Alex gasped for breath as he glanced at the enormous corpse on the ground and sneered. "Hmph, divine beasts really are blessed with incredible gifts. That innate divine ability is truly formidable. Combined with your powerful physical attacks, even after I used a Sovereign's Might, you still managed to leave me in such a sorry state. But you're still going to die."
Actually, Alex hadn't planned to use a Sovereign's Might in this battle. After all, it was something to save his life. He'd intended to have those Fiends wear the three of them down, then use hit-and-run tactics to pick them off one by one. He hadn't expected their strength to exceed his expectations and for them to wipe out all the Fiends outright.
What was more, all three of them had used their innate divine abilities right from the start. The Jade Cold Toad's ability in particular had frozen the space around him. Alex had no choice but to use a drop of Sovereign's Might to break free.
On top of that, Adam's beastlike fighting style had left him utterly exhausted. Fighting someone who didn't care whether he lived or died always took a great deal of effort, and the Sovereign's Might within Alex had already dissipated completely.
After killing the three of them, Alex collected their Space Rings. Looking at the three rings in his hands, he couldn't help breaking into an excited grin. "Hahaha! With the wealth of you three, I can refine more Sovereign's Might!"
A drop of blood fell onto one of the Space Rings, and Alex had just sent his divine sense inside when—at that moment—his guard was at its lowest. There were no more powerful opponents nearby who could threaten him.
But just then, a dazzling, eerie blue-green light flashed past, accompanied by a piercing buzz. It sliced a crack through space, and a line of blood appeared across Alex's throat.
His head was then sucked into the spatial rift. Alex's strongest Divine Clone, his Earth Element God Clone, was destroyed.
Then a second Alex emerged from the Earth Element God Clone, clad in a fiery-red robe. It was his other Highgod Divine Clone, the Fire Element God Clone.
Alex's expression changed. "Hodan? You're still alive?"
A dark-gray aura flared around Alex's Fire Element God Clone. Clearly, he had used another Sovereign's Might. Then he turned and tried to flee.
But this Fire Element God Clone was obviously just an ordinary Highgod. Even after using a Sovereign's Might, he had only barely reached the level of a Six-Star Fiend.
Besides, Hodan had already been on guard in case Alex had another Divine Clone. He had no intention of answering Alex. Zhengdu pierced the head of Alex's other Divine Clone, killing him for good.
"No—!" Alex let out one last cry of anguish. He hated it. His eyes flew wide, but he didn't even have time to feel regret or remorse before he collapsed to the ground.
"Refine Sovereign's Might?" Hodan murmured, recalling what Alex had said earlier. He couldn't make sense of it. Hodan didn't believe Alex could refine Sovereign's Might himself. After all, everyone in Hell who could refine it was a peak expert, and there wasn't a single person named Alex among them.
He looked around at the corpses of the Six-Star and Seven-Star Fiends, then shook his head with a sigh. These people had been among the very strongest in Hell, yet they had all died here. And he was the last one standing.
Black Water Tribe was now blanketed in smoke, with ruins scattered everywhere. Corpses from both tribes lay strewn across the battlefield, which was filled with blood, severed limbs, and despair.
Hodan had finally felt the full horror of war as he watched one life after another vanish before his eyes. He had never felt so close to death. Here on this battlefield, he had attained godhood in the Death Rule.
"Boom!" The magnificent Laws of the World descended.
Without hesitation, Hodan chose External Godhood. After experiencing the splitting of his soul once again, he gained a Death God Clone. Unlike his other clone, this one had gray hair and wore a gray robe.
Hodan quickly left. The battle here and the descent of the Laws of the World had already drawn the attention of those nearby. After all, Hodan had also accepted this Fiend Mission. He didn't want to expose himself, nor did he want anyone to learn that he had killed his employer. It would do his reputation no good. He needed to maintain a good name, which would benefit him whether he was dealing with the Four Divine Beasts Clan or his own clan. No one would want to befriend someone who had killed his employer.
Of course, before leaving, Hodan didn't forget to sweep up all the wealth here. Most of it came from Alex and the three chiefs of Black Water Tribe, along with the Space Rings of several Five-Star Fiends and other powerful members of the tribes.
After finishing all this, Hodan became a streak of light and flew tens of thousands of miles toward Silvermoon City, putting a great distance between himself and Black Water Tribe.
A vast mountain range appeared before Hodan. The ancient peaks rose a thousand zhang high, and trees so enormous that dozens of people could barely encircle their trunks were everywhere. Weeds grew thickly, and strange plants covered the landscape.
Everything bore the marks of ages untold. Hodan chose an inconspicuous spot on the mountainside, hollowed out a large section of the rock, and made himself a deep cave dwelling where he could stay for a while.
Inside a cave in the mountain range, Hodan was counting the spoils he had collected. A smile spread across his face. "So many Space Rings, and the rings of the two tribes' chiefs, too. These belong to Seven-Star Fiends. As expected, powerful experts are the biggest walking bosses. There must be plenty of people in Hell doing this kind of business for easy money."
"Wow, not bad. This guy had more than three hundred billion in his Space Ring," Luo Feng said with a laugh. He had sent his divine sense into the Space Rings of Adam and the other two, scanning their contents. As expected of chiefs who were Six-Star Fiends—each of them was worth at least three hundred billion Inkstones. They were loaded. Adam, their chief, had contributed a whopping one trillion five hundred billion Inkstones to Hodan.
At last, only Alex's Space Ring remained. Looking at it, Hodan remembered Alex's eyes, still wide open in death. At the moment he died, they had been full of disbelief and despair. Just a moment before, he had been trembling with excitement, imagining the bright future ahead of him, only for it all to vanish in an instant.
Alex had died with his eyes open!
Hodan also recalled Alex's muttering when he had obtained Adam's Space Ring.
But Hodan didn't feel the slightest bit sorry about Alex's death. He wasn't an idiot. Alex had hired Fiends to wear down the three chiefs of Black Water Tribe because he didn't want to use his Sovereign's Might. Only when he had no other choice had he used it to kill Adam and the others.
After seeing how Alex had treated those Fiends as cannon fodder, Hodan knew that if they had survived the destruction of Black Water Tribe,
Alex would definitely have turned on him. Hodan wouldn't show mercy to someone like that. He had seized the chance while Alex was distracted and killed him, and the wealth Alex had schemed to obtain had fallen into Hodan's hands.
When Hodan sent his divine sense inside and saw what was there, he froze.
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