"How... how is this possible?"
Reding stared at Hope and couldn't help crying out in shock, his eyes filled with disbelief.
A mocking smile touched Hope's lips, but his tone remained as calm as ever. Chilling air radiated from his ice-blue armor, and the long sword in his hand flowed with a gentle watery sheen. He stood like an undefeated god of war.
At that moment, Reding finally panicked. He couldn't understand how Hope had withstood their Combined Innate Divine Ability head-on twice. Prinhol, the first Sovereign of Fire, had once admitted that even a Paragon Sovereign couldn't withstand it twice. Willpower from ten consecutive victories in the Plane War alone couldn't possibly have been enough.
"A Paragon? Could Hope have already been a Paragon all along? Not only does he have the Willpower from ten consecutive Plane War victories, but he also has the Willpower of a Paragon..."
Reding's eyes widened as he thought of a possibility. His voice dry, he asked,
"Hope, have you reached Paragon?"
Though phrased as a question, Reding spoke with complete certainty, his expression turning grim.
"I was already a Paragon when Heaven and Earth first began."
Hope narrowed his eyes and answered calmly, while adjusting his soul force to recover as quickly as he could.
The Four Divine Beasts' Innate Divine Ability couldn't kill him, but withstanding it twice had still affected him a little. For Hope, though, these injuries were nothing.
"What? Hope, you've been hiding your strength this whole time!"
White Tiger Lius was stunned by Reding's words. When he came to his senses, his gaze at Hope was full of fury.
Unfortunately, his anger was now nothing but impotent rage, and it meant nothing.
Feeling that the blood essence in his body had run dry, Lius was overwhelmed by helplessness. There was nothing he could do.
"Big brother, what do we..."
Vermilion Bird Nemo trembled slightly beside Reding, at a loss. They had never imagined that Hope, the Water Sovereign, would be this powerful—that their Innate Divine Ability couldn't kill him even after two uses.
Reding was just as frantic. He desperately tried to think of a way out, but his expression grew bleaker by the moment.
Reding had always believed that he knew the Water Sovereign Hope well after all these years, yet he had never suspected Hope was hiding the strength of a Paragon.
Back when Chief Sovereign of Light Augusta completed the Overgod Mission and the final token appeared, Hope had also found it. But just as he was about to confront Augusta head-on, he backed down. At the time, Augusta didn't have a Supreme Artifact.
Because of this, almost none of the Sovereigns thought the Water Sovereign was a Paragon. After all, if the Water Sovereign were a Paragon, there would have been no reason to fear the Chief Sovereign of Light. Only a handful of people, including the Sovereign of Death, had suspected there might be a connection to Oufu.
In Reding's eyes, Hope, the Water Sovereign, was an old Sovereign who had existed since the beginning of Heaven and Earth. He had taken part in the Sovereigns' wars and fought many of them, yet no one had ever realized that he was a Paragon. He shouldn't have been one.
"If I hadn't wanted to experience your Innate Divine Ability and magic array up close, and see if I could use them to improve my research, you wouldn't have had the chance to strike at all. You're nowhere near a true Sovereign! Now it's my turn!"
Hope ignored the Four Divine Beasts' grim expressions. After recovering his soul a little, he spoke, then abruptly transformed into a rushing stream of blue water and surged toward the four of them. A massive sword beam flashed from the blade in his hand, casting a blinding white light.
"Run! To Hell!"
Reding shouted, forcing himself to transform once more into his Azure Dragon form. His scales, which had once radiated immense pressure, were now dull and lifeless, as though the bloodline of a divine beast had faded from them.
"Roar!"
The Azure Dragon spat out a breath of golden energy, which spread around the four of them. A golden sphere formed by the magic array appeared once more.
"Crackle..."
As Lius and the others retreated, they desperately drew on their remaining strength and poured Sovereign's Might into the magic array. With a sound like shattering space, pale-blue ripples appeared across the golden sphere, forming a blue defensive array.
The Four Divine Beasts' combined ultimate move—Four Elements Water-Style Azure Dragon Defense!
"Hold it back!"
Reding screamed inwardly, using every last bit of his strength to reinforce the defense. A faint layer of ice crystals covered the ice-blue sphere.
After using their Innate Divine Ability twice, the Four Divine Beasts Sovereigns had nearly exhausted all their strength. Reding, as a Water Sovereign, had gained a measure of Willpower from ten consecutive victories in the Plane War. He was the only one of the four who still had even a little strength left.
To survive, he had no choice but to use every last bit of his power, combining it with the others' remaining divine power to activate the magic array and mount a joint defense.
Reding couldn't think about anything else now. He only wanted to hold out for a little while and find a chance to escape to Hell. The Sovereign of Destruction certainly wouldn't want the other Sovereigns to take them away. If they could get there, they might survive.
Reding's plan was sound, but the defense cast by the four of them, already weakened to the point of exhaustion, was nowhere near enough.
"Vrrrm..."
The Spatial Turbulence scattered, and the white sword beam descended. The blue sphere split apart like a sheet of paper, and the beam slammed into the Azure Dragon's scaled body.
"Argh!"
Blue light poured from the Azure Dragon's mouth, as if he were letting out one final, desperate roar. But all he could do was watch as the sword beam cut through his body. The signs of life within him vanished, and his blood-red eyes slowly turned transparent.
Azure Dragon Sovereign Reding—fallen!
"Big brother!!!"
White Tiger Sovereign Lius roared, his voice full of grief and rage as he glared at Hope.
"I never thought we'd fall here!"
Vermilion Bird Sovereign Nemo spat out a mouthful of blood, despair written across her face.
Black Tortoise Sovereign Bowen stared fixedly at Hope as well. He made no further attempt to flee. They knew it was pointless now.
The Four Divine Beasts had to act as one to stand against a Sovereign. Their combined Innate Divine Ability and combined magic-array technique were both essential. The moment Azure Dragon Sovereign Reding fell, the remaining three were only Lower Sovereigns. They no longer had any hope of opposing a Sovereign.
There was no point in running. Even if the three Lower Sovereigns scattered, they couldn't escape a Sovereign's pursuit. Besides, without their big brother Reding, even if they did get away, the other Sovereigns would only treat them as prey and butcher them at will.
Hope paid no attention to the looks Lius and the others gave him. From the beginning of Heaven and Earth until now, everyone had endured countless battles and killings. He had seen that same look countless times—so many that his heart had long since stilled.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Hope's right hand moved. Blue and white light swirled around his sword, then became three sword beams that shot out toward Lius, Bowen, and Nemo.
With Reding gone, the Four Divine Beasts' combined magic array no longer worked. Lius and the others could no longer wield the strength of a Sovereign; they were only Lower Sovereigns now. They had no chance of resisting Hope's attack.
"Hope! The Sovereign of Destruction will kill you for this!"
Lius transformed into his white tiger form. His silver-white fur shivered as he struggled desperately to resist.
But it was all in vain. The blue-and-white sword beam sliced through the White Tiger with ease. The red character on his forehead faded at once, and his life force vanished.
White Tiger Sovereign Lius—fallen!
"Roar!"
"Caw!"
Nemo spread her wings, flames blazing around her, while yellow-brown Sovereign's Might flickered over Bowen's shell. They tried to stop the sword beams.
At last, two blue-and-white beams pierced the Vermilion Bird and the Black Tortoise. Their blazing red radiance and earth-shaking yellow-brown light vanished in an instant.
Vermilion Bird Sovereign Nemo—fallen!
Black Tortoise Sovereign Bowen—fallen!
And so the Four Divine Beasts Sovereigns, who had dominated the divine planes for countless years and rivaled the Sovereigns, all fell.