Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 1711: Apocalyptical Weapon Resurfaces

While Seiron was barely hanging on, his former opponent could still fight.

Wielding a world-class magic scepter, every spell Feylis unleashed posed a lethal threat to both the enemy before her and the lower-tier Gallant Federation legions.

Moreover, Sein’s grandmaster was a rare “dual-wielder”.

In addition to her magic scepter, she had another ancient magic staff engulfed in roaring verdant flames.

This was actually the weapon she used most often.

Had the Clash of Civilizations not forced her to unleash her full strength, Sein would never have witnessed his grandmaster wield the world-class magic scepter.

Both weapons provided Feylis with tremendous elemental energy amplification.

More importantly, Sein’s grandmaster was practically a walking treasure vault.

Sein had never heard of her being an alchemy expert, yet every ring on Feylis’ fingers and her magic robe was anything but ordinary.

Sein’s spider-silk robe, patched countless times over, paled in comparison to Feylis’ pale-purple magic robe.

This was the depth of a veteran mage. Feylis had lived for over a hundred thousand years. Such accumulated experience and wealth were not things a “youngster” like Sein could match in a short span of time.

While Feylis tore through the frontlines, the Gallant Federation’s hold on the central battlefield was starting to crumble.

Seiron’s betrayal, the Arid Expanse World’s rebellion, and successive defeats across the Apocalypse World Legion’s sectors all accelerated the collapse.

A powerful counterattack was urgently needed to reestablish the federation’s foothold.

“How’s the charging of the apocalyptical weapon?! I need the Wandering Reaper to resume firing immediately!” Five-Star General Meston barked.

The Wandering Reaper was not deployed with General Meston’s fleet. Instead, it was mounted aboard a separate battleship.

To sustain the weapon’s enormous energy consumption and ammunition demands, the Gallant Federation had assigned numerous dedicated support vessels and specialized command personnel to it.

Soon, a federal general with four stars on his shoulders responded to General Meston.

This four-star general not only controlled the apocalyptical weapon directly but also oversaw logistics, resource allocation, and ammunition resupply for the entire subspace battlefield.

“Preparations for the Wandering Reaper are ninety-eight percent complete. Ammunition loading and charging are done. Only the final inspection remains,” the four-star general reported on the screen.

This was a weapon that had long since been phased out by the Gallant Federation’s overlord-class warfleets.

Over a hundred thousand years ago, the Wandering Reaper had been standard equipment aboard Gallant Federation overlord-class vessels. Yet by modern standards, its flaws and shortcomings were obvious in nearly every aspect.

Even so, throughout the wars of the past tens of thousands of years, Wandering Reaper units deployed by Gallant Federation Rank Six fleets had suffered accidents only twice.

Five-star General Meston refused to believe his luck could be so terrible. He immediately ordered the general before him to skip the inspection phase and fire at once.

On the battlefield, extraordinary circumstances demanded extraordinary measures!

Military personnel regarded obedience as their highest duty, and most commanders within the Gallant Federation were straightforward by nature.

Though General Meston’s aide may have had additional objections, the four-star general on the screen saluted and issued the firing command!

The activation sequence of the apocalyptical weapon produced a slight energy overflow.

Without prior knowledge, such a detail would have been easy to overlook.

However, this was the same weapon that had already obliterated the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s towering skyscraper and countless energy barriers.

Having personally witnessed its destructive power on this subspace battlefield, Feylis naturally harbored deep apprehension toward its presence.

Based on the intelligence Feylis had regarding the Gallant Federation’s apocalyptical weapon, she knew that it was about time the enemy fired it.

Sure enough, when the strange and oppressive energy fluctuations emerged behind the Gallant Federation fleet, Feylis detected the anomaly almost instantly.

Yet by then, the Magus Civilization’s forces were already deeply entangled with the Gallant Federation legions.

Issuing a retreat at this moment would not guarantee escape from the apocalyptical weapon’s barrage but might invite concentrated pursuit fire from the enemy fleet instead.

On such a battlefield, pursuit engagements invariably produced the highest casualty rates.

In contrast, pitched[1] and defensive battles generally resulted in relatively low short-term losses for both sides.

As for confronting apocalyptical weapons head-on, that was a concern reserved for the brave and the powerful.

Lower-tier lifeforms could only gamble on luck. With no possibility of escape, they could only pray that the weapon would not be aimed at them.

Such was the tragedy of the weak.

Feylis immediately issued early warnings to the Magus Civilization’s powerhouses across the surrounding battlefields.

The Magus Alliance’s foreign deities were the next to receive the alert.

There was no point in warning the lower-tier lifeforms. Given the destructive power and strike radius of this apocalyptical weapon, even burrowing thousands of meters underground would not save them from being reduced to particles almost instantly.

This central battlefield lay directly atop the ruins of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s Grandlight Tech Center.

A glance at the surrounding terrain revealed a colossal basin more than a hundred thousand meters in diameter.

And this was after the federation’s apocalyptical weapon had already expended a significant portion of its power destroying the remaining energy barriers and breaching the Grandlight Tech Center’s outer defenses.

Had its full firepower been unleashed here, the devastated zone would likely have been several times larger!

Such was the terror of an apocalyptical weapon, a manifestation of overlord-level might.

Sein, fighting on a far corner of the battlefield, also received a warning from his grandmaster.

Having arrived at the central battlefield without his Divine Tower of Ashes Army, Sein did not need to concern himself with the fate of lesser beings around him. Only his own survival mattered.

After enduring a prolonged beating, the Rank Six Apocalypse World creature before him was now close to its final moments.

The wounds on its cheeks and neck remained unhealed and continued to bleed. This was a clear sign that it no longer had enough life essence to repair the damage.

Survival at any cost had become its sole obsession.

Moments later, a blinding white flash swept across the battlefield, followed by a dense cluster of crimson points igniting in the sky.

Each crimson point represented a rocket projectile.

Their warheads glowed a deep red, while their exhaust trails burned an intense blue.

Together, these ultimate rocket projectiles formed the Gallant Federation’s apocalyptical weapon—the Wandering Reaper.

In that instant, countless powerful beings across the battlefield, including Sein, felt a suffocating pressure descend upon them.

1. Translator’s Note: A pitched battle is a battle where both sides have chosen the time and place to fight. The term derives from the practice of pitching your tents in preparation of a fight. ☜