Sovereign of the Ashes

Dragonkin possessed strong instincts, and Black Oblivion clearly stood out even among his kind.

Lifeforms with good survival instincts tended to thrive across star domains and planes throughout the Astral Realm—and Black Oblivion’s family exemplified this perfectly.

Although Sein had heard Black Oblivion’s muttering, his attention remained fixed on Fermera in front of him.

As a robot who had gained self-awareness and whose consciousness had grown increasingly complete, Fermera now seemed more mature than before.

Her eyes, once cold and detached, now carried far richer emotional depth.

Standing face-to-face with Sein, Fermera showed a faint mix of vexation, humiliation, and other complicated emotions.

Those feelings were likely caused by the rather awkward placement of Sein’s right hand at that moment.

The fact that a robot could feel this way was proof enough that her intelligence was developing well.

Sein, however, was not thinking that deeply. He was only trying to retrieve the cube fragment within Fermera’s body.

At Sein’s command, the blue crystal that had fused with Fermera flew out from her chest obediently.

As the crystal left her body, Fermera looked almost unwilling to part with it.

After all, it had recently integrated with numerous components within her body, gathering and recording vast amounts of information about her internal structure.

The moment they separated, Fermera involuntarily let out a muffled groan.

That distinctly feminine sound caused Qixiu and Hanliu to stare at her with eyes as wide as saucers.

Even Black Oblivion briefly forgot about the bad feeling he was feeling, as his eyes were drawn to Fermera too.

Dragons were inherently lustful creatures, and Fermera’s flawless, angelic form naturally captivated the three male dragonkins.

However, the realization that she was, in fact, a robot without a defined gender quickly dampened their impulses. What remained was simple appreciation for beauty.

After all, frolicking with robots felt a bit too avant-garde, even for them.

Black Oblivion and the others much preferred female dragons instead.

Black Oblivion even shamelessly promised his two cousins that he would introduce them to a few Rank Four female dragons once they returned to Magus World.

It was unfortunate that they had hardly seen any Byrne Empire legions on the battlefields they had been on lately, let alone any Rank Four female dragons.

Within the Magus Alliance, there were quite a few foreign deities who possessed dragon bloodlines, though whether these three would ever find suitable mates remained uncertain.

According to the growth cycle of dragonkind, they had indeed reached their prime age, at which they could begin seeking partners.

After extracting the cube fragment from Fermera’s body, Sein glanced at the angel who had just let out that peculiar groan, then pushed the Magic Cube forward.

The upgraded cube was larger and more powerful. As her first time receiving it, Fermera struggled slightly.

Naturally, the Magic Cube did not reappear on Fermera’s chest.

Instead, once inside the eight-winged angel’s body, it quickly sent out distinctive ripples of law energy from her lower abdomen and along her spine.

This accelerated Fermera’s physical recovery.

Sein had been the one who inflicted severe wounds on Fermera earlier, and now he was the one aiding her recovery—bringing everything full circle.

With the upgraded cube facilitating her recovery, the eight metal wings on Fermera’s back quickly unfurled to their full extent.

The cube also determined that these wings were a critical source of Fermera’s power.

As energy flowed into Fermera, it was directed primarily toward her wings.

Sein spared no effort in assisting Fermera, hoping to earn her trust and gain greater control over her.

It was an investment that yielded proportional returns.

With the cube now within Fermera’s body, Sein could exercise limited control over her, issuing commands so long as they did not fundamentally violate her principles.

This had been impossible until now.

Back when the cube had been inside Titanfang’s body, Sein had felt no control at all over the Rank Six intelligent robot.

As Fermera’s eight wings fully unfurled and her body curled slightly inward, Yuri watched this “shameless” robot with undisguised displeasure from the sidelines.

Although Fermera’s earlier muffled groan had stirred reactions from Black Oblivion and his cousins, it left Yuri feeling annoyed for some reason.

In the past, the cube had been for her exclusive use.

Now, the eight-winged angel felt like a rival.

It was not that Yuri cared about ownership of the Magic Cube. She simply did not want her master to give something that had originally been meant for her to someone else.

She just felt as though Fermera had taken something very important from her... and this intelligent robot’s beautiful, alluring form only deepened that sense of threat.

The Burning Flame Unit was, in a sense, of the same kind as Fermera.

Yet, as Yuri unconsciously puffed out her cheeks, the Burning Flame Unit instinctively mirrored its owner’s resentment, subtly conveying her own dislike toward Fermera.

HALL-E, who just came out of the laboratory, stared blankly at Fermera before glancing at the others.

This dense trash-cleaning robot failed to notice the tense atmosphere altogether. Instead, it was overjoyed at the sight of another of its kind.

It was no longer alone, and the growing presence of similar beings brought this simple creature genuine happiness.

Meanwhile, Fermera recovered from her injuries at a rapid pace.

With that settled, Sein’s next task was to work on upgrading the super bomb, using data provided by Gilbert and the avatar.

***

Within the subspace secret realm...

Under Bond’s control, the wreckage of the Black Merlot Civilization’s overlord-class biological warship—already explored and secured by the Gallant Federation’s special forces—suddenly emitted a peculiar particle fluctuation.

This particle wave radiated from two antenna-like appendages extending from the head section of the remains.

This overlord-class biological warship looked like a massive, jet-black centipede.

Although most of its body remained buried beneath the Steel Ruins, its countless lifeless, soulless compound eyes once again exuded boundless terror.

Disturbed by this particle fluctuation, nearly half of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s energy barriers within this subspace vanished abruptly without a trace.

The remaining barriers also showed clear signs of rapid dissolution.

At the same time, a terrifying tidal wave of power surged forth from the depths of the Gallant Federation fleets.