"No, Sovereign Locke—our fear of you ultimately stems from our own lack of strength, as well as our lack of trust in the Sovereign Pact established by Lady Death Sovereign. It has nothing to do with you personally."
After Locke stated that he would not swear such an oath, he had expected the Sovereigns to scoff at him.
But to his surprise, the Azurewave Sovereign spoke those words instead.
Not only him—even the Frost Sovereign spoke up.
"Indeed, just as Lord Azurewave said, the reason we feared you, Sovereign Locke, was because of rumors—that you might assassinate Water Sovereigns to increase your own strength."
"If we truly trusted the Sovereign Pact set by the Death Sovereign, then naturally we wouldn't fear you."
"As for asking you to swear an oath not to harm us—I, Frost Sovereign, am not that shameless."
At this point, the Frost Sovereign stepped forward and stood before Locke.
"Sovereign Locke, from this moment on, I can face you directly."
"Even if one day you truly choose to act against me, I will not be afraid."
"But when that time comes, I will fight with everything I have—I won't let you kill me so easily!"
"Hahaha, then I look forward to the day you can resist me."
With a smile toward the Frost Sovereign, Locke once more turned his gaze to the gathered Sovereigns.
This time, he could clearly feel it—even the Law Sovereigns now regarded him with a trace more goodwill.
"Sovereigns, I called this Sovereign Assembly as a Law Sovereign—this in itself is somewhat overstepping."
"However, I do believe that all of you have neglected the duties of a Sovereign."
"So, this time, I intend to clearly define and refine those duties."
"Sovereign Locke, go ahead."
"As long as what you say makes sense, we Four Divine Beasts Sovereigns will support you."
"That's right. Sovereign Locke—if your words are reasonable, then even without the approval of the four Rule Sovereigns, we will still abide by them."
The meaning behind that statement was clear—it was a silent rebuttal to those Rule Sovereigns who had previously claimed Locke was unqualified to convene this assembly.
Locke honored the Sovereign Pact and upheld it, reducing the fear lower-tier Sovereigns felt toward higher-tier ones.
After all, according to the pact, so long as they did not provoke higher Sovereigns and showed proper respect, those higher Sovereigns could not attack them.
Such words were not "provocation."
They were a declaration of stance and support.
To support Sovereign Locke was to uphold the Sovereign Pact.
"Then I thank you all in advance."
Seeing their reactions, Locke smiled in response.
"Sovereigns, I believe the current method of maintaining order in the divine planes should remain unchanged."
"Sovereigns establish rules, and gods live within those rules."
"Of course, there will always be some who violate them—and such individuals should be dealt with by the Sovereign armies."
"Sovereigns themselves must not directly intervene in the affairs of god-level beings."
"Additionally, the most important duty of a Sovereign is to sort out the disordered Laws within the divine planes and maintain their stability."
"I do not wish to see another incident like what happened in the Water Divine Plane."
"Therefore, the purpose of this Sovereign Assembly is to establish that every Sovereign, based on their rank, bears the obligation to maintain and regulate their respective divine planes."
"According to strength—each elemental Sovereign must, within every hundred million years, spend at least one million years sorting out the disordered Laws of their divine plane."
"Intermediate Sovereigns must spend at least five hundred thousand years per hundred million years doing the same."
"Lesser Sovereigns must spend at least two hundred thousand years per hundred million years maintaining the plane's stability."
"During this period of Law regulation, the Sovereign shall enjoy absolute protection."
"By 'absolute protection,' I mean that they will be under the protection of the four Rule Sovereigns—anyone who attempts to attack a Sovereign while they are stabilizing a plane will be hunted down by all four Rule Sovereigns."
"Does anyone have objections?"
After hearing Locke's allocation of duties, aside from the Sovereigns, most Lesser and Intermediate Sovereigns nodded in agreement.
Due to the differences in willpower granted by Sovereign sparks, Sovereigns of different ranks varied greatly in their efficiency when stabilizing divine planes.
A Sovereign could spend one million years stabilizing a plane and ensure its stability for hundreds of millions of years.
For the same effect, it would take two Intermediate Sovereigns around ten million years.
As for Lesser Sovereigns, at least three would be required just to maintain equilibrium.
With fewer than two Lesser Sovereigns, the elemental Laws of the plane would gradually weaken under the pressure of competing Laws, reducing the plane's stability.
Once the elemental concentration dropped below fifty percent, the plane would no longer be able to suppress foreign Laws—and collapse would become inevitable.
In truth, Sovereigns were the core pillars of their planes.
In the past, Sovereigns had disdained such work, delegating the responsibility of stabilizing Laws to Intermediate and Lesser Sovereigns beneath them.
Strictly speaking, one Intermediate Sovereign and two Lesser Sovereigns were enough to maintain stability.
But unfortunately, in the previous Sovereign War, more than thirty Sovereigns had fallen—including two Law Sovereigns. Combined with the Lightning Sovereign slain by the Death Sovereign, that made three Sovereigns lost.
Locke was now bringing the principle of "greater power comes with greater responsibility" into the ranks of the Sovereigns.
Seeing that the remaining four elemental Sovereigns seemed dissatisfied, Locke spoke:
"Sovereign Deya, Sovereign Augusta, Sovereign Panser, Sovereign Blazing Sun—do you have any objections to my proposal?"
"If so, feel free to speak."
"After all, if you wish to hold your positions without fulfilling your duties, I'm sure many god-level beings would be more than willing to spend a million years out of a hundred million to do the job instead."
Hearing this, the Earth Sovereign Panser, Wind Sovereign Deya, Fire Sovereign Blazing Sun, and Light Sovereign Augusta all stiffened.
That's right—before this assembly, Locke had already stated that even a Rule Sovereign could be replaced if they violated his rules.
Whether Locke could truly replace a Rule Sovereign, they did not know.
But whether he could replace them—there was no doubt.
After all, Locke was now at the same tier as they were: a third-tier Law Sovereign.
Even if he suddenly struck and killed them, it wouldn't violate the Sovereign Pact.
Immediately, the Wind Sovereign Deya was the first to yield.
"I have no objections to Sovereign Locke's proposal."
"Once this assembly ends, I will immediately begin a million years of Law stabilization in the Wind Divine Plane."
The moment Deya spoke, the other three Sovereigns' eyes nearly popped out.
Even the other Sovereigns were stunned.
Deya's reputation among Sovereigns had never been good.
But no one expected him to go this far.
On second thought—it wasn't surprising.
Back then, the Four Divine Beasts had practically cursed him to his face—when they were still just four Lesser Sovereigns.
Yet Deya hadn't retaliated.
Later, during the Sovereign War, he even brought along the Water Sovereign when confronting them—and the result was well known.
The Water Sovereign died. Deya survived again.
You could call Deya weak.
You could question his character.
But you could never call him foolish.
This was someone who had evaded death multiple times.
"Hmph. Clown."
The Earth Sovereign Panser sneered at Deya.
Meanwhile, the Blazing Sun Sovereign and Augusta turned their attention toward Panser, curious what he would say.
"Sovereign Locke, your words have struck me like thunder."
"The very purpose of us Sovereigns is to assist the Overgods in managing and maintaining the laws of the universe."
"I now realize that being able to serve the Overgods as a Sovereign is my honor."
"Well then—Sovereign Locke requires one million years of Law stabilization per hundred million years."
"I, Panser, am not good with words—but I will demonstrate my support through action."
"I will add another million years on top of that requirement, personally stabilizing the Earth Divine Plane."
"I will ensure that the Earth Divine Plane becomes the most stable of all!"
…Blind.
Augusta felt his vision go dark.
He hadn't expected Panser to be even more shameless than Deya.
And this was someone claiming he wasn't good with words?
Looking at the reactions of the surrounding Sovereigns…
Panser, you've completely abandoned your dignity.
"Ahem…"
"Panser, whether your Earth Divine Plane can become the most stable—that depends on whether my Fire Divine Plane agrees."
"In terms of elemental concentration, my Fire Divine Plane is no weaker than yours!"
The Blazing Sun Sovereign, red-faced, finally forced out those words.
With three Sovereigns already expressing their stance, Locke turned his gaze to the Light Sovereign.
"And what about you, Light Sovereign Augusta?"
(End of Chapter)
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