Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 1742: Melee

A fierce battle erupted once more.

This time, charging at the very front was General Kassedar of the Byrne Empire.

Also known as General Tiger Eye, Kassedar was the most senior general still actively serving the Byrne Empire. Long before Magus World had grown beyond a medium-sized plane, he was already a renowned and formidable knight within the empire.

As the ages passed and his peers retired, fell in battle, or died of old age, only Tiger Eye remained—still standing in Magus World, waging war to this very day.

Kassedar looked like a middle-aged powerhouse, his body packed with defined muscles.

Time had not dulled him in the slightest. If anything, he seemed even more arrogant than in his youth.

The rebellious lock of hair that refused to lie flat at his forehead embodied the fiercely youthful spirit that still burned within him.

Kassedar wielded two weapons. The first was a massive white greatsword that could grow several times wider than his own body when he activated his overlord form. The second was a jet-black, double-sided heavy ax.

Both weapons were mid-tier world-class secret treasures.

Facing the Eighth Pharaoh, whose power far surpassed his own and who had already broken his seal, Kassedar greeted him by hurling his heavy ax.

Carried by a fierce, air-splitting momentum, the ax streaked forward like a black meteor, aimed straight at the Eighth Pharaoh’s neck.

Despite its grade and the force Kassedar poured into the throw, the ax clearly fell short of the devastation unleashed when Aeberton swung the Imperial Blade.

Still, Kassedar’s presence and killing intent were fully expressed in that single strike.

The jet-black ax struck the Eighth Pharaoh’s neck with a metallic clang but caused no visible damage. It rebounded at once, spinning back into Kassedar’s grasp.

At the same time, the white greatsword in his other hand surged with waves of white energy as Kassedar charged forward.

Facing an opponent vastly stronger than himself, Kassedar showed not the slightest trace of fear. Instead, a cruel, excited grin appeared across his face.

Since ascending to the overlord realm, Kassedar had constantly challenged beings stronger than himself.

In battle, boundless heroism had become his defining combat style.

His earlier path had been one of pure bloodshed, but he eventually realized that such a way of fighting was unsustainable within Magus World.

After all, Kassedar had no desire of being categorized as one of the black knights.

Moreover, pushing this path to its extreme risked turning himself into a ruthless, bloodthirsty murderer. Because of that, Kassedar began consciously adjusting his cultivation path after his breakthrough.

The Bryne Empire had once been home to three notorious villainous generals.

Kassedar was the only one among them to have reached this point today without meeting a bad end.

A peculiar aura swirled around him, condensing into streams of flowing white light.

When the Eighth Pharaoh’s fist flew toward Kassedar, a significant portion of its force was actually neutralized!

No Magus World overlord was ever an ordinary individual. Compared to overlord-level beings from most large-sized world civilizations, they were far more formidable.

Just look at the lineup Bev had assembled this time. Aside from the Fire Phoenix, who was not part of the original plan, every other overlord present had either been born in Magus World or possessed deep, inseparable ties to it!

Even while diverting strength to guard against the Amenkha Empire during its Clash of Civilizations with the Gallant Federation, the Magus Civilization had quietly hidden additional reserves within Magus World.

This time, Bev had drawn directly from those core forces spread across Magus World.

The reason no alliance overlords were deployed came down to two factors. First, their strength was generally insufficient to guarantee the complete encirclement and elimination of a Pharaoh of the Amenkha Empire. Second, there were confidentiality concerns.

Even when facing only the Gallant Federation, many planes within the Magus Alliance were already stretched to their limits.

Exposing a terrifying hidden adversary like the Amenkha Empire too early risked triggering unrest within the Magus Alliance and undermining its overall war resolve.

Moreover, the vast majority of alliance overlords were already tied down on frontlines of this Clash of Civilizations. They simply did not have the luxury of being recalled for this confrontation.

Following Kassedar’s charge, Zenasus of the Pyro Secret Society and Clair of the Alveroth Empire raised their staves, unleashing their most powerful offensive spells.

Close-combat mages like Sein remained exceedingly rare within Magus World.

When facing opponents of same rank, Magus World’s soul overmages still preferred to fight from behind knight overlords.

Both Aeberton and Kassedar served as perfect shields. With them fighting at the front, Zenasus and Clair could cast magic spells without much issues.

Zenasus had originally been stationed another major front. He had returned to report recent developments to Bev, only to be immediately drawn into this battle.

As for Clair, he had never left the Grand Eye Demon World Star Domain.

During the battle against the Evileye Tyrant Monarch, Clair had remained hidden, waiting.

He only stepped forward when the Amenkha Empire’s Pharaoh finally emerged.

Klopp, meanwhile, had been in the rear, overseeing logistics and strategic coordination during this Clash of Civilizations. His primary role was to assist Bev in executing major deployments.

Having only recently ascended to the overlord realm, he was the least experienced among the Magus Civilization overlords present.

But as a knight overlord, Klopp could not remain untested forever.

This battle against the Eighth Pharaoh had been deliberately arranged by Bev as an opportunity for Klopp. Despite his inexperience, Klopp could still provide meaningful support in combat as a knight overlord.

As a freshly advanced powerhouse, his fully replenished Overlord Soul was his greatest asset.

Given the nature of this battlefield, Bev had shown considerable care in how she positioned him.

Although he was a knight, Klopp was not positioned on the frontline like Aeberton and Kassedar.

Overlord Souls were not resources to be squandered. Even though Magus World had methods to restore an overlord’s Omnipotent Soul, Bev could not push Klopp too hard, since this was his first time in an overlord-level melee.

Instead, he was positioned close to Zenasus and Clair.

Bev’s primary assignment for him was to protect the two soul overmages.

That said, Klopp was not limited to defense alone. During the battle, he was free to strike at the Eighth Pharaoh. Just because he was a knight did not mean he lacked ranged attack capabilities.

As for the giant dragon turtle drifting through the starry sky like a demiplane, it represented their true last line of defense.

This creature was Baxia, father of White Stella, Black Oblivion, and Tourmaline.

Across the Magus Civilization’s hundreds of thousands of years of relentless warfare and expansion, Baxia’s appearances could be counted on one hand.

Within Magus World, this dragon turtle fulfilled a role akin to the Guardians of the Four Seasons.

Baxia was usually stationed at the navel of the plane, suppressing the rule nodes, and rarely ever left Magus World.

As a result, the blessings he received from Magus World and the attention he commanded from its planar will rivaled those of any Guardian.

Tourmaline and her siblings also possessed an innate affinity with the will of Magus World.

White Stella even wielded the unique ability to command sea kings—a power unmistakably tied to her father’s legacy.

Among the countless sea races of Magus World, Baxia was revered as the Sea God for a reason.