven Sovereigns residing atop Mount Nether—equal to the number of Sovereigns belonging to a single element...
The legends surrounding Mount Nether had always centered primarily upon Locke and the Death Chief Sovereign.
Over the years...
Locke and Lilia had also developed a certain unspoken understanding.
(End of Chapter)
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