"Where's Hope? How has he still not arrived? What's he thinking?"
The red-haired beauty scanned the Plane Battlefield, where the decisive battle was about to begin, and muttered with a slight frown.
Although this battle was only a showdown between the Water Elemental Plane and the Radiant Elemental Plane, it had every Sovereign on edge. The Sovereign of Death was no exception.
The Four Rules Sovereigns were the strongest among the Sovereigns, but there were still differences between them. The Sovereign of Death and the Sovereign of Life were somewhat weaker than the Sovereign of Destruction and the Sovereign of Fate, so the two sisters had always stuck together for support.
The Sovereign of Death had known Hope for a long time and understood him to some extent. Although he had never admitted it, she believed that Hope was definitely concealing his strength. As an ancient being who had come into existence even before she and Utrade, his power was certainly not as simple as it appeared. There was a good chance he had already reached the Paragon level and was hiding some special trump cards.
For that reason, the Sovereign of Death had tacitly approved—and even supported—Hope's tenth Plane War. After all, she and Vivia would be under a great deal of pressure facing Utrade and Oufu.
If Hope gained another share of Willpower, his strength would be almost on par with the two sisters'. That would make the five of them more evenly matched.
"Come on, Big Sis. The decisive battle hasn't even started yet. Hope isn't the type to be late, and this battle is crucial to him."
The Sovereign of Life, standing beside the Sovereign of Death, chuckled and shook her head, offering reassurance. The two sisters knew Hope well; they knew he was never late.
"He's here!"
The Sovereign of Destruction, who had been silent until then, raised his head and looked toward the empty space in the distance. His hoarse voice rang out.
At that moment, the Sovereign of Destruction wasn't the only one to see them. Many Sovereigns spotted the two figures in the distance, surging toward them like waves in the multicolored Spatial Turbulence. They looked like streams of blue water.
"Everyone, it's been a long time!"
The waves drew in their violent energy and took the shape of a black-haired young man. Hope smiled faintly and nodded to the Four Rules Sovereigns before turning his gaze toward the Plane Battlefield.
"Hope, you look pretty confident, arriving at the very last moment."
The Sovereign of Death gave a meaningful smile. She glanced toward Utrade and Oufu, then spoke.
"I wouldn't say I'm confident. Augusta must have made thorough preparations too."
Hope shook his head slightly, then looked toward the blond figure near Oufu and spoke in an even tone.
Augusta's Twelve-Winged Angels were the Radiant Divine Realm's greatest trump card. They had been unstoppable on the Plane Battlefield, as past wars had shown.
However, Hope's words made Augusta's expression darken. His Twelve-Winged Angels had been defeated by Hope the last time.
Since the world's creation, four Plane Wars had reached nine consecutive victories. Two had involved the Celestial Realm, one Hell, and the other was the current war involving the Water Elemental Plane.
The first time, the Celestial Realm had successfully claimed ten consecutive victories, earning Oufu a share of Willpower. The second time, Hell had reached nine consecutive victories. Utrade had made extensive preparations, but in the end, he had still lost when Augusta brought out the Twelve-Winged Angels he had spent years building up.
The third time, the Celestial Realm had reached nine consecutive victories. Utrade had gathered a large number of Seven-Star Fiends and Sovereign Envoys. During the decisive battle, they had nearly held the Twelve-Winged Angels back for a time. But the angels felt no fear and had no regard for their own lives. As time passed, Hell's morale inevitably began to fall.
Augusta had been confident that he could help Oufu claim a second run of ten consecutive victories. But who could have expected a figure to appear at the crucial moment? Hope's Sovereign Envoy, Palhouse, had stepped in with Paragon-level strength and stopped the angels, turning the tide in Hell's favor.
Now it was the fourth time, and the Water Elemental Plane was up. Palhouse was no longer a Paragon and could not intervene. Naturally, Augusta would have the Twelve-Winged Angels do everything they could to stop them.
"Hmph! Hope, you won't have such an easy time winning this time."
Augusta snorted. A cold glint flashed in his golden eyes, and he turned away from Hope.
At the same time, the decisive battle began on the Plane Battlefield...
"Kill!"
With a shout, a green-haired, burly man in ancient armor shot into the sky. A terrifying whip radiating Sovereign energy appeared in his hand. As it spun at high speed, an icy-blue vortex quickly formed.
With the commander Barbary striking first, the Seven-Star Water Starers from the Water Elemental Plane sprang into action. All kinds of multicolored light flashed as material attacks, soul attacks, and surging Sovereign Power poured out. In an instant, the whole battlefield was engulfed in Sovereign Power.
"Hmph! Barbary! You think you can stop the Twelve-Winged Angels? Form ranks! Attack!"
After a voice rang out mockingly, a commander from the Radiant Divine Realm charged toward Barbary. A white glow appeared around his body as hundreds of white ribbons coiled toward Barbary.
At the same moment, over a hundred figures from the Radiant Divine Realm surged out at the forefront and arranged themselves into a special formation.
Seen from above the Star River Passage, the front row was clearly visible. Every figure was a beautiful blond woman with twelve white wings behind her, shining with holy light as if angels had descended.
But now, the holy angels all exuded a cold aura, like fallen angels returned from Hell, cutting down the lives of the Water Elemental Plane.
Every Twelve-Winged Angel was not only powerful, but absolutely loyal to the Chief Sovereign of Light. None showed the slightest fear of death, and nothing on the battlefield could affect their morale. Most importantly, they could form ranks and work together perfectly to bring their strength to bear.
By comparison, although the Water Elemental Plane's gods were stronger overall, they mostly fought separately. Their material and soul attacks lacked coordination, and they couldn't mount an effective defense as a group. The formation that had held a slight advantage at the start began to retreat.
"Front! Soul attacks!"
Brilliant white light flashed as a combined attack from more than a dozen angels appeared. In an instant, over a hundred Six-Star Water Starers from the Water Elemental Plane fell, leaving a gap in the defense.
"Don't panic! Use coordinated material attacks! Target the angels in front!"
A commander from the Water Elemental Plane reacted quickly. Hundreds of streams of energy containing Water Sovereign Power surged into the sky, instantly tearing apart the bodies of dozens of Twelve-Winged Angels.
But in the very next instant, new angels stepped forward to take their places and continued the attack without hesitation. Their coordination was flawless.
Sovereign Power of every color flashed constantly in the passages on either side. Fortunately, the Twelve-Winged Angels were concentrated in the left passage, so the Water Elemental Plane still had the advantage in one passage. Before long, the Water Elemental Plane broke through the opposition in the right passage. As the multicolored light faded, they won there.
"Looks like Augusta doesn't intend to give you a chance. He's concentrated a thousand Twelve-Winged Angels in one passage—that's almost all of them. Hope, what's your trump card? Don't tell me you didn't prepare anything."
The Sovereign of Death gave Hope a teasing look, her expression playful.
"Just wait and see."
Hope glanced at the battle in the left passage and spoke calmly, not at all surprised by the situation.
Generally speaking, when facing a Plane War with nine consecutive victories at stake, one didn't need to win to prevent a tenth victory. A draw was enough. There was no need to win in both passages or split one's forces between them. Concentrating superior forces to attack just one passage was sufficient.
During the world's second run of nine consecutive victories, the Celestial Realm had concentrated all its forces to break through one passage and draw with Hell, preventing Utrade from winning.
During the third run, Hope had only needed to send Palhouse into one passage to stop the Twelve-Winged Angels. The battle ended in a draw, thwarting Oufu's second attempt to claim ten consecutive victories.
Therefore, Augusta concentrating all his forces in one passage came as no surprise to Hope. He had prepared a countermeasure long ago.
"More than three hundred Water Starers and dozens of commanders. You made quite a few preparations too, Hope. But it looks like you don't have a chance."
Augusta watched the Twelve-Winged Angels advance along the left Star River Passage, the faintest smile on his lips. His tone brimmed with confidence.
On the Water Elemental Plane's side of the second Star River Passage, the forces were already being driven back step by step. Unless something unexpected happened, they would soon be defeated. A flash of smugness crossed Augusta's mind.
"You're confident, Augusta. But the final moment hasn't arrived yet."
Hope glanced at Augusta, a trace of mockery flashing in his refined eyes. Then he said no more.
The Water Starers and commanders had been arranged by Palhouse. Hope hadn't asked about the details himself. He knew these preparations alone would be inadequate against the Twelve-Winged Angels, so he had prepared one final trump card long ago.
"Hmm? Where does he get that confidence? Palhouse is no longer a Paragon. What trump card could he possibly have to turn the tables? Surely he hasn't found another Paragon?"
Seeing how coolly Hope reacted, Augusta furrowed his brow. His mind raced, and a strange gleam flashed in his golden eyes.
"Boom!"
At that very moment, an unexpected change occurred. A powerful green glow flashed and tore through space. A thin-bladed longsword that hummed as it flew shot forward, instantly killing dozens of angels.
The sword then circled through the air and returned to its owner: a figure dressed in a green robe covered in strange patterns. Even from far away, the patterns were enough to leave an ordinary High-God dazed.
The newcomer perfectly controlled the raging Wind Sovereign Power in his hands. With just one move, he shattered the flawless Angel Battle Formation of the Twelve-Winged Angels. The suppressive force of Willpower over ordinary High-Gods was now on full display. Anyone capable of such a feat was clearly a Wind Paragon High-God.
The Wind Paragon High-God—Bayer!