Sovereign of the Ashes

The battle beyond the Blue Star frontline lasted for roughly half a month.

It ended with the Blue Star Legion suffering a crushing defeat.

As a technological civilization still in its infancy, Sein estimated that Blue Star’s overall higher-ranking combat strength could, at best, match only two or three Rank Four beings.

Even their weapons, which were supposedly designed to threaten Rank Five entities, appeared extremely crude in his eyes!

Throughout the fight between Karazo and Karl, the Blue Star forces only managed to fire their Rank Five energy cannons a few times.

Yet, every blast failed to cause Karazo any real trouble.

In other words, the only true obstacle standing in the way of the Klytherans’ conquest of Blue Star was their own kind—Karl.

Regarding Karl’s ideals and the state of this war, Sein could only shake his head and sigh.

“The Astral Realm is vast indeed... nothing is impossible.”

At the very least, he would never act in a way that harmed the Magus Civilization’s interests.

After breaching Blue Star’s outer defenses, the Klytheran Legion pushed deep into the planet’s heartland.

As a low-level technological civilization, Blue Star was still a long way from developing life planet-creation technology comparable to the Gallant Federation’s.

The Blue Star Civilization possessed four complete planes.

The largest of these was Blue Star itself, the homeworld of all Blue Star natives.

The other three, slightly smaller, were ordinary habitable planets located not far from the homeplane.

Beyond these four complete planes, Sein also learned that the surrounding star domain contained a number of resource-rich demiplanes.

Whether these demiplanes held inert crystals similar to the “Gray Quartz” remained uncertain.

However, it was confirmed that Blue Star and the other three life planets all contained varying reserves of Gray Quartz.

And among them, Blue Star, being the cradle of the civilization, held the richest deposits!

Facing the relentless assault of the Klytherans, the Blue Star forces could only retreat further and further.

Placing their hopes on Karl for salvation was naive, if not foolish.

After all, Karl was Klytheran. He could never truly bring himself to inflict heavy damage on his own kin.

“This guy really has it rough,” Sein remarked to Yuri as he watched Karl retreat with the main force of the Blue Star Legion back into Blue Star.

Before long, Karazo appeared before Sein once again.

A fortnight of nonstop combat was nothing to a Rank Five being, yet perhaps because of age and waning vitality, Karazo showed a hint of fatigue that Sein noticed the moment he saw him.

Still, before Sein, Karazo straightened his back and pulled himself together. With conviction in his voice, he declared, “The Blue Star Legion is no match for us. If the campaign continues smoothly, we should be able to conquer all four life planets within two years!”

“I’ve seen the Klytherans’ strength firsthand in past battles. You truly live up to your reputation as one of the Astral Realm’s powerful races. No wonder even the Magus Civilization recorded your species in detail,” Sein agreed with a faint smile.

There was a touch of flattery in his words.

While the Klytherans were certainly formidable, they had not quite reached the level the Magus Civilization would consider powerful.

Yet Karazo, the Rank Five Klytheran, took the compliment wholeheartedly.

Burdened with the responsibility of his people’s future and the hopes of his elders, Karazo longed more than anyone to restore Planet Klythera’s former glory!

Even Magus World, a supreme civilization, had recognized the strength of Klytherans and documented their history?

That thought alone filled him with pride.

“Without your help in breaking through Blue Star’s outer defenses, Master Sein, our advance would not have gone nearly as smoothly.”

Karazo’s gaze was sincere as he continued, “When we move to attack Blue Star’s homeland next, I hope you can lend us your strength again. We Klytherans would be eternally grateful.”

Though Karazo was proud, he knew when to be humble.

He was a pragmatic Rank Five powerhouse, one who knew better than to put on a front.

He did not let Sein’s flattery go to his head or risk losing the help of a Rank Five ally out of pride.

And it was not just Sein. Even Yuri, piloting the Burning Flame Unit, was a formidable presence on the battlefield.

Among the few Rank Four Klytherans under Karazo’s command in this campaign, perhaps only one surpassed Yuri in strength.

The rest were slightly weaker by comparison.

With such powerful external support at his disposal, Karazo would have to be a fool not to make full use of it.

“Of course, our Magus Civilization always tries to help its friends. I would’ve offered my help even if you had not asked,” Sein said with a smile.

Karazo nodded gratefully, then added, “Thank you for your selfless aid to the Klytheran fighters during the recent battle too.”

“I only did what I could. Unfortunately, I couldn’t save all of your brave fighters,” Sein replied.

He then added, “By the way, I have a few potions from Magus World. I hope they’ll be of use to you.”

Karazo stepped forward and clasped Sein’s hand firmly. Having long been driven from their homeland, the Klytherans had faced endless hardships just trying to survive and rebuild. Advancing fields like medicine and equipment had become a distant dream.

Many Klytheran fighters still relied on gear passed down from their elders.

If they had more advanced weapons and healing items, the Klytherans’ casualties in this Blue Star campaign would be much lower...

***

Capital of Blue Star...

As the heart of the Blue Star Civilization, this city was home to the planet’s most advanced technology and its highest-ranking citizens.

Having never experienced interplanar war, Blue Star’s natives quickly split into two factions as the Klytherans pushed their assault.

The first group, the war hawks, was a small but vocal minority.

They were determined to fight the invading Klytherans to the bitter end and showed no goodwill even toward Karl, who was on their side.

The second group, the pacifists, made up the overwhelming majority.

Faced with the Klytheran onslaught, the elites among this faction had no desire to fight to the death.

After a string of defeats on the frontlines, their painstakingly built outer defenses had been breached in less than a month.

Some impatient members even proposed dividing the planets and sharing control with the Klytherans. They were willing to surrender two of the four inhabited planets to the Klytherans...

The war was still far from over, yet the Blue Star leaders were already discussing handing over half their territory, and support for the plan was growing by the day.

This was a defining trait of the Blue Star Civilization. They were not inclined toward deceit or conquest.

The Blue Star natives were kind... so kind it bordered on naivety.

It was likely this very sincerity, kindness, and vulnerability that had moved Karl, pushing him to turn against his own kind for their sake gradually.

“Karl, what are your thoughts on the proposal the council put forward?” the Blue Star legion commander finally asked, turning to the Rank Five Klytheran beside him during the meeting.