Sovereign of the Ashes

The pace of a Clash of Civilizations was relentless.

Unlike when he was back home, Sein no longer had the freedom to soar through the skies at his leisure and quietly pursue the mysteries of truth.

Yuri’s mecha experiments were nearing completion. Sein’s body-tempering research, as well as his experiments involving the “Essence of Life” and its ability to increase fertility, had also begun drawing to a close, though neither had achieved complete success.

Then, new combat orders arrived from the Dawn Empire.

Sein had no choice but to set his experiments aside for the time being and lead his legions toward the designated battlefield.

In just over two decades, the Dawn Empire had already conquered numerous planes along the outskirts of the Divine Descendants Star Domain.

Yet the deeper they advanced, the stranger this civilization seemed.

At the very least, the Divine Descendants Star Domain was completely unlike any enemy the Dawn Empire had faced in the past.

They had already fought their way into the home star domain of Divine Descendants World. And yet, the opposing civilization’s high-level combatant and elite legions still had not appeared.

The high-level combatant in question was naturally Marduk, the overlord of Divine Descendants World.

Based on information provided by the Magus Civilization, as well as intelligence gathered by the Arriba Chamber of Commerce, this Divine Descendant Overgod should have been an exceptionally formidable opponent.

Yet, Marduk had remained hidden all this time, like a turtle that refused to leave its shell.

As for the enemy’s elite legions, they referred to the direct divine servants led by the peak Rank Six deities of Divine Descendants World.

None of these legions had been spotted either.

It was truly bizarre!

Even the Arriba Chamber of Commerce, despite its vast intelligence network, knew very little about Divine Descendants World.

Although this world controlled more than 1,600 complete planes, Arriba had still been unable to determine exactly how many peak Rank Six deities were guarding them.

Surely a civilization of this scale could not possibly lack such beings.

Recently, the only reliable piece of intelligence the Arriba Chamber of Commerce had obtained was a rumor.

With the assistance of the Gallant Federation, Divine Descendants World had constructed a special world-class secret treasure known as the Ark.

That name was not new to this civilizational battlefield.

The Gallant Federation had once unveiled an overlord-class fortress known as the Ark.

However, that Ark was clearly not the same as this one.

The intelligence provided by Arriba left the Dawn Empire somewhat uncertain about the enemy’s true situation.

Still, waiting idly was not the Dawn Empire’s style.

After capturing nearly a hundred planes along the outer reaches of the Divine Descendants Star Domain, the Dawn Empire legions took a brief respite before resuming their advance according to the original plan.

Their army continued deeper into the heart of the star domain.

The next offensive Sein was assigned to assist with targeting a medium-sized world known as the Cloud Dragon Stream Plane.

It was a world dominated by the aero element, though hydro elemental energy was also exceptionally abundant there.

As its name suggested, its ruling species consisted of dragon-type creatures.

The Dawn Empire placed great importance on this world.

After all, the native dragons and dragon-related resources of the Cloud Dragon Stream Plane were precisely the sort of spoils the Dawn Empire coveted most.

Sein had long noticed that the Dawn Empire’s use of dragons might surpass that of many other planes in the Astral Realm.

Its Dragon Qi and dynastic fortune were already far beyond what ordinary planar civilizations could achieve.

The Dragon Warlock Clan of Magus World also possessed profound expertise in the study and use of dragon-type creatures.

However, Magus World ultimately followed the path of magic. Its Dragon Warlocks merely drew upon the bloodline power of dragons to further their own pursuit of truth.

When it came to the study of dragons themselves, even Magus World might not be able to compare with the Dawn Empire.

Due to the unique value of Cloud Dragon Stream Plane, Princess Gongsun Wudi personally participated in the assault.

Sein could not help wondering whether she intended to capture one of the dragons and turn it into her mount.

According to the intelligence gathered so far, Cloud Dragon Stream Plane was home to two native Rank Six creatures—the White Jade Dragon King and the Azure Cloud Dragon King.

Their cultivation levels were not especially impressive. The White Jade Dragon King was only at mid-stage Rank Six, while the Azure Cloud Dragon King was at early-stage Rank Six.

However, dragon-type creatures were naturally stronger than most beings of the same rank. Moreover, within their own homeplane, where they could draw upon the power of the world’s laws, their true combat power would be greatly amplified.

The White Jade Dragon King could likely rival a late-stage Rank Six being, while the Azure Cloud Dragon King should be comparable to one at mid-stage Rank Six.

Aside from those two dragons, a large contingent of Gallant Federation garrison legions was also currently stationed both inside and outside Cloud Dragon Stream Plane.

Because of Rank Seven Overgod Marduk’s continued “inaction”, the Gallant Federation had taken primary responsibility for the defensive deployments on the outer battlefronts of the Divine Descendants Star Domain.

At present, the Gallant Federation legions stationed inside and outside Cloud Dragon Stream Plane accounted for nearly all of the federation’s elite forces across the surrounding region, which covered close to a hundred planes.

The Gallant Federation no longer had spare legions to deploy. It could only abandon ordinary small worlds and microplanes, concentrating the bulk of its remaining elite forces on the defense of this critically important medium-sized plane.

Cloud Dragon Stream Plane was currently garrisoned by two Rank Six Federation warship fleets, as well as a mobile suit legion led by a Rank Six mobile suit.

Together with the White Jade Dragon King and Azure Cloud Dragon King, five Rank Six combat forces now defended the plane below.

It was no wonder Cloud Dragon Stream Plane had proven such a difficult target for Gongsun Wudi and her forces.

Nor was it surprising that the Princess Guadian had chosen to come here in person.

By the time Sein led his legions into the vicinity of the battlefield, fierce fighting had already broken out.

And Cloud Dragon Stream Plane was not the only battlefield.

More than a hundred surrounding planes within this medium-sized world’s sphere of influence had all fallen within the Dawn Empire’s offensive range.

Several of the nearest planes were already under assault.

Upon arriving, Sein first made his way to the central command tent to meet with Gongsun Wudi.

Belphane and Mel accompanied him on either side.

As soon as Sein entered the tent, many of the Dawn Empire’s powerhouses quietly turned their attention toward him.

They had long since heard of this powerhouse from the Magus Civilization.

Not one of them dared to underestimate him!

The courtesy shown to Sein by the Princess Guardian alone was enough to reveal that his status and strength were far from ordinary.

Moreover, many of them had already heard that Sein possessed a Rank Six mechanical angel as his servant, and that together, the two employed a combat style beyond the understanding of most Dawn Empire powerhouses.

Strength was the finest calling card of all.

With the support of the Gallant Federation, the Divine Descendants Star Domain had become a formidable opponent.

Although the enemy had yet to reveal any overlord-level combat power, and not a single peak Rank Six deity had appeared, many Dawn Empire generals were already struggling on their respective planar battlefields.

That was mainly because this was the Dawn Empire’s first time facing the Gallant Federation’s legions.

It was also the first time in hundreds of thousands of years that the Martial Civilization had crossed blades with a top-tier civilization.

The Gallant Federation originally had an overlord-class war fleet heading this way, but it turned back midway to reinforce other battlefields.

If the Magus Civilization managed to push the Gallant Federation to such an extent, did that not mean they were even stronger?

The generals of the Dawn Empire looked at Sein with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

Princess Gongsun Wudi, however, remained completely at ease.

Clad in full armor, she looked up as Sein entered and said casually, “The defenses of Cloud Dragon Stream Plane are extremely tight. The Dawn Empire has yet to find a good way to break through them.”

“Master Sein, with the wisdom and perspective of the Magus Civilization, do you have any suggestions regarding our upcoming assault on this medium-sized plane?” she asked.

On the way here, Sein had already gained a general understanding of the situation on Cloud Dragon Stream Plane.

This medium-sized world possessed an exceptionally sturdy planar barrier.

However, this was not because its planar laws were particularly robust, like most geo-attribute planes.

Instead, Cloud Dragon Stream Plane used its unique planar law nodes to draw upon powerful qi vortexes, forming countless swirling pillars of White Jade Dragon Qi.

Those immense pillars rose like the spine of the world itself, seemingly propping up the very skies of Cloud Dragon Stream Plane.

It was said that the palace of the White Jade Dragon King, the mightiest being of this world, stood at the very pinnacle of the plane, close to the planar barrier above.

If the Dawn Empire wished to break through the defenses of this medium-sized plane, the best course of action was clear.

They had to destroy those pillars of White Jade Dragon Qi first.

Once that was done, breaching Cloud Dragon Stream Plane would become far easier.