Sovereign of the Ashes

Before long, Sein reached the vanguard of the Nexon’s breakout force outside the hauler.

Titanfang was already there, but no fighting was taking place.

The source of the disturbance lay in a star domain far beyond their position.

“That should be the Bokman Star Domain,” Sein commented.

Even without a star map, he knew the federation’s star domains along their escape route by heart.

Titanfang nodded at his words.

The Bokman Star Domain was small but densely populated by federal immigrants. Though it seemed to lack a permanent heavy fleet presence, venturing there was certain to provoke strong resistance from the Gallant Federation.

More importantly, it was a detour from their course toward the Alpha-007 Star Domain. Going there would waste precious time.

“Disturbances strong enough to reach us all the way here must mean something major is happening there. Should we investigate?” Titanfang asked, gazing into the distance

In its view, Sein possessed sharp judgment.

More importantly, for the shockwaves of such chaos in the Bokman Star Domain to reach this far, it almost certainly had something to do with the Magus Civilization.

Naturally, Titanfang wished to hear the opinion of the representative from that civilization.

Not long after, Skyhold arrived too.

It had been at the fleet’s rear, tending to numerous damaged lower-tier robots.

Skyhold also turned its gaze on Sein. In their eyes, the backbone of this team was not themselves, but him.

He was the one who had first suggested heading to the Alpha-007 Star Domain, where the Magus Civilization’s reinforcements were supposed to be waiting.

Under the questioning stares of the two robot leaders, Sein paused for a moment before shaking his head.

He was certain there were far more Magus Civilization operatives infiltrating the Gallant Federation than just one or two.

Yet before setting out on this mission, Klopp and the others had shared nothing with him regarding other infiltrators.

First, Sein had no way to verify their identities. Second, there was no need for him to make contact either.

Besides, the Bokman Star Domain was in such an uproar that it was no doubt drawing heavy attention from the Gallant Federation.

Rushing there recklessly could just drag them into even greater danger.

The third reason was a more selfish one.

If the chaos in Bokman Star Domain had been stirred up by other Magus Civilization infiltrators, their “high-profile” actions would only draw more firepower from the Gallant Federation.

That, in turn, would ease the pressure on Sein and his group, making their path to Alpha-007 Star Domain less difficult.

At the end of the day, Sein had always been self-centered.

But if it truly came down to the survival of the Magus Civilization, he would probably choose to give himself up.

For now, though, things had not reached that point.

If the disturbance was only the doing of some unknown Rank Four or Five powerhouse from the Magus Civilization, Sein saw no reason to risk his life just to make contact or lend support.

If it did not take much effort, he would not have minded lending a hand to his allies.

But right now, everyone was struggling, and Sein could barely keep himself alive.

“We’re moving out at full speed. Leave this place at once. Our target is still the Alpha-007 Star Domain!” Sein ordered.

Titanfang and Skyhold exchanged glances but said nothing.

***

Not long after they left the star domain, recon robots detected that part of the pursuing federal fleet had split off, heading toward the Bokman Star Domain.

Having spent years inside the Gallant Federation, Sein knew they genuinely valued their grassroots populace.

The federation’s life planets might have had only limited permanent fleets, but each was backed by nearby military bases capable of providing swift support and protection.

Given the population of the Bokman Star Domain, the Gallant Federation could not simply turn a blind eye to the turmoil erupting there.

When charting his course to the Alpha-007 Star Domain, Sein had deliberately avoided passing through any of the federation’s life planets.

It was not out of compassion for the civilians or a wish to spare them bloodshed. Attacking or disturbing those worlds just was not worth it for him and his group.

They were not Magus World’s specialized assault units, and their immediate priority was still to escape.

If they caused too much destruction within the Gallant Federation, they risked driving the enemies into desperation.

That could prompt the federation to rally its fleets for an all-out hunt, or even deploy an overlord-class fleet, leaving them with no chance of survival.

Sein had not wasted his time inside the Gallant Federation. His understanding of the federation’s inner workings now ran surprisingly deep.

As Sein’s group pressed forward at full speed, the average frequency of the federation’s interference and ambushes along the route dropped.

Even so, while crossing the federal star domains on the way to Alpha-007, they encountered three more disturbances of varying intensity.

In the vast expanse of the starry sky, three such incidents might not seem like much, but these were only the ones that happened to lie along Sein’s route.

Assuming this was happening across the Gallant Federation, the scale of disruption the Magus Civilization had caused during the opening phase of the war was nothing short of staggering.

Of course, the federation resolved each of these disturbances one by one, but the process still consumed enormous resources.

Likewise, the Magus Civilization’s territory was no doubt plagued by its own share of chaos.

This was simply the norm for both sides in the opening phase of war.

Still, it was unlikely the federation had managed to penetrate deeply into Magus World’s heart, just as the Magus Civilization’s forces found it nearly impossible to infiltrate the Gallant Federation’s overlord-class fleet formations.

More than that, what concerned Sein most was the situation at the front lines.

Several months had passed since the Gallant Federation declared war on the Magus Civilization.

In the grand span of a Clash of Civilizations, a few months were nothing.

Even Sein and his allies needed years, sometimes decades, to fully conquer a low-level plane.

Yet war between two top-tier civilizations was nothing like an interplanar campaign led by a handful of Rank Four entities.

Though only months had passed, the transfer of dozens, even hundreds, of planes from one side to the other was already normal.

“I wonder if the mentors have joined the fight... Has the Divine Tower of Ashes been affected since the Clash of Civilizations began?” Sein wondered aloud.

“Hopefully, all is well,” he murmured as he gazed into the distant stars.