Chapter 1495: Space-time Turbulence

The dense barrage of Gallant Federation energy beams quickly swallowed the spot where Sein and the Burning Flame Unit had just been.

The sheer intensity of the concentrated strikes, the rapid firing rate, and the power of those elemental rays showed how much this Shadow Fleet hated Sein and Yuri.

The Rank Six knight from the Alveroth Empire arrived a little too late, delayed by the heavy resistance from the Black Ops.

Now that the Magus Civilization had resealed the outer perimeter of the battlefield, the Black Ops was trapped—like fish in a barrel.

Realizing their main fleet could not escape, the Shadow Fleet had chosen to unleash a brutal and desperate resistance.

By the time the Rank Six knight reached Sein’s location, the entire area was empty. Nearly all debris was gone, save for the faint traces of space-time rifts still slowly knitting themselves back together.

During the Gallant Federation’s initial raid on Sein’s logistics base, the surrounding space had already been reinforced to prevent law-wielding mages like him from tearing open the void and escaping through spatial magic.

After the Magus Civilization’s forces arrived, the same region had been reinforced again—this time to make sure the Gallant Federation’s Shadow Fleet could not flee either.

With two layers of spatial confinement now overlapping, even Rank Six beings would have trouble ripping through this space.

The tiny space-time rifts still scattered throughout the area were proof of the sheer destructive power unleashed earlier by the Black Ops’ Spatial Railgun.

Calling his golden shield back to his hand, the Rank Six knight studied the dents and scorch marks marring its center and let out a quiet sigh.

What troubled him most, though, was the complete absence of Sein’s aura.

“Is he dead?” the knight mumbled to himself, his tone heavy.

He had witnessed the sheer force of that blast with his own eyes and was certain that no Rank Four could have survived it—maybe not even a Rank Five!

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

But this was no time to linger. Rough around the edges though he was, the Rank Six knight knew better than to waste precious moments searching for a fallen comrade in the middle of chaos.

With one last glance around, he turned and shot toward the area where the fighting was fiercest.

After the Rank Six knight departed, the space-time rifts in the starry sky slowly shrank under the pressure of the constantly reinforced spatial forces around it until, at last, they vanished completely.

This entire star domain had become a deadly trap set by the Magus Civilization for the federation’s Shadow Fleet. At the very least, the main warships had no hope of escaping.

Even if a few stragglers managed to slip through, it would not matter.

After suffering such catastrophic losses, the Gallant Federation could no longer pose any real threat to the Magus Civilization’s rear lines in the Grand Eye Demon World battlefield.

“I’m not leaving! I’m staying with my men!” Three-Star General Noxan declared, his bloodshot eyes glaring from within the capital ship’s command deck.

At that moment, Black Ops still had several single-seat escape pods equipped with short-range space jump functions to slip through the sealed-off battle zone.

It was only natural; after all, this was a fleet built for deep-space infiltration and behind-enemy-lines strikes. Having a few secret escape pods ready was standard practice.

Still, the main warships of Black Ops had no chance of breaking through this encirclement.

Only if the Magus Civilization’s forces suddenly went blind and stupid would they allow them to escape again.

Compared to their last encounter, the Magus Civilization had clearly mobilized faster this time and on a much larger scale.

The two Rank Four beings whose life aura had already vanished, the fallen knight named Benjamin and his destroyed space fortress, and the entire garrison at that logistics base... they had all been bait!

It was at this moment that Three-Star General Noxan grasped the full picture.

“Send all intel we’ve gathered on the Magus Civilization’s rear lines and our current situation to General Aveer Senhouse,” he commanded.

Then his expression softened, and he said calmly, “It’s my duty to stay here.”

***

This was not Sein’s first time enduring violent spatial force.

Back when he was still a black magic initiate, he had traveled to the Yellow Sands Demiplane near Magus World.

Later, during his journey to Faeloria, he had experienced space-time turbulence and felt the crushing pressure of minor spatial wormholes while carrying out infiltration missions inside the Gallant Federation.

The spatial magic was among the most profound disciplines in Magus World. At least, it was far more complex than most elemental magic.

Over the years, Sein had studied a fair amount of spatial theory, though he would never claim to be an expert in the field.

In the Astral Realm, there were countless space-time rifts.

Even within complete planes, space could still collapse or tear under certain conditions.

What lay beyond those rifts was one of the greatest mysteries in Magus World.

It could open into another stretch of starry sky, a realm governed by chaotic laws, or perhaps nothing at all.

One wrong step could mean being lost forever in space-time turbulence.

That was why no sane knight or mage from Magus World would ever gamble their life by stepping into an unknown space-time rift, unless they had no other choice but to grit their teeth and take the risk, like Sein.

The tearing pain coursing through his body told Sein that his lawful body was once again being torn apart by spatial force.

But that same pain also reminded him that he was still alive.

The Burning Flame Unit’s condition seemed even worse than Sein’s.

Fortunately, mecha could not feel pain. With the Magic Cube supplying energy, the Burning Flame Unit managed to stay functional, though barely.

We can’t stay in this turbulence for long. The danger’s one thing—but if I stay here too long, who knows which star domain I’ll end up in when I finally get out?

If it’s too far from the Magus Civilization... I’m as good as banished from space and time itself.

Sein gritted his teeth through the pain.

The Astral Realm was immeasurably vast—so vast that even overlords had never explored it in full.

And spatial force was known to be extremely unpredictable.

If he were thrown into some faraway star domain beyond even an overlord’s reach, how could he ever return?

Would he spend the rest of his life lost and alone in a foreign place?

He still had family and a mentor waiting for him back in Magus World!

The sooner he could break through the space-time barrier and return to the Astral Realm, the lower his chances of being lost forever.

Peering through the turbulent space-time corridor, Sein very quickly identified a fairly hidden portal with the help of his Faceless Mask.

“That portal looks just wide enough for us to get through. Open it!” he ordered the Burning Flame Unit.

Raw elemental energy gathered at the mecha’s main cannon before being unleashed as a powerful beam that shook the entire space-time corridor.

Waves of unstable energy and spatial backlash slammed into them again, battering both Sein and the Burning Flame Unit as they pushed through the turbulence.

The good news was that the portal’s barrier had grown noticeably thinner.

“Again!” Sein commanded, gritting his teeth through the pain.