Sovereign of the Ashes

On the screen, Bond and the other federal agents were smashing through the obstacles in their path.

They were advancing at an impressive pace.

Sein could not help but worry that they might eventually follow the trail and reach the upper floors of the skyscraper as well.

“Why don’t we head down and coordinate with the building’s defense systems to wipe out those agents?” Black Oblivion suggested eagerly as he stepped forward.

“That eight-winged angel coming toward us could lend a hand too,” he added.

Among the group, Black Oblivion and his cousins were the least interested in this skyscraper of this top-tier civilization.

They much preferred exploring the ruins of the Black Merlot Civilization.

Master Gilbert and the others, meanwhile, remained fully absorbed in gathering intelligence at the tower’s top floor.

That left only Sein, Yuri, Black Oblivion, and his cousins as viable candidates to descend and confront the federal agents.

Even so, Sein himself was not particularly eager to go down. As a mage, he shared Master Gilbert and the others’ fascination with the technological achievements of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization.

Bond and the other agents were no pushovers.

The most likely outcome of a confrontation below would be a drawn-out stalemate, with neither side gaining a clear advantage and time steadily slipping away.

Sein shook his head. “The cube’s feedback indicates that the eight-winged angel won’t assist us against Bond and his team.

“It’s not that Fermera refuses to act against the Gallant Federation. She simply won’t lay a hand on Bond. Although she possesses emotions and independent judgment, she remains bound by past attachments.”

“The two apparently fought side by side for a long time. She still clings to those memories, which is why she refuses to harm someone she knows,” Sein said with a trace of regret.

Hearing this, Black Oblivion muttered, “Fine, then.”

“Do not worry. That being carrying the legacy of the Black Merlot Civilization will never reach this place,” the avatar assured.

“Given the current state of the Grandlight Tech Center, an overlord-level being might indeed be unstoppable. But we can definitely deal with a mere handful of Rank Four and Rank Five beings.”

The avatar’s words were not boastful. They were simple statements of fact, delivered in a calm, matter-of-fact tone.

Black Oblivion exchanged a glance with Sein. Then his eyes shifted elsewhere, lingering instead on the technological artifacts of immense value scattered around them.

***

Mid-level section of the skyscraper...

Bond advanced cautiously, unaware that every move he and his team made had long since been detected by Sein and the others on the building’s top floor.

Even before deploying the C4960 Annihilation Bomb moments earlier, Bond had believed their concealment to be flawless.

By now, Sein and his group had already been on the top floor of the skyscraper for quite some time.

That realization only deepened Bond’s sense of impending trouble.

His decision to use the C4960 Annihilation Bomb at any cost stemmed precisely from this concern.

For Bond and the Gallant Federation, not all recent intelligence had been bad news.

The small special agent team Bond had dispatched earlier to explore the wreckage of the Black Merlot Civilization’s overlord-class biological warship had made new discoveries.

Beyond several vials of precious genetic fluid, certain cultivation techniques of the Black Merlot Civilization, and various rare treasures, the team had also successfully reactivated some of the warship’s functions.

One newly discovered capability, for instance, was the warship’s ability to interfere with the numerous energy barriers deployed by the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization throughout this secret realm.

That warship had originally been designed to target the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s subspace, so possessing such specialized capabilities came as no surprise.

On its own, merely disrupting energy barriers seemed to offer limited immediate value to Bond and his team at this stage.

However, paired with the recent deployment of an apocalyptic weapon known as the Wandering Reaper, which the federal legions had successfully brought into this subspace, the situation changed completely.

With the Wandering Reaper’s overwhelming firepower, it would be possible to reduce the towering skyscraper before Bond and his team to rubble.

If the federation could not obtain what it wanted, then no one else would either!

It was a simple logic.

Bond also felt that it would be wiser to direct the first salvo of the apocalyptic weapon’s firepower at immovable targets like the skyscraper rather than risking an attack that might prove ineffective against the Magus Civilization’s Rank Six powerhouses.

The Gallant Federation, already in possession of the Black Merlot Civilization’s treasures and secrets related to their overlord-level beings, stood to gain more by ensuring that the Magus Civilization found nothing of value within this subspace ruin.

Just as Bond and his team prepared to advance deeper, an exceptionally intense energy fluctuation erupted behind them, rapidly taking form before their eyes.

It was the eight-winged angel!

Compared to last time, Fermera had undergone even more significant changes.

Aside from the addition of a brilliant, crystalline blue gem set into her chest, Bond also noticed that her two previously damaged metal wings had recovered considerably.

Yet the most striking transformation was undoubtedly in Fermera’s eyes.

Eyes were known as windows to the soul, and in this case, it rang true.

Where her gaze had once been cold and distant, it now appeared far more alive.

Moreover, when she looked at Bond, a distinct hint of something else flickered within her eyes.

As expected, she made no move against Bond or his team. Instead, she swept past them in a blur, vanishing swiftly into the depths of the skyscraper.

Despite entering this building for the first time, she seemed far more familiar with it than Bond and his team, who had been exploring it for some time.

Her flight showed no hesitation whatsoever. Bond also stopped his subordinates from attempting to attack Fermera.

He refrained not out of any lingering mercy, but because he knew it would be impossible to harm this combat robot within such a brief window.

After all, Fermera was stronger than every single one of them present!

Bond refused to waste his team’s strength pointlessly.

As they progressed deeper into the building, Bond’s heart sank when they were halted by the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s defense mechanisms.

Fermera had passed through these defenses moments earlier without encountering any resistance!

What did this imply?

The situation was even worse than Bond had anticipated.

After ordering his subordinates to halt their exploration of the skyscraper, Bond said, “Connect me to General Meston.”

Sein and the others had been unable to establish contact with Feylis and the rear forces, yet Bond and his group still possessed a means of communication with the federal legions.

This was all thanks to certain methods from the Black Merlot Civilization.