After the Fate Sovereign Orloff spoke, the Life Sovereign Wawaya finally came back to her senses and acknowledged Locke's standing as a Laws Chief Sovereign.
At the same time, Wawaya glanced at Locke, then at her elder sister Lilia, whose eyes and lips both carried a faint smile. Somehow, she had the distinct feeling that there was a secret between the two of them that no one else knew.
"Mm. I, Wordred as well, in the name of the Destruction Sovereign, acknowledge that Locke possesses the strength of a Laws Chief Sovereign."
With the recognition of three Edict Sovereigns, the other Sovereigns naturally had no grounds to object to placing Locke among the Laws Chief Sovereigns.
The only ones with unsightly expressions were probably the existing Laws Chief Sovereigns.
No—if the Four Divine Beasts were counted, then it should be five.
After all, combat between Sovereigns of the same tier was entirely permitted.
Given Sovereign Locke's displayed strength, none of them believed they had any confidence in escaping if he chose to strike.
It could now be said that the Laws Chief Sovereigns themselves had split into three tiers.
Locke was, without question, the first tier.
The Light Sovereign and the Four Divine Beasts belonged to the second tier.
The remaining Laws Chief Sovereigns were the third tier.
Wordred looked at Locke with battle intent blazing in his eyes.
"Locke, in all these years, you are the only being I have ever truly admired."
"Earlier, you said that you have only fused three Water profound mysteries into the Edicts of Fate. In other words, there are still three Water mysteries that have yet to be completely fused."
"I look forward to the day you fully fuse the fourth Water profound mystery into Fate."
"At that point, your strength should be at least another thousand times greater than it is now. That would be enough to bring you to our current level."
"When that day comes, you will become the fifth Edict Sovereign–level existence."
The Sovereigns present, upon hearing the Destruction Sovereign say this, all turned to look at Locke as if they were staring at some kind of monster.
That was right.
Locke was a soul mutate, and he had only fused three Water profound mysteries into Fate, yet he already possessed such terrifying power.
Then what if he fully fused all six Water profound mysteries with Fate?
How strong would Sovereign Locke become then?
Fusing four Water mysteries into Fate would be equivalent to the power of twelve fused mysteries of a single Law.
Completely fusing Water Laws with Fate would be equivalent to eighteen fused mysteries of a single Law.
Completing the fusion of an entire Law granted a portion of Will from the natural Laws.
Then if two different systems were fully fused…
would the natural Laws grant one portion of Will, two, or perhaps even three?
Of course, the Sovereigns all understood that the difficulty of fusion increased drastically with each additional mystery.
Just because Locke had successfully fused the third Water mystery into Fate didn't mean the fourth would come easily.
It was entirely possible that Locke had not even found the point of compatibility for the fourth one.
Even so, the Sovereigns could not help but feel a sense of awe rise from the depths of their hearts.
Whether Locke could complete the fourth fusion in the future was one thing.
But as long as such a possibility existed, who would dare deny the future of Sovereign Locke?
A being who had effectively reached Paragon three times over—
how could trash like them, who had not even become Paragons once, possibly comprehend such a monster?
For a moment, the Sovereigns found themselves unable to even feel jealousy.
The gap was simply too vast.
Jealousy only arose when people believed that, under the same circumstances, they might have achieved the same thing.
He only got there because of this… if I had the same conditions, I could do it too.
But Locke…
Faced with him, they had no choice but to admit that they were as dull as swine.
Even if they had been given the same starting point as Locke, they still would never have reached such heights.
Dual-element Paragon, plus an even more difficult path of heterogeneous Law fusion…
"Your Excellency Destruction Sovereign flatters me."
Locke shrugged.
"I do indeed wish to surpass the four Edict Sovereigns one day, but after I fused the three Water mysteries into Fate, the Will bestowed by the natural Laws was granted to the soul of my original body."
"The Will within my Water divine clone and Fate divine clone did not change."
The moment Locke said this, the Sovereigns all felt a subtle sense of relief.
According to him, even if he one day completely fused Water and Fate, becoming a dual-system fusion Paragon, it would still only be his original Saint-level body that received the enhancement of Will.
In that case, his greatest possible strength would only be—
Like hell it would!
Even if the Will of his Sovereign clone did not increase, with the power of fully fused dual-system Laws alone, Locke would still be the undisputed strongest being in the entire Coiling Dragon universe.
"Locke, I think very highly of you."
"When you fully fuse the fourth Water profound mystery with Fate…"
"…fight me."
As he said this, an overwhelming aura burst forth from Wordred.
"Very well."
"When my strength reaches the level of an Edict Sovereign, I certainly won't pass up the chance to spar with Your Excellency."
Locke did not reject the challenge.
However, there was a subtle difference.
Wordred had said that Locke should fight him after fully fusing the fourth mystery.
Locke, on the other hand, had only said that he would fight once his strength reached the Edict Sovereign tier.
The two statements were not the same.
If Locke fused the fourth Water mystery into Fate, then he would definitely possess Edict Sovereign–level power.
But for Locke to reach that level, it did not necessarily require completing that specific fusion.
"Well then, if Sovereign Locke's ascension has been acknowledged by all, this second Sovereign Assembly shall—"
Just as the Death Sovereign was about to announce the end of the second Sovereign Assembly, Locke suddenly raised his hand.
"Death Sovereign, if I may ask you to wait a moment."
"Oh?"
The Death Sovereign turned to him, a smile curling at her lips.
"Does Sovereign Locke still have something to say?"
"Yes."
Locke nodded.
A blue figure split off from his body and stood at his side.
It was his Water divine clone.
"Sovereigns, this is my Water divine clone."
The gathered Sovereigns looked at it, unsure of what Locke intended, and continued listening.
"As you can see, my Water divine clone possesses both Paragon Will and the Will granted by a Sovereign clone."
"Combined with the power of my fused Laws, it grants this clone strength comparable to that of a Lesser Sovereign."
"I believe that although this body is still technically a Deity, it should enjoy status equal to that of a Sovereign."
"What do you all think?"
"Mm."
"Agreed."
"No objections."
"That's reasonable. The ranking system established by the Death Sovereign was never based purely on Sovereign sparks, but on actual combat strength."
"Since Sovereign Locke's Water clone has Lesser Sovereign–level power, it is indeed qualified to be listed as one."
Compared to the earlier shock of Locke entering the rank of Laws Chief Sovereign as a Lesser Fate Sovereign, the fact that one of his divine clones could rival a Lesser Sovereign no longer seemed so impossible to accept.
The four Edict Sovereigns also nodded in agreement.
"Then I thank everyone for your recognition."
Locke reabsorbed his Water clone and nodded to the gathered Sovereigns.
"In that case, this Sovereign Assembly is concluded."
"You may all disperse."
With the Death Sovereign's words, the Sovereigns began leaving the spatial turbulence one after another, returning to their respective Divine Planes.
Even after the meeting ended, they continued discussing Locke's terrifying strength.
Even the four Destruction Sovereigns of Hell were no exception.
Only Bloodridge Sovereign Pash did not join in their discussion.
Because he knew—
that still wasn't everything.
He remembered all too clearly how, over a hundred thousand years ago, Locke's Water divine clone had come to his palace and defeated him.
Whether it was the Four Divine Beasts' fused innate divine ability or that horrifyingly powerful soul attack, Locke had yet to reveal any of it today.
If he had—
then what this Sovereign Assembly would have gained would not merely have been another Laws Chief Sovereign.
It would have been a new Edict Sovereign.
Of course, since Sovereign Locke had not spoken of it, Pash certainly did not dare mention it either.
With his understanding of Locke's power, if Locke truly wanted to kill him, not even the other four Edict Sovereigns would be able to save him.
That terrifying sensation of time and space being completely frozen was something Pash still remembered vividly.
…
No one knew that after the Sovereign Assembly ended, Fate Sovereign Orloff, Destruction Sovereign Wordred, and Life Sovereign Wawaya met again in private.
The moment they met, Wordred immediately asked Orloff,
"Why did you summon us?"
"What matter is so important that it couldn't be said during the Sovereign Assembly?"
Off to the side, Wawaya was also staring at Orloff with an unfriendly expression.
Before coming, she had assumed this was some kind of private meeting among the four Edict Sovereigns.
But after arriving, she discovered that Orloff had not invited her elder sister, the Death Sovereign, at all.
What exactly was he trying to do?
Was he attempting to drive a wedge between the four Edict Sovereigns?
(End of Chapter)
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