Sandeworth, a veteran of countless battles, possessed unfathomable power. Little Geying and Sand were at a disadvantage, and facing him again proved no different this time.

No matter how much strength Yang Ying exerted, Sandeworth could always muster more; he grew stronger against a stronger foe. In both combat comprehension and application of power, Sandeworth held a steady advantage over Yang Ying.

Although Yang Ying couldn't gain the upper hand, he wasn't in immediate danger of defeat either. While fighting, he absorbed more experience, once again using Sandeworth as a whetstone to grind all the various concepts in his mind until they fused and became coherent.

Within a few exchanges, the combatants ascended higher and higher—a tacit agreement by all, as destroying the Glacier Central Academy would benefit no one. Only Blade and Millerum remained on the ground, alongside the battling pair of Fimud and Du Neihao.

The battle between Blade and Millerum was completely enclosed within a zone of stasis, a hemisphere about a hundred meters in diameter, isolating the shockwaves of their fight and preventing the immense destructive force from spreading outward. On the other side, Du Neihao blocked Fimud’s reaching hand toward Igor and immediately engaged Fimud.

Though Fimud appeared wildly unrestrained, he was remarkably meticulous when it came to actual combat. His control over power was exceedingly fine, delicate, and condensed, revealing almost no destructive energy beyond the flamboyant, sweeping fire cloak he wore.

As a high-tier Fourth Level existence, standing just a breath away from the peak, he was entirely confident he could defeat Du Neihao in a short time. He saw no need to employ those broad, sweeping grand spells; conserving his power was merely basic procedure for a Fourth Level entity.

Indeed, after three or four moves, Fimud brought his greatsword across horizontally and struck with the flat of the blade, batting Du Neihao away. With the obstruction gone, Fimud reached for Igor again, his hand engulfed in rolling flames, glowing intensely red, giving the visual impression of searing heat.

Of course, Fimud had absolute faith in his flame abilities; he could turn someone to ash without even letting the fire visibly manifest, or conversely, if he wished someone merely warmed, even if flames covered them entirely, they would only feel pleasantly cozy. “Come here to me!” Fimud felt a surge of delight as he was about to seize Igor, but his expression suddenly shifted.

Another flame-wreathed hand shot out from the void, grasping his wrist directly. Unlike Fimud’s red flames, the newly appeared hand burned with violet fire.

“Who is it? It’s you!

You people!” Fimud was utterly aghast. The violet flames instantly recalled the three silhouettes that had last appeared in the solar system—the ocean of lightning they unleashed had annihilated eight of his colleagues, body and soul.

Space peeled open like a curtain, and standing before Fimud was Cass. The raging purple flames possessed no heat; they were the manifestation of the Protoss’s spiritual power.

Cass, clad in Protoss battle armor, had his face obscured by the flames, almost invisible, resembling a phantom body, yet his hands remained potent. With a swift turn, he slammed a palm into Fimud’s chest, sending Fimud flying backward.

Cass casually tossed a lightning javelin, instantly pinning Fimud to the ground. There was a considerable gap between a high-tier Fourth Level and a Fourth Level Limit.

The distance between Fimud and Cass was far greater than that between Du Neihao and Fimud. Blade required significant effort to deal with Millerum, but Cass needed only a single move to defeat Fimud.

In this scene, Cass’s lightning javelin should have been enough to kill Fimud, but Sandeworth intervened. Seeing Cass appear, Sandeworth immediately sensed a shift in events.

He used a major technique to force Yang Ying back, then unleashed a spatial fluctuation that weakened Cass’s lightning javelin, allowing Fimud to narrowly escape death. The major technique Sandeworth used on Yang Ying was a spatial disruption spell, similar to spatial confinement, though based on a slightly different principle: the latter was like an iron cage, while the former was like a maze, leaving Yang Ying momentarily unable to break through.

However, Yang Ying transformed into a streak of lightning and sliced through the spatial maze instantly. Upon breaking free, he charged toward Sandeworth without hesitation.

“Abili, hurry and retrieve Fimud. We’re retreating,” Sandeworth commanded.

Seeing Yang Ying bypass his major spell, he unleashed two more spatial ripples: one to briefly impede Yang Ying’s advance, and another to interfere with Blade’s stasis field, creating a brief opening for Millerum to escape, while simultaneously issuing the order to withdraw. At this moment, Millerum had another hole pierced through his right shoulder by Blade, but the wound was shallow, unlike the previous two times where a penetrating chest wound had nearly cost him his life.

Hearing Sandeworth’s call, Millerum glared fiercely at Blade with his oily green eyes, as if promising a reckoning later. He then launched all six of his sickles in a barrage toward Blade.

As Blade charged forward, he met the assault with a shield strike, deflecting all six sickles simultaneously. But Millerum dissolved into a plume of black smoke and flew out through the gap Sandeworth had opened.

On the other side, Abili, with Sandeworth’s assistance, managed to retrieve Fimud. They regrouped behind Sandeworth.

“Regent, you displayed a significant loss of composure today,” the Empress Dowager stated, her tone icy but her words sharp. “The Glacier Central Academy is a venerable institution of higher learning, yet because of you, a battle has been waged here.

Look down below—what has happened!” On the ground, the students in the dormitory area were evacuating at top speed. Some transformed their mechanical servants into airborne motorcycles, others used their personal transport, and some even employed movement reduction techniques, fleeing on foot.

The contest between Fourth Level beings was as dangerous as a natural disaster to these students, especially since the combatants were the Empress Dowager and the Regent, figures holding power second only to the Empress within the Empire’s high command. The shock of this news surpassed even that of Igor’s invention of a new awakening serum.

The conflict between the Regent and the Imperial family had always been known only to the upper echelons of the Empire, never filtering down to the common populace. For these students, it felt like the sky was falling—unthinkable, unacceptable.

“Hey, you know the importance of that serum, don’t you? For a potion like that, is a little loss of composure too much to ask?” Sandeworth sneered.

“Wouldn’t you agree, Ni?” “Don’t call me Ni!” The Empress Dowager’s eyes instantly flared with burning anger. “Never mind, let it go for today,” Sandeworth shrugged, glancing toward Cass.

“Two sub-humans would have been one thing, but if those old fossils find out you colluded with other races to fight me, I doubt they’ll treat you kindly.” “You should worry about yourself,” the Empress Dowager retorted. “Today, because of this young man’s invention, a horde of reporters has descended upon Glacier Star.

If public opinion learns you attacked me, your long-cultivated reputation is going to take a hit.” The Empire, after all, was an Empire, one spanning hundreds of thousands of years. The populace’s reverence for Imperial authority had long solidified into an unshakeable state, with the concept of venerating the Emperor even stronger than in Earth’s past dynasties.

Sandeworth had amassed vast renown within the established rules through military merit, but engaging the Empress Dowager in public was enough to put a deep scratch on that reputation. “So be it.

Reputation is good to have, but not essential,” Sandeworth claimed to be unconcerned by the loss of prestige. “In any case, the day will come when the friction between us becomes public knowledge.

A few days sooner or later makes little difference.” Just then, interview vehicles were rapidly approaching from a distance. They had arrived earlier but dared not approach while Fourth Level combat raged, only daring to capture footage from afar.

Seeing the battle conclude, they swarmed forward like flies scenting blood, desperate to secure firsthand scoops—the typical 'news over life' mentality. “Hmph, I can’t be bothered dealing with these people!” Sandeworth waved his hand, tearing open a wormhole, and stepped through with his subordinates.

“Let’s go too. I dislike being interviewed,” the Empress Dowager told Du Neihao and Igor, who had flown up, before waving her hand to tear open a wormhole.

Cass had not flown up. He departed as soon as Sandeworth left, without uttering a word.

Although the Empress Dowager wished to offer him a few words of thanks, she missed the chance. Igor nodded.

The Empress Dowager smiled faintly and stepped into the wormhole first, followed by Du Neihao and several dukes. Igor followed them, with Yang Ying and Blade covering the rear.

The reporters rushed to the mouth of the wormhole only to find it closed, having failed to intercept the rare Fourth Level entities, causing them to stomp their feet in frustration, wishing they could smash their transports and replace them with vehicles ten times as powerful. Upon returning to the capital star, the Empress Dowager immediately reported the sequence of events to the Empress and instructed her to have the Imperial Spokesperson for news handle the reporters.

The dukes quickly returned to their respective families. Yang Ying and Blade, reluctant to expose their connection to Igor for the time being, also took their leave, leaving Igor behind.

While the Empress Dowager dealt with affairs, a court lady escorted Igor on a tour of the palace before bringing him to a side hall to rest. Igor hadn't been resting long before Du Neihao arrived.

He already held Igor in high regard and wished for Igor to have some space to breathe. However, his political acumen was too limited, and he hadn't anticipated Sandeworth’s speed of reaction, which had nearly plunged Igor into crisis.

Du Neihao felt a degree of guilt over this.