The Four Divine Beasts and Hope hadn't tried to conceal their battle, so the news reached not only the Fire Elemental Plane but the Sovereigns of many other planes as well.
Hell, Chaos Sea, Wukun City.
"Hm? The Four Divine Beasts are fighting Hope?"
Utrade's face, hidden beneath his black robe, changed abruptly. He stared at the Water Sovereign standing with his head bowed before him, then flashed away, turning into a streak of black light as he left the Chaos Sea.
As the Sovereign of Hell, Utrade had always considered the Four Divine Beasts his own. Now that he'd heard they had gone to fight Hope, he was instantly in a foul mood.
Netherworld, Nether Mountain, inside Death Hall.
"Oh? They're already fighting. Looks like Reding and the other three are going to die! I wonder what Utrade's face will look like."
The Sovereign of Death sat on her throne and stretched languidly. Her crimson hair swayed gently, and a thoughtful smile curled her lips.
As a Sovereign who had known Hope since the world's beginning, the Sovereign of Death understood him well. At least in her eyes, Hope had always kept his true strength hidden. Reding and the others had underestimated him; they were unlikely to come to a good end.
After a moment's thought, the Sovereign of Death rose and flew toward the teleportation array as a streak of crimson light.
Radiant Elemental Plane, Aowei Island.
"What? Reding and the other three actually went after Hope?"
Augusta sprang to his feet. The golden markings on his forehead blazed, and his expression turned uncertain.
Augusta had been keeping an eye on the Four Divine Beasts for a long time. He didn't like doing research himself, but he believed their Essence Blood would help Oufu.
Even though Oufu was currently focused entirely on his ultimate move and had no plans to do anything to the Four Divine Beasts for the time being, Augusta thought the best course was to kill them and take their Essence Blood before Utrade got around to killing them himself.
Thus, Augusta had been searching for an opportunity—a chance for the Four Divine Beasts to leave Hell. As long as Utrade didn't interfere, Augusta was confident he could kill all four of them. Their so-called Innate Divine Ability would be a joke against the Soul Defense Supreme Artifact in his possession.
But Augusta had never expected Reding and the others to fight Hope.
"If Reding and the others kill Hope, they'll surely have their children refine the Water Element High Sovereign Spark. It'll be much harder to kill them then."
Augusta rubbed his temples, thinking it over with a slight headache.
Unlike the Sovereign of Death, Augusta wasn't close to Hope and knew little about him. As far as he could tell, Hope would probably die in this battle.
Augusta's thoughts wandered, but his movements were swift. He turned into a streak of golden light and shot across the sky.
Water Elemental Plane. The teleportation array flashed continuously as people from other Divine Planes appeared one after another, then vanished in streaks of light.
"Captain, what's going on today? So many powerful people are coming from other Divine Planes."
A young man in a blue robe asked, puzzled.
Several powerful figures had arrived from other Divine Planes in the span of a single day. That was clearly a rare occurrence.
"Enough. Don't ask about things you shouldn't. It's not our place to pry."
The middle-aged man known as the captain frowned and immediately scolded him.
The young man shrank his neck and didn't dare ask again. But he kept glancing toward where the newcomers had disappeared, clearly still unsettled.
"Looks like the Sovereigns have assigned some sort of mission, bringing so many powerful people here. The Water Elemental Plane probably won't be peaceful for a long time."
After scolding the young man, the middle-aged man sighed to himself. He stopped resting and began making his rounds carefully.
Several High Gods had appeared in quick succession and vanished at a speed he couldn't even track. Clearly, several Prefect-level experts had arrived. In his years of experience, he knew this sort of situation probably had something to do with the Sovereigns, which was why their Envoys had come.
The captain had been about to rest, but now he could only sit up straight and do his job properly, lest some clueless subordinate accidentally offend a "Sovereign Envoy."
High above the Azure Dragon Continent, a streak of golden light cut across the sky, then stopped beside a white-haired old man and transformed into a tall, blond figure.
"Augusta, you're here."
Seeing Augusta, the white-haired old man greeted him warmly, as if welcoming an old friend. His smile looked utterly sincere.
But Oufu's smile did nothing to improve Augusta's mood. He merely said coldly, "Oufu, Reding and the other three have been acting up. I'm planning to deal with them while I have the chance."
Augusta thought that after killing Hope, the Four Divine Beasts would be weakened for a time. Even if they had their children refine the Water Element High Sovereign Spark, they still wouldn't be his match.
If he waited until the Four Divine Beasts had recovered and joined forces with Gaislesen, the new Sovereign of Water, killing them would be much more difficult.
Augusta wasn't afraid, not with the Willpower bestowed by one of Oufu's clones. But he didn't want to reveal it unless absolutely necessary.
"Hehe, Augusta, aren't you jumping to conclusions? Are you so sure Reding and the others can kill Hope?"
Oufu didn't respond directly. Instead, he asked with a chuckle.
"You think Hope can kill the Four Divine Beasts?"
Augusta frowned, his golden brows rising slightly.
Augusta thought Reding and the others might be arrogant, but they wouldn't act recklessly without reason. If they dared to go after Hope, they must be confident of victory.
"Reding and the others don't take risks lightly. But I'm afraid they've underestimated Hope."
Oufu kept smiling, as though neither Hope's nor the Four Divine Beasts' lives could stir any emotion in him.
"You mean Hope's actually a Paragon?"
Augusta spoke thoughtfully, then fell silent.
Although Augusta and Oufu were actually the same person, the Bula Clan's nature made their personalities completely different. They had also agreed not to look into each other's thoughts unless absolutely necessary.
So, most of the time, they were practically two separate people. As far as Augusta knew, Hope had done nothing especially noteworthy aside from gathering two Paragon Envoys and winning a ten-consecutive-victory streak in the Plane War.
But in Oufu's view, though Hope was weaker than Utrade and Thanatos, he was the sort of person who liked to hide his strength. He seemed low-key, but there was more to him than met the eye.
"Why speculate? We can just take a look."
As Oufu spoke, he spread out his divine sense. He quickly spotted Hope returning from the Spatial Turbulence.
"Hope actually won?"
Augusta also released his divine sense. When he saw Hope unharmed, his expression shifted slightly.
High above the Cangming Sea, Hope had gathered the Four Divine Beasts' bodies, their Sovereign Sparks, and the Supreme God Token. He then returned directly to the Water Elemental Plane and waited for the other Sovereigns to arrive.
"Oufu, you two got here fast!"
Hope suddenly raised his head and looked toward the empty space nearby. A golden glow and a white glow raced toward him, then took the form of two figures.
"Hope, it's only been a few million years, and we meet again."
Standing beside Augusta, Oufu greeted Hope warmly before speaking with a hint of emotion.
"Many years have passed since the Sovereign Covenant was established, and no Sovereign has died. I never thought things would turn out like this today."
"Hope, you've got Reding and the others' bodies now, don't you?"
As soon as Oufu finished speaking, a hoarse voice rang out. A cloud of gray mist descended and gathered into a figure hidden beneath black fog, who spoke in a low voice.
"Utrade, don't forget that the Four Divine Beasts are Sovereign-level beings, too. Their battle doesn't violate the Covenant, especially since Reding and the others attacked first."
A young woman's voice rang out with a light laugh. A streak of crimson light passed by, and a pretty red-haired woman appeared with a smile. Behind her stood a graceful woman in green robes, radiating a gentle aura.
The Four Rules Sovereigns had arrived first!