Sovereign of the Ashes

Overgod Marduk was not one to hesitate once he had made up his mind.

The moment he decided to march on Typhoon Plane, forces from the depths of Divine Descendants World quickly followed, pouring into this strategically important medium-sized world battlefield.

Coincidentally, just as Marduk personally set out, two separate reinforcement forces approached the Divine Descendants Star Domain from the direction of the Gallant Federation’s distant border.

One was a reinforcement contingent newly dispatched by the Gallant Federation.

Its size was not particularly impressive.

After all, the Gallant Federation itself no longer had troops to spare. In recent years, it had already been struggling to maintain its own battlefronts.

Even sending roughly twenty million troops to reinforce Divine Descendants World had required the Gallant Federation to grit its teeth and squeeze out everything it could afford.

This was most likely the last reinforcement force the Gallant Federation would dispatch to the Divine Descendants Star Domain.

Ever since the Dragon Clan of the Immortal Realm entered the war, the Gallant Federation had found it increasingly difficult to worry about anyone but itself.

As for the other legion arriving at the border of the Divine Descendants Star Domain, it came from this large-sized world civilization itself.

This was a formidable army of divine emissaries, led by a sizeable number of Rank Four and above deities. Several years earlier, they had answered the Gallant Federation’s call and joined the battle in the federation’s star domain.

Now that their own home star domain was under attack, these law-wielding beings from Divine Descendants World had submitted a request to return.

At last, they had been granted permission to rush home and repel the invaders.

Presumably, the Gallant Federation understood that only by sending these native gods back to defend their homeland could their full combat potential be unleashed.

After all, judging from their performance over the past few years, these foreign beings had not displayed particularly outstanding combat strength while fighting on the federation’s battlefields.

Moreover, the Gallant Federation’s legions were clearly reluctant to fight alongside these foreign forces that had embraced the path of faith.

The successive arrival of these two forces did indeed place a certain amount of pressure on the Dawn Empire Army in this star domain battlefield.

Dawn Emperor Gongsun Wuji personally mounted his dragon and rode to Typhoon Plane to confront Marduk.

In terms of individual strength, the emperor was slightly inferior to the overgod.

However, he possessed an overlord-level dragon as both his mount and partner. He also wielded the special power of Dragon Qi.

Marduk could draw upon the power of the believers and subjects throughout the Divine Descendants Star Domain to strengthen his divine might.

But the Dawn Emperor could likewise channel the Dragon Qi gathered from every legion under his command.

Furthermore, it was said that the Dawn Emperor had brought two world-class secret treasures with him—the Son of Heaven Sword and the Heirloom Seal.

Both were extraordinary artifacts capable of mobilizing the fortune of the entire Dawn Empire dynasty.

The two sides settled into a fierce standoff, neither willing to give ground. For the time being, neither side held a clear advantage.

Moreover, Dawn Emperor Gongsun Wuji commanded the Dawn Empire’s most elite forces: the Valiant Dragon Army and the Martial Emperor’s Guards.

The combined strength of these two legions was in no way inferior to the gods and believers under Overgod Marduk’s command.

However, after being ruthlessly purged and suppressed by Marduk for so many years, the Divine Descendants Star Domain severely lacked peak Rank Six combatants.

This was the greatest weakness of the entire vast star domain. At present, the only peak Rank Six combat strength they could rely on came from the two war fleets dispatched by the Gallant Federation.

It was truly a pity.

Under normal circumstances, with its vast resources and deep civilizational heritage, the Divine Descendants Star Domain should have been capable of producing many more overgods.

That would undoubtedly have strengthened Divine Descendants World as a whole.

But now that things had come to this, no matter what the final outcome might be, Marduk had no one to blame but himself.

***

With the appearance of Overgod Marduk, the frontlines of the Divine Descendants Star Domain finally entered a state of extreme tension.

Sein, who remained in the rear, was not immediately affected.

The Dawn Empire’s advance had simply been too fast.

Sein had barely finished helping sort out the aftermath of Cloud Dragon Stream Plane’s conquest when the Dawn Empire’s vanguard had already clashed several times with the main forces of the Divine Descendants World on the Typhoon Plane.

Those clashes had even involved battles between overlords.

Gongsun Wudi, whom Sein was particularly concerned about, was not currently on Typhoon Plane. Not long ago, she had arrived at another medium-sized world known as the Torre World.

No matter how one looked at it, Divine Descendants World had been forced into a hastily prepared war.

Faced with the full might of the Dawn Empire Army, Divine Descendants World could currently do little more than hold its ground on the battlefields of various medium-sized planes.

Fortunately, the Divine Descendants Star Domain was vast and home to a considerable number of medium-sized planes.

Had it been a poorer, large-sized star domain with only a few hundred complete planes, the Dawn Empire’s forces would likely have already fought their way to the gates of its homeplane.

“In General Wudi’s latest battle report, she ordered us to reinforce the rear border regions and intercept the two waves of reinforcements approaching from the Gallant Federation’s direction,” Sein announced to the assembled group in the main control room of the planetary fortress.

Present before him were not only Yuri, Belphane, and the others, but also Dawn Empire generals stationed on the Cloud Dragon Stream Plane, such as Ximen Feixiao.

The God of Scorching Wind and the God of the Black Dog, two foreign gods who had only recently sworn allegiance to Sein, were also among them.

Although Sein was not the highest-ranked being present, his extensive combat experience and the trust Gongsun Wudi placed in him were enough for everyone to accept his command.

“I have decided to lead the garrison forces of Cloud Dragon Stream Plane and several surrounding planes to intercept those two waves of reinforcements approaching from the Gallant Federation’s direction,” he declared.

“Of course, these planes have only recently fallen into our hands. We must leave a portion of our legions behind to maintain a sufficient deterrent presence, especially to prevent faith in those fallen gods from being rekindled.”

“Besides our own forces and the Dawn Empire legions stationed in the rear regions of this star domain, we will have support from another party in this battle,” Sein said.

“Who? That merchant fleet known as the Arriba Chamber of Commerce?” Belphane asked in her usual booming voice.

Sein ignored her question. After swiftly assigning combat duties to those present, he informed everyone that they would depart in a few days.

***

The support Sein had spoken of was naturally the Quatar Star Pirates, a band of space pirates operating in the Divine Descendants Star Domain whose ranks were primarily made up of demons.

Throughout the process, the Rank Six being Kigard proved himself a capable messenger.

On the journey toward the border of the Divine Descendants Star Domain, Sein carefully weighed his options.

In the end, he decided against targeting the smaller reinforcement force dispatched by the Gallant Federation. Instead, he chose to confront the far larger returning legions of the Divine Descendants Star Domain.

“The Divine Descendants World legions are vast but bloated, while the Gallant Federation’s forces are fewer in number but far more elite,” Sein said to the four Rank Five powerhouses beside him.

“As for the Rank Four and Rank Five gods of the Divine Descendants Star Domain, all of you have already seen their capabilities in previous battles. Their fighting spirit is lax. They’re nothing to fear.”

“On the contrary, since their numbers are greater, the rewards we stand to gain will be even more substantial.” Sein smiled confidently.

“Besides, we won’t be fighting alone. Quite a few Dawn Empire legions are stationed throughout this region. Should the situation take a turn for the worse, I suspect those money-loving guard legions of the Arriba Chamber of Commerce will step in as well,” Sein added.

The surrounding powerhouses readily agreed with his judgment.

What the Divine Descendants Star Domain lacked most was peak Rank Six combat power. Presumably, these legions that had only just returned to defend their homeland did not have any truly formidable combatants among them either.

Even if Sein’s group could not defeat them outright, protecting themselves would not be a problem.

War was, in the end, nothing more than a process of seizing resources.

Whether one fought on the frontlines or in the rear made little difference.

As Sein and his group arrived, Dawn Empire legions stationed across other plane regions also began gathering along the border.

The Boundary Rocks had once formed an outer barrier for Divine Descendants World, shielding it from outside eyes and serving as one of its defensive walls.

But the situation had been completely reversed now.

Sein and his forces stood within that barrier, while the reinforcements of Divine Descendants World found themselves blocked outside.