Chapter 2114: The evolution of the empire’s battles

BOOOOOOOOM

The sky itself seemed to burn.

It was equally impossible to tell whether the ground beneath was rock, mud, or something else entirely.

Craters overlapped with shattered terrain, molten patches glowed between broken ridges, and thick clouds of ash drifted endlessly across the battlefield.

Ash.

And countless glowing attacks streaking randomly across the planet like falling stars gone mad.

You would immediately detect soldiers.

The land, already buried beneath layers of ash and smoke, seemed to carry another moving layer on top of it.

Masses of soldiers locked in continuous combat.

No disciplined ranks.

No…

And there were others with human forms, wearing gold armor that gleamed even through the smoke and chaos.

Fighting.

Not in organized waves, but in chaotic clusters, as if two enormous anthills had collided and their inhabitants had collectively decided that one of them must cease to exist by the end of the night.

At that moment, a figure shot across the battlefield at terrifying speed.

For a brief instant, it seemed as though he might descend into the battlefield and engage directly.

Then—

The figure suddenly sensed danger.

He immediately twisted his body midair and took a sharp, unnatural curve, narrowly evading the incoming attack.

A massive attack, shaped like a drifting gray cloud, rushed past him and crashed into a large cluster of soldiers below.

Everyone within its range was struck.

The result was strangely uneven.

Meanwhile, those clad in gold dropped to their knees in visible pain.

Clutched their chests.

None of them were killed out right!

The flying figure came to an abrupt halt in midair.

"You know you’ll never touch me like this," he said sharply. "Be a proper Nexus State and stop harming the soldiers!!"

A bald man in his fifties.

A broad, heavy build, solid and imposing, yet not to the point of obesity.

Once…

When he had first been granted the chance to meet Marshal Caesar and plead for the return to his home planet, he had still been trapped at the threshold of breakthrough.

A goal that had seemed distant.

Almost impossible.

With the support of the Marshal.

With centuries of relentless cultivation, pressure, and carefully allocated resources…

He had entered the Nexus State.

They were the first family to join him.

A clear message sent across the entire sector:

And the message worked.

They became the strongest human family under the empire.

Influential.

Attracting other human families with exceptional innate talent, drawing them into the empire’s fold.

Ryan’s pursuer finally came to a stop as well, hovering in the air at a distance.

He was a figure whose legs were noticeably longer and thinner compared to the rest of his body, giving him an unnaturally stretched silhouette that made his presence feel off even at a glance, his head drawn backward in a smooth elongated curve while his entire body was covered in sculpted black and gray armor that clung to him like a second skin, not something worn but something that seemed grown or fused into him, its surfaces flowing along his limbs and torso with sharp contours that reflected the chaotic light of the battlefield around them.

"…?!" His opponent instinctively stepped back, his elongated form tightening slightly as he stared at the weapon, "A filthy human like you managed to lay hands on second-tier planetary equipment?!"

"Ghh—!!!" The opponent clenched his teeth violently, the sound almost audible even through the chaos, the humiliation clearly cutting deep as the memory of that defeat resurfaced.

Because of that, the Seven Thrones Empire had gathered all of its remaining forces here, every soldier, every reserve, every hidden asset brought to bear in a single desperate effort, as this planet had to be taken no matter the cost and it had to be taken quickly, otherwise their reputation would shatter beyond repair and their decline would accelerate into something far worse than anything they had endured so far.

"Heh?" Ryan showed a faint smile, one that carried more confidence than amusement, "Are you joking right now? Even if you bring in more armies and even if you dare to deploy your fleets, do you really think we will retreat within a single day?"

This planet was not merely covered by the presence of millions of soldiers, but layered with power far beyond that, as hundreds of World Cataclysm existences roamed its surface while dozens of Nexus State cultivators clashed across its skies, and for the sake of this single planet the Seven Thrones Empire had committed everything they possessed, every elder, every hall master, every hero, every general, every strategist, every individual capable of holding a weapon had been brought here, leaving their imperial capital empty save for the emperor himself, an emperor too afraid to reveal himself lest Hedrick appear before him.

Dozens of Nexus State cultivators on a single planet…

"Hehe, perhaps killing an old man like you will not make much of a difference," the opponent said as a twisted smile spread across his face, his voice lowering slightly as he continued, "but there are certain places… and if we strike them, the planet will fall into our hands within a single day, don’t you think?"

"No… Pitsuuuu!!!"