Paragon High-God

Dalayer nodded. She was a little worn out from the battle, but unharmed. She didn't know why Desterie wanted to rack up battle achievements in the Plane War, but she had never asked. To her, being by his side was enough.

Her true form was a special substance born in the Earth Divine Plane, somewhere between metal and flowing water. Like Hermes, she was a special life-form. Though she lacked Innate Divine Abilities like Soul Prison and God Devourer, her natural gifts were formidable in their own right.

Hermes had devoted all his innate talent to attack power. Even as a Lowgod, he could tear open the space of the Earth Divine Plane. Dalayer, on the other hand, could merge with earth, rock, and sand, completely concealing her presence. So, years ago, when Desterie went to Xuanjin Mountain to find her, he knew she was somewhere on the mountain, yet couldn't sense where she was within that strange "gravity" field. And because her true form could gather and disperse at will, Dalayer's material defense was exceptionally strong.

At that moment, they both wore white Soldier Badges and had just returned from the Heavenly Realm's territory.

"All right, let's rest up and hurry back to the Netherworld's base!" Desterie said with a smile.

Just then, a cool, detached voice rang out. "How interesting. Two soldiers wearing Heavenly Realm badges have killed one of our commanders. You'll have to explain yourselves."

Desterie's expression changed drastically. The newcomer was so close, yet he hadn't sensed him at all!

Dalayer tensed as well. She hadn't noticed the newcomer either!

"Don't bother looking. If you could sense me, I wouldn't deserve to be called a Paragon!" The detached voice rang out again.

Desterie's pupils contracted sharply, and he hurriedly pulled Dalayer behind him. Not long after entering the Plane Battlefield, he had heard that the Heavenly Realm had invited a Paragon to join them—one who had never appeared in the original story, a Destruction Element Paragon High-God named Iluka.

A few days earlier, he had infiltrated the Heavenly Realm's territory and met Croken, who had confirmed that Iluka had indeed arrived.

But he had never expected to run into him now!

"Sir, I'm a commander on the Netherworld's side. I disguised myself and went into the Heavenly Realm's territory. You're a renowned Paragon, and since the Plane War began, you haven't gone out of your way to collect badges. I have both a Material Defense Sovereign Artifact and a Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact. Why not let me go?"

Desterie had learned from Croken that Iluka wasn't interested in badges.

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure appeared in front of Desterie at a speed too fast to follow. He was a handsome young man with a cruel smile on his lips.

"Even if I can't kill you, I can banish you into Spatial Turbulence. Then I'll kill your female companion!" the young man said.

Desterie clenched his fists. He couldn't accept being banished or seeing Dalayer die. This Plane War concerned a Sovereign Spark. If he were banished and then begged the Sovereign of Death to retrieve his Divine Clone, he might miss his chance to claim one.

But how could he afford to hope for luck against a Paragon? Even if it seemed impossible, he had to try.

Desterie's mind sank into his Soul Space, where a white jade stone shrouded in Starlight slowly turned, ready to unleash Strong Luck at any moment!

If, in this state, he were lucky enough to escape, he could always hide for the next few hundred years and wait until the final battle to emerge!

But just then, Dalayer suddenly spoke. "I think I've met you before, Mr. Iluka."

Desterie and Iluka both looked at Dalayer in surprise. Iluka especially couldn't remember meeting this woman, and her soul aura was unfamiliar to him.

"I have met you!" Dalayer said again, this time with certainty. As she spoke, she took an ancient-looking token from her Spatial Ring and held it out before Iluka. It was a Sovereign Token, though its pattern and design were so old-fashioned that it looked nothing like the one Desterie had.

Iluka stared at the token. After a moment of silence, he gave a rueful laugh. "I can't believe that fellow has been dead for so long, yet his Sovereign Emissary is still alive. Fate really is hateful!"

Listening to Iluka mutter to himself, Desterie finally understood. This Paragon High-God had a history with Komodo, the long-dead Sovereign whom Dalayer had once served—and it seemed their relationship had been far from ordinary!

Iluka used divine power to draw the token into his hand. He rubbed it between his fingers for a while, then drifted away without another word.

Once the Paragon had left, Desterie finally breathed a sigh of relief. That had been far too close. If not for the unlikely connection they shared as "old acquaintances," he had no idea how things might have ended. The gap between a top Asura and a Paragon was enormous, and Desterie had little confidence in how much Strong Luck could help him.

After all, Strong Luck could turn an extremely unlikely event into a likely one, but it couldn't make something with zero chance of happening come true.

After changing back into the Netherworld's badges, Desterie and Dalayer hurried back. They resolved not to venture out again until the final battle.

On the way back, Desterie asked Dalayer about her past with Iluka, the Paragon High-God.

Dalayer recalled, "It was when I went to the Sovereign's palace to pay him a visit. I saw that Iluka sitting beside the Sovereign, speaking to him as an equal. I remembered it especially well because I later learned from the Sovereign that Iluka wasn't a Sovereign."

So their relationship must have been exceptionally close! Desterie thought. It was true that Sovereigns treated Paragons with respect, but they certainly didn't treat them as equals.

Meanwhile, after flying some distance away, Iluka gave a sudden laugh and touched the Sovereign Token hanging from his waist. "I never intended to attack them. And I ended up with a relic of Komodo's, too. If that incident hadn't happened back then, why would I have withdrawn from the world? And why would he have died? Hmph. Every last one of them will pay!"

"What was that boy thinking, bringing Komodo's emissary into such a dangerous Plane War? Looks like I'll have to build up his reputation, so those experts won't interfere with him as much. They'll probably think twice about messing with him during the final battle, too. If they're wary of him, that'll give his emissary some extra protection as well.

"Heh. The title of strongest beneath the Paragons, personally bestowed by a Destruction Rule Paragon—that's a pretty good reputation to have!"

And so, while Desterie returned to the Netherworld's base and went into deep seclusion, a title was born without his knowledge: the strongest beneath the Paragons. A Paragon had deliberately spread the word.

In the blink of an eye, more than four hundred years passed...