The shockwave of Yimuli's fall instantly propagated through the psychic plane, causing a sharp intake of breath among the Fourth-Tier entities battling on the planet's surface in the Orion Arm.

Yimuli had been renowned in the Orion Arm for tens of thousands of years, serving as the paramount guardian of the Galan Republic, the number one power there. He was fundamentally on a different level than Kalagonis.

His demise carried consequences of staggering depth. The Galan people possessed only three fleets capable of utilizing the God-Core Tactic; now, one was lost. This represented a severe crisis for their overall strategy, politics, and diplomacy. Even setting aside future ramifications, his death alone delivered a devastating blow to the Galan Expeditionary Force right here and now.

Due to the existence of God-Core technology, the Galan people relied far more heavily on Fourth-Tier entities than the other races in the Orion Arm. Consequently, the loss of every single Fourth-Tier entity drastically eroded their competitive edge.

“Of the two God-Core fleets sent to the Perseus Arm, Yimuli was the commander, with Bedak as his deputy. With Yimuli gone, the Galan people are in a serious bind.”

While engaged in combat, Sharo and Emperor Salian instantly grasped the profound potential consequences, each calculating their next moves internally.

In space, the two Blade Emperors who had slain Yimuli now faced relentless, ubiquitous suppression attacks. Their forms flickered continuously as they began wreaking havoc within the fleet formations.

Bedak was already consumed by fury. He paid no heed to the fierce fighting raging on the planet’s surface, focusing all available combat resources onto the two Blade Emperors. Their eliminating Yimuli before him was the ultimate insult to Bedak!

Without support from outer space, Sidilon and Tibuz, along with others on the ground, were locked in brutal attrition. Another entity—one Mid-Tier Fourth-Level and one High-Tier Fourth-Level—fell to the Void Energy Blades, shrinking the defensive perimeter they could hold. Sidilon unleashed the essence of his millennia as an assassin, hiding within the fissures of the void, launching surprise attacks against the Blade Emperors from impossibly tricky angles—behind, beneath the ribs, or underfoot—with his intangible short swords. However, his actual strength lagged slightly behind Emperor Salian, making it not difficult for the Blade Emperors to manage his assaults.

Void Energy was inherently perfect for cloaking, meaning the Blade Emperors' stealth techniques were in no way inferior to Sidilon's. Their Void Energy Blades struck unpredictably, constantly seeking opportunities to harvest lives.

Tibuz was surrounded by a multitude of shimmering golden runes, releasing bolts of golden lightning toward the Blade Emperors. Combinations of different runes yielded various marvelous and potent spells, displaying impressive versatility and strength.

His power was slightly superior to Sidilon’s, second only to Sharo and Emperor Salian among the Fourth-Tier entities, matching Yimuli’s own capability. As the battle progressed, his expression grew increasingly grim, and the spells emanating from the runes around him reached their densest output. He was exerting his full power merely to cling precariously to life.

As for the rest of the Orion Arm entities at the Fourth-Tier level, not a single one even reached the peak of the Fourth-Tier. During the engagement, they sought not glory but survival, adopting a tightly defensive posture, aiming only to preserve their lives as much as possible.

At that moment, a fierce conflagration erupted from the melee. One Fourth-Tier entity suddenly burst into flames, his psychic energy plummeting as it transformed into raging fire, consuming him internally.

Another Feedback Curse!

If struck by just one Feedback Curse, there remained a chance for self-rescue: severing the affected psychic energy. Executing such a delicate maneuver was immensely difficult, almost impossible, for a Third-Tier psychic practitioner. But for a Fourth-Tier entity, it wasn't insurmountable.

However, this particular Fourth-Tier entity had been hit simultaneously by five or six Feedback Curses, instantly igniting and detonating his psychic essence. Although he managed to sever the burning psychic mass in time, an immediate barrage of further Feedback Curses struck him, finally exceeding his processing capacity and leading to spontaneous combustion.

At this point, only eight Fourth-Tier entities remained on the Orion Arm side within the fray, matching the number of the Blade Emperors.

In the mid-air, Emperor Salian appeared to have countless Spatial Blades floating around him, ceaselessly carving the fabric of space. Even light beams reaching his vicinity were distorted by the fractured space. From a distance, Emperor Salian resembled a figure enveloped by shattered mirrors. Wielding a longsword that seemed forged from pure glaze, he swept a strike toward a Blade Emperor.

The Blade Emperor intercepted Salian’s attack with his left blade. Seeing the fractured space around Salian closing in to slice at him, the Emperor executed several rapid movements, his curved blades flashing downward repeatedly, unleashing crescent arcs of energy that pushed Emperor Salian back.

Sharo now gripped a golden long-spear that looked as if it were woven from pure sunlight. The shaft blazed as fiercely as the sun itself, a glare no ordinary eye could endure. When thrust, the spear tip left a glittering trail of stardust… The spear pierced forward as if puncturing space itself, the sharp whistle of its passage even more potent than a specialized sonic attack.

Another spear thrust came. The Blade Emperor crossed his two curved blades over his chest to meet the tip. A tremendous explosion followed, akin to a nuclear detonation, radiating light and various particles carrying immense energy outward. Simultaneously, a patch of pitch-black void space erupted precisely where the spear tip met the crossed blades.

The Blade Emperor, Sharo, and Emperor Salian nearby instantly recoiled. The void space expanded to a diameter of about a thousand meters before vanishing, taking with it everything—all matter—enveloped within.

Even atoms ceased to exist. Yang Ying had only experienced this level of ferocious clash once before, during his battle with Sandvor. Sharo’s combat prowess, though perhaps not quite matching Sandvor’s, was terrifyingly close, marking him as the most formidable among the Orion Arm’s Fourth-Tier entities.

After retreating several kilometers, Sharo sent a telepathic message: “I hadn’t expected you to resort to sacrificing your own to eliminate Yimuli. Why? Are two entities at the Fourth-Tier Apex truly so little worth to you?”

The two curved blades in the Blade Emperor’s hands had been shattered; he instantly coalesced two new ones. “I have no need to answer your questions.”

Sharo glanced toward the sky, then down at the planet, shrugging before retracting his broken golden spear. “If you won’t speak, then so be it.” He suddenly dissolved into a mass of golden light and shot toward the heavens.

Then, the Cyclo fleet, an orbital armada that practically dominated the entire sky outside the planet, pivoted its bows and initiated spatial jumps in various directions.

“Sharo! You dare abandon the alliance of the Orion Arm races and flee mid-battle!”

Emperor Salian was clearly shocked and enraged by Sharo’s decision, roaring toward the direction Sharo had vanished.

Sharo’s voice echoed in his mind: “There was an alliance, yes, but it was for the joint development of the Perseus Arm. This current encounter with the Xerg Swarm was not covered. You came seeking me today precisely to forge a new pact concerning the Xerg emergence, did you not? If I recall correctly, that new agreement wasn’t finalized. I had no obligation for this battle to begin with. Continuing this unnecessary fight is not my desire.”

Although lengthy, thanks to telepathy, the entire message was conveyed in an instant.

Emperor Salian retorted: “But this is your Cyclo people’s planet! They came here intending to annihilate every Fourth-Tier entity in the Expeditionary Force, and they intend to kill you too. You are already entangled! They will not spare you!”

“I do not believe so. Do not make decisions for me, or you will regret it.”

Sharo’s voice faded; he was already gone.

The Blade Emperor made no move to pursue Sharo. He still had Salian before him, which was demanding enough. As for whether Sharo’s withdrawal was truly because he deemed the fight unnecessary, or if there were deeper, hidden motives, Yang Ying had no time to consider now; solving the immediate problem was paramount.

With Sharo gone, Emperor Salian was no longer a major threat. The Blade Emperor brandished his dual blades and proactively moved to attack.

On the ground, realizing Sharo had abandoned them, the allied Fourth-Tier entities cursed him inwardly. They had already lost hope of victory. At this moment, Sidilon tilted his head up slightly, suddenly dissolved into the void, and shot skyward!

Tibuz frowned but immediately followed, flying upwards, enveloped by a swarm of runes that functioned like a cloak or a pair of wings.

The others followed a moment later. Seeing the two ascend, they immediately gave chase, unleashing their most cherished life-saving ultimate techniques. Light and shadow flashed wildly, and booming explosions echoed as they ascended.

The Blade Emperors seized the opportunity, swarming forward and delivering continuous slashes with their curved blades. Slashes of light crisscrossed, instantly shattering the protective shields of the last two Fourth-Tier entities. The blades cleaved through, hacking them into pieces.

The remaining six Fourth-Tier entities successfully ascended. The Blade Emperors immediately pursued, catching up in mid-air. They dispatched one more with a strike and immolated another with a Feedback Curse. Only Sidilon, Tibuz, and two others remained. Emperor Salian saw that the situation was hopeless. He found an opening to launch tens of thousands of Spatial Blades to momentarily block the Blade Emperors, simultaneously disengaging from the fight to rendezvous with Sidilon and the others, breaking through the atmosphere into space.

The five of them charged directly into Bedak’s fleet. Perhaps remembering their shared allegiance, Bedak refrained from attacking them, allowing them to pass easily through the layers of battleship defenses into the inner sectors.

Meanwhile, the eleven Blade Emperors converged within the fleet formation.

(The days are truly getting harder. Completing Chapter Three is a long and arduous task.) (To be continued)H