“How irritating this power of light is. It feels different from the light wielded by those giants of the Luminara Civilization. Is this the so-called lumen elemental magic of your Magus Civilization? Or is it the power left behind by the Radiant Celestials who departed the Astral Realm, as the Second Pharaoh once mentioned?” the hideous Eighth Pharaoh asked, unable to restrain his curiosity.

Hela, naturally, had no intention of answering him. She just continued pouring her power into the pearl she was holding.

A blinding radiance erupted, visibly dispersing a portion of the black mist surrounding the Eighth Pharaoh. Without hesitation, Hela followed up by swinging her Space-Rending Blade straight at him.

CLANG!

A metallic impact rang out as violent spatial tremors rippled in all directions. Even the Eighth Pharaoh had not expected Hela to strike first.

Her audacity far exceeded his expectations.

“Why do you not fear me? You foolish, incompetent Rank Seven overlord! Had this been another star domain, I would have flayed your skin inch by inch and taken it as my trophy!” the Eighth Pharaoh roared as he drew his weapon—a bone staff crowned with five razor-sharp claws, which he swung viciously toward Hela.

“The direct descendant of a Rank Nine being, huh? No wonder you’re the envy of the other Pharaohs!”

His free hand shot forward, as if intent on tearing straight through her.

Hela met the Eighth Pharaoh’s taunts and attacks with a faint curl of her lips. A trace of disdain appeared on her face.

As she retreated in a swift evasive maneuver, she suddenly redirected her Space-Rending Blade toward the Evileye Tyrant Monarch, which was attempting an escape.

The Evileye Tyrant Monarch was indeed cunning. Seizing the moment when Hela engaged the Eighth Pharaoh, it tried to slip through the spatial passage the Pharaoh had opened upon arrival.

It knew full well that the passage led directly into the terrifying realm of the Amenkha Empire—a place it never wished to return to.

But with death looming behind it, the creature had no choice but to grit its teeth and flee.

The Space-Rending Blade in Hela’s hand possessed terrifying spatial properties as it was a rare world-class secret treasure specialized in spatial attacks.

In a single careless moment, the Evileye Tyrant Monarch lost three more tentacles.

The intense pain, especially the damage inflicted upon its Overlord Soul, made it shriek.

Its wails echoed so violently that even the surrounding asteroids trembled in the void.

“Shut up!” the Eighth Pharaoh snapped, irritated by the creature’s howling.

This subordinate of his, who was far more adept at failing than succeeding, had thoroughly disappointed him.

The World Serpent at Hela’s feet now took on the role of her living shield.

As a Rank Eight being, the Eighth Pharaoh was a truly fearsome opponent.

Although Hela sensed the bone staff and clenched fist as they came hurtling toward her and tried to evade, it was still impossible to avoid them entirely.

Jormungandr’s massive body intercepted the blows head-on, taking the impact in Hela’s place.

Fresh red blood burst from the serpent’s midsection.

Five deep black claw marks and a gaping wound were left in its colossal, serpentine body.

HISSSS!

Jormungandr’s agonized hiss echoed across the star domain, overlapping with the Evileye Tyrant Monarch’s miserable wail. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Seeing her mount wounded, the scorn on Hela’s face faded away.

This Eighth Pharaoh was nothing like the Evileye Tyrant Monarch. He had not been weakened by the Magus Civilization. Having lurked in the shadows for so long, he had now descended upon this star domain in his full strength.

Even though Hela only needed to hold him back, the task was anything but easy.

She swiftly retrieved a Golden Apple and shoved it straight between Jormungandr’s fangs.

As an alliance overlord and the eldest princess of Titan World, Hela naturally had no shortage of Golden Apples.

After slashing at the Eighth Pharaoh once more with her Space-Rending Blade, she finally spoke.

“Is your Amenkha Empire truly prepared to wage war against our Magus Civilization? Or is this merely the decision of a few individuals within your Pharaohs’ Temple?” Hela asked coolly.

The Amenkha Empire had three major pillars of power and warfare—the Pharaohs’ Temple, the Empire Court, and the Monster Legion.

Among them, the Pharaohs’ Temple held the highest status.

Throughout the empire’s long history, countless emperors and other powerful figures had ultimately joined the Pharaohs’ Temple. Upon doing so, overlord-level beings directly assumed the title of Pharaoh.

As a result, the organization became the greatest concentration of overlords in the Amenka Empire.

The Empire Court ranked second after the Pharaohs’ Temple.

As its name implied, the Amenkha Empire was a top-tier civilization governed as an empire.

Every reigning Emperor of the Amenkha Empire was, without exception, an overlord-level being.

In their capacity as emperors, they nominally controlled all external war decisions for the empire, and the countless legions of the Amenkha Empire were mobilized entirely under imperial authority.

Although the Pharaohs’ Temple held the greatest influence, it primarily represented a theocratic authority within the lower and middle strata of the Amenkha Empire.

Numerous overlord-level entities occupied critical positions throughout the empire.

In terms of sheer numbers, the Amenkha Empire likely possessed more overlord-class beings than the Magus Alliance did combined.

To be fair, the overall strength of the Amenkha Empire did indeed far exceed that of the Magus Civilization.

The outbreak of the Clash of Civilizations between the Magus World and the Gallant Federation was also deeply connected to the constant pressure posed by the Amenkha Empire.

Only by annexing the Gallant Federation to secure greater territory and war potential could the Magus Civilization hope to stand against such a formidable adversary.

Fortunately, the Amenkha Empire had an enemy of its own: the Luminara Civilization. As a result, the Magus Civilization was not facing immediate pressure from them.

The Monster Legion of the Amenkha Empire was the crown jewel of this top-tier civilization’s military might.

Within the Amenkha Empire, the Monster Legion’s status was roughly equivalent to the enslaved creatures used as cannon fodder in Magus World.

However, their Monster Legion was anything but ordinary.

The Amenkha Empire alone commanded more than a dozen dark monsters with overlord-level combat power.

The strongest among them, the so-called Monster King, was rumored to be a terrifying fusion of multiple overlord-level beasts, possessing strength that reached the very peak even among Rank Eight beings.

Both sides were quietly gathering intelligence on one another. The Amenkha Empire kept close watch on the Magus Civilization, while the Magus Civilization did the same in return.

The Magus Civilization had even established contact with the Luminara Civilization and cooperated with them to a certain extent.

In fact, there was a Rank Four Luminarian from the Luminara Civilization present on the same subspace battlefield where Sein was fighting.

At the same time, the Magus Civilization powerhouses were active along the borders of both the Luminara Civilization and the Amenkha Empire.

Hela’s question drew a cold snort from the Eighth Pharaoh.

He saw no need to explain anything to her.

Rather than continuing to trade words or fighting Hela here, the Eighth Pharaoh was far more concerned with how to extract himself and the Evileye Tyrant Monarch as quickly as possible.

Even with his Rank Eight strength, battling deep within enemy territory stirred a vague but undeniable sense of unease.

Yet Hela, possessing powerful treasures and undeniable combat strength, was not an opponent he could deal with swiftly.

As the World Serpent swung its massive tail toward him once more, the Eighth Pharaoh abruptly slapped his own shoulder.

The white, bandage-like wrappings covering his body showed faint signs of loosening.

To be safe, he decided it was time to get serious.