Chapter 1718: Moraia

The Astral Realm was vast, filled with wonders beyond imagination.

Methods of enhancing divine power like those used by the God of Decay were rare, but not entirely unheard of.

Much like the occult arts and curses practiced by Magus World mages, some magic ingredient lists shockingly included bizarre materials, such as the hair of a virgin maiden or even the saliva of a guinea pig.

Who could say how many other strange practices existed across the Astral Realm?

Since the God of Decay wielded the laws of decay, enhancing power by absorbing the putrid essence of deceased beings was, at least in theory, plausible.

As Sein continued his conversation with the God of Decay, a deep, thunderous rumble suddenly rolled across the northern horizon.

He instinctively turned in that direction, only to witness a vast, dark fleet advancing with terrifying momentum.

The Gallant Federation’s overlord-class fleet formation was heading straight toward the central battlefield!

***

Moraia proved far more formidable than the Rosen Dynasty Civilization’s Rank Seven psychic Rommel had previously annihilated with his fleet.

After all, the one Rommel had defeated back then was merely a newly ascended overlord-level being.

Inexperience and arrogance had sealed that psychic’s fate, leading to her destruction on a medium-sized sand-attribute world. That battle had cemented Rommel’s reputation as the

Desert Fox

.

By contrast, Moraia was a late-stage Rank Seven psychic whose tactics and abilities could only be described as

seasoned

. Her combat instincts and keen sense of danger were equally impressive.

The fact that she had successfully led the remnants of the Rosen Dynasty Civilization through the encircling pursuit of the Gallant Federation and withdrawn into the Magus Civilization’s territory spoke volumes about her capabilities.

After engaging Moraia in prolonged combat and finding no exploitable opening, Rommel made a decisive choice. He withdrew his fleet from the confrontation and redirected his forces toward the core region of this subspace.

Rommel understood his true military responsibility. He was keenly aware of the Gallant Federation’s current decline and the dire situation unfolding along its frontlines.

While his allies and compatriots suffered beneath the Magus Civilization’s invasion...

While his beloved mother civilization and home star domain burned amidst the smoke and flames ignited by countless Magus legions...

Here he was, locked in combat with an irrelevant group in a distant subspace far from his home.

To Rommel, this was nothing short of a crime!

And so, he immediately put an end to this meaningless battle.

Despite harboring deep, searing hatred toward Rommel and the Gallant Federation legions behind him, Moraia remained clear-headed and restrained.

The Magus Civilization’s leadership hoped to exploit the Rosen Dynasty’s accumulated hatred, squeezing every last ounce of war potential from its remnants.

However, Moraia had clearly taken to heart the words spoken to her by the reigning empress before her departure.

The legions under Moraia’s command now represented nearly half of the Rosen Dynasty Civilization’s remaining strength.

With the loss of their homeplane, the Rosen Dynasty’s war potential and its ability to nurture new generations of powerful fighters were diminishing with every passing generation.

Every unit committed to battle was one less they could rely on in the future.

How could Moraia possibly afford to squander what little strength they had left?

As for Moraia herself, she still wished to live long enough to see the day the Gallant Federation was destroyed. How could she gamble her own life recklessly on a single battlefield?

No matter how Rommel’s overlord-class fleet attempted to lure her deeper, going so far as to expose the positions of two capital ships, Moraia remained unmoved.

She refused to expend even a fragment of her Overlord Soul for the sake of the present engagement.

Moraia understood all too well that she was one of the final pillars supporting the Rosen Dynasty Civilization.

As long as she lived, their home civilization still had hope.

Times had changed.

In her earlier years, she had been bold and ambitious, standing beside the former Supreme Knight Overlord of the Magus Civilization as the Demon Realm and Hell were brought to ruin.

Now, however, her priorities had narrowed to survival and the preservation of her civilization’s legacy.

She would never allow the Rosen Dynasty to perish under her watch!

Even if it ultimately cost her life, Moraia was determined to cultivate the next overlord-level psychic before she could rest in peace.

Unbeknownst to most outsiders, the Rosen Dynasty remnants who had defected to the Magus Civilization during the most recent Magus Alliance Conference were already considering a political marriage as a means of anchoring themselves to Magus World’s immense power.

Marriage alliances were not merely the practice of wandering tribes in the Astral Realm, like the Huusians. For large-sized world civilizations, they were a perfectly legitimate strategy.

Even the Burning Sanoras Civilization, now at odds with the Rosen Dynasty, had once resorted to similar alliances.

In the Burning Sanoras Civilization, a princess from a minority tribe had once married a Rank Six mage of the Alveroth Empire.

The Rosen Dynasty’s high command unanimously believed that it was precisely this marriage alliance that allowed the Burning Sanoras to secure its foothold within the Magus Alliance.

Such an alliance, of course, required a figure of sufficient status.

The current Empress was out of the question. There was no way they could casually marry her off.

The Empress’ younger sister, though... she could be a viable candidate.

The next question was to whom should she be betrothed? Ideally, it would be the offspring of a Magus World overlord, not just any ordinary overlord.

Ah, if only the Supreme Knight Overlord were still around. Moraia herself could have offered her hand, sparing everyone a headache!

The Rosen Dynasty’s imperial family possessed numerous secret cultivation techniques that granted significant advantages in advancing psychic ranks.

Because of these techniques, most psychics with exceptional potential were required to preserve their virginity.

Moraia had lived for hundreds of thousands of years, old enough for the current Empress to call her great-grandmother, yet she remained a virgin.

As the Gallant Federation’s main fleet gradually withdrew from her immediate vicinity, Moraia snapped out of her reverie and pressed forward once more.

By now, she had mastered the essence of what could only be described as a

scoundrel’s tactic

.

It was not about frontal confrontation, but about grinding the enemy down through prolonged attrition.

Moraia could endure it. The Magus Civilization could endure it. But Rommel of the Gallant Federation could not!

The crushing defeat in the Netherworld Star Domain had already carried far-reaching consequences for the federation.

To put it bluntly, it had all but decided the outcome of the final war.

Although the Magus Civilization was still far from ready for a decisive showdown with the Gallant Federation, Moraia was not thinking that far ahead.

At this point, she only cared about self-preservation.

Moreover, half of her legions had already been deployed to the central battlefield. With the Gallant Federation’s main fleet advancing in that direction, she needed to move quickly and assess the situation.

As Rommel’s fleet charged straight toward the central battlefield, Moraia continued trailing behind it, engaging in intermittent skirmishes.

She did not immediately notice the sector where Feylis and the others were fighting. Instead, her attention was drawn to the colossal wreckage of a Black Merlot Civilization biological warship.

“Huh? Is that an overlord’s carcass?” Moraia exclaimed in surprise, gazing down at the excavated black carcass, half-exposed on the surface.

From a distance, the black remains resembled a massive, long insect with a segmented body.