After enduring a series of rampages unleashed by overlord-tier forces, the combat legions of both civilizations regrouped and reorganized, then simultaneously shifted the battlefield to the outer periphery of the Steel Ruins.

The heart of the Steel Ruins was now off-limits, especially the area where the towering skyscraper had once stood.

With two overlord-tier forces clashing there so violently, any lower-tier creature that wandered too close would be courting death.

The annihilation of many lower-tier legions and the severe casualties suffered by many law-wielding combat units did nothing to dampen the Gallant Federation’s or the Magus Civilization’s appetite for war in this subspace.

After the core combat zone moved to the outskirts of the Steel Ruins, the battle intensity showed no sign of easing. If anything, it only grew fiercer.

The King of Mount Hoplon, a Rank Six Alliance deity, suffered severe injuries that rendered it temporarily incapable of fighting.

In response to this and to Seiron’s death, the Magus Civilization continued to increase its reinforcements in this subspace battlefield.

Beyond the steady influx of alliance deities, it was rumored that more Rank Six entities were ready to enter the fray.

Sein, having distinguished himself in earlier engagements and secured substantial gains, earned the right to withdraw to the main rear base of this subspace to recuperate.

He had heard that Gregory was also there, recovering from his severe injuries.

After being pulled back from the frontlines, Grandmaster Feylis had taken up a command role at the main base while recuperating.

With Bernice handling logistics at the main base as usual, the whole “family” had ended up gathered at the rear base, largely injured.

At this moment, Sein had just finished seeing off a Rank Six alliance deity.

The God of Decay had survived a direct strike from the Gallant Federation’s apocalyptical weapon. It was also from this creature that Sein learned several secrets regarding the Magus Alliance’s internal positioning.

As it turned out, the God of Decay had long since defected to the remnants of the Rosen Dynasty Civilization!

No wonder that during the previous clash on the central battlefield, the Rosen Dynasty’s reinforcements had rushed to support the Decaying World Legion’s sector first.

Alliances were vital in this world, and the Magus Alliance was no exception.

The God of Decay, however, suffered from abysmal popularity.

Not only had it failed to ingratiate itself with any of the Magus World Overlords, but it also did not have a single ally among the alliance overlords either.

For a Rank Six being ruling a medium-sized plane to fall to such a state was truly rare.

The God of Decay made the acquaintance of the Rosen Dynasty Civilization’s remnants at the previous Magus Alliance Conference.

One side had long languished without high-level backing, enduring sustained suppression and exclusion from other alliance planes.

The other had just fallen into disgrace, having only recently joined the Magus Alliance with virtually no resources and lacking any useful subordinates.

Both parties found common ground almost immediately.

Following the 25th Magus Alliance Conference, the God of Decay and the Decaying World naturally became subordinate factions of the Rosen Dynasty Civilization within the Magus Alliance.

Despite their dire circumstances, the remnants of the Rosen Dynasty Civilization managed to produce a biological core of a Rank Six corrupted creature from their imperial treasury and bestow it upon the God of Decay.

Rumor had it that this relic originated from one of the Rosen Dynasty’s former vassal planes.

However, with the collapse of the Rosen Dynasty’s home star domain, most of the mid- and lower-tier worlds that had once relied on its protection were reduced to debris under the Gallant Federation’s bombardment.

Such a specialized core held little value for the Rosen Dynasty itself.

Bestowing it upon the God of Decay was a practical way to put it to use.

For the God of Decay, aligning with the Rosen Dynasty Civilization had proven to be an exceptionally wise choice.

That single biological core had already brought immense benefits, to say nothing of the timely reinforcement provided by the Rosen Dynasty Civilization on the subspace battlefield.

Had the Rosen Dynasty legions not intervened, would it have been lucky enough to get away?

No, it would have ended up like the King of Mount Hoplon.

Gravely wounded and nearly rendered useless in combat, this Rank Six geo elemental monarch from the Grand Amethyst World had barely survived the Gallant Federation’s apocalyptical strike.

Geo elemental beings were renowned for their resilience, yet even it had been brought to such a state.

Then again, the rock-headed geo elemental monarch had no one but itself to blame.

Had it not charged forward so recklessly, refusing to retreat and insisting on holding its ground, it would not have ended up in such a dire condition.

In a sense, Sein’s successful retreat owed much to the God of Decay.

Who said this fellow only brought “bad luck”?

After spending some time interacting with it, Sein concluded that this rather straightforward and honest Rank Six creature was someone worth befriending.

Of course, it would be even better if it could restrain the aura of decay it constantly emitted.

As for the distribution of the Rank Six Apocalypse World creature’s remains, Sein shared a portion of the energy crystals and other valuables recovered from its spatial storage equipment with the God of Decay.

However, he kept for himself the items and equipment that bore distinct Grand Apocalypse World characteristics.

Sein explained that, as an alchemist, he wished to study the essence of the Grand Apocalypse World’s artifact-forging techniques.

Simply handing over a few energy crystals was clearly not enough. He still needed to decide how to handle the bulk of the Rank Six creature’s remains.

Sein ultimately proposed that, over the coming period, the God of Decay could freely absorb the decaying energy contained within the Rank Six creature’s carcass.

In addition, Sein also offered the God of Decay a Golden Apple Potion in exchange for the entire corpse of the Rank Six Apocalypse World creature.

From Sein’s perspective, this arrangement was more than fair. In fact, he was clearly the one gaining the greater benefit.

A relatively intact Rank Six creature specimen was undeniably far more valuable than a single Golden Apple Potion.

Still, the God of Decay was genuinely moved by Sein’s “generosity”.

In response, it immediately presented Sein with several unique materials from Decaying World.

Among them was a peculiar ore known as Decaying Stone. Although Sein had not yet determined its specific use, the creature explained that it was the most commonly exported special energy ore from their world to the Magus Alliance.

Since it was a gift from the God of Decay, its quality was naturally of the highest grade.

Beyond this, Sein raised the possibility of establishing long-term cooperative ties between his Divine Tower of Ashes and the medium-sized world known as Decaying Plane.

All of these proposals received the God of Decay’s verbal approval.

Once formalized through a magic contract, the arrangements would be considered complete.

This made Decaying Plane one of the few medium-sized world planes within the Magus Alliance with which Sein’s Divine Tower of Ashes maintained direct contact.

Moreover, there were at least thirty low-level and microplanes under Decaying Plane’s control.

Establishing ties with Decaying Plane effectively granted Sein’s Divine Tower of Ashes access to more than thirty additional planar worlds.

It also served as a clear demonstration of the divine tower’s growing influence and standing in external relations.