Sovereign of the Ashes

By the time Makhast came back to his senses, the Cosmic King and the others were long gone!

It was not just the Cosmic King who escaped—Vivian and the Fire Phoenix had also used their own ways to leave this battlefield behind.

The glow of the Eye of Sealing still lingered across the starry sky, even though Vivian had already taken the eye itself with her.

Activating a high-grade world-class secret treasure like that was no simple matter.

Its sealing power did not come from any laws Vivian had mastered. It was the artifact’s own power.

Vivian had merely used her overlord power, along with a few techniques, to trigger its internal mechanisms.

Still, the sealing effect could not last long when used against a top-tier Astral Realm powerhouse like Makhast.

On top of that, its uses were limited, and the cooldown between activations was painfully long.

That was why they had to leave now!

Vivian knew full well that the Amenkha Empire had its own civilizational treasures, and Makhast himself likely possessed more than just the Sealing Chains—he almost certainly had another high-tier world-class secret treasure of his own.

Besides, Makhast seemed more like he was testing the limits of his strength than actually trying to kill them in that battle.

A formidable opponent like that was better left to their seniors, Douglas or Lilith, to handle.

Vivian, the former leader of the Northern Witches Council, had already done more than enough here.

Even long after Vivian and the others had retreated, the Third Pharaoh did not move. He remained where he stood, studying his right hand.

He was recalling that moment...

The moment when the strange sealing power acted on his body.

Across the many worlds surrounding the Amenkha Empire, it was well known that its people often suppressed and sealed their own power to achieve greater strength.

That did not mean the creatures of the Amenkha Empire enjoyed suffering. If anything, they were usually the ones inflicting pain on others.

This method of sealing was just one of the traditional power systems the Amenkha Empire followed.

Even in his sealed state, the Third Pharaoh was already close to the peak of the Astral Realm.

Hence, it was almost impossible for someone like him to further suppress himself and seek power in a lower state.

Who or what could even suppress him at this point?

Yet the Eye of Sealing had just done exactly that.

When his second unsealing process was interrupted by this high-tier world-class secret treasure of the Magus Civilization, Makhast was not even upset.

Instead, a different thought surfaced.

If the Eye of Sealing were used on him again while he was fully sealed... just how far could it suppress his strength?

Would it suppress him to late-stage Rank Eight?

If so, he would not be annoyed—he would welcome it.

In the Astral Realm, there were so-called “geniuses” and “chosen ones”. The First Pharaoh of the Amenkha Empire was one of them.

That was why he had been able to touch the path to Rank Nine and glimpse the steps leading beyond.

But Makhast could not!

He had reached the peak of Rank Eight and could even enter a triple-unsealed state with the Sealing Chains. His power was undeniable, but he still could not grasp the deeper mysteries of Rank Nine.

Every time he released a seal, only his energy surged.

There was no transformation taking place!

Even at his peak, in the third stage of release, the result was the same!

Dyrska, the strongest warrior of the Luminara Civilization, was facing the same problem.

The path to Rank Nine—the kind of power said to break the balance of the Astral Realm—was never easy to reach.

And yet, in that moment, Makhast glimpsed a faint possibility.

If he could use the Eye of Sealing to push himself back to late-stage Rank Eight, and then rebuild from there...

It was only a passing thought.

Time was limited, and he did not yet understand the Eye of Sealing well enough to know if such a thing was even possible.

If he were willing to become a test subject and lie on the experimental tables of the Magus Civilization’s soul overmages, submitting himself to their experiments, then there might be a sliver of a chance.

But that possibility was even slimmer than the chance of the Eye of Sealing working on him again.

How could the Magus Civilization possibly help a powerful being from an enemy civilization break past his limits?

And how could Makhast ever agree to become a test subject, letting his enemies experiment on him?

In the end, this was all nothing more than a theory, just like the Amenkha Empire’s so-called “Fourth Sealed State”. In theory, breaking through it could lead to Rank Nine.

But theory was still just theory...

At last, Makhast cast a cold glance in the direction where the Cosmic King, Vivian, and the others had fled.

The moment of insight faded. He lowered his right hand and let out a cold snort before turning toward the Grand Cosmic World.

They could run, but they could not hide.

The Cosmic King might escape, but the Grand Cosmic World could not.

Its position in the starry sky was fixed—there was nowhere for it to go.

And soon, a major battle would erupt there.

To defend its homeplane, the Grand Cosmic World had already paid a heavy price, recruiting numerous powerful beings to fight on its behalf.

***

Near a chaotic asteroid belt known as Somar, a different scene was unfolding.

Tourmaline, wearing an eye patch over one eye, pumped her fist excitedly as she watched a chaotic clash between space pirates.

Sein and his group were starting to look more and more like pirates themselves.

This was already their third large-scale raid in the ten years since they set out for the Myriad Springs Worlds.

The eye patch Tourmaline wore was a piece of magic accessory she had begged Sein to make for her.

There was nothing wrong with her eye. It was purely for show.

As for why she insisted on wearing it, Sein suspected Aribbean had something to do with it. That space pirate had clearly been a bad influence.

Since Sein spent most of his time in the ship’s laboratory, Tourmaline often had nothing to do. She either took human form to sleep or wandered around looking for something fun.

Now that they were in an unfamiliar star domain, she had no playmates, and boredom had started to get to her.

Fermera was too calm, and Yuri was usually tied up helping Sein with experiments. Tourmaline could not spend all day hugging the Burning Flame Unit’s head and staring into space.

That was when Aribbean, an experienced pirate with a talent for flattery, enthusiastically recounted his past “glorious exploits” to Goddess Tourmy.

Whenever Her Divinity found his tales amusing, she would casually toss him a small reward.

Every time that happened, Aribbean was moved to tears, grateful to have such a generous master.