Boom!
Brilliant lightning filled the sky, gathering at the tip of the long spear in the Seven-Star Fiend's hand.
The blinding radiance of thunder tore even the surrounding spatial fissures wider apart.
Then, without hesitation, he hurled the spear directly toward Celes and his men.
"Spear of Thunder!"
Faced with the Seven-Star Fiend's attack, Celes's thoughts stirred.
In an instant, roughly three hundred soldiers within the magic battle formation moved in perfect synchronization with him, all extending a finger forward.
Boom!
A blue beam of light shot out from the battle formation, colliding head-on with the incoming lightning spear and exploding with a deafening roar.
Celes did not pause.
He immediately controlled another three hundred soldiers and slashed out with a blade of light.
Chi—chi—chi—
"Ahhh—!"
There was no surprise in the outcome.
Among the legion soldiers following behind the Seven-Star Fiend and rushing in to attack Celes's group, at least several hundred had their divine bodies severed in half by that single strike.
Of course, for divine-level experts, such injuries were far from fatal.
A bit of divine power would be enough to restore them.
However, for the purposes of this battle, these wounded soldiers were considered "dead."
After all, in a real battle, Celes's strike would not have merely cut them in half at the waist—
it would have taken their heads clean off and exposed their divine sparks.
Still, for a legion numbering over ten thousand, the loss of a few hundred men was hardly significant.
Boom boom boom—!
Once they closed the distance, thousands of attacks streaked toward Celes's formation in dazzling streams of light.
Although most of them were only attacks at the level of Three-Star or Four-Star Fiends, sheer quantity gave them enough power to threaten even higher-ranked experts.
"Raging Tide!"
Facing the barrage, Celes shouted.
At once, the divine power of all seven hundred soldiers synchronized with him, activating the first effect of his magic battle formation.
Boom boom boom—!
In an instant, an immense torrent of divine power erupted from the formation.
It was like the sea itself had overturned and crashed down from the heavens, sweeping everything in front of it away.
The thousands of incoming attacks failed to stir even the slightest ripple before being swallowed whole by the raging tide.
The massive wave finally surged beneath the opposing legion and crashed into the dense mist bordering the Nethermountain Range, obliterating mountain peaks across an area tens of thousands of meters wide.
The soldiers in the opposing legion who had remained above the tide silently withdrew from the battle in perfect unison.
Seeing this, everyone had already formed their judgment regarding the outcome of the battle.
Celes could fully control his magic battle formation and even use its power to dramatically expand the range of his attacks.
In terms of raw attack power and defense, the strength his formation could unleash was roughly on par with a Seven-Star Fiend.
But the attack range of the formation was nearly ten times greater than that of an ordinary Seven-Star Fiend.
Moreover, because he had complete control over it, the formation's attack, defense, and speed were in no way inferior to a Seven-Star Fiend.
This single formation alone was equivalent to the destructive power of five Seven-Star Fiends.
Sure enough, after only a few breaths, the legion led by the Seven-Star Fiend had already been completely routed by Celes and his men.
As for the Seven-Star Fiend battalion commander himself—
even after bringing out his full strength, he was still helpless against the magic battle formation.
That said, it was equally impossible for Celes's side to actually defeat the Seven-Star Fiend himself.
In the end, after battling fiercely for half a day, Oakes personally stepped in to determine the victor.
Because every soldier under the Seven-Star Fiend commander had been wiped out, while not a single soldier on Celes's side had fallen, Celes successfully passed his battalion commander promotion battle.
Even the Seven-Star Fiend battalion commander accepted the result.
Compared to the previous battalion commander who had been knocked unconscious directly by Figroa, at least he had managed to preserve some of the dignity of a Seven-Star Fiend.
Of course, the fact that his opponent's force hadn't even filled a full company was something he very deliberately chose to forget.
Still, this only served to further highlight just how extraordinary Figroa's talent in magic battle formations truly was.
If Figroa had possessed strength on the level of Celes, then the magic battle formation legion he created would absolutely have been capable of injuring an Asura Prefect.
As for Celes—
although he could fully control his formation, the maximum number of additional nodes he could manage was only another three hundred soldiers, enough to bring it up to a full-strength one-thousand-man company.
Anything beyond that would exceed the limits of his control.
A full-strength company might allow Celes's battle formation to rank among the stronger Seven-Star Fiends—
but compared to an Asura Prefect, the gap was still enormous.
"Celes, from this day onward, you are the Battalion Commander of the Fifth Battalion."
Inside the command tent, Oakes personally pinned the badge representing a battalion commander onto Celes's chest and patted him on the shoulder.
"I hope you continue to work hard in the future and devote your strength to serving Lord Sovereign."
"Yes, Lord Oakes."
After bowing respectfully to Oakes, Celes hesitated.
This was the first time he had ever been this close to Oakes.
Should he take this opportunity to ask about Locke?
"Mm? Celes, is there something else?"
Seeing that Celes had not yet left the tent, Oakes looked up and asked curiously.
"It's like this…"
Thinking of how Mira had been desperately training within the mist all this time just to see Locke, Celes let out a sigh and spoke directly.
"Lord Oakes, I would like to inquire about someone."
"Oh?"
"And who might that be?"
"I should say in advance—while my strength is decent and I know quite a few powerful figures across the various planes, there are still many experts I do not know."
"If the person you're asking about is someone unfamiliar to me, I hope you won't be disappointed."
"Understood."
Celes nodded.
Even if Oakes knew the person but chose not to say anything, there was little he could do about it.
"Lord Oakes, the person I want to ask about is named… Locke."
"Pff—!"
The moment Celes finished speaking, Oakes sprayed out the tea he had just been about to swallow.
"Wait, wait—Celes, what did you say that person's name was?"
"Locke, Lord Oakes."
At Oakes's reaction, Celes's heart leapt with joy.
As expected—
Lord Oakes absolutely knew Locke.
And their relationship was likely anything but ordinary.
Otherwise, Oakes would never have reacted like this upon hearing his name.
Oakes stared at Celes suspiciously.
Was the Locke Celes was referring to the same Lord Locke he knew?
"Wait a moment."
"I do indeed know a great person named Locke."
"But I'm not yet certain whether the Lord Locke I know is the same one you're referring to."
Celes was inwardly thrilled.
Just as he had suspected.
Before the Sovereign, Locke's status was actually above even Oakes, the commander of the Sovereign Army.
Otherwise, someone as powerful as Oakes—an Asura Prefect-level expert—would not address him as Lord Locke.
As for whether the Locke he spoke of was the same person Oakes knew—
Celes had no doubts at all.
After all, this was someone who could ask a Sovereign to retrieve a relative who had been dead for over a million years from the Necropolis Plane and even restore their memories.
"After arriving in the Netherworld, I don't know much about Locke."
"But after coming here, a younger member of the Locke clan and I followed our bloodline resonance and met Locke's younger brother."
Hearing this, Oakes shook his head.
Having followed Lord Locke for so many years, he had never once heard that Lord Locke had a younger brother.
"According to Locke's younger brother, we learned that Locke currently resides on the mid-slope of Nethermountain."
"What?! He lives halfway up Nethermountain?"
Oakes had just been about to dismiss the possibility that this was Lord Locke—
but the moment he heard those words, he was no longer sure.
Most people only knew that a Sovereign resided somewhere on Nethermountain.
No one truly knew where exactly.
Of course, it was naturally assumed that a Sovereign would dwell at the summit.
The only people who knew that Lord Locke resided halfway up the mountain were likely his own family and perhaps Ryan and Rockpeak.
The fact that Celes knew this immediately convinced Oakes that the Locke he spoke of was very likely indeed Lord Locke.
"Uh… Celes, was it?"
"For now, remain within the Sovereign Army. Don't wander around."
"I'll head up Nethermountain right away and ask Lord Locke whether he is the person you're talking about."
"As for whether he is willing to receive you… that will depend entirely on Lord Locke's wishes."
"Yes. I'll trouble you with this, Lord Oakes."
"Oh, and with me is another of Locke's descendants—Mira Locke."
"If you do see Locke, please mention her as well."
"Tell him… that child has spent all these years just hoping to see him once…"
…
"I never imagined Lord Locke actually had descendants."
After Celes withdrew from the tent, Oakes was deeply astonished.
From what Celes had said, Oakes was now almost certain that the Locke they were referring to was indeed the Lord Locke he served.
What he could not understand was why, after all these years since their arrival, Lord Locke had still not summoned them.
Was it because he did not wish to see them?
Or had Lord Locke entered seclusion again?
Ever since he first met Lord Locke, Oakes had never once seen him rest.
He was either cultivating—
or researching how to cultivate.
Even after becoming a lofty Sovereign, he remained exactly the same, still burning with passion for cultivation.
Perhaps…
perhaps what he himself lacked was that very same drive, which was why his own progress had long since come to a halt.
Shaking his head, Oakes stopped thinking about it.
The most important thing now was to report this matter to Lord Locke immediately.
Regardless of whether Lord Locke already knew that Celes and Mira had come to the Netherworld in search of him, as one of Lord Locke's subordinates, it would be unacceptable not to report news concerning Lord Locke's own descendants.
Thus, Oakes did not linger.
After issuing a few instructions to his subordinates, he transformed into a streak of green light and flew toward Nethermountain.
Passing through the dense mist, he arrived at the foot of the mountain, where it was sealed off by chains of lightning.
Without pausing, a suit of white armor appeared over his body as he charged directly toward the mountain.
Crackle crackle—!
Between the gaps in the lightning chains, a violet barrier was shattered as Oakes forced his way through, countless bolts of lightning striking his body.
Yet in the end, all of that lightning was completely blocked by the material defense Sovereign artifact he wore, causing him no real harm.
At the summit of Nethermountain, the Chief Sovereign of Death sensed someone breaking through the chains of lightning.
Her divine sense spread outward.
Upon seeing that it was Oakes, she simply withdrew it.
No matter how powerful the lightning chains surrounding Nethermountain were, they were still merely the power of a Sovereign artifact.
They could instantly kill Seven-Star Fiends and grievously wound Asura Prefects.
But against an Asura Prefect wielding a material defense Sovereign artifact—or a Paragon with Willpower—they were useless.
After all, this was merely a boundary-type Sovereign artifact created by the Chief Sovereign of Death to prevent overconfident gods from disturbing herself and Locke on Nethermountain.
It was never meant to kill everyone who came.
Oakes descended before the mist halfway up Nethermountain and called out:
"Lord Locke, Oakes requests an audience."
"Oh? Oakes is here?"
Oakes's voice drew Locke out of his cultivation.
Though he was somewhat puzzled as to why Oakes had come to see him at this time, Locke did not make him wait.
Under normal circumstances, Oakes would never disturb him unless summoned.
If Oakes had come, then it had to be something important.
With a thought, the mist outside the Water Estate instantly parted, opening a path.
At the same time, Locke's Fate Sovereign clone separated from his main body and headed toward the main hall of the Water Estate to await Oakes.
"Oakes greets Lord Locke."
Crossing the floating bridge, Oakes entered the main hall and dropped to one knee in salute.
"Rise, Oakes."
"You came to see me so suddenly this time. Is there some important matter?"
"Could it be that there is news of those three natural treasures?"
"Uh…"
Hearing this, Oakes gave a bitter smile.
"My apologies, Lord Locke."
"As of now, among our forces spread across the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes, not a single lead has surfaced regarding those three treasures."
"Is that so?"
Locke frowned slightly.
That shouldn't be possible.
Given Hongmeng's favor toward the Chief Sovereign of Death, the first Overgod talisman had practically been delivered right into her hands.
By that logic, the three Overgod mission tokens should not have been difficult to find either.
So why, after all these years, had Oakes still not received even the slightest clue?
Could it be…
because the Chief Sovereign of Death had handed the Overgod talisman to him, Hongmeng was worried he might keep what belonged to her for himself—
and had deliberately increased the difficulty a little?
(End of Chapter)
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