Establishing Authority and Scaring Them Witless

The battle was progressing much more smoothly than expected.

Top players are battling superpowers in the Void Corridor, but are being overwhelmed.

The gap in combat strength compared to the top forces in the universe is quite large.

However, the situation is different for lower-level players. Due to their immortality, they are virtually unstoppable in public star systems.

Even though the leaders of the dozen or so forces were of high rank, having already entered the Fourth Advancement of cultivation.

However, its overall combat strength is not high; A-level is its limit.

It's fair to say that when faced with an siege, they can only defend and retreat; trying to annihilate this Undead Legion players is a pipe dream.

The more intense the battle, the more likely one is to suffer an unexpected setback once their stamina is exhausted.

But given the current situation, these forces are naturally unwilling to retreat.

They gained nothing and instead wasted a lot of manpower fighting the Undead Legion.

Now that we're leaving, we can forget about staying in the Angis Galaxy. It's a complete loss, and we're not willing to accept it.

Fortunately Undead Legion itself was not of a high rank, so the dozen or so factions could hold out.

The current strategy is to change and adopt a delaying tactic.

The leaders of these factions were making their way silently to the charred area of Eye of Ashes.

This is also the entrance that the Federation Military District just entered and exited.

The charred patterns on the surface of the Eye of Ashes suddenly Twist violently, and the prominences formed by the eruption of stellar material solidified in the vacuum into thorny clusters of crystals.

After several high-intensity attacks from the Juya's golden boots, the barrier finally reacted.

Unfortunately, this reaction seems more like a built-in defensive mechanism of the barrier.

Juya's boots kicked towards the entrance again, and the moment they touched the crystalline surface, his entire right leg instantly carbonized, shattering into black powder amidst the cries of his companions.

Damn it!

Despite losing a leg, Juya showed no sign of pain on his face.

On the contrary, after drinking the medicine handed to him by his subordinate, the flesh on his leg grew rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, his entire severed leg had regenerated.

After all, he was a Fourth Advancement Class Holder, so the physical damage wasn't a serious injury.

The real pain comes from the scars that touch the soul.

Even if the physical body is repaired, the soul is not so easy to restore.

Unfortunately, the defensive and counter-attack capabilities of the Eye of Ashes's barrier only go so far.

In the past, no one cared, but now nothing can stop people from eagerly trying to break in.

"Should we just demolish it?"

The metal ring on Leina's face vibrated at a high frequency amidst the surge of energy.

"All scanners show this is just ordinary stellar material!"

"We can't open this barrier normally using our methods."

"However, given this level of energy response, a direct demolition should be possible."

After saying that, she simultaneously ripped off the seven lip rings on her face, revealing an array of rings actually made of dark matter.

A massive dark matter gravitational field was formed, constantly pulling towards the entrance of the Eye of Ashes.

The overall impact is not significant, but its strength lies in its sustained effect.

The other dozen or so factions are also employing all available means.

If we don't act now, it might be too late.

No one knows when reinforcements from the Milky Way Galaxy will arrive.

Furthermore, whether one can improve after entering the barrier, and how long it will take to do so, remains unknown.

We can only hurry.

Three days passed in a flash.

The forces that gathered near the Eye of Ashes started as a dozen or so, but grew to several dozen after the aftermath of the battle.

Even the players are finding it difficult to keep up with the fighting.

"Damn... this dungeon isn't that difficult, but it's fucking torture!"

"They never stop, they just keep calling one place and then move on to another, there's never a break."

"When will this end? What if we don't finish? Will the mission be considered a failure?"

"A side quest I finally got!"

Three consecutive days of intense work would be too much for anyone.

The players were exhausted, but many veteran players, especially those who loved raids, were still full of energy.

"This is nothing."

"These kinds of raids are much more fun!"

"A battle isn't going to be over in a day or two. Let's arrange rest times for the team and take turns holding out!"

"I refuse to believe that we can't handle a mission of this level!"

At the same time, the charred patterns on the surface of the Eye of Ashes suddenly Twist violently, and the prominences formed by the eruption of stellar material solidified in the vacuum into thorny clusters of crystals.

The attacks from more than a dozen forces continued, and the constant bombardment from the dark matter gravitational field and energy cannons caused spiderweb-like cracks to appear in the space at the entrance of the barrier.

"Keep pushing!"

"Almost there!"

Juya roared, his muscular arms bulging with veins, pouring all his energy into his warhammer.

The metal rings on Leina's face had all fallen off, forming a massive dark matter matrix in the void, constantly tearing at the shattering barrier.

Just before the barrier was about to collapse, the entire star field suddenly fell into an eerie stillness.

The gushing stellar material solidified in mid-air, and the splashing energy aftershocks resembled frozen ice crystals.

A suffocating sense of oppression descended from the sky, freezing all the soldiers in place, even slowing their thoughts.

"This is...?"

Juya was horrified to find that his power was somewhat sluggish, and a strong feeling of suffocation accompanied by a few scarlet crystal fragments drifted away.

Leina's dark matter matrix stopped abruptly; the lack of continuity in energy caused the matrix's gravitational field to be interrupted in an instant.

Sensing the source of this aura, everyone subconsciously turned around and looked towards the distant starry sky.

A small fleet tore through space and descended, and in the next instant, the oppressive force intensified once again.

The extreme killing intent had swept through every inch of vacuum like a tidal wave, enveloping all life forms in the entire boiling star ring.

In the void, a tall, slender figure slowly stepped out of the warship.

With another step, his figure suddenly appeared in front of everyone.

He gripped the Shadowless Blade tightly in his hand, and the trembling sound of its energy blade echoing in the void made the souls within everyone present tremble.

I heard...

A calm and deep voice instantly resounded within everyone's skulls, causing the dozens of leaders of the forces who were bombarding the barrier to freeze in place, their eyes filled with unparalleled fear.

"Someone's trying to take my things off my turf?"

Having said that... Lister's fingertips lightly tapped the hilt of his sword, and the killing intent crystallized into scarlet patterns in the void.

The next instant, a crimson ripple spread out at almost the speed of light.

Most of the enemy warriors who were engaged in combat with the player suddenly froze—the whites of their eyes instantly became bloodshot, and crystallized blood beads seeped from their nasal cavities and ear canals.

"Killing Intent Release."

The calm declaration reverberated in the vacuum, while the tangible killing intent swept across the battlefield like a tidal wave.

The players stared in astonishment as rows of damage numbers suddenly appeared above the heads of the red-named elite monsters.

Attack: Deals a total of 487,489 true damage (based on maximum health).

Attack: Deals a total of 1,033,011 points of true damage.

The Third Advancement berserkers under Juya's command were the first to collapse. Their tattooed bodies were as if they had been cleaved open by invisible blades, and their flesh and blood bloomed into bizarre clusters of ice crystals in the vacuum.

The members of Leina's dark matter-modified bodies fared even worse, with countless blood vessels bursting from their precision prosthetic bodies.

The Killing Intent Wave directly onto the biological tissues; their joints remained in a charging stance, but their upper bodies had already been reduced to minced meat.

"Holy crap, he killed it in seconds?!"

"What the hell is this AOE attack?!"

"This is an SS-level, World-Ending Level powerhouse? If we encountered a boss like this, who could possibly defeat it?!"

The player chat was instantly flooded with exclamations of amazement, and a mage holding a staff stood there dumbfounded.

In his list of targets for his group attack, more than eighty red names simultaneously turned gray.

Under the Killing Intent Release, only warriors of rank 18 or higher could barely survive.

But in the next instant, a crimson blade of light tore through the star field like a blood moon.

The instant the Shadowless Blade slashed through the void, the entire star field seemed to be paused.

The pupils of a level 20 berserker suddenly contracted. As one of the Juya's lieutenants, his muscles, which he had always been proud of, appeared so fragile under the gleam of the blade.

He instinctively raised his warhammer to block, but the moment the blade touched him, he and his hammer were cleaved in two.

There was no blood splattering at the cut, only specks of energy dissipating after the soul was severed.

"Impossible..."

The roar of the last Fourth Advancement warrior came to an abrupt halt.

His protective energy shield shattered like an eggshell, and the moment the blade passed through his body, a crisp sound of crystals breaking echoed from within.

That was the sound of a soul being annihilated along with its consciousness.

Attack: Deals -2,394,149 true damage.

Attack: Deals -3,394,149 points of true damage.

Suddenly, the players' screens were filled with crimson health bars.

As far as the eye could see, the health bars of all the red-named enemies evaporated, leaving only floating equipment debris and slowly spreading crimson ice crystals on the battlefield.

The crimson blade light traced a blinding path through the star field, like the scythe of death sweeping across.

Those powerful figures who had previously held onto a sliver of hope finally saw their psychological defenses completely crumble.

"Run! Run now!"

Juya's roar exploded in the communication channel, his voice filled with unprecedented fear.

Its massive body slammed into the nearest shuttle, disregarding its own subordinates and only wanting to escape this death zone as quickly as possible.

However, it was all too late.

Lister's figure appeared like a ghost directly in front of the fleeing fleet.

The Shadowless Blade was gently raised, and the killing intent crystals on its blade emitted a piercing buzzing sound.

"Let's go now..."

His voice was eerily calm, and this nonchalant attitude only fueled the fear in the crowd.

"Isn't it too late?"

As soon as he finished speaking, another blade of light slashed out, its size increasing dramatically!

"No--!"

Juya's pupils suddenly contracted.

He watched helplessly as the crimson light pierced through his ship, as if it were piercing through a thin sheet of paper.

Shields, armor, flesh... everything was silently annihilated under the blade's edge.

The last thing his consciousness captured was the image of his body, split in two, slowly separating in a vacuum.

Other individual faction leaders who managed to escape didn't even have time to let out a scream.

Their ships exploded one after another under the blades, like firecrackers lit during a festival, bursting forth with sparks of death one after another.

The remaining power leaders were completely stunned, fear frozen in their pupils as if it were a tangible reality.

The metal ring on Leina's face stopped vibrating, and her fingers hovered above a hidden dark matter matrix, yet she dared not mobilize even a wisp of energy.

The entire Eye of Ashes Star Region fell into a deathly silence, with only the hum of stellar matter erupting and echoing in the vacuum.

Lister sheathed his sword, his murderous intent receding like the receding tide.

He glanced at the dozen or so surviving faction leaders who were frozen in place.

Even without the enhancement of Killing Intent Wave, everyone within sight unconsciously lowered their heads.

"Rest assured..."

"You can leave alive."

The voices were so calm, as if they weren't discussing their lives, but rather how one should feel when facing ants.

"But remember... from this moment on, the Angis Galaxy belongs to the territory ruled by my Milky Way Galaxy."

The scabbard tapped lightly on the void, and a circle of scarlet patterns spread across the star field, eventually forming a barrier mark that covered the entire star field.

That was the mark of the Merick Family, and now it's also the mark of the new superpower that's being built.

A powerful figure trembled as he looked at his surviving warship, wanting to Hurry and Escape, but he couldn't believe it was really possible to leave.

Just as one of the powerful figures could no longer hold back and took a step forward, Lister's calm voice rang out once more.

"I allow you to leave... but..."

"You are not to step outside the Angis Galaxy...!"

"Clear?"

Lister's gaze shifted from calm to icy cold.

Even though there are no restrictions at the moment, people are genuinely afraid to make any rash moves.

Faced with the arrival of such a world- World-Ending Level super-powerful being.

They had already lost their gamble by failing to break the barrier of the Eye of Ashes in time and failing to escape in time a few days prior.

At that moment, the metal ring that Leina had hidden in the shadows silently plummeted into the sea of stars.

This was the first time she had encountered such a powerful figure from an extremely strong force, and the first time she realized that she was facing someone who was no longer a powerful figure in the conventional sense.

Rather, it is an entity capable of rewriting the rules of galaxies and the power structure of the universe single-handedly. Those who once acted with impunity in public galaxies now seem utterly ridiculous.

"As you wish."

She knelt on one knee, pale golden blood seeping from the remaining ring marks on her face.

The other faction leaders, as if waking from a dream, knelt down one after another, some even becoming completely hoarse from excessive fear.

As Lister's figure disappeared into the charred patterns of the Eye of Ashes, only the sobs of survivors could be heard in the public channel.

These forces were deliberately left behind by Lister; even if he wanted to eliminate them, it wouldn't be now.

The Angis Galaxy is a public galaxy, and simply sending troops to clear it out is actually time-consuming and laborious.

Now that he has come in person and made such a threatening move, he will naturally release a group of terrified power leaders to return.

A declaration made across the entire galaxy would be truly effective for his subsequent rule, rather than merely a nominal endorsement.

Once the Angis Galaxy stabilizes, these forces will truly no longer have a reason to exist.

The players could only stare at each other in bewilderment as the faction icon suddenly turned green.

"So you've already taken them in?"

"Where's the promised large-scale raid? No wonder it's just a side quest, there's not even a boss!"

Notification: Congratulations! Your side quest... is complete!

"Reward verification and disbursement in progress..."

Lister silently completed the side quests for the players.

At the same time, he led Major General Qi and the soldier to the Eye of Ashes.

How did you get in?