Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 1759: Conclusion of Battle

At this moment, roughly one-third of the legions within the Aquaria Star Domain were made up of the Gallant Federation’s fleet.

In truth, the Aquaria Star Domain’s overall combat strength was still quite formidable.

Beyond Orven himself, there was a Gallant Federation fleet with combat power rivalling that of a Rank Six entity, though it lacked apocalyptical weaponry.

Moreover, the marine environment greatly enhanced Orven’s legions, boosting their combat strength by at least thirty percent compared to fighting in subspace!

The arid desert environments they had previously fought in had severely limited many aquatic creatures, preventing them from performing at their peak.

Here, saturated with moisture, the law-wielding Aquarian powerhouses could unleash far greater law power.

Even setting everything else aside, the fact that these Aquarians were entrenched on their homeplane alone was enough to pose a serious problem for the Magus Civilization’s legions.

Aside from the sea race legions led by White Stella, who would thrive in this environment, the vast majority of the Magus Civilization forces, including Sein’s, would be at a clear disadvantage under such conditions.

This was especially true for Sein himself. As a wielder of the Ashen Law, being forced into prolonged combat in a marine environment would significantly reduce his combat effectiveness.

If only this were a pyro-attribute plane, then Sein and the Divine Tower of Ashes Army, with its abundance of pyromancers, would be in their element.

However, there was one crucial advantage for Sein and his forces—the Gallant Federation had no intention of defending the Aquaria Star Domain at all costs.

To the federation, the Aquaria Star Domain was nothing more than rootless duckweed. Their true focus was concentrated in the Arid Expanse Worlds, where they had committed more forces.

Even so, the federation’s troop deployments were limited. Their primary responsibilities involved constructing fortifications and providing logistical support for war machinery.

When the decisive fighting came, it would be the Grand Apocalypse World legions that bore the brunt of the conflict against the Magus Civilization.

This was because the Grand Apocalypse World had already secured deep and substantial vested interests within the Arid Expanse Worlds.

As for the Gallant Federation’s main legions, they would ultimately withdraw back to their home star domain.

The federation’s combat forces remained in the Aquaria Star Domain for two reasons. On the one hand, they were still attempting to persuade Orven to retreat with them. On the other, they were reluctant to abandon the Aquaria Star Domain’s abundant Star Cores.

At first, these federal fleets limited their extraction efforts to Star Cores produced by demiplanes.

However, once they learned that the Magus Civilization was launching a two-pronged assault on the Aquaria Star Domain, they abandoned all pretense. They began forcibly extracting Star Cores from multiple complete planes.

Orven attempted to intervene, but he had no authority to restrain the federal fleets.

His crushing defeat, combined with the devastation inflicted by the federal fleets upon several complete planes within the Aquaria Star Domain, caused Orven’s prestige and the cohesion of his race to collapse almost overnight.

Numerous Rank Four and Rank Five beings within the Aquaria Star Domain had already begun plotting to overthrow Orven’s rule and defect to Orric, whose prospects appeared far more promising.

Amidst these internal fractures and external pressures, Sein and his allies’ campaign to conquer Planet Aquaria progressed with remarkable ease.

Within just a few years, Sein and White Stella advanced across two separate battlefronts, rapidly annexing vast portions of the Aquaria Star Domain at an astonishing pace.

On Sein’s front, Orric—the “Ocean King”—took the lead. His mere arrival before a planet was often enough to cause its planar barrier to undo on its own, while large numbers of Aquarian legions defected outright on the battlefield.

White Stella, for her part, commanded the most elite sea race legions from Magus World.

Even those Aquarian forces that still retained the will to fight stood no chance against her legions.

Most formidable of all were the sea king legions, White Stella’s trump card, which displayed overwhelming combat power throughout the Aquaria Star Domain campaign.

Neither the federal fleets nor the native forces of Planet Aquaria were able to withstand their frontal assaults.

As the colossal sea kings advanced, towering waves swept across vast regions of the Aquaria Star Domain, leaving devastation in their wake.

After losing nearly half of his domain within just a few years, Orven finally recognized that defeat was inevitable.

In the end, he agreed to evacuate his home star domain alongside the federal fleets, retreating toward the Arid Expanse Worlds.

In truth, this man hardly deserved to be the Ocean King. As the ruler of a medium-sized plane who enjoys its rich planar heritage, he should at least have been able to confront opponents like Sein and White Stella head-on.

Instead, gripped by fear, he abandoned his homeworld in haste, leading his remaining followers to flee toward the Arid Expanse Worlds before Sein and the others could even reach Aquaria.

Perhaps Orven still retained a shred of conscience. Or perhaps, with nearly everyone turning against him, he simply no longer dared to linger in his own homeworld.

When the federal fleet finally departed, they refrained from forcibly extracting Aquaria’s Star Core.

Instead, they took the immense wealth accumulated by generations of Ocean Kings, stored deep within the palace’s vaults. Even so, not all of that wealth made it out.

After Orven led his forces away from Aquaria, large numbers of his legions either defected outright or fell behind during the retreat.

Carrying the wealth from the Aquaria Star Domain, these deserters turned around and pledged themselves to the Magus Civilization and to Orric.

In the end, the Gallant Federation’s failure to impose effective technological control over Planet Aquaria’s powerful factions proved to be a major strategic blunder.

During Orven’s subsequent retreat, an unexpected incident erupted. A Rank Five creature led a sudden defection, turning its legions against the Gallant Federation fleets. The chaos that followed nearly wiped out an entire Rank Four war fleet.

The Rank Five instigator, after being severely injured by federation forces that quickly rallied in response, narrowly escaped into the depths of space.

After this incident, one thing became clear to all—Orven had lost most of his influence.

From his once-glorious expedition into Marvelous Plane to his current flight like a hunted dog through the Arid Expanse Worlds, Orven’s law-wielding forces had dwindled to less than one-fifth of their original strength within only a few decades.

A small remnant of Rank Four and Rank Five beings still followed him, not out of loyalty, but because they had nowhere else to turn.

All of them had taken part in Orven’s betrayal, and their hands were already stained with the blood of Magus Civilization powerhouses.

There was no path left for them except to follow Orven to the very end.

Orven cast one last glance toward Aquaria, hanging silently in the starry expanse. He let out a long sigh, then led his remaining legions into the wormhole opened by the Gallant Federation fleet.

***

Just as Sein and White Stella were preparing to converge triumphantly on Planet Aquaria, the overlord-level battle at the border of the Grand Eye Demon World Star Domain finally drew to a close.

The Rank Seven Evileye Tyrant Monarch had been reduced to a lifeless shell.

The light in its pupils had vanished completely, and a black spear remained embedded deep in the center of its massive eyeball.

Not far away, the Rank Eight Pharaoh King clung to his final breath.

As Aeberton’s Dark Blade pierced his heart once more, greedily absorbing his flesh and blood essence, the Eighth Pharaoh clutched the blade with his scarred, monstrous hand.

With a hysterical roar, he bellowed, “The Third Pharaoh and the others will avenge me! Just wait for the Amenkha Empire’s Monster Legion to descend upon you, wicked Magus Civilization!”

The Eighth Pharaoh’s final howl seemed to tear through the surrounding star domain.

Although Bev and the others had sealed the region with multiple layers of planar barriers and domain power, those special defenses still rippled violently in response.

Whether the Eighth Pharaoh’s cry had managed to escape beyond the sealed battlefield remained unknown.

Far away, within the distant Amenkha Empire...

Inside the Pharaohs’ Temple, the Second Pharaoh sat in a dimly lit chamber. His cloudy eyes suddenly opened.

Sensing a faint disturbance, he gazed at the pale blue candlelight before him and let out a quiet sigh.

An ancient white tome lay open on the table before him, its pages turning slowly without any wind.

The soft rustling echoed through the otherwise silent hall, lending the chamber an eerie stillness.

After a long pause, the Second Pharaoh spoke into the darkness around him.

“Summon the Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Pharaohs. I will convene a meeting of the Pharaohs’ Temple.”

A low purr echoed from the darkness, and something unseen departed.