Desterie perked up. So the Heavenly Realm had already achieved a Ten-Win Streak! That meant another Fate Intermediate Sovereign now had ten times his Willpower, while the other Fate Lower Sovereigns were only ten times weaker than him. He'd have to be careful!
But just then, Bowen sent a Soul Transmission: "Big Brother, Second Sister, Third Brother, forget them and attack now, or we won't get another chance!"
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the Four Divine Beasts unleashed their Innate Divine Abilities in unison. Their abilities merged perfectly, as if the heavens and earth had transformed, forming a hazy, circular glow.
The instant the circular glow appeared, Desterie felt a force lock onto him, and it was incredibly difficult to break free.
Before Desterie could even try to escape the lock, the hazy glow shot into his body at tremendous speed and plunged into his Soul Ocean.
"Four Divine Beasts, how dare you!" the Sovereign of Death cried out sharply. Apart from the other three Rule Overlords, no one had ever dared to disregard her words!
The circular glow pierced straight through Desterie's Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact and raised a tremendous storm across his Soul Ocean. But at that very moment, the Companion White Jade spinning above him suddenly blazed with light, and a brilliant starry sky appeared over his Soul Space.
Billions of strands of Starlight descended from the sky, like a rain of countless beams, completely enveloping the Soul Space. Then, after a flash of pure white, the Soul Space returned to tranquil stillness. The unstoppable, hazy circular glow had vanished completely.
Withdrawing his consciousness from the Soul Space, Desterie burst into laughter. "Looks like the Four Divine Beasts aren't all that impressive after all!"
Desterie wasn't surprised that Soul Protection had blocked the Four Divine Beasts' Combined Innate Divine Ability. Besides, with Strong Luck on his side today, he felt confident about everything he did.
"How is this possible?!" Leiding exclaimed in shock. They'd risked offending the Sovereign of Death to press their attack. How could this newly ascended Fate Intermediate Sovereign be completely unharmed?
The Four Divine Beasts weren't the only ones stunned. All the Sovereigns were.
"The Four Divine Beasts' Innate Divine Ability could even kill Angnak. Why couldn't it kill a newly ascended Intermediate Sovereign? He should be at least ten times weaker than Angnak!" exclaimed Polk, the Water Overlord.
"Could this Desterie actually be a Paragon of the Fate Rule?" Diya, the Wind Sovereign, asked in shock.
The Sovereign of Death shook her head as she watched the many Sovereigns, including the Sovereign of Life, gaze at her. "As far as I know, Desterie isn't a Paragon. Although his Fate Rule is at the Law Five-Fusion level, he's still some distance from becoming a Paragon. Even the impact of Faith Power couldn't have let him break through so quickly. Besides, the Laws of the World didn't descend just now!"
As the Sovereigns discussed the matter and speculated wildly, Desterie smiled smugly at the Four Divine Beasts, who had returned to human form. "Sovereigns, do you still want to fight?"
Leiding and Ers fell silent. Even Nemo, who was usually hot-tempered, had nothing to say. Instead, Bowen, who was usually level-headed, murmured, "How is this possible?!"
Their strongest attack—the special ability they'd been so proud of, which they expected could kill an ordinary Overlord—had failed. What's more, they could only use their Combined Innate Divine Ability twice within a short period. A rematch was out of the question.
"Your soul attack really is terrifying," Desterie said, "but unfortunately, it doesn't work on me."
Bowen asked without thinking, "How did you do that?"
Desterie chuckled. "Sovereign Bowen, do I look like a fool who'd tell you everything?"
The Sovereign of Death recovered from her shock and curiously studied the familiar yet unfamiliar emissary. Orloff, the greatest "victim" of this Plane War, had remained silent until now, but he was studying Desterie with just as much curiosity.
Desterie's extraordinary performance had caught his attention, and he connected it to the unusual sense of "incongruity" he'd felt just moments earlier.
After all, Desterie had acted strangely from the moment he joined the final battle.
"Enough, Bowen. Now, let's discuss your violation of the Sovereign Agreement and your attack on a lesser Sovereign!" The Sovereign of Death began her inquiry. She couldn't possibly show leniency to Sovereigns who disregarded her words.
Bowen took a deep breath and regained his composure and rationality. "We can accept that you regard the four of us as Overlords because we killed Angnak. But I do have something to say about the claim that we attacked this newly ascended Sovereign without provocation."
Orloff forced a smile. "Go on, then. What's your reason?"
"Angnak attacked us without cause, and the four of us killed him. His Sovereign Spark should therefore have been ours. But because Lord Orloff intervened at the time, Angnak's divine body was destroyed, and his Sovereign Spark drifted away with the current until this lucky fellow picked it up!" Bowen recounted what had happened earlier, giving Desterie a rough understanding of the situation.
It seemed the Four Divine Beasts had never demonstrated the power of their Combined Innate Divine Ability before. Otherwise, why would Angnak, a Fate Intermediate Sovereign, have dared to recklessly attack them?
As he thought, Desterie interrupted, "Sovereign Bowen, I didn't pick it up. I truly cast myself into Spatial Turbulence, and only then did I obtain this Sovereign Spark!"
The Sovereign of Life, Vivian, praised him as well. "Though you did it for a Sovereign Spark, that kind of courage is something most of the Sovereigns here didn't have even when they were Highgods!"
Uthred, however, spoke up for the Four Divine Beasts. "Back when the Sovereign Sparks descended, how many could withstand Spatial Turbulence? What do you mean, 'cast yourself into it'? It's not like now, when Material Defense Sovereign Artifacts are everywhere."
The Sovereign of Death retorted, "Back then, the Sovereign Sparks didn't descend into Spatial Turbulence."
As they argued, Leiding gave a cold snort. Bowen glared at Desterie before continuing, "But this lucky fellow stole our spoils of war. Not only did he fail to thank us, he mocked and insulted us, thoroughly offending us. What was wrong with attacking him?
"Besides, he withstood an attack that even Angnak couldn't survive. That proves his strength is no less than an Overlord's. How can you call that bullying someone weaker?"
"Heh, this is amusing. What a double standard." Desterie suddenly laughed, drawing the Sovereigns' attention. Bowen's argument sounded well-reasoned, but Desterie had no need for them to reason quite so well on his behalf.
"First, Sovereign Bowen, show me at least a little respect. My name is Desterie, not 'lucky fellow.'
"Also, the first time you four saw me, you all made it clear, directly or indirectly, that I should kill myself. How could I not resent that, let alone thank you? Does being a higher-ranking Sovereign give you the right to humiliate and destroy lower-ranking Sovereigns at will? And before I withstood your attack, everyone considered me an ordinary Intermediate Sovereign. I survived only because I was stronger than you expected. In your minds, you were bullying someone weaker.
"Finally, you show no respect to those above you, yet you expect others to respect you?"
Before you continue