Sovereign of the Ashes

High above the Divine Descendants World battlefield, the Empress of Blades gazed nonchalantly at Marduk standing before her.

Far below, the remaining Divine Descendant deities had already launched their final desperate counterattack.

Only around a hundred law-wielding native deities remained, and every one of them was wounded.

Yet perhaps because they had been pushed into a corner with no path of retreat, their momentum was surprisingly fierce.

They had actually managed to break through the encirclement formed by the combined forces of the Insectoids and the Dawn Empire outside the Land of Trapped Gods.

Those with the strongest fighting spirit were already closing in on the overlord-level battlefield.

Meanwhile, large numbers of high-ranking Insectoid powerhouses were converging on the area, while the Dawn Empire had dispatched one of its generals specifically to intercept them.

The demons were also doing what they did best.

These remaining Divine Descendants, the last native deities of their world, would not be able to hold out for much longer.

Even so, the fierce battle raging below had yet to affect the situation on the overlord-level battlefield.

The divine scepter in Marduk’s hand was already covered in countless gashes from the Empress of Blades’ relentless attacks.

Not only was that world-class secret treasure on the verge of being destroyed, but Marduk’s treasured artifact, the Ark, was in no better condition.

For more than a hundred thousand years, Marduk had poured immense effort into the Ark.

Yet what now hovered in the sky was a battered crystal-blue warship, its hull riddled with holes as it struggled to maintain its energy barrier.

A massive palm print stood out starkly on the Ark’s barrier beside him.

The mark was still fresh.

The violent tremors Sein and the native deities in the Land of Trapped Gods had felt moments earlier, along with the widespread severing of Marduk’s threads of faith, had largely been caused by that single blow.

Vast amounts of ethereal, crystalline-blue law energy continued pouring from the Ark’s damaged sections, as though its very power were bleeding away.

The escaping energy gathered into a magnificent blue river stretching across the skies of this large-sized plane.

Unfortunately, very few beings were capable of witnessing such a breathtaking sight because this was an overlord-level battlefield.

“Spare my life, and I’ll sign a contract with the strictest terms you demand.”

Marduk then pointed toward the distant battlefield where Venerable Muge was fighting.

“I can even help you take that guy down,” he added.

A vast amount of divine blood poured from Marduk’s body.

Desperate to survive, he no longer cared about anything else. At this point, he seemed willing to agree to any terms.

“Aren’t you betraying your followers and the gods under your command by doing this?” the Empress of Blades asked with a soft chuckle, glancing down at the Divine Descendants who were still fighting desperately.

Marduk did not even spare them a glance. His eyes remained fixed on the Empress of Blades before him.

On the Divine Descendants World battlefield, she was clearly the one who held the final say.

After all, both the Dawn Emperor and the demon overlord followed her command.

Under Marduk’s intense gaze, the smile on the Empress of Blades’ lips gradually faded.

“That’s not necessary,” she replied coldly. “I’m far more interested in your divine artifact and divine relic than in your cheap, unreliable promises.”

Clearly, she had already set her sights on Marduk’s Ark.

“YOU—!” Marduk roared in fury.

Under his divine control, every weapon still functioning aboard the heavily damaged Ark began charging at once. In the next instant, they unleashed their full power toward the Empress of Blades.

The Empress of Blades spread the enormous bone wings on her back, blocking much of the divine power surging toward her.

Fermont the Deathspawn beneath her feet endured the brunt of what remained.

A strange ripple of spatial law passed through the air. In the next instant, the Empress of Blades appeared behind Marduk. Her claws and bone-like appendages tore toward his back.

That spot marked not only the location of Marduk’s heart, but also the approximate position of his divine relic.

After fighting him for so long, the Empress of Blades had already determined that the two most valuable things he possessed were the Ark and his divine relic.

Her many years of wandering through the Astral Realm had given her more than enough experience to recognize their worth.

The value of the Ark went without saying.

As for Marduk’s divine relic, its true value did not come merely from the fact that he was a peak Rank Seven overgod.

He had mastered an unusually broad range of divine laws, making the divine relic’s attributes exceptionally well-rounded.

A divine relic of this quality could truly be considered top-tier.

Since she would soon be seeing her sister again, the Empress of Blades had been wondering what gift to bring her.

If Marduk’s divine relic could be fashioned into a magic staff, it would undoubtedly be of excellent quality.

It would also make a fitting thank-you gift for her sister, who had secured another batch of inert crystal deposits for her.

As for her younger brother from Titan World... she was not going to waste her time worrying about him.

In the Empress of Blades’ view, she could not afford to spoil this younger brother of hers.

Only by letting that kid struggle and learn the hard way on the battlefields of the Astral Realm would he truly grow.

As for her eldest niece and the two nephews she had never met, the Empress of Blades found herself missing them a little.

In fact, she had already prepared a small gift for each of them on her journey back.

As the battle between the Empress of Blades and Marduk erupted once more, the Dawn Emperor, the demon overlord, and the others stationed at the edge of the overlord-level battlefield stepped forward one after another to lend a hand.

The reason Marduk, a peak Rank Seven overgod, had been defeated so quickly was largely due to the combined assault of so many overlords.

The stars above Divine Descendants World grew dim and lifeless once again.

More and more meteors rained from the sky.

Who knew whose divine nation would be destroyed this time...

By the time Sein reached the edge of the overlord-level battlefield, Fermera was locked in combat with a peak Rank Five native deity.

Fermera clearly held the advantage in strength. However, the native deity before her had completely cast aside all concern for life and death. He paid no attention to the divine power he unleashed or the injuries accumulating across his body.

To an outside observer, it almost looked as though he was the one forcing Fermera back.

Indeed, the bold feared the reckless, while the reckless feared those with nothing left to lose.

Fermera was not afraid of her opponent, but after awakening her own intelligence, she naturally chose the more rational approach to battle.

Being forced onto the defensive for a while was no issue.

She might lose some face, but she would still gain the upper hand.

There was no need to increase her energy output against the native deity before her. All she had to do was stall a little longer, and her opponent would exhaust himself.

Upon arriving, Sein glanced first at the overlord-level battlefield high above, then at Fermera, before extending his right hand.

Having coordinated with him countless times before, Fermera instantly understood his intention—he wanted to end the battle quickly.

Her eight metallic wings suddenly spread wide as her body began to transform, and she lunged straight toward Sein.

By the time the frenzied peak Rank Five native deity realized his opponent had vanished and turned toward Sein, the Magus Civilization mage had already fused with Fermera.

He held a magic scepter in his left hand. Its tip was already blazing with blinding elemental light.

At the same time, the particle cannon mounted above the scepter’s ornament rapidly charged with energy.

The terrifying power gathering there seemed to snap the frenzied peak Rank Five native deity back to his senses for a brief moment.

But whether he had truly regained his clarity no longer mattered.

Sein’s next strike had already arrived.

His right claw had transformed into a demonic arm encased in a heavy metallic fist formed from Fermera’s body.

The eight metallic wings on his back propelled him forward with tremendous force as he drove his fist viciously into the native deity’s cheek.

At the same time, the Magic Cube embedded in his chest radiated a deep blue glow.

With a single punch, Sein sent the native deity, who had still been brimming with energy moments earlier, plummeting from the clouds toward the ground.

As he fell, the only image lingering in his mind was that iron fist growing larger and larger before his eyes.

A thunderous tremor shook the ground. By the time the dust began to settle, a massive basin had appeared within Sein’s field of vision.

The native deity he had struck down lay at its very center.

Before he could even struggle back to his feet, the single-target spell and concentrated particle cannon already prepared in Sein’s left hand suddenly merged.

In the next instant, a powerful beam of energy shot straight down from the sky.

The dazzling mixed beam drew astonished glances from many nearby Rank Five and Rank Six beings.

On the ground, the newly formed basin expanded even further.