Sovereign of the Ashes

Marduk’s move was somewhat similar to splitting his divine consciousness into over a thousand separate branches. As long as even one managed to escape the encirclement, he could still be considered “alive”.

As for the primary divine relic at his core, it was clearly going nowhere. The Empress of Blades would never allow it to escape.

Over a thousand divine relics burst outward in every direction, scattering across Divine Descendants World like a dazzling multicolored meteor shower.

Fermont the Deathspawn, beneath the Empress of Blades’ feet, was the first to react. A vast tide of death energy surged from its body, intercepting a large number of the fleeing divine relics.

Even so, many more carrying faint traces of Marduk’s lingering consciousness managed to escape far beyond the battlefield.

The moment those divine relics appeared, the remaining native deities of Divine Descendants World erupted with another surge of power.

Marduk’s move had not only opened a path of survival for himself, but also offered a glimmer of hope to the native forces still resisting.

If any of the Divine Descendants managed to obtain even one of his secondary divine relics and fuse with it, their strength would inevitably surge.

This was also Marduk’s final act of service to his subordinate gods and followers.

After releasing all his secondary divine relics, only the breathtakingly beautiful overgod relic at the center remained.

Marduk narrowed his eyes. After merging with the Ark behind him once more, he charged straight toward the Empress of Blades.

This was not a suicide attack. Marduk merely intended to delay her for a little longer, preventing a powerhouse of her caliber from joining the pursuit of the scattered divine relics too soon.

But if only a faint wisp of divine consciousness managed to escape, could that truly be considered “alive”?

That was a rather advanced question in the study of life, one that would probably require a grand mage from Magus World to answer.

The Empress of Blades remained unfazed. She merely tilted her head slightly.

The Dawn Emperor, the demon overlord, and the others beside her immediately understood her intention. They promptly left the overlord-level battlefield and joined the pursuit of the more than one thousand divine relics.

The two nearby Insectoid overlords also departed one after another. The Empress of Blades’ authority was not something they could defy.

Besides, with both the Empress of Blades and Fermont the Deathspawn remaining behind, Marduk could hardly pose any further threat. He was already severely injured and on the verge of collapse, with barely any of his overlord soul remaining.

“The art of splitting divine consciousness, huh?”

The Empress of Blades smiled as Marduk charged toward her with a desperate, all-out attack.

“It seems you’ve picked up quite a diverse range of abilities. Did you figure all of that out on your own?”

Inside the shattered Ark, Marduk pursed his lips and offered no reply.

“It’s a pity, but you won’t escape this way. Everything you’re doing is nothing more than a futile struggle,” the Empress of Blades declared mercilessly.

This time, Marduk finally responded. As his divine power erupted to its fullest, he said in a deep voice, “How will I know the outcome unless I try?”

Under his control, the battered Ark suddenly grew a crystal-blue mechanical arm and swung viciously at the Empress of Blades and Fermont.

Marduk had never demonstrated the ability to transform the Ark’s body for close combat before.

It seemed the immense pressure of this battle had forced out a considerable portion of his hidden potential.

Perhaps if he possessed even the slightest chance of defeating the Empress of Blades, this battle might truly have pushed him toward Rank Eight.

Unfortunately, there were no such “ifs” in this world.

A fierce clash between overlords erupted once more in the skies above Divine Descendants World.

Marduk had been right about one thing.

If he did not try, death was certain. By resisting, he could at least struggle a little longer and create whatever advantages he could for himself.

While fighting the Empress of Blades, Marduk used the Ark’s remaining firepower to hold her back while providing long-range support to the secondary divine relics most likely to escape the encirclement.

The overlords of the Magus Civilization’s faction, especially the Insectoid overlords, could not completely ignore the battle raging at the center of the battlefield.

The fiercer Marduk fought, the greater the chance that some of his secondary divine relics would break out.

Perhaps one of them might truly escape...

Even if the fragment of consciousness within could only survive in the Astral Realm as a Rank Four or Rank Five being, barely scraping by, that would still be better than death.

After all, a part of him would continue to exist within the Astral Realm.

Marduk was truly a twisted being. Even his thoughts and imagination were far beyond the understanding of most creatures.

***

Sein, still on the battlefield below, was also startled by Marduk’s sudden burst of power.

Over a thousand dazzling divine relics shot off in every direction, streaking toward different corners of Divine Descendants World.

It was truly a breathtaking sight.

At first, Sein had no intention of joining the battle for these divine relics.

He would much rather remain at the edge of the overlord-level battlefield, quietly gathering the law energy leaking from the damaged Ark.

Unfortunately, once drawn into a war of this scale, staying out of the conflict was no longer an option.

While collecting the Ark’s energy, Sein had unknowingly moved much closer to the overlord-level battlefield than the other law-wielding powerhouses.

Now, three divine relics were flying directly toward his position.

One red, one blue, and one purple.

The red one was most likely a pyro-attribute divine relic. It was the largest and most imposing of the three, carrying the overwhelming law fluctuations of a peak Rank Six being.

The blue one contained hydro elemental laws and emitted Rank Five fluctuations.

The purple one appeared to contain corrosive laws, with fluctuations at Rank Four.

For a moment, Sein was stunned.

The Faceless Mask immediately locked onto the brilliant crimson divine relic.

Sein glanced at the crimson relic streaking across the sky like a meteor, then turned toward the faint traces of law energy still leaking from the Ark.

Still fused with Fermera, a look of conflict appeared on his face.

He knew he could not have both. Yet somehow, an unexpected stroke of fortune had landed right in front of him.

The Ark’s law energy seeping into the surrounding area was already growing increasingly sparse. Some remnants might still remain after the battle ended.

But if Sein failed to seize one of Marduk’s secondary divine relics now, he certainly would not be able to later.

After weighing his options, Sein immediately unleashed his full speed and flew toward the crimson pyro-attribute divine relic.

He already had a clear plan in mind.

In terms of distance, the hydro-attribute divine relic was actually the closest. It was also moving relatively slowly, giving Sein a much greater chance of securing it.

But what use would a hydro-attribute divine relic be to him?

If he was going to fight for one, it had to be the one best suited to him!

As Sein charged straight toward the pyro-attribute divine relic, several nearby allied powerhouses made the same choice.

After all, this divine relic was also highly suitable for most demon kings who wielded Hellfire.