Logue’s arrival had terrified many of the observers. They scurried away to keep a distance from the Sovereign.
As Logue did nothing to deliberately hide the mighty aura on his body, the two battling overgods sensed his presence as soon as he reached the Pandemonium. Both Salas and Ossora were shocked and grew wary when attacking each other. They were afraid that the treacherous Logue might launch a sneak attack on them.
Sovereign Wasir arrived a few hours after Logue. His arrival caused chilling winds to blow over the Pandemonium and the surrounding temperature to drop.
When Logue and Wasir showed up at the Pandemonium, many of the bystanders felt threatened and made a distance from them. While some decided to leave, some hid behind narrow slits on mountain walls and other places to watch the fight.
“Haha, I couldn’t have imagined this – Salas and Ossora fighting over a nobody! It seems the Fringe has been peaceful for far too long. Everyone’s looking for a little excitement,” remarked Logue with a faint smile as he gazed at the battle.
Wasir turned his frigid gaze at Logue who was hovering nearby and calmly remarked, “Ossora failed to see the bigger picture. How foolish of him to help an outsider.”
Logue turned to Wasir and beamed. He said, “The way I see it, helping that youngster is just an excuse. I reckon his real intention is to show everyone that he’s stronger.”
Upon hearing those words, Wasir groaned and disdainfully said, “That’s very sneaky of Ossora. But if he defeats Salas, are you going to seize the opportunity to fight him?”
Logue seemed stunned. He shook his head and answered, “I’m too busy to do that, but it sure sounds like you are interested in doing so. You should go ahead with it!”
“Too busy? Then what do you come all the way here for?” Wasir smirked and said, “If I were to attack Ossora, you will just sit there and watch until we are both injured before jumping in and attacking both of us. Hehe, nice try, Logue!”
“Oh Wasir, you’re being paranoid!” replied Logue as though wrongfully accused – as though he did not harbor the malicious scheme.
Wasir scoffed and said nothing more. The Five Sovereigns knew each other well, not just in their strengths but also their personalities. Logue was the kind of person who may appear polite and friendly on the surface as he wove his treacherous schemes. But when the time came, when the perfect opportunity presented itself, he would ruthlessly murder without the slightest hesitation.
If Logue wasn’t there, after Salas and Ossora were done fighting, Wasir might attack the victor. But with Logue there, Wasir dared not rush into action for he was afraid of ending up becoming Logue’s victim.
While Logue and Wasir were chatting, Salas and Ossora continued to fight. Salas and Ossora were evenly matched in strength. But things changed after Salas had effectively destroyed several of his power of faith supply streams during the battle with Han Shuo and after Salas exhausted a good amount of his divine energy to the Pandemonium.
Therefore, at this stage of the battle, Salas had started to show signs of tiring. Ossora had been employing defensive measures from the beginning of the battle. He used the tremendous defensive power of the earth energy to neutralize Salas’ lightning bolts, wearing down Salas’ energy. Then, as the battle went on, when Salas started showing signs that he was getting low in his divine energy reserves, Ossora finally turned from defensive to offensive.
One was energetic while the other was exhausted. After many hours into the battle of attrition, Salas finally realized the bad situation he was in. Ossora’s attacks had become fiercer and fiercer and Salas started having trouble dealing with it. Slowly but surely, Salas was losing the battle.
Most of the bystanders were unable to observe the fight visually. However, they could determine which side had the upper hand by inferring the intensity of elemental energies around them.
When the battle started, the environment was flooded with the energy of lightning. Bright flashes of lightning bolts had set the sky ablaze while the earth energy seemed rather weak. However, as time went by, the spectators noticed that the tide was slowly turning. The lightning energy was growing weaker while the earth energy was growing thicker.
From that, the spectators understood that Salas was losing the battle. They did not know that Ossora started the battle with an advantage over Salas and came to the conclusion that Ossora was stronger than Salas.
That little observation alone was enough to have a great impact on the Sovereigns’ careers. From this moment onwards, the unaffiliated ferocious gods from all Twelve Dominions who stepped into the Fringe would choose to serve Ossora over Salas, simply because the former seemed slightly stronger.
Four of the Five Sovereigns had gathered above the Pandemonium. Only Tyre, the supposedly strongest Sovereign, had yet to show up.
The battle continued and soon it was midnight. Salas showed obvious signs of wear and trouble resisting Ossora’s attacks. However, it seemed as though Salas wasn’t going to resign. It seemed as though he had gone nuts and was determined to drag Ossora to Hell even if it meant his death.
Ossora, meanwhile, although winning the battle, wasn’t feeling the slightest sense of joy. He knew Salas’ unreasonable temper and that Salas was the kind of person who would fight his enemy till the death. If Logue and Wasir were not there, Ossora might be willing to fight Salas till one of them was dead.
However, Ossora knew that neither Logue nor Wasir were honorable characters. If he were to fight Salas till the end and even if he ended up winning, he might have to face attacks from Logue and Wasir when he was at his weakest. Ossora didn’t know if he could even escape from the two of them when he would have little energy left.
And even if Ossora could escape from Logue and Wasir, the two of them would know that he was injured and would attack his underground palace without hesitation. They would do all they could to destroy Ossora’s forces while he hid to recover. This was not an outcome that Ossora desired.
Therefore, Ossora who was winning the battle started to grow hesitant. He was feeling even more worried than Salas was.
“I don’t think we should keep fighting!” Ossora suddenly retreated to a distance and said to the gasping Salas with a bitter frown, “Wasir and Logue are here. If we are to fight to the end, it won’t end well for either of us.”
“Ossora, I won’t let you off for kicking me while I’m wounded!” shouted Salas furiously. Ossora jolted for he thought that Salas was going to stake his life and fight till the end. “But I will let you off for now. I will look for you at your underground palace when I have recovered!” Salas coldly groaned after taking a cold glance at the spectating Logue and Wasir.
Although Salas was impetuous in personality, he was sane enough to tell that he was not in a good position. Logue and Wasir still possessed full strength. If he was to keep fighting Ossora, in the end, both of them would end up badly injured or dead.
“Huh? Why have you two stopped fighting?” cried Logue, making a fuss about nothing. “The battle isn’t over yet! Salas, this isn’t how you usually behave!”
“Wasir, and you, Logue, have the two of you forgotten what you’ve promised?” shouted Salas as he glanced angrily at the two Sovereigns who had been passively watching the fight. He stared ferociously at Logue as he said, “Didn’t we have an agreement? Why didn’t you assist me?”
Logue chuckled and replied, “Oh yes, we have agreed to help you, but keep in mind that we only said to help you against the outsider called Bryan. We have never promised to help you fight Ossora. Hehe. Besides, I have been friends with Ossora for as many years as I have been with you. How could I do something so unfaithful to my friend?”
Ossora put on a fake smile as he listened to Logue’s false words. After Logue finished talking, Ossora smilingly said, “Alright, I think it’s time we all go home.”
By now, even Salas felt so ashamed of his failures that he no longer wished to destroy the Pandemonium but to leave the scene as soon as possible.
“Just you wait, Ossora, I will find you at your underground palace very soon!” threatened Salas coldly before he gestured and commanded his troops, “Return to the Empyrean Peak!”
Those followers of Salas hung their heads dispiritedly. As followers of Salas, their interests were directly impacted by their Sovereign’s downfall. Those recent months had been absolute shit to them. With so many of their comrades having perished and their Sovereign Salas having appeared weaker than Ossora, they wondered if they could still live prosperously in the Fringe.
“Nobody leaves without my permission!” a roar suddenly sounded from a distance. Then, a majestic figure appeared in the blink of an eye, hovering proudly above the Pandemonium.
“It’s you! You have finally shown up!” Salas who was just about to leave suddenly turned angry. He stared at Han Shuo with great hostility, as though ready to pounce on him.
“I said, nobody leaves!” shouted Han Shuo coldly before his seventeen flying swords whooshed out. Some of those innocent bystanders who had gathered from all over the Fringe to watch the fight were trying to flee. A dozen of them were instantly killed by the flying swords, among which were three highgods.
The other spectators who planned on ignoring Han Shuo and fled this dangerous area were terror-stricken. No one dared move a muscle after seeing a dozen something experts liquified in an instant.
Han Shuo’s eyes glistened with chilling lights as he hovered loftily above the Pandemonium. He expanded his consciousness, looked all around, and carefully surveyed the environment. He inwardly heaved a sigh of relief after discovering that the Pandemonium was mostly intact and that the Pandemonians were safely hiding deep underground.
“Logue, Wasir, you have promised to help me kill this outsider!” shrieked Salas.
Logue and Wasir wore astonished expressions while staring and sensing the wild, sinister energy on the young, handsome expert who had been in the limelight. The two Sovereigns seemed hesitant.
