Sovereign of the Ashes

To the mid and lower-tier creatures watching from the outskirts of the overlord-level battlefield in Divine Descendants World, it looked as though an enormous crystal-blue warship was plummeting straight toward the ground.

In reality, however, Marduk’s primary target was not Sein, who had temporarily transformed into a massive “lump of metal” below.

It was the Empress of Blades.

High above Sein, there was a tiny black figure no larger than a grain of rice. It was none other than the Empress of Blades.

With her terrifying speed and ability to teleport through space, it would have been extremely difficult for Marduk to strike her with the Ark, even with this desperate final charge.

However, since Sein was directly beneath them, and the Empress of Blades wanted neither the Ark destroyed nor Divine Descendants World plunged into an age of catastrophe, she chose to intercept Marduk’s attack head-on.

“What a troublesome fellow. All he ever thought about before was survival. Now that there’s no escape left, and he has even scattered his fragments of divine consciousness, he finally remembered how to fight to the death and drag his enemy down with him, huh?” the Empress of Blades said coldly.

For Marduk to believe he could take the Empress of Blades down with him was nothing short of delusional.

Given her physical strength and the depth of her overlord soul, it would take at least three more Marduks launching suicide attacks at the same time to truly threaten her.

Marduk’s real target in this final act of mutual destruction was the large-sized plane beneath them— Divine Descendants World.

At this critical moment, Sein and even the Empress of Blades were merely additional targets caught up in Marduk’s rampage.

If he managed to kill either of them along the way, it would be an unexpected gain. If not, there was nothing to complain about. The disparity in strength between the two sides was just too great.

Had the planar will of Divine Descendants World still possessed enough strength and vitality, perhaps Marduk’s actions would have driven it into such fury that it unleashed divine punishment upon him.

He had failed to bring much prosperity to his own plane. Yet now, as his end drew near, he intended to drag his homeplane down with him.

There were not many beings in the Astral Realm as twisted as Marduk.

Still, even the twisted had their own unique strengths.

And so, for the sake of Divine Descendants World’s future value in the war, the Empress of Blades had no choice but to confront this madman to the bitter end.

At first, she appeared as nothing more than a grain-sized speck in Sein’s field of vision.

However, as the Empress of Blades and Marduk drew closer to his battlefield, Sein finally saw what was happening.

The Empress of Blades stood directly before the Ark’s hull, holding back the colossal warship with one arm and forcibly slowing its descent.

Meanwhile, her other arm thrust straight toward Marduk’s true body hidden within the Ark.

The Ark was already severely battered. It could no longer offer Marduk any meaningful protection.

A copious amount of overgod blood trickled down the Empress of Blades’ razor-sharp bone-like appendages.

Marduk paid no attention to those already lodged near his heart and neck.

His life force was fading rapidly, and his Omnipotent Soul was nearly exhausted. Perhaps he was already imagining the scene that would unfold once the Ark and his body crashed into the ground below.

He would die in the very world where he had been born.

Marduk had remained tense for far too long. Yet on the eve of his death, he finally experienced a rare moment of peace.

Strangely enough, he did not find the feeling unpleasant.

Meanwhile, the Empress of Blades had unconsciously shifted from her initial combat form into her full battle form, the same form she had assumed while fighting Venerable Weiwu’s phantom.

Only in this state did she feel confident enough to stop Marduk’s self-destructive charge.

In truth, Fermont the Deathspawn and the Thunder Beast King would have been far better suited to withstand the impact of Marduk crashing down with the Ark.

Unfortunately, one of them was still foolishly circling high in the sky, while the other had already moved too far away.

Moreover, although Fermont and the Thunder Beast King were exceptionally capable meat shields, they shared the same weakness... They were both too slow.

The Empress of Blades had already issued orders to Fermont the moment she sensed the danger.

Countless pitch-black tentacles shot downward from his massive body, attempting to intercept the Ark. However, they were still a step too slow to catch up with its descent.

On the ground, although Sein had already spotted the Empress of Blades, he had no intention of halting his attacks or abandoning his preparations for the incoming collision.

Entrusting his life entirely to someone else was not in Sein’s nature.

More importantly, he did not even know the Empress of Blades well!

The particle cannon mounted on the colossal fortress robot’s left arm fired instantly, sending a brilliant beam of energy straight toward the Ark’s left flank.

At the same time, the gigantic elemental mask projection before Sein finished charging its offensive forbidden spell.

Scorching light and pyro elemental mana surged into the sky. A blinding pillar of blazing light suddenly erupted across the overlord-level battlefield!

Standing beneath Sein’s colossal metal form, Sethem froze in shock as the two overlords descended toward the battlefield.

However, the Rank Six demon and the others around him, including the God of Black Mist, still held one advantage. They remained at the edge of the battlefield, and the frenzied Marduk had not chosen them as his target.

The colossal fortress robot Sein had transformed into stood precisely where Marduk intended to bring the Ark crashing down!

“Bro, I really can’t help you with this! Maybe Lord Gustavo could handle it, but I’m out of here!”

Sethem hurriedly sheathed his greatsword, spread his demon wings, and fled into the distance.

Yuri, who was piloting the Burning Flame Unit, had been ready to charge forward without a second thought.

However, just as Sein launched his counterattack, he ordered everyone around him to scatter even farther away.

Sein had no intention of dragging anyone down with him. Besides, he did not believe he would die here. It was a strange intuition, yet he trusted it.

The moment Sein saw the Empress of Blades, the Faceless Mask gave off a faint warmth.

An inexplicable sense of reassurance filled him, as though the mask were telling him that he could trust her.

Both Marduk and the Ark were already at their limits.

Sein’s attack, which was at most comparable to that of a late-stage Rank Six being, shattered the crystal-blue barrier surrounding Marduk into countless fragments.

The remaining force even hit Marduk!

Sein had struck an overlord!

And he had truly wounded him!

Thanks to the Faceless Mask’s exceptional battlefield awareness, Sein still managed to notice the wound he had inflicted on Marduk amidst the tense moments before the crisis struck.

Overlord blood trickled down the Ark’s damaged crystal walls.

At the same time, as the two overlords rapidly closed in on his position, Sein finally experienced the true meaning of an overlord’s might firsthand!

The faint traces of power he had previously sensed from the outskirts of an overlord-level battlefield were nothing compared to this.

Only now did Sein truly understand just how terrifying this power was. It was far beyond anything an ordinary being could imagine.

At that moment, Sein, a late-stage Rank Five life form standing before overlords like the Empress of Blades and Marduk, was perhaps no different from a Rank Two being facing Rank Four or Rank Five deities.

Their power had already surpassed the limits of his imagination.

For Sein, this unprecedented experience was itself a form of growth.

In particular, the experience of daring to strike Marduk and briefly taking part in a battle involving an overlord would give him something to reflect upon for many years to come... perhaps until the day he became an overlord himself.

The power behind Sein’s attacks was already beginning to fade. At such close range, with so little time remaining, he no longer had enough strength to unleash another attack of the same magnitude.

Ordinary instantaneous energy attacks would likely have no effect on Marduk as he descended at terrifying speed.

The colossal fortress robot continued holding its defensive stance.

However, Sein, positioned at its very center, had almost no strength left in reserve.

He watched as the Ark and the Empress of Blades drew ever closer in the sky.

The excitement he had felt after landing a blow and wounding Marduk gradually faded. In its place came a strange clarity.