Chapter 1055: Counterattack

"They're launching a full-scale offensive on the Milky Way domain?" the Superior said, frowning.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" the Darkborn chorused.

The Superior narrowed her eyes as she scanned the group. They had varied expressions—some seemed hesitant, others shrank back. Something felt off.

She turned to a white-haired woman who seemed like she had something to say. "You, speak. What's going on?"

The white-haired woman's face flashed with anger. "Your Majesty, someone has betrayed you."

In an instant, all eyes turned to her. Some were shocked, others fearful, while a few remained expressionless.

The Superior didn't seem surprised. "Who would dare?"

The white-haired woman cried out indignantly, "Senchal!"

"Oh?" The Superior's eyes narrowed.

"In the past, Senchal was completely obedient to you and always trying to please you—but it was all an act. A hundred thousand years ago, he broke through to King-level strength and began to harbor evil intentions. He contacted the Royal Alliance and, during their meetings, continuously slandered you. He claimed that you disregarded the grand strategy of the Darkborn when you ventured into this remote star system intending to colonize it, causing our faction to suffer heavy losses. He even said that you were lost here, your fate unknown, which slowed down the Darkborn's grand plans. He called you a traitor to the Darkborn. He also said that our faction is now leaderless and begged the Royal Alliance to take charge."

The Superior's face turned cold. "Continue."

The white-haired woman nodded. "At the Royal Alliance meetings, he ingratiated himself with the royal families, even bribing them with planets under our faction's control. In the end, the royal families promoted him as the new king of our faction, granting him use of the nobiliary vowel 'u' and replacing you as the leader of our faction."

"Indeed? And what is his name now?" the Superior demanded.

"Suchal," the white-haired woman replied.

"Suchal? Hmph!" The Superior let out a cold snort. "And the others have all followed Suchal to the Milky Way Domain?"

The white-haired woman nodded. "Yes. Over the years, only those of us who still worry about you come every ten thousand years to fulfill the missions you assigned. The others are all currying favor with Suchal now."

"How foolish!" A cold glint flashed in the Superior's eyes.

"Your Majesty, now that you've broken free, you must make those traitors pay."

"That's right! Destroy Senchal, and don't let any of his followers go unpunished."

"Everything Senchal has plundered over the years must be confiscated."

The Darkborn members clamored, certain that if the Superior reclaimed everything, they would reap great rewards.

At that moment, a cold laugh rang out from the crowd. "You all should watch your words. Otherwise, when the King holds you accountable, you'll suffer too."

In an instant, everyone turned to a man with green horns on his head. He was the one who had spoken sarcastically amidst the fervor.

"How dare you! Who is this 'King' you speak of?" one of the Darkborn shouted.

All the Darkborn glared coldly at the green-horned man.

The Superior also narrowed her eyes. "Are you Suchal's spy?"

The Darkborn turned their angry gazes at the green-horned man, who remained unperturbed as he smiled. "Superior, times have changed. The king of our faction now is Suchal."

The Darkborn looked at him in disbelief, thinking him insane to dare speak to the Superior like this. Was he courting death?

The Superior chuckled coldly. "You have quite the nerve."

Though the green-horned man appeared cautious, he mustered his courage and said, "If I'm not mistaken, your true body and your Golden Tree are both gone, aren't they?"

"What?" the Darkborn exclaimed in shock.

The Superior stared at him intently. "How did you guess?"

The green-horned man replied calmly, "It's not hard to figure out. How could a dying planet suddenly become so powerful? How could so many Stellar powerhouses appear at once? From my earlier investigations on that planet, the three Qing Grandmasters' world trees contain a significant amount of your golden tree's aura. Xiao Nanfeng's women also have world trees that carry traces of your golden tree's energy.

"Your golden tree must have been divided among them!

"And without the golden tree, your physical body would easily have succumbed. Though I didn't sense the primordial altar's presence, I interrogated a being of the world and learned that someone powerful seemed to have fallen recently, bidding farewell to all living beings as it perished. I suspect that was the primordial altar. It sacrificed itself to help Xiao Nanfeng create a new nine-colored tree, then divided up your legacy to create the Stellar powerhouses we now face today."

Suddenly, all the Darkborn turned to the Superior, awaiting her explanation.

The green-horned man continued with a smile, "Also, the fact that you immediately took over this clone upon your return proves that your main body is gone, doesn't it? You've been utterly defeated and left with nothing."

"Your Majesty, is this true?"

"Your Majesty, how could this happen?"

The Darkborn anxiously pressed for answers.

The Superior ignored the others and stared coldly at the green-horned man. "Quite the insight. Go on. What do you want?"

The Darkborn blanched. Was it true? Had the Superior truly been defeated and stripped of her legacy?

The green-horned man smiled and took a deep breath. "As the saying goes, 'A wise bird chooses its branch.' Don't blame us for what happens next."

The Superior reclined in her chair, sipping her wine calmly as she said nothing. The Darkborn couldn't help but suspect that she was trying to hide her nervousness.

The green-horned man smugly addressed the other Darkborn. "Everyone, as you can see, the Superior has lost her world tree and her true body. She's finished. A fallen king, weaker than even we are—how can she hope to contend against Suchal?

"You should all be aware of how strong Suchal is.

"The Superior has been eliminated. She'll never catch up to Suchal in this lifetime, nor acquire King-level strength again. She can't do it, and Suchal won't allow her to do it. What do you think?"

The Darkborn frowned at each other.

Their attitudes shifted slightly. They occasionally glanced furtively at the Superior while weighing the pros and cons of the impending decision.

Several of the Darkborn stepped forward to stand behind the green-horned man.

One of the other Darkborn frowned. "Are you all Suchal's spies?"

The newcomers remained silent as the green-horned man smiled at the crowd. "You all know of Suchal's temperament. The fact that he's tolerated you for so long is already a great mercy. Our faction can only have one voice and one king. In the past, he might have overlooked your disrespect toward the king, but now, if you still don't recognize what's good for you, don't blame the king for dealing with you personally."

"What do you mean by 'recognizing what's good for you'?" one of the Darkborn asked.

The green-horned man smiled. "As I said earlier, 'A wise bird chooses its branch.' In the past, you may have been ignorant, but now you have a chance. It's up to you whether you seize it."

"A chance?" Another Darkborn's eyes lit up.

The green-horned man chuckled. "If you want to pledge your loyalty to the king, you'll need to offer a token of your sincerity, of course."

"What kind of token?"

The green-horned man smiled without further explanation. His gaze shifted back to the Superior, rapidly followed by the others'. Their faces grew increasingly troubled.

The Superior remained seated, sipping her wine, as she let out a cold laugh. "I've only been gone for a few hundred thousand years, and yet so much has changed."

The green-horned man addressed the Superior, "I'm just following orders. I hope you won't make things difficult for me."

The Superior stared at him. "Following orders?"

The green-horned man smiled. "Yes. The king, having distilled the energy of a star itself, has achieved a body of supreme yang. However, he is extremely curious about your soul-refining techniques and wants all your insights on the matter. That shouldn't be too much to ask, right?"

The Superior took a sip of wine and calmly asked, "And then?"

The green-horned man took a deep breath, his eyes turning icy. "We kindly ask you to drop all resistance and allow us to extract a portion of your memories to present to the king for judgment. How does that sound?"

The Superior sneered. "So, he wants to absorb my spirit, distill my truesoul, record my memories, and reduce me to ashes?"

The green-horned man smiled. "Please grant us this favor, Superior."

"Please grant us this favor, Superior," several of the green-horned man's subordinates echoed, their eyes filled with killing intent.

The Superior ignored them and instead looked at her other subordinates. "What do you think?"

The other Darkborn gulped. They were pragmatic. Now that the Superior had lost everything, she could never return to her peak. If they continued to stand by her side, they would surely die. But if they captured the Superior, they could use her as a token of their loyalty. This was an opportunity too good to pass up.

"Your Majesty, we have no choice."

"Your Majesty, we're sorry."

"Your Majesty..."

The Darkborn members hesitated, but under the cold gaze of the green-horned man, they had no choice but to betray the Superior.

The Superior's expression darkened. She took a deep breath and said, "Very well, I understand your decision. Since you want a token of loyalty, go ahead."

The green-horned man coldly ordered, "Attack!"

The Darkborn immediately advanced toward the Superior.

The Superior's eyes turned cold. With a wave of her hand, a golden barrier suddenly appeared in the hall, trapping all the Darkborn within.

The green-horned man sneered at the Superior. "Do you really think your resistance will make a difference? We can destroy this starship instantly. Did you really think you could trap us with a barrier within the ship? How laughable!"

As he spoke, several Darkborn punched the golden barrier.

With a loud boom, the barrier erupted in flames, engulfing everyone inside. However, it only trembled slightly and otherwise remained intact.

"How is this possible? How can the starship's reactor generate such a powerful barrier?" one of the Darkborn exclaimed in shock.

The Superior waved her hand. A massive screen appeared around the hall, displaying the scene outside.

The hundred starships outside had all turned toward their location. Twenty of them fired their stellar cannons straight at their starship. Strangely, the powerful stellar cannons didn't destroy the ship; instead, their energy was absorbed by a storage array on the ship that fed into the golden barrier.

Then, another twenty starships fired their stellar cannons. With a loud crash, the golden barrier in front of the Darkborn trembled and grew even stronger.

The green-horned man cried out in alarm, "You've taken control of all the starships? That's impossible!"

The Superior chuckled coldly. "I reign supreme over our faction. Every starship is imprinted with my control protocols upon its creation. I am the highest authority as far as all these starships are concerned. Why wouldn't I be able to control them?"

The green-horned man's face paled. "The barrier is being powered by forty reactors. If all one hundred reactors channel their energy into it, we'll truly be trapped! Hurry, break the barrier!"

The Darkborn roared in panic as they frantically attacked the barrier.

Outside, however, the starships continued to fire their stellar cannons. Beam after beam of laser fire struck the ship. With each impact, the barrier grew brighter and more stable.

Sixty, eighty, one hundred stellar cannons—When all the stellar cannons struck the barrier simultaneously, the entire hall shone as brightly as the core of a sun. The golden barrier remained unshakable. No matter how hard the Darkborn members attacked, they could not break through. At that moment, they were filled with utter terror.