Sovereign of the Ashes

Raging storm energy and roiling thunderclouds swirled around the elemental overlord’s lawful projection, radiating his overwhelming power.

In truth, the overlords Nergal had summoned were each slightly weaker than him.

He was not willing, nor did he see any reason, to summon those stronger than himself.

Doing so would only introduce more uncertainty, with little to gain!

The overlords of the Astral Realm were never easygoing entities.

“A crisis is drawing near, and yet all of you still—” The elemental overlord had barely begun speaking when Nergal already knew what it was about to say.

“I have no interest in your crisis story. I only want to know one thing... are you willing to help me?” Nergal cut him off coldly.

This elemental overlord’s star domain lay even farther from the Magus Civilization than the Amenkha Empire.

If both of them were not Rank Eights, they would never have even been able to communicate across such a distance.

The distance between their home star domains was vast enough to make even a Rank Seven overlord sigh in awe.

If this Rank Eight elemental overlord agreed to come, Nergal would have to spend an enormous amount of energy crystals just to complete the summoning.

The elemental overlord let out a sigh.

Nergal sneered. “If you’re not coming, then stop wasting my time.”

With a wave of his sleeve, the elemental overlord’s lawful projection and its aura quickly faded away.

Only three massive summoning arrays remained.

“Two Rank Sevens and one Rank Eight... that should be enough. It’s about the same lineup Bev and the others used to surround and kill that Eighth Pharaoh. We old-timers can’t let the younger generation outshine us!” Nergal muttered.

While coughing, Nergal activated the three arrays at once, summoning the Meatball Overlord, the Holy King of Drifting Clouds, and the Iron Armor Overlord into this star domain.

Their descent only deepened the Seventh Pharaoh’s unease.

He already made up his mind to escape, but Valter and the Fanged Evil Dragon continued attacking him relentlessly, while the cage Nergal had set around him left him with no way out.

As his burst phase neared its end, the sensation of his power fading filled the Seventh Pharaoh with fury.

He could not help but curse the Magus Civilization for being cowardly and despicable, too afraid to face him head-on.

Yet he seemed to forget that he himself had only seized an advantage after Nergal was struck by the Gallant Federation’s Infinity Light.

In truth, none of them had the right to look down on anyone else.

Winners were kings, and losers were bandits.

Words meant nothing—only the outcome of their battle mattered!

“Despicable weaklings from barbaric star domains! Are you not afraid the Amenkha Empire will one day strike back?!” Sensing the presence of foreign overlords, the Seventh Pharaoh roared in fury.

Anyone who feared the Amenkha Empire’s retaliation had already left.

Those who remained were not afraid of them.

The mid-stage Rank Seven Iron Armor Overlord might have been the weakest and youngest among those present, yet he perfectly embodied the reckless spirit of a fearless young bull!

After Nergal paid the first installment of two hundred million soul essences upfront, the Iron Armor Overlord drew a broadax from his back.

The weapon was bluish-gray, radiating an overwhelming surge of law power. It was clearly a high-quality mid-tier world-class secret treasure!

Gripping it with both hands, the Iron Armor Overlord swung the ax directly at the Seventh Pharaoh’s head.

The force of the strike seemed capable of shattering the surrounding space of the star domain.

Fortunately, the cage Nergal had constructed held firm, able to withstand the shockwaves of the overlords’ assaults for now.

The Holy King of Drifting Clouds and the Meatball Overlord, who arrived soon after, were far less aggressive.

They had come to play the supporting roles.

The Holy King of Drifting Clouds wielded laws that proved especially effective at reinforcing and supporting domains.

Countless dense white feathers, formed from its law power, drifted across the battlefield.

When these feathers entered the bodies of Valter, the Fanged Evil Dragon, and the Iron Armor Overlord, they clearly boosted their strength.

But when they touched the Seventh Pharaoh of the Amenkha Empire, his movements seemed to slow slightly.

That, however, was the limit of the Holy King’s involvement.

There was no way it would charge forward and fight a Rank Eight overlord to the death—especially one still in the final stages of a burst phase.

The Meatball Overlord was no different.

It was the calculating type—quick to seize an advantage, but even quicker to avoid a fight to the death.

Still, with the purple heart it so desperately wanted in Nergal’s possession, it had no choice but to take part.

Thanks to his Rank Eight strength and his grasp of rather devious laws, the Meatball Overlord ended up playing a far more significant role in the battle than either the Iron Armor Overlord or the Holy King of Drifting Clouds!

After downing a vial of black magic potion, Nergal also joined the fight, teaming up against the Seventh Pharaoh.

In the blink of an eye, the Pharaoh went from hunter to prey—now being battered by six overlords at once.

Nergal still had several lower-ranking undead chimera beasts and summons at his disposal.

While those Rank Six units might still pose some threat to a Rank Seven overlord, they were practically useless against a Rank Eight existence like the Amenkha Empire’s Pharaoh, so he saw no point in wasting them.

Caught off guard and suddenly overwhelmed, the Seventh Pharaoh barely had time to process how the situation had spiraled so quickly.

Regret only began to set in now. If he had known this would happen, he would have brought more reinforcements.

The Amenkha Empire was undeniably powerful, but unlike the Magus Civilization, it followed a “hegemonic path”.

Where the Magus Civilization built alliances and gathered countless allied civilizations and vassal planes, the Amenkha Empire offered only two choices: submit or be destroyed.

Now that the Seventh Pharaoh was in danger, he could not call in reinforcements the way Nergal could.

More importantly, he lacked any real mastery over spatial or summoning laws.

That said, the Seventh Pharaoh was no weakling.

He might not possess the Eighth Pharaoh’s ability to partially break his second seal, but he had his own trump cards.

And who said he had no allies?

As he watched the six figures close in, especially Nergal, who remained just as dangerous despite his injuries, the Seventh Pharaoh let out a furious roar.

He then hurled a clump of red flesh.

A violent surge of law power followed, and from it emerged a black-scaled monster king, crowned with sharp horns and bearing three ominous eyes with vertical pupils.

The Pharaoh’s monster king was something akin to Nergal’s undead chimera beast and summons.

With the arrival of this horned, black-scaled monster king, the battlefield plunged even deeper into chaos!