Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 1746: Small-Volume Trade

“You fool! Have you not figured it out yet? These Magus Civilization overlords never intended to take you back!” the Eighth Pharaoh shouted at the Evileye Tyrant Monarch.

“Hurry and help me! With my left arm’s current burst power, I still have a chance to tear open a space-time rift!”

A sinister light flashed across the Evileye Tyrant Monarch’s colossal eyeball.

Its broken sclera, soaked in dark crimson-purple blood, glimmered with an eerie, demonic radiance.

Caught between Bev of the Magus Civilization and the Eighth Pharaoh, the despicable and shameless creature finally made what it believed to be the correct decision.

An Evileye beam shot straight toward Klopp on the flank of the battlefield.

As an overlord-level being, the Evileye Tyrant Monarch’s perception was frighteningly sharp.

During this battle, it had determined that Klopp—who had only recently ascended to the overlord realm—was the weakest among those present.

Unfortunately, the Evileye Tyrant Monarch was already severely injured, with less than a tenth of its Overlord Soul remaining compared to its peak state.

Otherwise, with its power of Evileye, it might have located the Rank Seven astrologer hidden within the surrounding starry sky and delivered a devastating strike.

Mages were far less resilient than knights, and astrologers were known for lacking in both offensive and defensive capabilities.

The creature’s enormous eyeball swept across the battlefield for a moment but found no trace of the soul-level astrologer.

Left with no alternative, the Evileye Tyrant Monarch fixed its sights on Klopp.

Seeing Klopp targeted, Hela—who had been assisting her aunt at the edge of the battlefield—stepped forward. Patting the Jormungandr beneath her, she called out, “Uncle Klopp, I’ll help you!”

Hela had grown up in the Western Archipelago of Magus World, where she had formed deep bonds with Klopp and his family.

Although she had become an overlord before him, Hela had always regarded Klopp as an elder.

To her surprise, Klopp refused her help at this critical moment.

Clad in full armor, he raised a hand to stop her. “Help Lady Bev and the others first. Leave the Evileye Tyrant Monarch to me!”

“Since becoming an overlord, I have yet to face a truly worthy opponent,” Klopp said as he clenched his fists. A pitch-black spear slowly materialized behind him.

“I only hope my skills have not grown rusty.”

Klopp’s greatest advantage lay in the sheer abundance of his Omnipotent Soul.

Even relying solely on his Overlord Soul, he could grind the Evileye Tyrant Monarch down to death in this battle.

By using his own Overlord Soul to sustain the fight, Klopp tempered and strengthened himself through relentless combat.

In the Astral Realm, only newly ascended overlords could afford such extravagance.

More experienced overlords, especially those approaching late-stage Rank Seven, wielded their power with far greater precision. As a result, they were far more conservative in overlord-level battles.

The most valuable currency in the Astral Realm was undoubtedly an overlord’s Omnipotent Soul.

Even a single wisp of it carried incalculable value.

Yet throughout recorded history, no one had ever traded their Omnipotent Soul.

Neither the Magus Alliance nor the Arriba Interstellar Chamber of Commerce, despite its vast commercial reach, had ever witnessed such a transaction.

As a Magus Civilization overlord, Klopp was fundamentally different from Rank Seven overlords born in large-sized planes.

As a member of a top-tier civilization, he possessed the rare ability to partially regenerate the Omnipotent Soul expended in battle.

It was said that Klopp’s knightly order was nearly complete.

At present, he stood as the sole knight overlord in the central-southern region of the Western Archipelago.

Every knightly order across the Western Archipelago could, to some extent, contribute to restoring his Omnipotent Soul.

Because of this, Klopp felt little concern over the costs of this battle.

It was also worth noting that Klopp was an overlord who wielded the power of umbra-attribute battle qi and laws.

Even so, his path differed markedly from that of Aeberton.

“I don’t think that one will last much longer,” Bev said as she observed the clash between Klopp and the Evileye Tyrant Monarch.

Turning to those around her, she added, “Keep it up, everyone. Don’t let him escape.”

***

On the subspace battlefield...

Before anyone realized it, another six years had passed.

Whether engaged in interplanar warfare or routine experiments, time always seemed to pass swiftly for high-ranking beings.

Previously, the Rosen Dynasty Civilization had dispatched a Rank Five psychic named Venoia, along with a commander named Leston piloting a Rank Five mobile suit, to negotiate with Sein over the export of Energy Amethysts and potential knowledge transfer.

At the time, Sein did not give an immediate answer.

After several follow-up inquiries from the other party, he finally agreed to export a small quantity of Energy Amethysts to the Rosen Dynasty Civilization—albeit reluctantly.

However, he made it clear that he would not disclose any information regarding the origins of Energy Amethysts.

What puzzled Sein most was that the Rosen Dynasty Civilization never attempted to approach the Magus Civilization’s leadership to pressure him over his decision.

Only Grandmaster Feylis had casually asked about the matter once. It was after that brief conversation that Sein ultimately agreed to a small-scale trade.

He had no choice but to do so. Sein could refuse almost anyone, but not his grandmaster.

He had already accumulated a substantial stockpile of Energy Amethysts, more than enough to sustain the combat needs of Fermera and the Burning Flame Unit.

His initial reluctance to trade with the Rosen Dynasty Civilization stemmed from a simple concern: he did not want to expose the Magic Cube in his possession.

Since his days as a black magic initiate, Sein had understood that possessing treasures invited trouble.

If the Magic Cube were merely a low-tier world-class secret treasure, its existence might attract envy, but nothing more than that.

However, if its true potential were revealed, along with the fact that it had absorbed the laws contained within many technological artifacts of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization, the trouble it would invite would be far more serious.

Against the backdrop of the Clash of Civilizations, keeping a low profile was the wiser choice.

Sein had no desire to disappear without a trace or meet an untimely end on some battlefield.

He firmly believed in the strength of the Magus Civilization, but he had never believed the world to be a gentle or forgiving place.

Fortunately, the Rosen Dynasty Civilization had behaved well over the past few years.

Aside from Veunoia’s brief mention during their last meeting about possibly expanding the volume of Energy Amethyst trade, they had not done anything that crossed the line. In fact, they had been quite courteous toward Sein throughout the negotiations.

Having joined the Magus Alliance relatively recently, the Rosen Dynasty Civilization possessed limited reserves of magicoin.

Amidst the ongoing Clash of Civilizations, the Magus Civilization strictly required alliance members to settle large-scale trade transactions using magicoin, especially those involving the movement of war resources.

As a result, the Rosen Dynasty Civilization found itself even shorter on magicoin.

During the negotiations, Veunoia had privately asked whether Sein would consider accepting energy crystals or other goods of equivalent value.

After consulting his grandmaster, Sein ultimately agreed.

He understood that this arrangement with the Rosen Dynasty Civilization did not strictly comply with the Magus Alliance’s regulations.

Fortunately, the transaction volume was small, and the Magus Civilization generally turned a blind eye to such minor private deals between alliance members.

Of course, large-scale transactions were an entirely different matter.

This arrangement benefited both Sein and the Rosen Dynasty Civilization.

The Magus Civilization might incur a minor loss, but that could not be helped, as Sein had only a very limited quantity of Energy Amethyst to offer.

Of course, Sein did not keep these gains to himself. Under the pretext of visits, he regularly presented gifts to his grandmaster.

As a Rank Six mage, Feylis was also very interested in specialties and biological specimens from the Rosen Dynasty Civilization’s former home star domain.

In any case, Grandmaster Feylis was not a rigid or old-fashioned mage.