Edestun blocked in front of him, a shield composed of flames appearing before a lightning javelin. The lightning javelin slammed into the flame shield, causing a blinding flash of light to erupt, instantly radiating energy like a small-scale nuclear explosion outwards, tearing everything apart. The entire command vessel was vaporized into gas!

"Hahahaha!"

From the center of the flash, Femude’s wild laughter echoed: "Impressive, truly worthy of being a Fourth Level Limit existence. But this is where it ends. You actually thought you could confront the Regent’s Royal Guard head-on using only your own strength? That was unwise, and futile! Even without the command vessel, I am still one of the core elements of the fleet, capable of borrowing the energy of the entire fleet. Even if you were ten times more numerous, you could never compare to the entire fleet!"

After the flash subsided, the fire shield Femude had previously unleashed still hovered in the void, though its flames were slightly dimmed. Yet, it had indeed successfully blocked the lightning javelin released by Yang Ying's clone.

Femude gestured, plucking the fire shield from the void. As the shield came into his hand, the flames upon it roared back to life, even more vigorously than before.

Seeing this, the expression on Yang Ying's clone did not change in the slightest; this was entirely within expectation. Femude's spiritual power was around ninety-eight million, just a step away from the peak of the Fourth Level. Once he coordinated with fleet-level energy, the energy at his disposal could instantly increase by scores or even hundreds of times!

The location where this fleet was situated was his home ground. Relying on this home ground, Femude, a high-tier Fourth Level combatant, could fully exert power surpassing the Fourth Level Limit.

Femude roared, wielding a sword in one hand and the shield in the other, charging toward the clone.

Not far away, Yang Ying also evaded a web of light nets and rushed toward the command vessel where Yasuwen was located. He raised his hand and sent a lightning javelin flying, which detonated in a violent explosion, reducing that command vessel to nothingness as well.

Yasuwen wove the runes swirling around his body into a sturdy, egg-shaped barrier, enclosing and protecting him. The explosion, resembling a nuclear blast, posed no threat to him.

After the explosion passed, Yasuwen spread his hands, and the runes forming the barrier disintegrated, converging into his hands to form a massive Rune Greatsword. Yasuwen swung the sword, its tip pointing directly at Yang Ying, while simultaneously sending a telepathic message: "Lord Yang Ying, it is astonishing that the Tran Mercenary Group can mass-produce Limit experts. Could Lord Yang Ying enlighten me? How exactly did you achieve all this?"

At the location indicated by the tip of Yasuwen’s sword, tens of thousands of light beams converged, many of which were Star Destroyer Cannons reaching Level Ten energy levels. If struck, even a Fourth Level Limit existence would be instantly and severely wounded.

Yang Ying flickered several times, leaving behind phantom images to draw fire. In a few strides, he broke free from the light net, waved his hand again, and the energy of lightning rapidly condensed in his palm. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a long blade that shot out from his hand. He took a step forward and was instantly before Yasuwen.

Yasuwen shook his head, clearly understanding Yang Ying would not answer his question. He raised the Rune Greatsword and brought it down with tremendous force. A sword light, vast as a city wall, erupted from the blade. Wherever the light passed, even space itself was cleaved open, as if everything in existence would be cut into two halves before this sword light!

Yang Ying shifted his stance, elegantly sidestepping, and swung his hand to unleash a bolt of lightning—a return volley to Yasuwen’s sword light.

Yasuwen deftly split the lightning in two with his sword, while the blade immediately emitted another wave of sword light aimed at Yang Ying. This was not all; Yasuwen relentlessly hacked with the Rune Greatsword in his hand, launching a continuous barrage of sword light from the blade, all targeted directly at Yang Ying!

Such a dense barrage of attacks was something even a Fourth Level Limit existence could not normally unleash—it surpassed the limit of the Fourth Level!

Of course, this was only a surpassing in "quantity"; in terms of "quality," it remained firmly at the Fourth Level tier.

A sharp gleam flashed in Yang Ying’s eyes. He raised his hand and cast a Stasis Field, enveloping himself in an ice-blue spatial barrier. This barrier isolated space, completely separating the inside from the outside. External attacks could not affect what was within, nor could actions from within affect the outside.

Yasuwen swung the Rune Greatsword even more frantically, the sword lights ceaselessly battering the spatial barrier. Initially, they were repelled, but as time wore on—about ten seconds later—thin, hairline cracks began to appear on the ice-blue barrier.

"Slicing through a spatial barrier with sheer force? With near-infinite energy support, even this feat is achievable."

Yang Ying felt a knot of trouble tighten.

At this moment, Yasuwen employed his telepathy again: "Lord Yang Ying, do you sense your imminent demise? Battles between Fourth Level existences are decided by strategy before they begin, but once the fight starts, improvisation dictates the victor. When combat erupts, either side is liable to perish. Strategy can grant a great advantage, but it cannot guarantee absolute victory. In the exchange, whoever can best leverage their own strengths and attack the opponent's weaknesses is closer to ultimate victory."

Yasuwen raised the Rune Greatsword high above his head: "Lord Yang Ying, your spiritual power is indeed greater than mine, but the power I wield can completely compensate for my shortcomings. Accept this move!"

He flashed forward, appearing before the ice-blue barrier, and brought his sword down violently!

The Rune Greatsword struck the spatial wall. The fine cracks immediately spread, larger fissures extending rapidly until they spanned the entire barrier.

This blow still failed to break the spatial wall.

Yasuwen’s eyes widened in anger. He pulled his sword back, stepping back slightly, raising the hilt to his chest, the tip pointing forward—a sudden thrust!

The Rune Greatsword stabbed into the spot on the ice wall that he had just cleaved. The tip paused for a fraction of a second, then pierced through the ice wall, driving straight inside!

The Yang Ying within the ice wall twisted his body, letting the Rune Greatsword slash past him. He raised his hand and thrust a sword out from the breach in the ice wall. The lightning-formed blade suddenly elongated, moving at the speed of light—a speed utterly beyond description, as if time itself stood still before the blade. The tip aimed directly for Yasuwen’s forehead.

Clang!

Just as the tip was about to make contact, a white rune suddenly flew out from between Yasuwen’s eyebrows, blocking the path of the sword tip. The rune shattered instantly upon impact, but it bought Yasuwen a time interval just long enough to blink. During this moment, Yasuwen did not retreat; instead, he gripped his sword and slashed sideways, seizing the opportunity to counterattack.

This single strike cleaved the ice wall in half horizontally. The residual force transformed into a fan-shaped wave of sword light that spread out, slicing a battleship several kilometers away into two pieces.

And the Yang Ying within the ice wall was also cut in half by this strike!

However, Yasuwen showed no sign of joy. He sensed an anomaly in his weapon: the target struck was merely an illusion!

Despite having the fleet as an infinite energy reserve, Yasuwen’s intrinsic spiritual power was only about two hundred and fifty million, still a significant gap separating him from Yang Ying. Yang Ying’s illusionary techniques could still affect him, making it difficult for him to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Upon realizing he had struck the wrong target, Yasuwen felt lightning javelins appearing before him, behind him, and on all sides—above, below, left, right—all stabbing toward him at light speed!

Each lightning javelin was held by a figure. One of these figures was Yang Ying himself, and the other five were clones summoned by Yang Ying!

It turned out that during that brief exchange, Yang Ying had summoned five clones to this location. The original opponents of these five clones were currently engaged in struggles with the phantom images.

Illusionary techniques, on a complex and volatile battlefield like this, proved to be an exceptionally effective spell. Below the Limit experts, every single one had fallen victim to it, without exception.

In an instant, Yasuwen made his decision. The Rune Greatsword in his hand dissolved again, reforming into an egg-shaped barrier that completely protected him. Simultaneously, he poured all the energy he could control into the runes, making the barrier incredibly resilient.

He was confident that even six Limit experts attacking simultaneously could not break his barrier.

Six lightning javelins struck the barrier simultaneously, but at that moment, Yasuwen felt a profound sense of danger, a sensation he hadn't experienced since becoming a Fourth Level existence—a peril exceeding every crisis he had ever faced.

"Not good."

A thought flashed through Yasuwen’s mind, intending to flee in one direction, but he saw that all six lightning javelins had penetrated his rune barrier, sealing him off above, below, left, right, front, and back—there was no escape!

Yasuwen exerted himself, focusing every ounce of strength he could muster, directing it toward Yang Ying’s position above his head. This power manifested as a colossal beam of light, and Yasuwen surged upward along this beam, intending to break through from above!

But how could Yang Ying allow him such an opportunity?

He raised his hand and cast another Stasis Field, blocking the light beam outside the ice wall. Yasuwen slammed into the barrier, unable to advance, and was impaled simultaneously by the five lightning javelins stabbing in from behind. The five clones instantly injected the lightning energy into his body. Yasuwen erupted in dazzling lightning bolts that sparked from within and without his entire form.

"Take out one first," Yang Ying remarked. The reason Yasuwen's rune barrier was pierced was that Yang Ying had attached a Feedback Art to the lightning javelins, burning away the spiritual energy woven into the rune barrier.

Following this, Yasuwen's entire body was incinerated into ash by the lightning. A vast surge of power exploded outwards, radiating energy like a hydrogen bomb, and this eruption simultaneously affected the spiritual world.

"Yasuwen's presence is gone?"

Gasps rippled among the Fourth Level existences on Sandwor's side.

They could hardly believe that even with such a powerful contingent, Yang Ying and his allies had managed to eliminate their commander.