Sovereign Mission

� Chapter: Sovereign Mission

The joy of breaking free from his cage was replaced by a sense of danger. Pusluo cautiously asked, "May I ask your name, sir?"

Lincoln didn't answer. He only smiled and charged at Pusluo. "First, let me see how strong you really are!" He didn't use Willpower, attacking with nothing but the Laws and Mysteries.

Forced to fight back, Pusluo gripped a massive axe in both hands and swung it at Lincoln. Lincoln dodged with ease, each blow missing him by a hair's breadth.

When Pusluo finally stopped, he found himself surrounded by countless Lincolns. He gasped, "Shadow Clone Technique!" As he spoke, he braced the axe against his waist, its blade facing outward, and spun rapidly, sweeping toward every direction with tremendous force.

"Hmm, this move combines the Explosion Mystery, Fire Element, Scorching Mystery, Fire Body Mystery, and Space Distortion Mystery. It's centered on Space Distortion." As he dodged, Lincoln analyzed the attack.

Before long, with Lincoln holding back, all the shadow clones were destroyed. Just as Pusluo was about to hit Lincoln's true body, he suddenly found himself unable to move. Looking closely, he saw slick tentacles emerging from the shadows all around him, binding him tightly. As they slid over him, they even devoured and corrupted his fiery divine body and soul.

Lincoln had fully fused the six Darkness Mysteries. This move, Corrupting Touch, was designed to ensnare enemies and wear them down slowly. It was based on the Mystery of Evil, combined with the Darkness Element, Shadow Clone Technique, Devour Mystery, Secrecy Mystery, and Infinite Zone Mystery.

"Argh!" In the agony of corrosion, Pusluo's eyes bulged. Struggling, he reversed his grip on the axe and swung upward. "Earth-Splitting Chop!" His Fire Elemental power erupted from the ground like a volcano, each successive burst growing stronger. But when it struck those slick tentacles, it silently dissipated and broke apart.

"Hmm, that move of yours was pretty good too, Pusluo. It still used those same five Mysteries, but this time you used the Explosion Mystery as its foundation."

"If you're going to kill me, then kill me! Why humiliate me?" Pusluo turned his head with difficulty, his voice full of grief and indignation. He had been trapped by Alikein for countless years, forced to submit and endure humiliation. At last, he'd had a chance at freedom—only to be shamed instead.

With your strength, sir, why would you need a lackey like me?

"I had no intention of humiliating you, Pusluo. I only used a tiny fraction of my strength to test yours!" Lincoln said calmly. The tentacles vanished, releasing Pusluo, who dropped straight from the sky and slammed into the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

"Cough, cough, cough—" Pusluo struggled to his feet, bewilderedly staring at the dust in front of him and the figure slowly approaching through it.

Pusluo stared in disbelief. "A tiny fraction of your strength? How can you be so powerful? You're no weaker than a Paragon!" Suddenly, he realized something. His eyes widened in shock as he asked, "Could you be a great Chief God?"

Lincoln smiled and waved away the dust. A tremendous pressure suddenly made Pusluo tremble inwardly. He quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at him again.

"Pusluo, I am Lincoln, the Dark Sovereign of the Darkness Divine Plane. I invite you to become my Sovereign Envoy. What do you say?"

Though it was phrased as a question, there was no room to refuse!

At the words, Pusluo immediately dropped to his knees. So he really was a Chief God! No wonder he'd killed Alikein without a sound; no wonder he'd left Pusluo completely helpless. This wasn't humiliation—it was an honor! How many gods in the world could fight a Chief God, let alone survive the encounter?

A mighty Chief God had taken a liking to him, granted him freedom, and offered him the chance to become a Sovereign Envoy. At long last, all those years of suffering had come to an end!

"Pusluo accepts!" he said hoarsely.

Lincoln nodded in approval and smiled. "As my Sovereign Envoy, you may choose one Sovereign Artifact: an Attack Main God Artifact, a Material Defense Sovereign Artifact, or a Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact. Which would you like?"

Pusluo considered briefly before making his choice. His true form was a Volcano Giant. Though his body wasn't on the level of a Sovereign Artifact, few could surpass its Material Defense. His soul was a little weaker, but by nature he favored offense. An Attack Main God Artifact would make his offensive power terrifying.

"I choose an Attack Main God Artifact!"

"Good. I'll grant you this axe-shaped Attack Main God Artifact, along with ten drops of Fire Element Sovereign Power and a hundred drops of Dark Sovereign Power." Lincoln rummaged through his interspatial ring. Vivian had given him a Sovereign Artifact that was, as it happened, an axe.

Pusluo gratefully accepted the Sovereign Artifact and immediately bonded with it by dripping his blood on it. He then put away the two bottles of Sovereign's Might, the Main God Token, and the Sovereign Scroll, and replied excitedly, "Thank you, Chief God!"

A Main God Token was an incompletely formed Sovereign Artifact. Over the past thousand years, Lincoln had made more than ten of them, each with a special mark of authenticity unique to him.

"Now, I have three tasks for you. First, go to the Darkness Divine Plane and contact Buklo, Legion Commander of the Bian Continent. Work with him to rebuild faith across the plane. Wipe out and drive out the heretics and the followers of other Chief Gods from the Material Planes administered by the Darkness Divine Plane. Make them truly believe in me, Lincoln, the Dark Sovereign! At the very least, they must believe in the Dark Sovereign."

"Yes, Chief God! Pusluo will wipe out every last heretic!" Pusluo replied solemnly.

There were countless Material Planes, and after the wars of faith in earlier times, the Faith Power flowing into the Sovereign Spark was already like rivers and oceans. But this would make others think Lincoln was still striving to gain Faith Power. What use was Faith Power to him? Of course, it was to break through to Paragon. Besides, Lincoln did have other plans for the faith from these Material Planes.

Lincoln was pleased with Pusluo's attitude and continued, "The second task is to keep an eye out for any unusual divine beasts appearing in Hell, especially beasts of the Darkness Element. Report to me immediately if you hear anything."

"As you command, Chief God!" Pusluo replied again.

The second task wasn't particularly unusual. Many Chief Gods studied divine beasts, and Lincoln himself was a divine beast as well as the Dark Sovereign. Of course, his real purpose was to wait for Beirut to appear. Beirut was one of the key figures driving the events of Coiling Dragon forward: exceptionally gifted, decisive in killing, and bold. He'd been there throughout Linley's journey, from birth to transcendence.

"Neither of these tasks is difficult, but they're tedious and will take a long time. You can take your time with them, but keep at it!" Lincoln paused. "I don't usually live in the Darkness Divine Plane or Hell. If you need to find me, you can go to the Chines Material Plane."