Within the Demonwing Empire, inside the Imperial Council Hall.

Emperor Machiel sat upon his throne, his expression so dark it seemed as if water might drip from it.

The entire grand hall was deathly silent—so quiet that even a pin dropping could be heard.

After exterminating the Giant Elephant demon race, the Crossbridge Empire had swept through and annihilated the Dawonru Empire with thunderous force.

Immediately afterward, it surged onward, swallowing half of the Demonwing Empire's territory, leaving them no time whatsoever to catch their breath or mount a response.

At this point, any clever strategy or elaborate deployment had become a pale and powerless joke in the face of the enemy's absolute strength—nearly a million God King–rank forces and tens of millions of God General–rank legions.

They all understood perfectly well that the reason the Crossbridge Empire had deliberately left the other half of the Demonwing Empire intact was to use them as a buffer zone between itself and the powers of the Holy Kare Mountains, minimizing direct contact.

Yet living under a fate held in another's hands—one that could be crushed at any moment—filled everyone with constant dread.

The ministers' silence was not because they had nothing to say, but because there was nothing they could do.

All they could do was wait.

Wait for the outcome of the maneuvering and confrontation among the three colossal powers: the Holy Kare Mountains, Yuli, and the Crossbridge Empire.

And hope—desperately—to find even the slightest chance of survival in the cracks between them…

…

Aetherian Sanctuary, Supreme Sanctuary.

Strands of law-imbued radiance intertwined throughout the grand hall, converging above Aurek's head to form nine resplendent halos of light.

Within each halo coiled a sacred brilliance manifested from imperial destiny and divine law.

At this very moment, the entire Twelvefold Sanctum World was blanketed by overwhelming, multicolored radiance.

The surging holy mist had never been so intense, evolving into magnificent visions—myriad beasts paying homage, the birth of star rivers, Silent Extinction, and the faithful worship of countless beings.

Phantasmal sacred dragons and immortal phoenixes soared together, their roars and cries echoing through every layer of the sanctum.

High in the sky, an immense imperial projection nearly blotted out the heavens themselves!

On the Eura Continent—

Nine-colored auspicious clouds filled the skies, and sacred blessings descended like a rain of light. Nectar of life and elemental spirit rain bestowed grace upon all living beings, triggering resonance and ascension within the laws of the entire plane.

Elemental mineral veins deep within the earth fused rapidly with the laws, swiftly transforming into purer elemental sources, causing the continent's mana density to surge by a hundredfold in an instant!

This was the celebration and response of heaven and earth to the birth of a Sage King!

The overwhelming phenomenon lasted for three full days.

Countless beings seized this opportunity to break through their bottlenecks.

And many children born during this period were naturally endowed with unique Elemental Affinities or extraordinary talents.

Aurek stepped out of the sanctuary.

At this moment, he had transcended the mortal realm and entered sanctity; his very life level had undergone a fundamental transformation.

The condensed Heart of God had evolved into a halo of laws, allowing him to directly command and wield vast forces of law.

Added to this were his ability to mobilize the planar power of the entire Eura Continent, the ever-growing imperial destiny of his empire, and formidable divine arts such as the Thousand Sword Judgement Domain.

Even slaying ordinary Sacred Radiance–rank beings—or even Divine Oracles—was no difficult feat for him now.

Even when facing existences of the Supreme Sacred Realm, he felt no fear.

And the Emperor Points consumed amounted to less than one-third of his total reserves!

He arrived at his private chambers.

Josephine had already finished organizing the reports submitted from all regions.

"Many of these reports are from the Abyssal Demon Realm. Would Your Majesty like to review those first?"

she asked softly.

Aurek sat down at the long table.

Before him, the reports were piled high like mountains.

Josephine had categorized them clearly, with those from the Abyssal Demon Realm forming the largest portion.

One part consisted of frontline battle reports and inventories of resources seized in the Demonfeather sector.

Another part was intelligence provided by Natasha regarding the Holy Kare Mountains, Yuli, and Sablecliff.

According to the intelligence, the Holy Kare Mountains were dominated by the Council of the Dark Order.

Its apparent foundations were unfathomably deep. It was rumored to possess three quasi–Sage Lords and eighteen Divine Oracles revered as pillars of the council!

The numbers of Sage Kings and Divine Oracles were enormous.

It was said that the Dark Chancellor personally commanded an Order Knight Legion of over a thousand Sage King–rank elites, as well as a Dark Executioner Legion numbering more than ten thousand, composed entirely of experts at or above the God King rank!

In addition, they possessed three True God–rank core legions, seven God General–rank main legions, and countless other conventional forces.

Of course, these were only the forces visible on the surface.

As the core of the Abyssal Demon Realm, the Holy Kare Mountains were a den of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, harboring many ancient beings that had survived for tens of millions of years.

No one could truly fathom its full depth.

There were also many reclusive factions that did not participate in open contention, keeping a low profile and doing their utmost to avoid conflict with the Council of the Dark Order.

On the surface, the Council of the Dark Order governed the order of the entire Abyssal Demon Realm.

However—

Within Yuli, there existed two forces that inspired deep wariness: the Tribunal Temple and the Gargoyle Race.

And deep within Sablecliff lay the Bone King's Court!

Among them, the Tribunal Temple was the most formidable.

On the surface, it too possessed a quasi–Sage Lord, under whom served nine experts whose strength had all reached the Sacred Envoy rank.

The Gargoyle Race likewise possessed a Divine Oracle, as well as their clan's guardian artifacts—the Gargoyle Firmament and the Soul-Slaughtering Claws.

Both were supreme authority artifacts of terrifying might.

Above Chaotic Artifacts existed quasi-authority artifacts, authority artifacts, origin artifacts, world wonders, origin relics, and forbidden artifacts!

Authority artifacts contained unique rule-based powers capable of threatening even Sage Lord–level existences.

Both the Tribunal Temple and the Council of the Dark Order possessed weapons of this tier.

As for world wonders…

The Council of the Dark Order possessed one.

This was the very foundation of its power—and its ultimate deterrent against Sage Lords!

The Bone King's Court, meanwhile, was the most special and mysterious of all.

They dwelled within the underground world.

At present, their known ruler, Bone King Otto, was a Divine Oracle.

It was said that he himself had transformed from a fragment of an ancient powerhouse's remains, commanding a terrifying skeletal army of enormous numbers.

Aurek read through the intelligence carefully.

Even on the surface, these forces were already immensely powerful. Delving deeper, the possibility of Sage Lord–level existences was extremely high.

To confront a Sage Lord, he would at the very least need to elevate his own rank to Divine Oracle, further expand the empire's territory, and fully leverage imperial destiny and every available means to stand a chance.

Setting the reports aside, Aurek sank into deep contemplation.

The yet-to-descend Olympian God Mountain was likely even more terrifying than the Abyssal Demon Realm.

It might house more than one Divine Empire–level force, and among the experts it produced, there could even exist beings at the Sacred Lord level.

This would be an immense threat to the empire.

Only by completely controlling the Abyssal Demon Realm could the empire obtain sufficient foundations and resources to confront it—and even emerge victorious.

This forced Aurek to consider personally leading a campaign into the Abyssal Demon Realm once the time was ripe.

No matter how powerful the Council of the Dark Order or the Tribunal Temple were, they had to be incorporated into the empire's territory as soon as possible.

A moment later,

Aurek drafted an imperial edict.

He ordered Natasha to do everything possible to uncover the true nature of the hidden peak-level powerhouses within the Abyssal Demon Realm.

She was to attempt covert contact and recruitment of any figures who might be swayed, while focusing on investigating whether independent Sage Lords existed.

All factions' true strengths were to be thoroughly uncovered!

He made his decision.

After he himself broke through to the Divine Oracle rank, he would personally lead the imperial campaign.

These preparations were laid precisely to pave the way for that future expedition.

One year, two years, ten years…

To those vast powers that had existed for countless ages, such spans might be no more than the flick of a finger.

But to Aurek and his rapidly developing empire, every single moment was incomparably precious.

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