Sovereign of the Ashes

Valter and the Fanged Evil Dragon’s audacity caught the Seventh Pharaoh of the Amenkha Empire slightly off guard.

Since arriving on the Magus Civilization’s battlefield, he had encountered all sorts of bizarre phenomena.

First, he could not catch a glimpse of Nergal’s true form. Then he was forced to deal with several overlord-level undead chimera beasts, each radiating an aura of decay and death.

And now, this black knight and his mount actually dared to challenge him—even though they were mere Rank Sevens.

Undead chimera beasts were truly unique to the Magus Civilization.

Though familiar with harnessing the power of death, the Amenkha Empire had never created anything like this. Their approach to using corpses was completely different.

Still, the Amenkha Empire’s monsters were more powerful compared to overlord-level undead chimera beasts.

After all, no matter how strong Nergal’s creations were, they could only match the combat power of an overlord—they were not true overlord-level beings.

Most importantly, they did not possess an overlord’s Omnipotent Soul.

By contrast, an overlord-level monster king of the Amenkha Empire was a genuine overlord.

This time, the Gallant Federation managed to establish contact with the Amenkha Empire not just because the Tenth Pharaoh took the initiative and the federation supplied energy crystals and intelligence.

It was also because the Gallant Federation handed over half of the Black Merlot Civilization’s genetic secrets.

To the Amenkha Empire, these secrets held enormous research value.

The Black Merlot Civilization had nurtured war beasts that shared notable similarities with the Monster Legion of the Amenkha Empire.

Even if the portions the federation shared were not deeply intricate, top-tier secrets, the very fact that they were on the table made negotiating future cooperation much easier.

***

Since the Andarco Star Domain contained an immense number of stars, the temperature and light conditions across the overlord-level battlefield were ideal.

There was none of the oppressive, sinister aura present in battles between the Amenkha Empire’s Pharaoh and Magus World’s black knight; instead, the air was filled with a sense of honor and righteousness.

Among the laws that Valter commanded, one stood out as particularly unique—the law of “Dire Pierce”.

This was a special attack technique that, with a certain probability, could bypass an opponent’s defenses. Once the law took effect, the target could not dodge. They would have to face the attack head-on.

The Astral Realm was vast and teeming with all sorts of strange phenomena.

It was this endless variety of strange laws and the countless lifeforms they produced that gave the Astral Realm its richness and splendor.

The Fanged Evil Dragon’s roars had not ceased since the battle began.

As a mutated dragon that had followed Valter for hundreds of thousands of years, it would leap at any opponent its master faced, sinking its razor-sharp fangs into the enemy’s neck to drink their blood without hesitation.

When the Fanged Evil Dragon first met Valter, he had barely qualified for the Byrne Empire’s Dragon Knight Legion due to his frail physique.

While other riders happily chose their mounts, Valter found the Fanged Evil Dragon—a creature equally unwanted—on the outskirts of the Dragon Island.

The Fanged Evil Dragon was leaner than most dragons of Magus World, with a longer neck and front limbs that showed clear signs of malnutrition.

It was an outcast even on Dragon Island. Other dragons of its age shunned it, and even its parents treated it harshly.

It was a mutant dragon, and outsiders like it never fit in anywhere.

That was when Valter extended his right hand and said, “Let’s fight together.”

The Fanged Evil Dragon accepted his contract, and from that day on, they remained together for life.

It grew from an unassuming, malnourished mutant into the overlord-level mount it was today.

Throughout Valter’s long career of war and slaughter, the Fanged Evil Dragon remained his most loyal companion.

Together, they even killed Magus World’s powerhouses, which eventually led to their banishment to Blackhaven.

In his youth, Valter had been utterly ruthless and twisted.

Slaughtering the entire population of a world meant nothing to him.

Wealth and resources meant nothing to him—he simply delighted in killing, crushing entire populations like ants beneath his boots.

Valter was a knight who truly took pleasure in killing!

It was remarkable that, despite his ruthless nature, so many of Valter’s subordinates still chose to follow him when he was exiled to Blackhaven in the Western Archipelago all those years ago.

Cruel as Valter might be, he had never lost the military discipline he had honed in his early years.

A closer look at Blackhaven revealed that the regions under his command were far more orderly than those typically overseen by black mages.

Perhaps decades of war and bloodshed had tempered his thirst for slaughter, dulling the wild frenzy he once had in his youth.

In recent years, Valter had rarely carried out the kind of mass extermination that wiped out all life in a star domain or plane.

After all, even a killer could grow weary of too much bloodshed.

Yet at this moment, the aggressive stance of the Seventh Pharaoh of the Amenkha Empire reignited Valter’s long-dormant hunger for slaughter

Slaughtering the weak no longer brought him any joy; only by facing the strong and testing his limits could a knight truly feel alive!

“Is that all you’ve got?” Valter jeered from atop the Fanged Evil Dragon. “Can’t you try a little harder? If you can’t kill me, then I’ll be the one to kill you!”

He laughed maniacally.

Blood streaked his cheeks, and strands of silver-gray hair slipped out from the cracks in his helmet.

In the brief exchange of blows, he had already sustained hundreds of serious wounds.

Yet this Rank Seven knight still radiated the same frenzied, ferocious aura, as if he, rather than the Seventh Pharaoh, held the upper hand.

Even the Fanged Evil Dragon beneath him let out a series of powerful roars.

Its condition appeared even worse than Valter’s.

The dragon was massive in its combat form, and it often bore the brunt of attacks aimed at Valter.

The Seventh Pharaoh’s blows had battered its two wings so fiercely that they were badly deformed.

Yet its wings remained fully extended, giving it an imposing, malevolent presence.

“This guy’s crazy!” the Seventh Pharaoh muttered under his breath as he swung the bell-like, world-class secret treasure in his hand with all his strength.

To the Seventh Pharaoh, Valter and his mount were like a pair of tough walnuts.

Battered as they were, their attacks still landed with punishing force on the Seventh Pharaoh.

Valter’s deadly piercing strikes, reinforced by the Fanged Evil Dragon’s vicious bites and venom, had already left their mark.

The Seventh Pharaoh could feel the toll each attack exacted.