The moment Ace and the others arrived in the Infernal Realm and realised that the war between the Four Divine Beasts Clan and the Eight Great Clans was still ongoing, they couldn't help but be shocked.
Not only was Garot an Apex Divine Beast, but he was also now a paragon. The moment he revealed himself, the Eight Great Clans would've had no choice but to flee for their lives. Forget Commander-level experts; even the average paragon would have to admit inferiority in front of Garot.
Considering how Garot had left the Celestial Realm over a hundred years before Ace and his group, the war should have ended long ago. Still, Ace and the others had no deep ties with the clan; as long as Linley and their friends from the Yulan Plane were okay, the rest didn't particularly matter to them.
The truth of the matter was that when Garot first arrived in the Infernal Realm, as Ace and the others assumed, he had every intention of putting an end to the war in the most direct way possible, but then he heard rumours of Linley and his group.
After verifying Linley's talent and ability for himself, he decided against revealing himself so quickly. He better than most understood that if he wanted his clan to thrive once again in the future, they would need more than just him sitting at the helm; they would need a figure like Linley.
Still, as it stood, Linley had too much room for improvement to be that figure, as did the others around him.
That was why he decided to let the Eight Great Clans carry on living, at least for now – to be a whetstone for Linley and the others.
Still, he couldn't just sit back and watch his clan be suppressed forever. He planned to come forward and put an end to the war the moment Linley began fusing six mysteries of a law.
Until then, he planned to enter isolation near the clan to consolidate his breakthrough whilst being close enough to protect them in case of an emergency. It was because of that that he had no idea what happened to Linley or his wife. It was only when the battles between Linley's and Ace's group happened that he was awoken from his training.
As shocked as he was to see Ace, nothing could compare to the shock he felt when Ace broke free of Linley's Divine Ability. As a paragon himself, he could sense Ace's use of Willpower, no matter how brief it was!
He was well aware of how monstrous Ace and his group were, but he had no idea Ace could use Willpower. As far as he was concerned, the biggest reason behind Ace and Amira's win against Fu'Raz and Druelle was their ability to use [The Dual Battle Tactics], but now it all made sense.
Still, as he was wrapping his brain around what he had just seen, his shock suddenly turned into pure horror as three figures suddenly appeared beside him.
Of the three, he recognised Bebe as one of Linley's friends and Beirut as another expert from his era. Still, it was the last of the three he didn't recognise and really made him fear for his life.
Although his father was a Sovereign, it didn't mean he knew the identities of the other Sovereigns, but what he did know was that anyone capable of sneaking up on him like that was, without a doubt, a Sovereign.
Without a second thought, Garott dropped to his knees to address the mysterious Sovereign as respectfully as possible, but what he hadn't expected was for the person to speak first to be Beirut.
Beirut explained that he knew that Garott had made friends with Ace and the others in the Celestial Realm; as such, he wouldn't kill him on one condition. Garot had to make an oath not to reveal Ace's secret – if he didn't, he could forget leaving here with his life.
Garot frowned upon hearing that. If it was the Sovereign speaking to him that, he wouldn't mind, but as far as he knew, Beirut was just a powerful Commander-level expert. Even if he, Garot, hadn't broken through to the paragon level, he wouldn't have feared Beirut, let alone now, but before he could respond, he felt something that shook him to his core.
Beirut allowed his own Willpower to surge forth, and Garot was horrified to find that it had somehow eclipsed his own. It was right then that he realised he was actually in front of two Sovereigns.
Beirut may not be able to let his Sovereign clone or original body out of the Yulan Plane, but as all of their souls were linked, his Divine Darkness High God Clone was still capable of using the Willpower of his Sovereign Clone, and even if it wasn't all of it, it was more than enough to suppress a mere single-law paragon.
Any hint of hesitance vanished. He had just become a paragon after being sealed for millions of years. Regardless of how confused he was or how many questions he had, he wasn't about to risk his life by daring to be rude to a Sovereign.
Seeing that, Beirut smiled before leading Garott and the others down to Linley's estate in Skyrite Mountains.
After the friendly battle between the two groups came to an end, Gisalson hurriedly gave Ace the ten promised drops of Fire-Type Sovereign's Might before ushering the spectators from his Four Divine Beasts Clan away to give Linley, Ace, and the others their space.
With Ace and Killian having shown monstrous levels of power that even surpassed his own, he didn't dare to overstay his welcome and risk potentially offending powerhouses like that. Plus, with them being so close to Linley, with a bit of luck, they might be able to get their help to get rid of their enemies.
It wasn't long into the catch-up, after Gisalson and the others left, when Beirut arrived.
He apologised, saying that he had been catching up with an old acquaintance – pointing to Shinji – when Bebe arrived, so he hadn't gotten the message until a few days had passed. Thankfully, Ace had been around to save Yunaia's life.
It was unreasonable to expect an expert on Beirut's level to always be available whenever Linley needed him; as such, he didn't hold it against him. In fact, he was more grateful than anything else. Even if for no other reason than that he had rushed straight here as soon as he got word, it proved the place Linley and his family held in Beirut's heart.
Aside from that, Linley and the others were shocked to know that Beirut's acquaintance was not only one of the two Intermediate Sovereigns of the Infernal Realm, but he was also none other than Wukong's father.
Still, after a moment of surprise, Linley was able to get over their shock. For most, such a revelation would be earth-shaking, but it had to be remembered that whether it was Bebe, Yunaia, or even Ace, all of them had Sovereign-level grandparents. It would take a lot more than news of another Sovereign in the family to shock them anymore, like, for example, the fact that the Four Divine Beasts Clan unknowingly had a paragon-level expert among their ranks.
It was only when Beirut introduced Garott to Linley that the rising genius of the Four Divine Beasts Clan was genuinely overwhelmed with shock.
He had been in the clan for over half a millennium already, yet he had no idea there was a member of the first-generation descendants that had been born with a true Apex Divine Beast Bloodline, let alone that said descendant had broken through to become a paragon.
It was then that Garott explained what had happened to him after the four ancestors had fallen. He also apologised and explained that he had arrived back at Skyrite Mountains a couple of hundred years ago but wanted to give him the time and opportunity to mature a bit more before he revealed himself – he just hadn't foreseen the ambush that almost killed Yunaia.
Linley didn't hold it against him – no one could have seen it coming. Plus, he had to admit, Garott had a point; it was only through adversity that geniuses like them could unearth their true potential quickly.
Garott was glad that Linley didn't hold it against him. Still, the one thing he didn't understand was how the Eight Great Clans would be able to find and ambush Linley with such precision.
Although the Four Divine Beasts Clan had severely weakened over the years, they were far from foolish. They had long created ways to hide their travel plans when leaving Skyrite Mountains from their enemies, and for an expert with as much promise as Linley, that was doubly true! The only possible explanation was that someone from the Four Divine Beasts Clan had betrayed him and given away his details.
When Garott raised that point, a frown appeared on Linley's face as he nodded in agreement.
Able to sense Linley's emotion with his perfected [Observation Haki], Ace asked what Linley wasn't saying.
Linley revealed that he had no way of knowing for sure who it was, but the only person or people who didn't like him in the clan were Elders Forhan and Emanuel, the son and grandson of Grand Elder Gaia – the younger sister of Patriarch Gisalson and the youngest daughter of the now fallen Azure Dragon ancestor.
Beirut and the others could understand Linley's dilemma – accusing or even just questioning two Elders with such a prominent background with no proof and no true cause for speculation would inevitably do more harm than good, even for someone of Linley's standing.
Fortunately, not everyone present had those same concerns.
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