Sovereign of the Ashes

In addition to the angel legion of over a hundred thousand troops, Sein’s forces also included the Ashen Star Pirates.

At the end of the day, they were just a small-time pirate crew.

From their leader, Aribbean, down to the lowest-ranking crew members, they were the kind who would eagerly pounce on some defenseless interstellar merchant fleet and howl with excitement while looting it clean.

But the moment they faced an elite legion from a civilized world, their weaknesses were immediately exposed—let alone against a legion from a large world civilization!

In the face of the fearless charges from Divine Descendants World’s legions, the Ashen Star Pirates looked utterly hopeless.

It even made Sein regret putting the word “Ashen” in their name.

He felt the word itself had been tarnished by them.

At that very moment, Aribbean was being chased all across the battlefield by a heavily wounded, demigod-level Divine Descendants World creature wielding a divine greatsword.

Seeing this, Sein casually cast a spell and killed the demigod creature on the spot. At the same time, he briefly considered sending out an Elemental Ray to finish Aribbean off as well.

Still, considering the man’s talent for groveling and scavenging valuable supplies from the battlefield, Sein ultimately let him live.

Fortunately, the elite angel legion of more than a hundred thousand strong more than made up for the embarrassment caused by the pirates.

The fearless, suicidal fighting style of these intelligent robots surpassed even the fanatical believers of Divine Descendants World.

Sadly, the number of angel robots under Sein’s command continued to dwindle.

Although he still possessed a fair number of well-preserved black boxes, without a professional production line from the Gallant Federation’s Icarus Group, it was difficult to fully restore the combat angels to their peak performance.

Although the Magic Cube had begun attempting to establish its own production line, the technology was still primitive in every regard.

The robots being produced were of such poor quality that they fell far below the standards required of true combat-grade angels.

At this point, Sein felt it would be best to return to the frontlines of the civilizational war and find some way to obtain a complete federal angel robot production line.

He had no idea how far the frontlines had advanced by now.

Perhaps the Magus Civilization had already captured some of the major technological factories belonging to the Icarus Group.

If that were the case, Sein would secure one no matter the cost!

The angel legion’s offensive had greatly reduced the pressure placed on Sein by the lower-tier Divine Descendants World legions across the surrounding battlefields.

Meanwhile, the frontal assault launched by the Dawn Empire Army had also begun steadily tearing through the defensive lines of the Divine Descendants World forces.

The Hurricane God was still in full retreat, fully aware that he was unable to stand against Sein.

Sein had already lost interest in continuing this battle. Using both the Magic Cube and the Faceless Mask, he had recorded and collected all the combat data he needed.

The rest could wait until he returned to the laboratory for further analysis and refinement.

A blinding burst of light erupted around Sein once again.

As the radiance slowly faded, the mechanical fusion between him and Fermera came undone.

After returning to her angelic form, Fermera instinctively clutched her chest.

The battle itself had not caused her any significant damage or exhaustion.

What lingered was more of a psychological and physical sensation.

After all, Fermera was no longer a cold, emotionless machine. She was now a complete and independent lifeform.

She had her own thoughts, her own consciousness—one could even say she possessed a soul.

Sein, on the other hand, showed none of her sensitivity. The moment the fusion ended, he immediately raised his magic scepter.

The pitch-black, heavy weapon felt even more powerful in Sein’s grasp.

Within the huge flame crystal core at its tip, a faint strand of yellow energy swirled, nearly impossible to detect with the naked eye.

“Blazing Flame Pillar!”

As Sein rapidly completed the incantation, a spiraling torrent of fire roared outward, sweeping directly toward the fleeing Hurricane God.

Now infused with a trace of the Dawn Empire’s Dragon Qi, the destructive power of Sein’s spells had clearly risen to another level!

The Hurricane God’s agonized screams gradually faded.

He was not dead yet, but he was trapped within Sein’s raging firestorm.

Rank Four and above beings were notoriously difficult to kill.

Seeing this, Sein turned to Fermera and said, “Finish him quickly. Don’t let him escape. The Divine Descendants World Army appears to be retreating.”

By then, Fermera had already regained her composure. Taking a deep breath, she spread the eight metallic wings behind her back.

In the next instant, she transformed into a streak of light and shot straight toward the Hurricane God.

Sure enough, Fermera fought with far greater speed and agility on her own than when she and Sein fought together.

***

The Divine Descendants World Army had never come here intending to fight the Dawn Empire Army head-on.

They simply did not have the strength for it.

After only a brief clash, signs of a full-scale rout began spreading through the Divine Descendants World’s forces.

The main reason was that the so-called “gods” of Rank Four and above had started retreating first.

Once they fled, the morale of the lower-ranking believer legions began to crumble, no matter how fanatical or steadfast they had been before.

Gongsun Wudi raised her banner, and the elite troops of the Dawn Empire’s Raging Tiger Army surged forward, cutting down the retreating Divine Descendants World forces as efficiently as possible.

On the battlefield, the heaviest casualties were often inflicted during the pursuit, when the fleeing side was cut down in a one-sided slaughter, rather than in the initial clash.

A true bloodbath was something else entirely, and that only happened when both sides were willing to fight to the very end.

Clearly, the Divine Descendants World forces before them lacked that kind of resolve against the Dawn Empire Army.

As the Dawn Empire’s main army pressed forward, Gongsun Wudi personally led the charge from the frontlines.

On one side, the gods led the retreat. On the other, the Grand General led the assault.

The difference in morale was obvious.

Throughout the battle, Sein had been focused on collecting combat data. The various biological specimens from Divine Descendants World greatly piqued his interest.

Only near the end of the war did he suddenly realize that Gongsun Wudi had actually slain another Rank Six Divine Descendants World creature.

Having fought Rank Six beings multiple times himself, Sein could roughly judge that the creature Gongsun Wudi killed was most likely a mid-stage Rank Six powerhouse.

Among the Divine Descendants World forces sent to ambush them, there had probably only been two or three Rank Six beings in total.

That creature could only be considered unlucky for ending up against Gongsun Wudi.

In the end, the number of Divine Descendants World troops that successfully escaped likely amounted to less than thirty percent of the original force.

The only uncertainty was whether the Divine Descendants World had prepared additional ambushes along the route leading toward the Magus Civilization’s star domain.

“Didn’t you fight with a sword last time?” Sein asked curiously as he flew over after the battle. “Why did you switch to a spear now?”

The halberd in Gongsun Wudi’s grasp gleamed with a cold silver light, its three spearheads flanked by twin crescent blades on either side, each edge radiating a lethal sharpness.[1]

Gongsun Wudi stood with one foot upon the corpse of a fallen deity as she withdrew the halberd that was still dripping with golden blood.

“I’ve mastered five types of weapons and can wield a total of twenty-seven.”

Her reply made the corner of Sein’s mouth twitch slightly beneath the Faceless Mask.

“It seems I still don’t understand you well enough,” Sein said. “When we sparred back then, how much of your strength were you actually using?”

Gongsun Wudi glanced at him and answered flatly, “Ten percent.”

Considering Gongsun Wudi’s peak Rank Six strength, it was certainly no difficult task for her to deal with Sein when he had no external assistance.

Still, she seemed rather interested in Sein’s performance during the battle earlier.

“If you spar with me again in that form you just used, I can show you some of my other martial techniques next time,” she offered.

Sein immediately shook his head. “That’s a terrible bargain for me.”

His gaze then drifted toward the Rank Six corpse beneath her feet.

“How about throwing in some of that specimen material as well?”

Specimens from Rank Six Divine Descendants World creatures held immense research value for him.

The Dawn Empire had a more conservative culture. Unlike the Spider Queen, who always wore silver-white crystal heels that left her toes exposed, Gongsun Wudi, as far as Sein could remember, always wore metal combat boots.

He had only seen her in a lavish princess gown once, during an audience with the Emperor at the imperial palace.

Unfortunately, he had not studied her particularly closely back then.

Gongsun Wudi glanced down at the Rank Six corpse beneath her foot. A brief, thoughtful expression crossed her beautiful face.

“I only need a small amount of blood and tissue samples. I won’t take much,” Sein quickly added.

“Very well,” Gongsun Wudi replied.

1. Translator’s Note: I believe this is a mixture of a trident and a halberd. Here’s an image of it:

Pretty neat! ☜