Taking His Place Among the "Sovereigns"

Bowen immediately retorted, "Desterie, when have we ever failed to respect our superiors?"

"Good. You've finally learned some manners." Desterie chuckled. He didn't answer the question right away, riling up the Four Divine Beasts once more. They all started to charge forward, but Bowen talked them down.

This newly appointed Fate Sovereign was far too mysterious. They shouldn't act rashly!

"I heard you loud and clear just now. In front of Lord Orloff, you twice threatened to kill the Fate Sovereign, and you even ignored Lord Orloff's attempts to stop you. Where does that leave Lord Orloff?" Desterie said with a smile.

"Hmph. Bowen already explained it clearly: Angnak struck first, and so did your disrespect!" This time, it was Leiding who spoke.

"Fine! We each have our own version of events here, so let's set that aside for now. What about when the Sovereign of Death told you to stop just now?" Desterie asked again.

"As I said, you were the first to show disrespect!" Bowen repeated.

Desterie smiled faintly and directed everyone's attention to the Four Rules Sovereigns. "So, it seems everything is decided by you few. I think we should ask the esteemed Sovereigns to pass judgment!"

Vivian, Uthred, Orloff, and the Sovereign of Death had remained standing silently, observing the situation and weighing the pros and cons.

Seeing Uthred about to speak first, Bowen hurriedly said, "Whatever level Desterie is ultimately determined to be, he's still alive. We certainly didn't go around killing Sovereigns without cause!"

After that interruption, Orloff was the first to speak instead. His eyes flickered as he smiled. "Though Leiding and the others were a little too aggressive in their actions today, they did have their reasons. I believe the Four Divine Beasts are innocent."

The moment Orloff spoke, the Sovereigns were all surprised. After all, the Four Divine Beasts had thoroughly humiliated the Fate Sovereign today. And Heaven had suffered a major setback as well. Though that had nothing to do with the Four Divine Beasts, it had still soured everyone's mood. No one had expected Orloff to let them off so easily.

All they could do was marvel: good old Orloff, as always.

Augusta sent a Soul Transmission at that moment. "Aren't you interested in their Innate Divine Ability and in how that kid managed to resist it? Why are you letting them off?"

Orloff replied softly, "If I sentence them to death now, I might not be able to collect all their blood essence. This isn't the right time."

Uthred had been about to speak first because he'd intended to stand up for the Four Divine Beasts. They were quite respectful toward him, the big boss, in Hell. But Orloff had conceded first, so Uthred followed suit. "I agree with Orloff."

The Four Divine Beasts' Combined Innate Divine Ability was indeed tempting to him. If they died, he wouldn't hesitate to collect their blood essence for research. But since they were still alive, he was willing to do his part to preserve their lives.

The Sovereign of Life smiled and turned to the Sovereign of Death, waiting for her to speak.

The Sovereign of Death sighed. No matter how firmly she stood her ground, with Vivian supporting her, the best she could get today was probably a tie. She might as well ask for something in return. "You could argue that you were innocent in the other matters. But you ignored my words and treated me as though I didn't exist. How can I just let that slide?"

Leiding gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "On behalf of my siblings and myself, I apologize to you, my lady!"

"Heh. You think an apology is enough?" Desterie chimed in at just the right moment.

As expected, his taunting words earned him eight blazing glares. Leiding suppressed his anger and said, "Then we owe you a favor."

Desterie smiled and said nothing more. Generally speaking, a Super Divine Beast could use its Innate Divine Ability only twice in a row. But the Four Divine Beasts might be an exception—or perhaps a Super Divine Beast's Innate Divine Ability could be used more times at the Sovereign level.

From the looks of things, they wouldn't be able to keep the Four Divine Beasts here today. It was better not to push them too hard. He'd made his point, and that was enough.

Besides, he wouldn't be able to use his "Innate Ability—Soul Protection" again until tomorrow.

The Sovereign of Death reluctantly nodded. That left only Vivian, the Sovereign of Life, to speak.

She smiled, radiant and lovely. "I also believe the Four Divine Beasts are innocent. I'd like to make another suggestion: admit the Four Divine Beasts as a group and Sovereign Desterie to the Sovereign ranks now, so there won't be any more complications later. What do you all think?"

Orloff was the first to agree. "The Four Divine Beasts can easily kill Angnak, while Desterie can withstand them. I think they qualify!"

The Sovereign of Death and Uthred immediately voiced their agreement as well.

Then the seven Law Sovereigns each did their part, one after another, stating their positions—they all agreed.

And so, the Sovereigns' judgment finally came to an end. The newly ascended Fate Intermediate Sovereign, Desterie, had successfully attained Sovereign status despite having the strength of an ordinary Intermediate Sovereign!

With the matter settled, the Sovereigns didn't leave. Heaven was certain to lose its chance at a Ten-Win Streak, and it no longer mattered whether the Netherworld won or tied. But they were still curious about why Iluka, the Destruction Grand Perfection, had done such a thing.

So the Sovereigns' gazes turned once more toward the Galaxy Channel.

Inside the Galaxy Channel, the fighting that had briefly stopped when Desterie's ascension to Sovereign caused an extraordinary phenomenon had long since resumed. Unexpectedly, the Netherworld was about to win the battle in this channel as well.

Since Heaven had no hope of winning, Augusta directly ordered the Angels to huddle together defensively and stop attacking, so the humanoid weapons wouldn't be wasted needlessly. This didn't count as a Sovereign's Will interfering with the Plane War.

Without the Angels' support, and with Iluka—the Paragon Highgod—arriving from the other Galaxy Channel, the Heavenly Realm's forces soon fell into disarray.

Desterie looked at Iluka in bewilderment. Only now did he realize that the Netherworld had won in the other Galaxy Channel, and that the biggest variable had been this Paragon Highgod, Iluka. He had clearly entered the battle on behalf of the Heavenly Realm!

He felt that this Paragon, who had survived since ancient times, was even more mysterious than he'd thought.

So Desterie asked, "Isn't that Iluka, who entered the battle on behalf of the Heavenly Realm? Why is he helping the Netherworld instead?"

The Sovereign of Death laughed like silver bells. Compared to her former Sovereign Emissary, she now favored the newly ascended Fate Sovereign, this Paragon Highgod of Destruction, Iluka, even more. "We don't know why. But if he hadn't defected and stabbed them in the back, Angnak wouldn't have flown into a rage and attacked the Four Divine Beasts. And then you wouldn't have become the newly ascended 'Sovereign'!"

Afterward, the Sovereign of Death briefly explained to Desterie the entanglement between the Four Divine Beasts, Manlu, Angnak, and Iluka. She also gave a brief account of the great battle between Angnak and the Four Divine Beasts.