Despite standing well over 20 kilometres away, glaring at the young man who had killed both his wife and his beloved son's most powerful divine clone, Ace had long since sensed the arrival of the Paragon of Fire.
It had to be remembered that even for Ace, unless he infused his divine sense with the power of will, it was impossible for his Godrealm to spread more than a few kilometres.
Forget Ace; not even Fotu, a three-way soul mutate at the High God level, was capable of spreading his Divine Sense so far. Only paragons were capable of such feats.
Ace, unwilling to use his Willpower unless it was a last resort, may not be capable of spreading his divine sense that far, but when Ballmer spread his to lock on to Ace, Ace immediately felt it.
The moment Ace locked eyes with the emissary of Phueus, the Chief Sovereign of Darkness, he immediately understood who he was. Back when he was still in the Celestial Realm, Ace had heard that the husband of Druelle Boleyn was a genuine paragon of the Laws of Fire. Still, the thing that gave it away more than that was the fact striking resemblance between Ballmer and his son Joleon.
Despite knowing that his opponent this time was a genuine paragon, Ace wasn't even slightly fearful. In fact, he was brimming with excitement.
Seeing Ace's reaction to his appearance, Ballmer didn't say anything as he summoned his sword, holding nothing back as he attacked with everything he had.
As the two clashed, Ballmer was shocked to find that even after going all out, using the full force of his Willpower to enhance his might, Ace was able to match him blow for blow without falling under the wind.
He knew from his son that Ace's glaivesmanship had reached a level that was impossibly high, but even that was an understatement.
After his most recent breakthrough, comprehending [The Blazing Radiance Glaive Art], the raw power of Ace's strikes at most had reached the level of Hemmers. Even so, there was still a significant difference in raw power between Hemmers and a paragon, even more so when the paragon in question was an expert of the Laws of Fire, a law known for its explosive might.
Still, what Ace lacked in raw power, he made up for in skill.
There were only three people present capable of keeping up with Ace and Ballmer's battle.
Hemmers and Fotu could only sigh at Ace's wonderous display. In their eyes, not only was he the true strongest man under the paragons, but he was also the most powerful Full God the universe had ever birthed.
As for the third person able to calmly watch the battle without getting swept away by the shockwaves, it was another of Phueus' emissaries, Lozarn. As a paragon-level Apex Divine Beast, Lozarn was the second strongest of Phueus' emissaries.
As his cold, reptilian eyes watched Ace hold his own against Ballmer, who was quite clearly going all out, his brows couldn't help but furrow.
Hemmers and Fotu may have believed that Ace was the strongest Full God their universe had ever seen, but he knew better. That was a title reserved solely for Amira's father, Larkel Viz.
He, along with Ballmer, had been sent by their Sovereign to help Muyan destroy the Viz clan in an attempt to retrieve the bodies of the Viz Clan descendant.
It was on that day that he got to experience the might of the true, strongest, Full God.
In Lozarn's eyes, as strong as Ace was, he was at most on par with Ballmer – a clear-cut level below him, but Larkel was different.
Larkel's Visual Manifestation granted him the ability to create and use genuine Sovereign Power as a mere Full God.
It had to be understood that, unlike Sovereign's Might, which was a drop of energy created by a Sovereign to be distributed and used by deities, Sovereign Power was the perfect fusion of said expert's divine power and spiritual essence, and even though Sovereign Power could be used by others because it was the fusion of their divine power and spiritual essence, it's true power could only be shown when used by the expert who formed it.
The power of Larkel's Visual Manifestation brought his overall power to the level of a double element paragon, a level of power that allowed Larkel to even crush an expert like him. If not for Muyan being present, their mission that day would've ended horribly.
Still, the difference between the two was that whilst Larkel Viz relied less on skill and more on the heaven-defying power of his Visual Manifestation, Ace relied less on his bloodline and more on his skill, something that still appeared to be improving as the fight went on.
Seeing Ace slowly but surely take control of the flow of the battle, Lozarn decided to make a move personally.
Lozarn suddenly transformed until he looked somewhat like the dragon warriors of the Four Divine Beast Clan. Only whilst their scales were a shimmering azure blue was his abyssal black.
Space warped around him as his terrifyingly powerful body tore through the air until he appeared directly behind his target at a speed Ace could barely react to.
Lozarn's fist caused Ace's back to cave in as his Haki-coated body created a crater in the mountain ahead.
Seeing Ace sent flying by a surprise attack, Hemmers, who had genuinely grown to see Ace as a brother after the last hundred years together, unhesitatingly charged at Lozarn, who was clearly a paragon far stronger than Ballmer.
Lozarn, coating his draconic fist in pure destruction energy, snorted as he punched Hemmer's square in the face.
It had to be understood that as a dragon-type Apex Divine Beast, Lozarn was physically just as powerful naturally, but as a paragon, the difference between them was like that of night and day, and with his paragon-level destruction energy, only serving to add to his destructive might, the power of that seemingly effortless attack could be imagined.
Ace's injuries were far from light, but for whatever reason, Lozarn didn't appear to want to kill Ace, at least not immediately; as such, Ace hadn't even lost consciousness.
Still, the moment he sensed what happened to Hemmers, he decided to stop holding back!
Whether it was Fotu, Ballmer, or Lozarn, the moment Ace stood to his feet, all of their eyes constricted as their heads snapped in his direction, unable to believe what they were sensing.
Ace was unwilling to hold back anymore, not only because Lozarn was incredibly powerful but, more importantly, because he couldn't sit back and watch as Hemmers, a man he had grown to see as something of a brother-in-arms, was killed protecting him.
He didn't use his Gol Clan's Divine Ability, but even if it was one unit of Willpower, it was more than enough for this situation.
Ace's body flickered, appearing directly by Hemmers' unconscious body as though he teleported.
Ignoring the shocked reaction of his enemies, Ace knelt down and placed his hands over Hemmers' face, using the power of his Will to erase the Destruction-type divine power still damaging Hemmers.
With that done, although Hemmers was still unconscious and severely injured, his condition had stabilised, meaning that he would now be able to heal on his own.
With that sorted, he indifferently turned to face Lozarn – without saying a word, his body took off like a flash, instantly appearing before the humanoid Abyssal Dragon and thrust his glaive forward.
Lozarn's eyes constricted as he felt the danger his life was in by the seemingly simple attack, but his billions of years as a warrior allowed his instincts to kick in. He subconsciously summoned the Sovereign Grade mace from his storage ring and raised it to cover his chest, just in time to protect himself from Ace's attack.
Ace chased after Lozarn, who was sent flying from their last clash, aiming to finish the job before he regained his bearings. Unfortunately, Ballmer, knowing he stood no chance against Ace on his own now, had no intentions of letting Ace get his way.
The fight proceeded to turn into a two-on-one, causing Fotu to watch on with shock as a Full God fought and suppressed two paragons on his own, a feat that would undoubtedly turn the whole of the universe on its head.
It wasn't even a minute into the fight, though, that things took a sudden change.
Ace, whilst dominating the fight, felt Lozarn spread his will-infused divine sense to its limits. A bad feeling crept up in Ace's heart as he also spread his divine sense to follow Lozarn's, and as he did, in the depths of the Divine Darkness side's HQ, he caught sight of a terrifyingly powerful figure.
It was only for a fraction of a second, but that was all that figure needed to attack Ace's soul via his divine sense.
Ace was right on top of Lozarn, preparing to deliver the final strike, when he unhesitantly turned tail and fled.
He ignored the blood leaking from his nose as he lifted Hemmers' tyrannical figure over his shoulder and escaped.
------------------------------------------
Please check out and support my new novel - A Tale of Pride!
-------------------------------------------
Story Complete!
Currently 67 chapters ahead!
Head over to the P atreon if you wish to read to the end uninterrupted!
P.atreon.com/AceInCoilingDragon