Legacy of the Void Fleet

For one, he wanted the Star Supreme Elder to understand his own limits and recognise that the difference between him and the Pantheon still existed and would continue to do so. Secondly, the Star Empire was also important to the Pantheon, and it couldn’t allow it to drift too close to the other superstates.

But that had its own limitations as well. The Pantheon wanted the Star Empire to follow its lead, but it never wanted to have it completely in its grasp either. After all, the Star Empire was already different from the other, more ordinary Tier 3 states around it. It could even be considered a semi-superstate in its own right. Because of that status, the Pantheon couldn’t simply take it under its wing completely, as doing so would disrupt the balance among all seven superstates.

They might look towards the galaxy beyond them and appear to be in cooperation, maintaining extremely good relations of mutual interest. Indeed, all seven states were interconnected through relationships that benefited each other. They were even linked together through generations of intermarriages between their respective ruling parties.

But their internal competition had never died. It had always remained, with each state constantly competing against the others over numerous matters. They had done so in the past, continued to do so in the present, and would undoubtedly continue doing so in the future.

Despite all that competition and occasional clashes, they had already established a delicate balance. Pulling the Star Empire completely into one fold would have its own consequences, something the Pantheon didn’t want to see happen. So, while they wanted to keep the Star Empire close, they never wanted it to get too close.

The third factor was that this Outer Realm Grand Eruption had genuinely caught them off guard as well, and its dangers were anything but simple! Outer Realm invasions, while filled with opportunities, carried even greater dangers of their own.

Many Star Domains had fallen victim to those exact Outer Realm invasions, and over time, for various reasons, no life other than Outer Gods and Demons had been left behind!

In some cases, entire galaxies had fallen to these invasions as well!

All of that had happened for various reasons, but one thing had remained common throughout. The old powers had always taken things too lightly, and before they knew it, they were already on their last legs.

Something all seven superstates were conscious of because of their mother organisation from beyond the galaxy! They knew they couldn’t allow this Grand Eruption of the Outer Realm to turn into a full-fledged invasion, allowing it to capture a richer part of the galaxy, especially one situated in the central region. That would be disastrous!

The Star Supreme Elder’s expression changed immediately upon hearing this, and he unconsciously muttered, ”Are you serious, Lord Clark?”

From his voice, it was clear that he wasn’t particularly excited about the news!

The Star Supreme Elder knew the methods of those seven superstates all too well! While this was indeed good news, and he could certainly use it to push back those human forces that had been invading his Empire’s Western Theatre for an entire month and had already crippled a quarter of it, inflicting heavy losses...

As much as that information made him feel good, he felt even worse about the invasion happening around the outer regions of the galaxy now! And the way Clark had conveniently brought it up...

He couldn’t help but suspect that this invasion had something to do with the seven superstates themselves!

Clark’s smile faded upon hearing the questioning tone of the Star Supreme Elder, and he frowned. He quite clearly understood the real purpose behind those words of the Star Supreme Elder.

”You’re thinking too far ahead, Supreme Elder!” he said forcefully.

A small portion of his aura, belonging to the Star Law Realm, leaked out at that very moment, putting immense pressure on the Supreme Elder for a brief moment before disappearing.

The Star Supreme Elder’s expression took a sharp turn, immediately becoming a grin before returning to normal!

”What are you talking about, Lord Clark? I was merely asking whether what you said was true or not. If it is, then it certainly works in our favour!” the Supreme Elder added with a small smile.

Clark knew that this old fossil of the Star Race was merely putting on a front in front of him! His thoughts were definitely not that simple, but Clark was helpless about it!

After all, what those fools had done regarding this matter was bizarre in itself, almost as if they were deliberately inflicting harm upon themselves!

Thinking about it, Clark felt a faint anger welling up inside him, and behind his back, he silently clenched his fist!

He firmly decided that answers would have to be demanded from those pieces of crap! What exactly had they been thinking when they dared to do this?!

It wasn’t just the Pantheon, or people like Clark within it, who were furious about this. Many of the other superstates shared the same sentiment. They had nothing to do with this matter, and yet suspicious gazes were already beginning to fall upon them!

Clark wasn’t the first one to face these questions!

They all knew how dangerous this could become and what kind of precedent it was setting across the galaxy!

As angry as Clark was, and as much as he wanted to reveal everything and tell the Star Supreme Elder, he simply couldn’t! At this moment, he couldn’t afford to show that serious differences were beginning to emerge among the superstates.

”Oh, is that it?” Clark pushed those thoughts aside and simply spoke. ”Then I must have misunderstood, Supreme Elder. Please don’t hold it against me!”

”Oh, not at all! Not at all!” The Star Supreme Elder hurriedly shook his head, saying, ”It was I who wasn’t clear enough in the first place.”

After a couple more small exchanges, the Star Supreme Elder finally said, ”If that’s all, then I’ll be on my way, Lord Clark!”

”Indeed, you should. You’re carrying too many things on your plate at the moment. You really need to take care of them,” Clark agreed, without stopping him.

”Yes.” The Star Supreme Elder nodded solemnly and disappeared from his position immediately.

Clark looked at the spot where the Star Supreme Elder had been standing just moments ago and spoke.

”The world around us is changing very quickly, and not in a good way. Things are already getting out of our control! Unlike in the past, when we had everything under control, now we don’t even have that!”

”A Grand Invasion that we all suddenly seem to have forgotten about, when it should be something we ought to be aware of... It’s almost as if we somehow forgot about it entirely!” Clark said with a frown.

”Then came the rise of the human race, which has begun once again, starting from their former home, the Holy Region, which was destroyed and cut off by those beings and their demonic artifacts!

”And their momentum is quite tremendous, almost matching ours or even slightly taking the lead!

”Followed by the appearance of the Chirami Race (Blood Race), which was deliberately facilitated by those Arcanine mad dogs, in collaboration with Outer Gods and Demons!

”Dammit!” Saying this, Clark suddenly became angry once again.

...........................................

Meanwhile, high above the Pantheon Continent, in the space surrounding it, aboard a giant spaceship over 45 km long, the Star Supreme Elder frowned as he went over his conversation with Clark.

He involuntarily reached a conclusion.

Looks like the appearance of the Chirami Race and the invasion are related to them after all! But the way Clark reacted wasn’t appropriate. It was almost as if he hated the very instance when I tried to bring him into the discussion and suggest that the Pantheon might have been involved!

It was as if he didn’t want to be associated with that matter at all! But why?

The Star Supreme Elder was confused for a moment when a seemingly impossible thought appeared in his mind.

Could it really be that the Pantheon itself had no idea about it and only learned about it later? Could some other superstate actually be responsible for this...?

If so...

The Supreme Elder’s expression turned grim, but there was also a hint of hope and excitement in his eyes.

Have gaps truly begun to appear among the seven superstates? And to this extent already?

”Ahhh! What poor luck I have!” he sighed. ”We had been waiting for that exact moment for so long, and when it finally arrived, we found ourselves in this huge mess!”

He sighed once again.

Even if that was true, the Supreme Elder knew that the current state of the Star Empire gave it no say in this opportunity, even if it genuinely existed. All because—

No!

Suddenly, as if he had stumbled upon something, the Supreme Elder paused.

Even if the