The saying "when your enemy loses, you gain" put Desterie in an excellent mood. He smiled mockingly. "Leiding, what are you all getting so worked up about? I'm just here to take back the Heaven and Earth Exotic Item your subordinates stole from me. I can understand the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns being obsessed with Sovereign Sparks, but are you really so stingy that you begrudge me a single Heaven and Earth Exotic Item?"
As he spoke, Desterie sensed the Four Divine Beasts drawing closer at increasing speed. His consciousness quickly sank into the Soul Ocean and attached itself to the Companion White Jade.
"Strong Luck—!"
At the same time, while his attention was elsewhere, the Black Pearl and the Black Token inside his Spatial Ring suddenly resonated with each other. The black pearl seemed to find its way on its own, slipping straight into the token's groove and fitting snugly into place. Immediately, the entire token gave off a terrifying aura that seemed to shake all creation and destroy the heavens and earth. The aura didn't spread, however; it only swirled within the confined space, waiting for the instant it left the Spatial Ring.
"Desterie, hand over the Termination Bead!" Leiding and the others appeared before him, their expressions hostile.
So it was called the Termination Bead.
"Heh, and what if I don't?" Desterie said with a smile. When it came to physical attack and defense, he was an Intermediate Sovereign, and he had nothing to fear from the Four Divine Beasts. As for their souls, so what if he took another blow from the Four Divine Beasts' Combined Innate Divine Ability?
Nemo's face flushed with rage. "Big brother, why are you still wasting your breath? Kill him and take back the Termination Bead and the Destiny Intermediate God Spark!"
"Big words, Little Sparrow. Come back and talk when you can actually kill me!" Desterie said without restraint.
There was no possibility of reconciliation between him and the Four Divine Beasts anymore.
Nemo exploded with rage again. "You dare insult me!"
Bowen was furious too. He suppressed his anger and said, "Desterie, don't think you can do whatever you want just because Lord Orloff is backing you!"
What? Lord Orloff was backing him? Desterie was so taken aback that he couldn't even react at first. Was Bowen imagining things? How had his wild imagination led him to that conclusion? Orloff had only publicly announced that he would no longer pursue the matter of Iluka. How did that make him Desterie's patron?
Still, since the Four Divine Beasts had drawn the wrong conclusion, he naturally wasn't going to correct them.
Just then, one divine sense after another descended, interrupting Desterie's argument with the Four Divine Beasts.
"What's going on, Leiding? Desterie, what are you doing in Hell?" Uthred's voice rang out from the Sea of Chaos.
At the same time, another voice came from Zijing Continent. "My lord, what else could it be? The Four Divine Beasts are throwing their weight around again. Otherwise, why would Desterie have chased them all the way to Hell?"
The speaker wasn't the Zijing Sovereign, but a Water Sovereign. Desterie recognized his aura—Water Overlord Polk.
"Polk, what do you mean? Explain yourself!" Leiding said angrily.
"Heh, Leiding, I used to think you were just unwilling to accept my authority, and that was why you kept provoking me. I didn't pay it much mind. But ten thousand years ago, when you joined forces to kill Angnak with such ease, I realized how sinister your intentions were. You'd been trying to provoke me all along because you coveted my High-level Sovereign Spark.
"Now you're holding a grudge against Desterie for taking the Destiny Intermediate God Spark before you could, and you keep looking for excuses to kill him.
"Lord Uthred, the Four Divine Beasts aren't exactly honest and upright. You'd better be careful, too, so they don't take advantage of you." Polk spoke with undisguised contempt.
"Polk, you're slandering us!" Nemo roared furiously.
Seeing the discussion veer off course and turn into an argument, Uthred forcibly steered it back. "All of you, calm down. Pash, you were the one who sent us a divine sense message just now. Tell us what happened."
Pash hurriedly replied, "My lord, I suddenly sensed Ers's divine sense covering the entire continent. Then Leiding and the others covered it as well, and they angrily said that Lord Desterie had stolen their treasure. But Lord Desterie said he'd had his eye on the item first, and that the Four Divine Beasts' subordinates later seized it by force. That's why he came to Hell to take it back."
Every Sovereign immediately took an interest. Uthred was the first to ask, "What kind of treasure could make the Overlords on both sides value it so highly, Leiding?"
Leiding was struck speechless. Was he supposed to admit they'd been secretly carrying out a Supreme God Mission?
Seeing Leiding and the others hesitate, Desterie suddenly laughed. "My lord, Leiding may be stammering now, but just a moment ago he said very clearly that this item is called the Termination Bead."
"Hmm?" Uthred's tone grew slightly stern as he addressed the Four Divine Beasts. "If you know what it is, why won't you say so?"
Bowen hurriedly explained, "My lord, we only know its name."
"Heh, that makes it even more interesting," Desterie said with a cold laugh. "My lord, I know this bead can increase a deity-level expert's attack power a hundredfold, which is why I went after it. I didn't expect the Four Divine Beasts Clan to seize it first. But if they only know its name, why do they care so much about it? That doesn't make sense!"
After listening, Uthred questioned the Four Divine Beasts again. "Leiding, what's going on?"
Because of their long-standing friendship, he was willing to support the Four Divine Beasts. But if they chose to deceive and hide things from him, then there was no point in maintaining their relationship.
"Fine, my lord. We'll explain everything!" Leiding suddenly said loudly.
"Big brother—!" Nemo and the other two tried to stop him.
"Don't try to stop me. Desterie has taken the Termination Bead. We have no hope of completing this mission anymore. We might as well take this opportunity to offer the item to Uthred and regain a little goodwill. It won't be a total loss!" Leiding sent a divine sense message to his three younger siblings.
Then Leiding produced a sheet of black paper and said solemnly, "Lord Uthred, the Termination Bead is actually one of the Tokens of the Supreme God of Destruction. That's why we care so much about it! You can see for yourself. What I'm holding is the Supreme God Mirror."
Leiding's words sent shockwaves through the crowd. All the watching Sovereigns were in an uproar.
"A Supreme God Token?" Water Overlord Polk's voice rang out. We Overlords are qualified to compete for a Supreme God Mission, too.
"The Supreme God has issued another mission!"
"Is that the Supreme God Mirror in Leiding's hand?"
Several grand voices rang out one after another.
Far away in the Sea of Chaos, Uthred heard Leiding's words. His true body instantly turned into a streak of black light and sped toward Blood Peak Continent.
But Desterie had already withdrawn the moment the Four Divine Beasts disagreed among themselves. By now, he was well beyond their reach and very close to the Plane Teleportation Array in Iron Saber Gorge.
"Desterie, why are you running?" Uthred's solemn voice rang out. He was the first Overlord to notice Desterie fleeing.
The Four Divine Beasts and Polk, caught up in the commotion for a moment, hadn't even noticed Desterie's little move.
Before you continue