Above the Skyrite Mountains, purple lightning and eerie crimson light flashed incessantly. Two figures crisscrossed through the air, occasionally colliding and shattering vast stretches of space.
"Hahaha! Ninisha, let's call it here. At this rate, neither of us will win."
Dannington retreated a short distance, stopped attacking, and spoke with a soft laugh.
Ninisha furrowed her brow, but had to admit that she could do nothing to Dannington. If he insisted on holding her back, it would be difficult for her to kill anyone from the Four Divine Beasts Clan.
A Paragon High-God was synonymous with invincibility. That was no exaggeration. It wasn't just that they overwhelmed ordinary High-Gods. More importantly, they were evenly matched against one another. That was the power of Willpower.
Paragons differed in their strengths, with variations in matter, soul, offense, defense, and speed. But none of those differences gave them an overwhelming advantage. Neither could kill the other.
Paragons had no weaknesses. Since the world's beginning, no High-God had ever killed a Paragon, not even when several Paragons joined forces against one.
"Hahaha! Dannington, I never thought I'd see the day you protected the Four Divine Beasts Clan!"
As Ninisha and Dannington faced off from a distance, the sound of someone cutting through the air rang out. A figure dressed in a white robe hurtled toward them like a whirlwind.
At the sound of that voice, Dannington and Ninisha's expressions changed at the same time. Delight and puzzlement crossed Ninisha's face, while Dannington's expression darkened.
"Whoosh!"
The cyan whirlwind coalesced into a figure with white hair and white eyebrows. Beneath his long, narrow brows, cold light gleamed in his eyes.
The newcomer was none other than Bayer, a Wind Law Paragon High-God!
"Bayer, what are you doing here?"
Dannington asked solemnly, his expression turning wary.
"Ninisha and I are both envoys of the Sovereign of Water. Naturally, I'm here to help."
Bayer stroked his smooth chin. A cyan longsword, thin as a cicada's wing, appeared in his pale hand, emitting a series of sharp whistles as it cut through the air.
Ninisha gave Bayer a slight nod, then glanced up at the sky before looking away.
Although she saw nothing, Ninisha knew that either the Sovereign or Palhouse had to be there. After all, Bayer had still been in the Water Elemental Plane before they set out. A Sovereign must have helped him travel here so quickly.
Dannington looked far more troubled than Ninisha. He spoke coldly:
"Bayer, are you really going to interfere?"
Bayer didn't care in the slightest about Dannington's attitude. He chuckled and continued:
"Dannington, I'd advise you to leave the Four Divine Beasts Clan alone. This matter has nothing to do with you in the first place."
Dannington hesitated, unconsciously clenching his fists.
He wasn't afraid. Even if Bayer and Ninisha joined forces, they could only gain the upper hand and put him at a slight disadvantage. They couldn't truly hurt him.
But at their level, even being pushed back a little in a fight was humiliating. If he simply left, word would get around, and that would be embarrassing too. Despite facing two Paragons, Dannington's pride wouldn't let him back down.
Below, Gaislesen and the others looked pale, while Barbary and his companions were overcome with delight.
"Big Brother, let's attack. While we still can, maybe we can take a few of Barbary's group down with us."
Gus, the White Tiger Clan Patriarch, had bloodshot eyes as he sent a message to Gaislesen.
The moment Bayer appeared, Gus realized that they were doomed today. If Dannington lost, every one of them would die. Since death was inevitable, they might as well charge out now and try to take a few enemies down with them.
"Get ready!"
Across from them, Bolin sensed what was coming. Seeing the expressions on the Four Divine Beasts Clan members' faces, he took a few cautious steps back, then sent a message to the other seven. For a moment, both sides stood on the brink of violence.
At the same time, high in the sky, a mass of gray energy coalesced and settled beside a round-faced, blue-robed middle-aged man.
"Palhouse pays his respects to Lord Utrade!"
Palhouse, who had been watching the scene below, bowed slightly to the gray figure. Though he was a Sovereign himself, he was still far beneath the Rule Sovereign.
"Palhouse, the Four Divine Beasts Clan is, after all, a Sovereign Clan, and the Four Divine Beasts are Sovereigns of Hell. It wasn't appropriate to send Bayer here."
The Sovereign of Destruction's body was shrouded in a layer of gray mist. He spoke in a calm voice.
"My apologies, Lord Utrade. Bayer came on Lord Hope's orders. Although I'm a Sovereign, I can't order Bayer around."
Palhouse slowly straightened and answered Utrade without fawning or fear.
Utrade fell silent for a moment, then gave Palhouse a long look. The gray energy vanished.
"Dannington, it seems you have no intention of leaving. Then let's settle this today through strength!"
Seeing that Dannington still hadn't left, Bayer's expression turned cold. The Sovereign Artifact sword in his hand, thin as a cicada's wing, began to roar.
"Crackle—"
In the next moment, cyan Sovereign's Might surged over Bayer's body, then sank into him. Streams of cyan light began gathering around him.
"Rumble—"
At the same time, Ninisha swung her spear. Purple lightning streaked with golden runes spiraled into a vortex and gathered around her.
Ninisha and Bayer exchanged a glance and nodded. Then the two streams of energy rose into the air and converged on the same point.
Ninisha and Bayer were both envoys of the Sovereign of Water. Though they hadn't known each other for long, they had fought together before. Both excelled at physical attacks, and they worked together with remarkable coordination as lightning and wind surged around them.
"Damn it!"
Dannington cursed inwardly and quickly retreated some distance. His hands swept through the air, and crimson patterns appeared all around him before suddenly exploding into a massive barrier.
"Roar!"
The next instant, purple lightning and cyan wind coalesced into two enormous azure dragons, one purple and one cyan, gazing down at the entire continent from the sky.
"Crackle—"
A million meters above the ground, terrifying purple lightning and cyan wind blades clashed. Vast cracks instantly tore open in space, revealing an endless black void as seven-colored Spatial Turbulence surged within.
"Is this... really the power of a god?"
Barbary swallowed hard and gripped the whip in his hand, a Sovereign Artifact.
"This is the power of a Paragon High-God. If our Four Divine Beasts Clan had even one Paragon, we wouldn't have ended up like this."
Gaislesen stood before his younger siblings, fists clenched. A flash of unwillingness crossed his eyes.
Facing the terrifying azure dragons above, Dannington's expression grew increasingly grave. He had never felt such immense pressure before.
Ninisha cultivated the Laws of Thunder, while Bayer cultivated the Wind Law. Both excelled at physical attacks. With both of them using Sovereign's Might and offensive Sovereign Artifacts to launch a joint attack, its power was unquestionably at the pinnacle of godhood.
"Roar!!!"
The two dragons moved. Energy that shook the heavens and earth, as if bringing about the end of the world, crashed down from the sky. The crimson barrier Dannington had summoned with all his strength was pierced almost instantly, and terrifying cyan-purple light shot toward him.
"Vmmm—"
The gray Sovereign Artifact armor covering Dannington's body rang out. At the same time, Death Sovereign's Might began pouring out of him, forming a curved crimson battle armor over his body.
"Boom—"
After a long while, the terrifying energy slowly dissipated, and the cracks in space gradually healed. Dannington's battered figure slowly emerged.
Thanks to his material-defense Sovereign Artifact, Dannington wouldn't actually be injured. But being treated like a punching bag without being able to fight back was a miserable feeling.