Sovereign of the Ashes

The native creatures of White Sand World taking the initiative to charge through the planar barrier only showed how little they truly knew about the Magus World, and how unaware they were of just how powerful their enemies really were.

The most rational course of action for them would have been to remain within the barrier and stay on the defense.

By relying on the terrain, the advantages of their homeplane's laws and environment, they could have held out for a much longer time.

In fact, geo elemental worlds had always been one of the most difficult types of planes to conquer in the entire Astral Realm.

Back during the Bouldrak World War that Sein had participated in, Eugene would have never managed to conquer that geo elemental world so quickly if he had not received support from the other beast gods of Beastmen World. There was no way he could have done it with just the half-beastmen.

In battles between Rank Four beings, only demigods and Rank Three entities could even perceive the slightest clue of what was happening.

All Rank One, Rank Two beings, and cannon fodder below Rank One could only see a blinding storm of energy and elemental forces. Their limited perception made it impossible to even glimpse the figures of the Rank Four powerhouses.

The area around Lorianne had already transformed into a swirling maelstrom of green dendro elemental energy.

Every now and then, flashes of purple elemental waves would flicker through. They were signs of Lorianne casting poison spells.

With the power of Sein's forbidden spell intensifying, he now looked like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

Blinding white and deep crimson flames were starting to manifest in the starry sky around him.

It was no wonder that Rank Four and above beings were called "gods". In this moment, Sein bore little resemblance to a human.

Meanwhile, Berecca had become like an elusive, green breeze.

It turned out that this Rank Four knight not only wielded dendro-attribute battle qi but also had mastery over aero-attribute laws.

In modern times, it was no longer uncommon for knights of the Magus World to cultivate two, or even three or more, types of battle qi.

Times were always advancing, and just like mages who learn multiple elemental magic, knights with enough talent and the willpower to endure brutal training now had the potential to achieve greater things.

Berecca was a shining example—she had mastered both wood-type and aero-attribute battle qi laws. It was no wonder Bernice had recommended her for this war.

As it happened, the White-Winged Bird King also specialized in aero-elemental law. When faced with Berecca, who commanded both wind and wood powers, it was as if it had encountered its nemesis.

The power of its law was significantly weakened, reducing the damage it could inflict on the female knight.

As for the White-Winged Bird King's claws—sharp enough to shatter gold and stone—they were still no match for Berecca's longsword and her reinforced enchanted armor.

By the time the Rank Four beings had traded several blows, the two space fortresses suddenly erupted with the most brilliant and dazzling bursts of elemental flame across the entire starry sky.

The native legion from White Sand World, following behind the bird king, never even got close enough to strike a single blow before being engulfed by a terrifying saturation bombardment.

As a low-level plane that had evolved naturally and freely over time, White Sand World had never developed any kind of advanced civilization. Its creatures mostly lived in primitive tribal structures.

With no durable armor, no disciplined formations, and far too few high-ranking lifeforms, this was not even a fair fight.

The hundreds of thousands of native creatures that broke through the planar barrier were not so much launching an attack on the Magus World's two space fortresses as they were charging to their deaths.

Within mere moments, vast stretches of the battlefield were littered with scorched corpses and burned remains.

Most terrifying were the concentrated light beams that pierced through the chaos, fired from the secondary magic cannons of the fortresses.

These were no ordinary secondary weapons. After building up energy, their destructive power exceeded the standard by far.

Several blood-red beams lanced directly through the front ranks of the native legion, cutting deep into the rear ranks without losing intensity.

While these beams did not cover as wide an area as the general barrage of magic artillery, their impact was even more psychologically devastating!

The explosive combat power of the Magus World space fortresses had been revealed in full during that first moment of retaliation, leaving the native creatures of White Sand World stunned and unprepared.

Many of the stronger native beings at the front were especially shaken by the brutal display of force.

Still, not every creature was paralyzed by fear and confusion in the face of such power.

The guardian responded the fastest. It quickly issued a flurry of commands, prompting a small group of geo elemental creatures within the native ranks to begin moving toward specific energy nodes scattered in all directions.

At the same time, the largest—though slowest—unit, the insect legion, began reorganizing under the joint orders of the queen and the guardian.

Soon, a swarm of yellow insects lined the front of the native ranks.

Covered in striped and spotted yellow shells, these insects clearly possessed a strong affinity for geo elemental energy.

Their offensive strength was still uncertain, but their defensive capabilities were formidable.

This swarm of tiny yellow insects actually managed to block a surprising portion of the energy beams fired from the fortress.

Although native creatures were still falling from the sky like dumplings, their numbers and density had noticeably decreased compared to before.

White Sand World's response did not end there.

As the swarm gradually stabilized, a faint pale yellow mist began to spread over the surface of the native legions, forming a secondary line of defense with the yellow insects.

This energy mist resembled a crude elemental shield, proving White Sand World had actually developed a basic form of formation-based defense.

The source of this mist came from a handful of geo elemental creatures scattered among the native legion.

The ingenuity of a species should never be underestimated.

For White Sand World to have reached the standards of a low-level plane and produced two Rank Four creatures, it must have had some extraordinary qualities.

With both the insect wall and the energy shield in place, the casualty rate among the native creatures began to drop sharply.

They continued to press forward toward the Magus World Army. Despite the overwhelming pressure exerted by the two space fortresses, the appearance of these twin layers of protection allowed many creatures to catch their breath and regroup.

Even the winged birds, who had previously charged ahead with the most momentum, could no longer fly freely in the face of the fortress firepower and the saturation bombardments unleashed by the mages inside.

Instead, they were forced to pull back and dive into the insect formations for cover.

Ironically, many of the flying creatures and insects in White Sand World were natural enemies, predator and prey. But now, under the shadow of a common threat, they fought side by side in a rare display of unity.

Like a thick, lumbering turtle shell, the White Sand World legion crept forward—slow, but steady and unyielding.

The Magus World Army, on the other hand, had yet to make any further moves.

Waving her magic rod and sprinkling magic spices with her other hand, Lorianne turned to her apprentice and asked, "Are you almost ready? I have to admit, these little things are pretty good."

"Almost," Sein replied, raising his magic rod and pointing its tip, shaped like two dragons coiled around a pearl, straight at the advancing White Sand World legion.

Behind those native creatures lay their home.