Chapter 524: Ch

"I want you to quickly prepare to process them and secure your current borders with them when they arrive. I don’t want to have to turn back again and again to reinforce your holdings like last time."

"That would drain our momentum, and I have zero interest in slowing our advance once we initiate this campaign."

"So you need to prepare, and prepare thoroughly, Legion Commander Lucifer! For, as I said, I detest stalling. And if a collapse like that happens again, the Celestial Void Empire’s Grand Fleet won’t turn around. We will keep driving forward and will not stop until we have accomplished our primary objective."

Ryn laid it out bluntly and directly to Lucifer’s face, her gaze unwavering. Flanking her side across the high-resolution tactical holocall, Grand Admiral Anky and Fleet Commander Elira stood in sharp, disciplined silence, their watchful eyes catching every subtle twitch on the Lucifer’s countenance.

"As for what you do then? That is entirely up to you. If, despite my warning, your territories encounter problems, then it is your mess to clear up."

Lucifer frowned at this, his jaw hardening, but he also knew that while the human woman was delivering cold, biting words, they carried indisputable truth.

He nodded his head despite the fiery displeasure welling up from within his heart, grinding his teeth together.

"It will be done as you have said, Grand Admiral Ryn. If my territories fall into chaos, my people and fleet will cover for it. This is my responsibility, and I understand that very firmly. I won’t impose on you or your people to turn around and help us."

Ryn simply nodded her head upon hearing this.

"It’s good that you understand that, Legion Commander Lucifer. For that is your territory, and those are your people, not mine, who should stand up for them.

"We might have a partnership and a friendly relationship now, but they are based on the situation and the benefits that both you and my race share. It has not reached the point where our two races have that kind of deeper collaboration.

"Despite that, whether you agree or not, it is a fact that my Empire has done almost everything to cover for you and your people. But there are some limits to it as well, and I hope you understand that and don’t take it the wrong way."

"It will be done as you have ordered, Grand Admiral Ryn. If my territories fall into chaos, my people and my defense fleet will handle the fallout. This is my direct responsibility, and I understand the weight of it firmly. I won’t impose on you or your subordinates to turn around and bail us out."

Ryn gave a curt nod upon hearing this acknowledgment.

"It is good that you grasp that reality, Legion Commander Lucifer. For that is sovereign dark angles territory, and those are your subjects, not mine, who should spill blood for them.

"We might maintain an active partnership and a cooperative posture right now, but those ties are forged purely on the prevailing strategic situation and the mutual benefits our civilizations share. It has certainly not matured to the point where our two races enjoy that tier of unconditional, blood-bound collaboration.

"Despite that distance, whether you care to admit it or not, it remains an undeniable fact that my Empire has stretched its hand to shield you and your people repeatedly. But every alliance has operational boundaries, and I expect you to respect them rather than take offense."

Lucifer maintained a rigid posture, his expression carefully masked behind an unreadable veil.

Yet suddenly, his sharp eyes flickered, his brow lifting as if a sudden realization had dawned upon him. "And what if our two races were to reach that deeper tier of mutual cooperation and military integration? What happens then?"

Hearing this subtle inquiry, a knowing smile touched Ryn’s lips. Sitting right beside her to the left and to the right , Grand Admiral Anky and Elira mirrored the grin, exchange glances that brimmed with quiet triumph.

"Have you heard of the Cosmic Federation—" Just like that, the human commanders began pitching the grand treaty framework that the Empire had patiently waited cycles to introduce, biding their time until the proud demon warlord himself opened the doorway.

Now, an opening had presented itself. The negotiation had begun.

Meanwhile, light-years away on the distant core world of Stellar Prime, tension hung suffocatingly thick within the colossal hall that served as the Imperial Stellar Council’s sovereign gathering chamber. Underneath soaring vaulted arches carved from white resonant stone, the Star Emperor sat upon a gleaming, levitating throne.

Stationed directly behind his hovering seat were two towering figures clad in dread exo-armor—elite enforcers belonging to the Empires dreaded Annihilation Legion. Their armour was a pitch-black obsidian that seemed to swallow the ambient illumination, accented only by crimson hazard seams that pulses with dormant energy.

The suffocating aura of destruction radiating from their mechanical frames caused the surrounding air to hum with utter terror.

Spreading outward before the dais was a vast semicircular amphitheater spanning hundreds of tiered seats. Gathered within were the entrenched pillars of the Star Empire: high nobility spanning Archdukes, Dukes, Marquises, down to petty Barons and rural Baronets. Scattered alongside the aristocrats sat powerful guildmasters from the Merchant Consortium, directors of the Hunter Guilds, faction ministers, high elders from prestigious cultivation sects, and executives commanding trans-stellar conglomerates.

Almost all of their faces wore grins, except for a few Archdukes, Dukes, and presidents of corporations and Hunter Guilds.

But they were only a small minority.

Suddenly, one of the southern Marquises pushed away from his desk and slammed an armored gauntlet against the polished obsidian table in front of him.

BAM!

The deafening impact echoed off the vaulted ceiling like a concussive round.

"What is the meaning of this imperial madness, Your Majesty?!" the noble bellowed, his face flushed with righteous outrage. "You are intimately aware of the strategic vulnerability of the Empire’s Southern Ocean Region, where my ancestral lands and core populations reside!

"Cycle after cycle, day in and day out, our borders have sufferend endless attacks from insect hives and relentless mechanical race raiding fleets. We have suffered horrific casualties on two fronts simultaneously, shedding rivers of blood just to keep the entire Southern quadrant from being completely pulverized by their unending swarm tactics!

"And how has that border held? It has stood resolute solely because of the stalwart presence of the Valiant Knight Grand Fleet and the Giant Crusher Grand Fleet, maintained at tremendous personal expense by my lineage!

"Stripping away even one of those armadas to reinforce the empiers captial on whim would instantly plunge the southern worlds into apocalyptic ruin! To demand both fleets depart simultaneously is nothing less than signing an absolute death warrant for every living soul under my stewardship!" The Marquis’s voice cracked with raw fury.

"Ordering me to abandon those defensive lines is an utter nonsense without any further plans—it is the engineered annihilation of my family, my heritage, and my subjects!

"I have bled for this Empire have served it with absoulute loyalty so has my family , but such loyalty does not and should not demand a blind suicide for something so stupid!"

The Marquis didn’t stop there and continued, even as he saw the Emperor’s expression change and the aura of those two people behind him grow increasingly violent, so much so that he felt suffocated.

"You may brand this defiance treason if you wish, but what does imperial condemnation matter to ash and bone? If disobeying this suicidal mandate protects countless innocents from being devoured, then pin the traitor’s badge upon my chest!

"For in my moral accounting, the preservation of trillions of imperial citizens weighs infinitely heavier than bending the knee to a detached, reckless decree from an insulated throne!"

The entire council hall held its collective breath. Standing defiantly amidst hundreds of stunned peers, Marquis Grey locked eyes with the ruler of the realm and the monstrous executioners looming at his back.

He recognized the terrifying lethality of the Annihilation Legion. He knew those two dread soldiers possessed the martial power to dismantle his personal guard, reduce his manor to glass, and execute his bloodline where they stood. Yet that catastrophic fate was preferable to running away and allowing millions of defenseless worlds to be butchered by encroaching horrors.

Either road spelled potential ruin.

If doom was his only destination, he resolved to march into it with his dignity intact, standing tall as a protector rather than cringing like a coward.

"Silence... Marquis Grey!"

The Star Emperor’s voice boomed across the chamber, vibrating with unfiltered fury that made the crystalline chandeliers tremble.

"Do you comprehend where you stand and what treasonous venom you are spitting? Have you lost your mind to dare question imperial authority within these sacred halls? Do you truly fail to grasp the agonizing consequences awaiting your house for this insolence?!"

"Do I look like a five- or six-year-old boy to you, Emperor? Someone who knows nothing about what he is speaking about?"

Marquis Grey answered with blistering defiance, leaving the gathered nobility utterly paralyzed in shock.