Those Seven-Star Fiends who knew they couldn't survive against Six-Star Fiends empowered by Sovereign power naturally refused to act as cannon fodder for others.
But if they themselves possessed Sovereign power, then challenging a Prefecture Lord would become a certainty.
At worst, both sides would simply use Sovereign power at the same time.
In their minds, the actual fighting would be handled by the soldiers of the Sovereign Legions. They were only there to guard positions—the danger shouldn't be too great.
With that assumption, large numbers of Six-Star and Seven-Star Fiends from Hell accepted the mission to defend Sovereign Legion strongholds and made their way to the Celestial Realm.
Ryan and the others were no exception.
Although they had already obtained a fair amount of Sovereign power while serving Lord Locke, no one ever felt they had enough of it.
Especially now—after the outbreak of war across the various planes—their connection with Lord Locke had completely been cut off.
No one knew how long this war would last.
But having more trump cards for oneself was never a bad thing.
Of course, they had an even more important objective.
To continue collecting divine beast blood essence for Lord Locke.
Over the years, they had gathered a considerable amount of blood essence from divine beasts in Hell. Aside from those divine beasts with Prefecture Lord-level strength, even those at the Seven-Star Fiend level had not escaped their harvesting.
Coming to the Celestial Realm to carry out missions was also part of their plan—to gather even more divine beast blood essence for Locke.
Guard missions were typically carried out in teams of five.
Ryan's group was no different.
As the strongest among them, Ryan had naturally been chosen as the team leader.
The others were:
Rockpeak, a Six-Star Fiend.
Clifford, a Six-Star Fiend.
Bella Kess, a Six-Star Fiend.
And Ismail, Prefecture Lord of Tianshan Prefecture—also a Six-Star Fiend.
"How is it, Rockpeak?" Ryan asked as he approached, sensing Rockpeak's spiritual sense spreading outward.
"No problems," Rockpeak replied. "At least within the range of my divine sense, I haven't detected any unfamiliar auras."
He paused, then let out a bitter smile.
"Ryan… I always knew that in times like these, Six-Star Fiends don't amount to much. But seeing how even Seven-Star Fiends fall in battle once war breaks out… it really makes me feel how weak I am."
Ryan felt the same.
Back in Hell, it hadn't been so obvious.
People were scattered far and wide. Even if they knew stronger experts existed, they rarely saw them, so the impression wasn't as strong.
But after coming to the Celestial Realm and participating in a planar war, they had truly witnessed what it meant for powerful experts to gather in large numbers.
At the stronghold they were currently guarding, every battle involved at least one Seven-Star Fiend leading the charge, more than five Six-Star Fiends, over a hundred Five-Star Fiends, thousands of Three- and Four-Star Fiends, and tens of thousands of Gods.
As for Demigods?
They couldn't even qualify as cannon fodder.
Because of this, in recent years, the Sovereign Legions had raised their recruitment standards—only Gods and above were accepted.
After every battle, countless experts from both sides perished.
The previous battalion commander stationed here—a Seven-Star Fiend—had been killed by an expert from the Celestial Realm.
If Ryan hadn't stepped in to block that opponent's attack, this stronghold would have already been destroyed.
Fortunately, that commander still had a Saint-level original body. After fusing with a divine spark, he had recovered his strength.
But having died once, he had become far more cautious. Whenever he encountered that same opponent again, he would retreat immediately.
As a result, the casualties among the soldiers of the Destruction Sovereign's legion at this stronghold had been severe.
Even Six-Star Fiends—seven or eight of them—had already died.
It was precisely because he had witnessed so many peers fall that Rockpeak couldn't help but feel this way.
"Don't be so down, Rockpeak," Ryan said, patting his shoulder. "Think about it—we're already incredibly fortunate. We met Lord Locke and received his guidance. That's why our strength has improved so much."
"If I hadn't followed Lord Locke, the most I could've achieved would probably be Six-Star Fiend level."
"Same here," Rockpeak said with a wry smile.
Without following Lord Locke, he might have reached Six-Star Fiend level—but he definitely wouldn't have obtained so much Sovereign power.
"Hey, Ryan… do you think…"
Rockpeak hesitated, then suddenly blurted out,
"…we've already been abandoned by Lord Locke?"
Ryan's body stiffened.
"Haha… haha… what nonsense are you talking about, Rockpeak…"
"How could Lord Locke possibly abandon us?"
Ryan tried to rebuke him, but his voice gradually grew weaker until it faded away.
Lowering his head, he stood beside Rockpeak in silence.
In their eyes, Lord Locke was very likely a Sovereign.
That was something they all agreed upon.
And what about them?
They were merely Seven-Star Fiends who hadn't even reached the Prefecture Lord level.
The others were only Six-Star Fiends.
Hadn't they seen how many Sovereign soldiers had died on the battlefield?
Even Six-Star Fiends—serving directly under Sovereigns—died as easily as anything.
If that battalion commander hadn't possessed a Saint-level original body, he would have died completely.
And that was only one battlefield in the Celestial Realm.
Across the entire plane, there were at least a hundred such battlefields.
Only experts at the Prefecture Lord level could truly catch a Sovereign's attention.
Thinking back, for over two million years, the one who had always maintained contact with them had been Oakes.
Among all of them, perhaps only Oakes was worthy of Lord Locke's notice.
How long had it been since they last saw him?
Did what they were doing now… even matter anymore?
At times, Ryan couldn't help but think like this.
But he always forced those thoughts down.
Yet now that Rockpeak had spoken them aloud, even Ryan couldn't help but feel a trace of confusion.
Had they… truly been abandoned?
"Hm?"
Within the Netherworld Hotel, Locke's Fate divine clone suddenly felt a faint disturbance.
Yet when he focused on sensing it, he found nothing concrete.
"What's going on? Why is the Fate Laws fluctuating like this?"
Compared to his Water divine clone—which had advanced step by step through his own efforts—his Fate divine clone felt like someone who had copied a perfect answer sheet and scored full marks.
It was the "destiny" of the one who created the Fiend Castle.
Over the years, through refining techniques and integrating Fate with the Water Laws, Locke's mastery of Fate had improved significantly.
But even now, when Fate gave him warnings, he could only vaguely sense them, unable to pinpoint the exact cause.
"This kind of fluctuation… it's the first time I've felt something like this. It's almost like… someone close to me is calling my name."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Someone close… calling my name?"
A thought stirred in his mind.
Sovereigns could perceive the prayers of their believers through faith.
Was this… something similar?
With that realization, Locke calmed his mind and followed the faint ripple.
With the aid of Willpower, he quickly captured it—and heard a single sentence.
"Have we… already been abandoned by Lord Locke?"
"…Rockpeak?"
Locke immediately recognized the voice.
"Rockpeak… Ryan…"
Opening his eyes, Locke let out a soft sigh.
As the first people to pledge loyalty to him, they held a significant place in his heart.
But as his strength grew, they had gradually reached their limits, unable to keep up with his pace.
And so, he had no choice but to leave them behind.
At present, the only one he truly valued was Oakes.
Six-Star and Seven-Star Fiends simply couldn't assist him anymore—they could only serve as subordinates tasked with gathering rare materials or divine beast blood essence.
"…Forget it."
After a long pause, Locke shook his head.
Thinking about it now wouldn't help them.
With wars raging across all planes and the planar teleportation arrays under strict control by Sovereign Legions, even if he wanted to go see them, it wouldn't be easy.
It would be better to wait until Lilia's other self bore fruit again—then have her give Ryan and Rockpeak each a Netherworld Fruit.
That would raise them to the level of Prefecture Lords. That would be far more meaningful.
After a battle, once both Hell's and the Celestial Realm's forces had withdrawn, the battlefield was left littered with the corpses of countless gods.
While alive, most appeared in human form.
But in death, non-human beings reverted to their true shapes.
Elves. Dwarves. Magical beasts. Frost giants. Dragons…
After each battle, some figures would sneak onto the battlefield, scavenging divine sparks, artifacts, and interspatial rings.
Since such actions were considered disgraceful if exposed, all of them concealed their auras and hid their presence.
Ryan and the others were no different.
But unlike those scavenging divine sparks and rings, their target was different—
the corpses of divine beasts and special lifeforms.
Though dead, these bodies could still be refined into a significant amount of blood essence.
In fact, if one didn't consider long-term sustainability, killing a divine beast and extracting its blood essence yielded far more than purchasing it through negotiation.
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