"Hm? Yage Huerlei actually came too. This is getting lively."
While Xingyi was deep in thought, Hope spotted an unexpected figure. He let out a quiet exclamation and then withdrew his divine sense.
"Yage Huerlei?"
At Hope's words, Palhouse and Xingyi both gave quiet exclamations. Their divine senses spread out, and they immediately noticed a young man aboard a purple Metal Lifeform near the Four Divine Beasts Clan's Metal Lifeform.
Meanwhile, just as the Four Divine Beasts Clan's enormous Metal Lifeform transformed into a dazzling streak of light and flew through the Mist Sea, a young man with purple hair opened his eyes inside a purple, diamond-shaped Metal Lifeform.
The young man had neatly styled short purple hair and wore a purple robe with pale gold trim. A faint lightning pattern marked his forehead.
Yage Huerlei was one of the Prefects of the Thunder Divine Plane and the only son of Huerlei, the Thunder Sovereign.
"Those are Gaislesen and the others? What could have caused such a commotion?"
Feeling the Fog Sea Riot and the terrifying fluctuations of divine power, the purple-haired young man furrowed his brow and fell into thought.
Gaislesen had made no effort to conceal himself, so Yage easily spotted the ten Asuras inside the Metal Lifeform. He was rather surprised.
As the son of the Thunder Sovereign, Yage Huerlei naturally wasn't afraid of Gaislesen and the others, but he also had no reason to make enemies of them. After all, unlike Hankin Augusta, Yage had no children or family, and he had no conflict with the Four Divine Beasts Clan.
"What is the Four Divine Beasts Clan planning?"
Yage Huerlei frowned and considered it for a moment, then promptly urged his Metal Lifeform to speed up and pursue the Four Divine Beasts Clan's Metal Lifeform.
Although he had no idea what the Four Divine Beasts Clan was after, they'd brought so many people, so whatever they were doing had to be serious. Since Yage had seen them, he naturally wanted to find out. As for danger, given his status, he had nothing to worry about as long as he didn't directly clash with Gaislesen.
Ten years later, the enormous Metal Lifeform flew across the Mist Sea and stopped above an island.
"Ninisha, come out and meet your death!"
As a furious shout rang out, carrying a dragonlike roar, Gaislesen, dressed in a green robe, led the charge. He became a streak of blue light and appeared above the island. With a slight movement of his right hand, an enormous blue phantom instantly descended.
"Boom!"
A purple lightning shield formed into an oval. The blue phantom landed on it and wavered slightly before dissipating into nothingness. Two streaks of light gathered into graceful silhouettes, which stood beside Gaislesen.
"You finally came, Four Divine Beasts Clan!"
Ninisha cried out and shot into the sky. Her long purple hair streamed behind her, and not a trace of fear showed in her eyes as she stared coldly at Gaislesen and headed straight into the lightning storm.
Gaislesen was just as undaunted. He flew out first, and dozens of figures appeared behind him in an instant. Every one of them looked at Ninisha as though they were looking at a corpse.
Though the Star Fog Sea wasn't as crowded as the five continents, plenty of merchant caravans traveled through it. The standoff between Gaislesen and Ninisha quickly drew a crowd, and more than a dozen Metal Lifeforms gradually came to a stop.
"Those people facing off in the Mist Sea's storm zone? I'm not seeing things, am I? There are dozens of them?"
Inside a merchant caravan's Metal Lifeform, a brown-haired Mid-God stared wide-eyed and asked in disbelief.
"That can't be right. Doesn't the Mist Sea's lightning storm zone require at least a Six-Star Fiend to travel through freely? How could there be so many Six-Star Fiends?" A blue-haired middle-aged man beside him couldn't help interrupting.
"Silence, all of you!"
A black-haired High-God shouted, instantly quieting everyone aboard the Metal Lifeform. He paid them no mind, merely staring fixedly at the distant crowd, his heart filled with shock.
"Seven-Star Fiends. There's no mistake. The members of the Four Divine Beasts Clan wearing red robes are their Seven-Star Fiend elders. There are so many of them—I can't believe I'm lucky enough to witness this!"
The same thought surfaced in the minds of many people nearby. The only one who remained calm was Yage Huerlei, aboard the purple Metal Lifeform.
"With all this commotion, the Four Divine Beasts Clan came just for Ninisha? She really is a remarkable talent. What a shame she provoked the Four Divine Beasts Clan."
Yage shook his head slightly, regretfully sighing to himself.
As a Prefect of the Thunder Divine Plane, Yage had looked into Ninisha's background. She was an Asura who cultivated the Mysteries of the Laws of Lightning, and he had some admiration for her, since she too cultivated the Laws of Thunder.
Talents like her were few and far between even in the Thunder Divine Plane. He himself had only fused four Mysteries, and had barely reached the level of a new Prefect thanks to the Divine Beast Bloodline he'd inherited from his father. That was why he was so fond of people like Ninisha.
Ninisha and Gaislesen had naturally noticed the commotion around them, but neither paid it any mind. They simply watched each other in silence.
"What an impressive display. Your Four Divine Beasts Clan certainly thinks highly of me!"
Ninisha looked over the figures behind Gaislesen, clenched her fists, and then gave a soft laugh.
There were dozens of people behind Gaislesen. Ninisha had seen some of them in the Floating Shadows and records at Fiend Castle, while others were unfamiliar to her. But all wore the Four Divine Beasts Clan elders' red robes, which meant they were Seven-Star Fiends.
Of course, one of them wasn't actually a Seven-Star Fiend: Emmanuel's Wind Divine Clone. His father, Fuerhan, had brought Emmanuel along so his son could see the clan avenge him with his own eyes.
The Four Divine Beasts Clan's Seven-Star Fiends were all empowered by Sovereign's Might. Together, they could even force an Asura to retreat. But what weighed most heavily on Ninisha were the ten people at the front.
"Ten Asuras. I must be quite important to you. Still, this is the kind of battle I enjoy."
A cold smile crossed Ninisha's lips. Before, she might have had some misgivings, but now she would show the Four Divine Beasts Clan through her actions what an invincible Paragon High-God was.
"Gaislesen, for the sake of the Sovereign, I'll spare the five of you today. But everyone else you brought here will die!"
Ninisha let out a cold snort. Her icy words spread across the air and rang out over the entire sea.
"Arrogant!"
The green-haired woman to Gaislesen's left was the first to roar in anger. A dragonlike cry rang from her mouth as green dragon scales covered her body. An overbearing aura enveloped Gaia.
"Whoosh!"
The next moment, Gaia moved. Her body hurtled toward Ninisha at incredible speed, both hands already transformed into pale green dragon claws that raked fiercely toward Ninisha's head.
"Pay with your life for my grandson's!"
Gaia sneered inwardly. She was usually stern and impartial, never showing favoritism toward Emmanuel, but that didn't mean she didn't care about him; she simply never showed it. Now that Emmanuel's clone had perished, she was the angriest of them all.
"Shhk—"
The dragon claws, fused with a Material Defense Sovereign Artifact, tore through space, revealing the seven-colored Spatial Turbulence. They descended slowly, as if they would tear Ninisha apart the next instant. A cold smile touched Gaia's lips.
But in the next moment, Gaia's expression froze...