Sovereign of the Ashes

Bev nodded approvingly at Klopp’s commitment.

She did not even mention anything about allocating resources to Klopp, knowing well that it was unnecessary.

With his wealth and connections within the Magus World alone, Klopp surely had ample resources to attempt a breakthrough to become an overlord.

This Rank Six Peak knight commanded respect from many overmages and overlords in the Magus World.

It was even highly probable that the Magus Alliance would proactively provide all necessary resources for his rise to overlord status—at no cost!

After all, Klopp’s long-standing contributions to the Magus Civilization more than justified such generosity.

Contrary to Bev’s earlier statement, the Western Archipelago did not lack overlords.

In fact, the group of black mages and black knights in the north was also part of this archipelago.

In the south-central region alone, there were several overlords and overmages.

However, the type of overlord Bev referred to was specifically a knight overlord or a soul overmage.

This group had largely relocated to the Eastern Stargazing Heights after Jehovah Nordin returned and established the soul tower there.

Hence, the south-central region of the Western Archipelago currently lacked knights and mages of Rank Seven and above.

There was also an overlord-level knightly order in the Western Archipelago known as the Grand Order of Supreme Knights.

Situated at the heart of the Knight Continent, this Grand Order was a legacy of a Rank Nine entity within the Magus World, establishing itself as the paramount order for countless knights across the realm.

Previously, Klopp had shown little enthusiasm for ascending to a Rank Seven overlord, partly due to his reluctance to disrupt the unique status of the Grand Order of Supreme Knights within the Western Archipelago.

However, spurred by Bev’s persistent encouragement and eloquence, Klopp had now resolved to pursue the overlord realm once again.

The rise of a local overlord or overmage would likely have a siphoning effect on beings of Rank Four and above in the vicinity.

Since Steel City, a burgeoning power, was beginning to rival the Western Archipelago in the number of its divine knights and mages, Klopp was determined not to let Western Archipelago, the holy land of the Magus World’s knights decline on his watch.

The Western Archipelago was actually a formidable force. Beyond its thousands of local divine knights and divine mages, it could mobilize forces that far surpassed other major forces in the Magus World.

As key members of the Magus Alliance, large-sized planes like the Elven World, Beastmen World, and Amethyst World stood as the most dependable partners and allies of the Western Archipelago. Each of these worlds was governed by an overlord.

Furthermore, the Western Archipelago maintained strong personal ties with some of the unaffiliated overlords within the Magus Alliance.

As an ancient and powerful force within the Magus World, the Western Archipelago had always played a significant role in the Magus Civilization, largely due to the contributions and legacy of that Rank Nine being.

Could Klopp truly succeed in becoming an overlord?

The middle-aged knight’s solemn expression suggested he was far from certain of success, yet he was fully committed to the task at hand.

Bev, however, seemed quite confident in him.

After reassuring Klopp several more times, Bev mentioned, “Ideally, this should not take longer than ten thousand years.”

“Is something about to happen?” Klopp, with his keen intuition, could not help but inquire.

As one of the elite in the Magus World, it was only a matter of time before Klopp would uncover pertinent information.

Bev did not withhold any details and replied honestly, “With the Neisse Star Domain war drawing to a close, our tensions with the Gallant Federation are escalating.”

”As a technological civilization that has quietly ascended to the top tier, the Gallant Federation is not inclined toward peaceful coexistence with us after restraining itself for so many years. In fact, their deployment of troops to the Rosen Dynasty is a clear display of their power.”

“Even if the Rosen Dynasty Civilization and its vassal civilizations had not requested our aid, we cannot simply ignore the Gallant Federation’s expansion. We have to protect our interests and the influence of our civilization,” Bev explained, shaking her head.

Sometimes, the initiation of war had nothing to do with right or wrong—it could be purely a matter of interest.

The Gallant Federation’s actions were undermining the Magus Civilization’s interests, necessitating a response.

Conversely, it appeared the Gallant Federation had grown weary of the Magus Civilization’s dominant grip on the surrounding star domains for almost two hundred thousand years.

Historically, they were even more powerful than the Magus Civilization. It was only later that the Magus Civilization surpassed them.

The victors were deemed righteous, while the vanquished were painted as villains.

Such was the cruel and realistic nature of this world. The harsh survival laws of the Astral Realm showed little mercy for the weak.

Bev’s mention of a ten-thousand-year timeframe likely anticipated the conflict with the Gallant Federation intensifying and evolving into a full-scale war between these two top civilizations within that period.

Of course, this could happen sooner or later.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Stargazing Heights had been monitoring this situation closely for years, prompted by the Rank Seven soul astrologer, Jehovah Nordin, who delivered a dire prophecy from another star domain.

The prospect of waging war against the Gallant Federation was a significant concern for the Magus Civilization’s leaders.

If a war were to break out with the Gallant Federation, it would be a significant event. After all, they were also a top-tier civilization, not just another large-world entity.

If Master Jehovah Nordin’s ominous prophecy came true during the conflict with the Gallant Federation, could the Magus Civilization end up fighting a war on two fronts?

This possibility was certainly not pleasant news.

It highlighted the double-edged sword of astrology—while it could aid the Magus Civilization in anticipating and mitigating some challenges, it could also create significant dilemmas for its leaders.

Nonetheless, these were considerations for Magus Civilization’s decision-makers like Bev.

Klopp only needed to know when he should have achieved his breakthrough.

“The Gallant Federation and the Rosen Dynasty Civilization are both our old acquaintances. I never thought we would one day be at war with them...” He sighed, perhaps recalling scenes from a distant past.