Chapter 175: The fight began

Around them, dozens of similar war vessels rose from various administrative zones across the planet’s surface, forming a formidable military fleet that glided through space in tight formation.

Victor watched the planetary sphere shrink behind them through the reinforced viewing array on the upper deck. The discipline among the phoenix soldiers was remarkably high. Despite the dense crowding within the lower transport bays, there was very little idle chatter. The soldiers spent their time systematically polishing their runic weaponry, adjusting their heavy spatial armor, or sitting in quiet meditation to peak their inner world energy for the impending battle.

"This light flame faction must possess considerable leverage if they dared to openly capture a high ranking individual from another branch," Victor observed inwardly, his keen eyes sweeping over the officers who were pacing along the central command walkway below his position.

Beside him, Astrion shifted his small paws, resting his chin lazily against Victor’s shoulder while keeping his spatial shroud completely stable around them.

"From what I can sense from their residual bloodline traces, the light flame phoenix branch naturally possesses a higher affinity for light and fire laws, whereas this faction seems to specialize in ice and fire laws," Astrion transmitted mentally. "It is a classic internal struggle for dominance within a multi branch ancient lineage. When the absolute top authority is absent or silent, the lower branches inevitably fight over territory and resources."

Victor gave a faint nod of agreement. Conflict was the universal constant across every realm of existence he had ever visited, from the lowliest mortal continents to the supreme core of the universe.

The fleet sped through the star system at incredible speeds, bypassing several smaller planetary moons before arriving at a designated cosmic gathering point. Situated near a massive asteroid belt was an even larger flagship, easily triple the size of the transport vessel Victor was currently occupying. Surrounding this central flagship were hundreds of smaller escort cruisers, all bearing the dark blue emblem of the ice flame phoenix lineage.

The transport ship smoothly merged into the primary fleet formation, taking its place along the flank as communication waves swept back and forth between the vessels.

A projection screen near the upper deck area flickered to life, displaying the majestic figure of a woman clad in dark blue runic armor. Her long silver hair fell gracefully over her shoulders, and her icy blue eyes burned with a sharp, uncompromising intensity. Her aura was exceptionally powerful, clearly reaching the peak of the universal rank and teetering on the very edge of stepping into the immortal threshold.

This was supreme commander Iliana.

"Officers and soldiers of the third realm," Iliana’s voice echoed clearly through every chamber of the warship, crisp and devoid of any hesitation. "The light flame faction has crossed the final line of tolerance by ambushing our border convoy and seizing Lady Seraphina. They believe that because our primary ancestor is currently occupied with the central council, we will swallow this insult and yield our rightful star domains."

She raised her hand, resting it on the hilt of a massive longsword that hummed with freezing thermal energy.

"They are mistaken. Today, we demonstrate the strength of our bloodline. We will smash through their front line array, raze their forward strongholds, and bring back our young lady. Prepare for instant warp departure!"

A roar of approval erupted throughout the transport ship, the soldiers beating their chest plates in unison as their morale reached an absolute peak.

Immediately following her declaration, the heavy propulsion systems of the entire grand fleet roared in unison. Spatial stabilizers extended from the hulls of the ships, bending the cosmic fabric ahead of them until a massive spatial warp corridor tore open in the void. One by one, the hundreds of warships plunged into the distorted portal, vanishing from the sector in an instant.

Inside the transit corridor, space blurred into streaks of blinding blue and crimson light. Victor remained perfectly still in his corner, his expression thoughtful as he digested the information.

"Lady Seraphina," Victor murmured softly. "It seems the target of this conflict is quite high ranking. If she is important enough to mobilize a full scale military fleet of this magnitude, her bloodline purity must be exceptionally high."

"Master, are you planning to intervene directly when the battle starts, or will you simply collect the bloodline essence from the fallen?" Astrion asked, a subtle spark of mischief gleaming in his red eyes.

"That depends entirely on how the situation develops," Victor replied calmly, adjusting his position slightly. "If this light flame faction is truly as arrogant as they sound, there might be high tier realm entities present on their side. Defeated galactic and universal rank experts will provide a substantial amount of evolution points if I choose to harvest them."

"Besides," Victor added, his violet eyes flashing with a cold light, "I have never been one to pass up a good opportunity when a massive conflict breaks out right in front of me."

Astrion chuckled softly under his breath, his dual heads nodding in agreement. "That is the master I know. Always practical to the core."

The warship shuddered violently as it began its deceleration process, signalling that they were fast approaching the exit point of the spatial jump. The light outside the viewing portals shifted from the hyper spatial blur back into the pitch black canvas of open space.

When the grand fleet finally burst out of the spatial corridor, they were immediately greeted by an intimidating sight.

Stretching across the void before them was a colossal planetary defense network anchored by three massive, glowing battle stations. Positioned in front of these stations was an equally massive fleet belonging to the light flame phoenix branch, their golden and crimson armored hulls gleaming brightly under the light of a nearby double star system.

Alarm sirens instantly blared across the interior of Victor’s transport ship as the enemy fleet recognized their arrival and immediately locked their primary long range targeting formations onto the emerging ships.

"All hands, prepare for immediate engagement!" The commander’s voice bellowed through the lower decks as the ship’s shields flared to maximum intensity.

Energy beams as wide as planetary rivers tore through the void, colliding with the forward shields of the ice flame fleet in a magnificent display of cosmic destruction. Space itself cracked under the sheer volume of concentrated power being exchanged between the two ancient military forces.

Victor stood up straight from his corner, his eyes scanning the vast battlefield outside as the chaotic clash commenced.

"It seems the entertainment has officially begun," Victor said with a calm, stoic expression as he prepared to observe the unfolding chaos. But theen he thought of something.

"Astrion, can I use your strength?" Victor suddenly asked.

"Emm, normally, Master, in a master-slave contract, only when the owner is the slave can he borrow his astral creature’s strength to fight.

If the contract is equal or opposite, the master and the pet cannot share their power.

As for us, our bond is fundamentally different, Master. I am bound to you by existence. That means even though you cannot borrow my strength, you can merge with me. By using your own mana, you can reach my realm and use all my powers alongside your own," Astrion replied.

"Is that so? Then I would like to merge with you. I want to know how it feels to be an immortal. Though I have that omnipotent feeling from before, I would still like to experience what it feels like to possess stable power. Unlike me, whose power is currently unusable, yours is always within your control. I just want to feel it," Victor said, excitement evident in his tone.

"Of course, Master. Do you want to merge now or later?" Astrion asked.

"Let’s see how this fight unfolds," Victor replied.

He then walked toward the opening of the hatch. The soldiers were preparing to go out and fight directly, while the spaceships would continue battling the enemy vessels.

Iliana stood in front of the large screen.

"You bastards! Release Lady Seraphina now, and I will let some of you scoundrels live!"

Her voice shook the entire battlefield.

"Hahahah! Oh, my sweet Iliana, I am sad that you came to fight me. You see, your young lady has been taken as the wife of Young Master Lucious, so we can’t let her go. How about you come out and surrender? Maybe we can have some wine together."

A mocking voice came from the other side.

"Trevor, you bastard! If you do a single thing to Young Lady Seraphina, I swear I will destroy your entire bloodline!"

Iliana roared.

"Soldiers, fight!"

Boom!

All the soldiers went out with their high-tech weapons.

Some even chose to fight with cold weapons like swords, daggers, spears, and many other weapons.

Victor came out and began floating toward the Light Flame Faction.

He wanted to know exactly how powerful they truly were. For some reason, they seemed way too confident.