Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 1813: The End of the Arid Expanse Worlds War

After greeting the God of Decay, Sein turned his attention back to the battle between Celloza and Kazaskey.

Even with no other combat missions for the moment, Sein had to set aside his research.

Although he had no way of joining the overlord-level battlefield and could not make out the powers or techniques those overlords were using, the clash between Kazaskey and Celloza still held immense value for him as a source of reference and observation.

In most cases, Kazaskey fought with nothing but his fists.

However, this peak Rank Six being also possessed a world-class secret treasure of his own.

It was a pair of gauntlets that radiated intense pyro elemental law power.

Before this, the only paired world-class secret treasures Sein had seen belonged to Tourmaline.

Taken separately, Kazaskey’s gauntlets could only be considered average among world-class secret treasures.

But when used together, they formed a formidable set of combat equipment.

As the battle continued, Celloza also revealed his own treasures.

His world-class secret treasure was a set of seven pale-yellow star orbs.

Each orb was several meters in diameter, yet in battle, they could freely grow or shrink as needed.

After asking a few knowledgeable knights and mages, Sein learned that these seven star orbs were treasures born from the very essence of Planet Norvex.

When separated, none of them truly qualified as a world-class secret treasure. At most, they could be considered high-grade divine artifacts.

But once combined, the destructive power they unleashed rivaled that of a mid-tier world-class secret treasure!

In terms of overall quality, the seven star orbs were clearly superior to Kazaskey’s gauntlets.

He could not match Celloza in personal strength, nor could he rival him in equipment.

Kazaskey’s fate already seemed all but decided.

“There ‘s an interesting legend on Planet Norvex,” shared a Rank Five knight who had once traveled through the surrounding star domains of Planet Norvex.

“Many of the Norvexians believe that if someone can gather all seven star orbs, they’ll be granted any wish they desire. This legend has even spread to many of the low-level and microplanes around the Norvex Star Domain and influenced their lower lifeforms as well.”

He continued with a smile, “But the truth is, they’re merely a set of equipment belonging to Celloza. It’s only because they contain so much of Planet Norvex’s origin energy that they have become wrapped in so much mythical lore.”

“Aside from that unique planar origin energy, I also seem to sense some extremely faint draconic auras within them,” Sein remarked, stroking his chin.

“Is that so? I know nothing about that. Your perception is truly sharp, Master Sein,” the Rank Five knight said admiringly.

***

The battle between Kazaskey and Celloza lasted a full fifty years.

Only peak Rank Six beings, with their immense power and astonishing endurance, could have maintained such an intense and explosive battle for so long.

Throughout that period, the Magus Civilization legions—including Sein’s—did not interfere much in the fight between the two.

Aside from sending out troops to speed up the occupation of the surrounding regions of the Arid Expanse Worlds, no one rashly pushed toward the central battlefield.

During this period, Celloza and Kazaskey seemed to become the center of the entire medium-sized star domain war.

However, a small number of Rank Five and Rank Six powerhouses from Magus World, Sein included, knew that beyond the Arid Expanse Worlds, another strategic contest was taking place between the Rank Seven psychic named Moraia and an Apocalypse World overlord.

But a battle of that level was simply too far removed from Sein and the others, and even more so from lower lifeforms. Because of that, it drew far less attention than the clash at the heart of the Arid Expanse Worlds.

There was very little suspense in the outcome of this battle between peak Rank Six beings.

Celloza emerged victorious. He did not kill Kazaskey himself. He only dealt him a devastating blow and left the final strike to the Magus Civilization legions.

Nearly two hundred space fortresses unleashed a concentrated barrage on the battlefield where Kazaskey stood.

Feylis and the other Rank Six powerhouses of the Magus Civilization, who had been waiting for this moment, closed in on Kazaskey when he was already running on his last reserves of strength.

Kazaskey failed to even detonate his own body in time to inflict serious losses on the Magus Civilization forces before him.

The eruption of molten lava and lawful flames did nothing more than leave a few overly eager Magus Civilization powerhouses with minor injuries.

Kazaskey might have been a hard opponent to bring down, but the rewards he left behind for the Magus Civilization powerhouses were equally impressive.

Of course, among them was his pair of world-class gauntlets.

Other than that, Feylis and the other Magus Civilization powerhouses also extracted a crimson magma heart from Kazaskey’s chest cavity.

They also removed a flame crystal from the back of his hand.

The lava heart was somewhat similar to a divine spark. It was also the true source of Kazaskey’s power.

After Feylis appraised it, its value was determined to be no lower than that of the pair of world-class gauntlets.

As for the flame crystal taken from the back of Kazaskey’s hand, it was later confirmed to be the biological core of the Fire Spirit, the Rank Six alliance that Kazaskey had killed.

It seemed Kazaskey had not yet had the chance to fully absorb this flame crystal.

As the core of a Rank Six being, the crystal was naturally of immense value.

However, the Fire Spirit had died in battle for the Magus Civilization, and it had also been a member of the Magus Alliance.

Because of that, the Magus Civilization would likely have other considerations when deciding how to handle the crystal, especially if it wanted to appease the planar race behind the Fire Spirit.

Anyways, the gains from other parts of the war had already made the Magus Civilization enormously wealthy.

Kazaskey’s corpse, as that of a peak Rank Six creature, was itself an extremely valuable prize.

Sein was already thinking of paying a visit to his grandmaster to see whether he could obtain some specimen materials from this peak Rank Six Apocalypse World creature.

***

After Kazaskey’s death, the outcome of the war in the Arid Expanse Worlds was essentially settled.

With part of the elite Apocalypse World legions wiped out, the Gallant Federation’s remaining vassal legions could do nothing but retreat farther and farther back.

At this point, the frontline had already been pushed all the way to the border of the Grand Apocalypse World’s star domain.

The Magus Civilization legions were just one step away from setting foot on the Grand Apocalypse World’s territory and officially beginning a war of conquest against it.

In fact, just before Kazaskey was about to fall, the Rank Seven Apocalypse World overlord had tried to intervene and save him.

However, he was stopped by the overlord-level psychic, Moraia.

Moraia’s strength was clearly above that of the Apocalypse World overlord.

Had she not chosen to conserve her power and reduce the loss to her Overlord Soul as much as possible, the war in the Arid Expanse Worlds might have progressed even more smoothly.

As he watched his most capable subordinate fall, the Apocalypse World overlord standing in the starry sky could only let out a silent sigh.