The moment Augusta saw Linley step forward, his heart skipped a beat.
Linley and Beirut both belonged to the Yulan branch.
Moreover, the Sovereign sparks Linley had used to become a Sovereign had been provided by the Yulan branch Sovereigns, Beirut and Bluefire.
As for what Linley intended to do now...
There was no need to guess.
Sure enough—
"Lord Locke, I have a matter I wish to discuss with the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta. I wonder if you would be willing to preside over it and ensure fairness between us?"
"Oh?"
Locke raised an eyebrow and looked toward the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta.
"Augusta, Chief Sovereign Linley wishes to negotiate something with you. Are you willing to discuss it?"
"Of course, even if you refuse to negotiate with Chief Sovereign Linley, I can assure you that no matter who it is, anyone who violates the Sovereign Pact will certainly be punished by me."
Hearing Locke's words, Augusta secretly glanced at the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff.
Unfortunately...
He couldn't discern anything from the gentle smile on Orloff's face.
Even the question he asked Orloff mentally received no response.
Seeing Orloff feign ignorance, Augusta was furious, yet he didn't dare show the slightest dissatisfaction toward him.
Otherwise...
If Orloff, as the original body, chose to merge with him, then Augusta—whose entire existence was formed from suppressed desires and negative emotions—felt that he would lose even the meaning of his own existence.
To Augusta, who was nothing but the embodiment of negative emotions...
That would be a punishment even crueler than death.
With no one left to rely on, Augusta could only step forward himself.
"Chief Sovereign Linley, may I ask what it is that you wish to discuss with me?"
Although Locke had said that even if he refused, no one could violate the Sovereign Pact...
On the surface, it seemed as though Chief Sovereign Locke was standing up for the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta.
However...
Augusta hadn't forgotten that under the Sovereign Pact, higher-ranked Sovereigns were only forbidden from attacking lower-ranked Sovereigns without cause.
If a lower-ranked Sovereign offended a higher-ranked one...
Then the higher-ranked Sovereign taking action would no longer count as acting "without cause."
Previously...
Beirut had stolen what rightfully belonged to the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta.
Although Beirut was merely a Lesser Sovereign, Augusta had publicly declared that if Beirut dared appear in any Divine Plane or Higher Plane, he would hunt him down.
That was because Beirut had offended the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta.
Therefore, Augusta's actions against Beirut did not violate the Sovereign Pact.
Now...
The same principle applied between Linley and Augusta.
Beirut was Linley's elder and benefactor.
If the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta knowingly attacked Beirut...
Then Linley attacking Augusta would likewise not be considered "without cause" and would not violate the Sovereign Pact.
It was precisely because he had realized this that Augusta wanted the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff's support.
Unfortunately...
In front of Locke...
The Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff didn't dare reveal the slightest connection between himself and the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta.
After experiencing the Sovereign War...
The Sovereigns had become extremely wary of Sovereigns who possessed divine clones.
To keep themselves from becoming targets of Sovereigns with divine clones...
The Sovereigns had secretly struck first.
It could be said that among the oldest generation of Sovereigns...
Aside from the newer Sovereigns such as Beirut, Bluefire, and Linley...
Only the Death Chief Sovereign Lilia still openly possessed a water-element divine clone.
As for the other Sovereigns...
Even if they hid their divine clones in material planes...
They still couldn't escape destruction.
Orloff was certain that once the relationship between himself and the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta was exposed...
Every Sovereign would vent their anger over losing their divine clones upon him.
After all...
The fuse that ignited the Sovereign War had been the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff revealing that a Sovereign's divine clone could refine a Sovereign spark and thereby further increase one's power.
Even the Death Chief Sovereign Lilia...
After that information had spread and become known to all Sovereigns...
Had only been able to establish the Sovereign Pact to restrain further slaughter among them.
Once greed in a person's heart had been unleashed...
It could never be sealed away again.
Fortunately...
First came the Death Chief Sovereign's powerful establishment of the Sovereign Pact...
Then later Chief Sovereign Locke rose to prominence, reaching the rank of Chief Sovereign without relying upon Sovereign sparks.
As a result...
The Sovereigns had no choice but to obey the rules established by the Death Chief Sovereign and Chief Sovereign Locke.
In the end...
After nearly every Sovereign's divine clone had perished...
The Sovereign War officially came to an end.
As long as the relationship between the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff and the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta remained hidden...
The Sovereigns would believe that Orloff had simply glimpsed this secret and warned everyone.
But once their relationship was exposed...
Orloff's actions would become utterly sinister.
Some Sovereigns might even begin suspecting that the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff possessed a third Sovereign divine clone...
And that his true purpose in stirring up the chaos had been to muddy the waters so that this third divine clone could quietly become a Sovereign.
At that point...
Public outrage would erupt.
Even Chief Sovereign Locke might personally kill both the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff and the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta to quell the Sovereigns' fury.
"Augusta, the only reason you pursued Lord Beirut was because he seized the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' corpses from your hands."
"Now, the remaining Sovereign sparks of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns have already been refined by me."
"Therefore..."
"I will personally assume the grievance between you and Lord Beirut."
"Do you acknowledge that?"
Augusta snorted coldly.
The reason he had acted so aggressively toward Beirut had two aspects.
On one hand...
Beirut had stolen the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' corpses that the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff required.
As a result, Augusta had been forced to go to great lengths, contacting forces throughout the various planes to massacre members of the Four Divine Beast Clan and refine the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence from countless corpses.
On the other hand...
Augusta also needed to display his overbearing dominance to intimidate the other Sovereigns, making them understand what they could say—and what they absolutely could not.
There was no helping it.
During the battle in which the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta ambushed the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns...
Although he had obtained the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff's soul-protecting Overgod artifact, rendering the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' fused innate divine ability ineffective and making the hunt essentially risk-free...
The Azure Dragon Sovereign Redding had still used his innate divine ability, Dragon Roar, to slow time and sprayed him full in the face, leaving the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta in an utterly miserable state.
Many Sovereigns had witnessed that scene through their divine senses.
Some matters...
Even if everyone knew about them...
As long as no one dared mention them...
They could simply be treated as though they had never happened.
Augusta intended to use his overbearing treatment of Beirut to force all the Sovereigns who knew of that incident to keep their mouths shut.
And events had unfolded exactly as Augusta expected.
Over the past tens of thousands of years...
Not a single Sovereign had ever brought up that battle between the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta and the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns.
Now...
Linley wanted to take over the feud between Augusta and Beirut.
Did Augusta dare bare his fangs at Linley?
If he dared utter so much as a single sentence claiming that Linley would be killed should he appear in any Divine Plane...
Linley would likely turn around and pin him down in the Light Divine Plane and beat him senseless.
Therefore...
Augusta could never treat Chief Sovereign Linley the way he had treated Beirut.
If anything...
He now had to worry about Linley treating him the way he himself had treated Beirut.
Thinking this...
Augusta turned his gaze toward the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff.
"...Sigh."
Orloff let out a soft sigh.
Augusta was, after all, his divine clone formed from all of his negative emotions.
Even a cornered dog would jump over a wall.
If Augusta were pushed too far, dragging Orloff into the matter wasn't impossible.
Therefore...
No matter what...
Orloff had to step forward now and protect Augusta once.
"Chief Sovereign Linley, I owe the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta a favor."
"Allow me to represent the Light Chief Sovereign and negotiate with you instead. What do you think?"
Linley looked at Augusta before turning his gaze toward Orloff.
Compared to the sinister and ruthless Augusta...
The kind and amiable Orloff seemed to be his complete opposite.
Yet...
Whether it was merely his imagination or not...
Linley always felt that the relationship between these two was far closer than simply "owing a favor."
"Very well."
Linley nodded.
Now that the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff had stepped forward on Augusta's behalf...
Linley knew that there was no possibility of killing Augusta here and completely removing the hidden danger threatening the Yulan branch.
Moreover...
After hearing Chief Sovereign Locke state earlier that the Edicts Chief Sovereigns had all increased their strength by hundreds and thousands of times...
Linley also understood that although he now stood on the same rank as the other Edicts Chief Sovereigns...
Among them...
His strength was still at the very bottom.
He couldn't refuse to give the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff face.
"Then..."
"What is it that Chief Sovereign Linley desires?"
"Then may I ask, Lord Orloff..."
"Just how great is the favor you owe Augusta?"
After Orloff questioned him...
Linley didn't state his own conditions.
Instead...
He threw the question back to Orloff.
As far as Linley was concerned...
So long as he couldn't kill Augusta...
The rest didn't really matter.
With him around...
The Light Chief Sovereign Augusta would never dare attack Lord Beirut or Lord Bluefire, preventing Linley from obtaining a legitimate reason to kill him.
Since that was the case...
He might as well do the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff a favor.
"The grudge between the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta and your Yulan branch originated because of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns."
"And now, Linley..."
"You have inherited the legacy left behind by the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns and have even reached a realm they themselves never attained."
These words weren't false.
No matter how powerful the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns had once been...
They had ultimately been only four somewhat stronger Lesser Sovereigns.
Relying on their fused innate divine ability...
They had merely entered the level of Law Chief Sovereigns.
Linley...
On the other hand...
Had become one of the highest-ranked Edicts Chief Sovereigns the moment he became a Sovereign.
He had already surpassed the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns by far.
"In that case..."
"Why don't we let all past grievances end here?"
"Augusta will no longer target Sovereign Beirut and Sovereign Bluefire."
"And you..."
"Will likewise cease targeting Augusta."
"What do you think?"
Hearing Orloff's proposal...
Linley turned toward Beirut and Bluefire.
At Linley's current level of strength...
Augusta no longer posed any real threat to him.
But to Beirut and Bluefire...
Augusta remained a terrifying nightmare hanging above their heads.
Bluefire's situation was somewhat better.
He had only become a Sovereign a few years earlier.
Before long...
Linley had undergone his unprecedented four-element soul mutation right before his eyes...
Giving them genuine confidence that they could stand against Augusta.
Beirut...
Had suffered far more.
Becoming a lofty Sovereign should have been a joyous occasion.
Yet because of the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta's threats...
He hadn't even dared leave the Yulan Plane, fearing assassination.
No...
To be precise...
Augusta had already attempted it once.
It was only because that attempt had taken place in the Netherworld, where Beirut had gone to meet Locke, that Augusta had not dared make his move.
After Beirut met with Locke...
Both he and Augusta had been directly teleported back to their respective planes by Locke...
Bringing Augusta's ambush to nothing.
It could be said...
That although the Yulan branch of Sovereigns had originated with Beirut...
He had ironically been the one who suffered the most.
Therefore...
After the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff proposed settling all grudges...
Linley did not immediately agree.
Instead...
He looked toward the two of them.
If Beirut refused...
If he couldn't let go of the humiliation Augusta had forced upon him over all these years...
Then even knowing he would offend the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff...
Linley would still stand firmly behind Beirut.
"Hahaha!"
"Since Lord Orloff is willing to act as mediator between our Yulan branch and Lord Augusta..."
"Naturally, we are willing to reconcile with Lord Augusta."
At this moment...
Beirut was in extraordinarily high spirits.
As for the humiliation Linley believed he had suffered...
Indeed...
Ever since becoming a Sovereign...
Beirut had been forced by Augusta to remain inside the Yulan Plane.
But the root of everything...
Was that Beirut had stolen the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' corpses from Augusta's hands.
Of course...
Stealing the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' corpses from Augusta wasn't something just anyone could accomplish.
That sense of achievement...
Made being confined to the Yulan Plane seem utterly insignificant in Beirut's eyes.
Moreover...
He had finally waited for the person he had always hoped for.
No...
To be more precise...
Linley's accomplishments had far surpassed even Beirut's greatest expectations.
After all...
Beirut had originally only hoped to find someone capable of matching a Law Chief Sovereign...
Someone who could help him shoulder part of the risk.
Linley's existence...
Had erased that danger completely.
Precisely because of this...
Beirut didn't wish to become the reason Linley developed hostility toward the other Edicts Chief Sovereigns.
If Linley truly possessed strength equal to the other Edicts Chief Sovereigns...
Beirut wouldn't mind letting Augusta suffer a little.
But unfortunately...
Linley's current strength merely matched what the Edicts Chief Sovereigns had been countless years ago.
Chief Sovereign Locke had already stated that the current Edicts Chief Sovereigns were hundreds or even thousands of times stronger than before.
In other words...
Any one of the current Edicts Chief Sovereigns could instantly kill Linley with a single move.
Linley was the greatest pillar supporting both Beirut and Bluefire.
If Linley were to fall out with the other Edicts Chief Sovereigns...
Beirut and Bluefire certainly wouldn't fare any better.
And if Linley were to perish...
Did anyone doubt that the other Sovereigns would immediately seize Beirut and Bluefire...
Bind them...
And deliver them to the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta in exchange for his favor?
(End of Chapter)
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