Chapter 533: Ch

He had come to a horrifying realization: this looming catastrophe, poised to rupture directly over the heart of the Star Empire, was entirely the sovereign's own doing.

The Emperor had engineered this crisis to satisfy his own reckless, short-sighted agenda. Purging political rivals and targeting a select few within the court was one thing—a brutal, yet standard game of power played by many previous emperor's as well. But such purges were never supposed to compromise the bedrock foundation of the Empire itself.

But the man upon the throne had completely forgotten that foundational rule. Worse, not only had he completely forgotten that foundation rule, he had even cast it aside entirely. He wasn't merely undermining the pillars of the state—he was actively, methodically steering the entire empier straight into the storm of absolute destruction.

"This is a complete mess," Cain muttered, reaching his grim conclusion. He lifted his gaze toward the Star Emperor, whose face remained a stunned, mottled crimson—looking utterly bewildered, as if he couldn't fathom why he was being fiercely condemned by his own staunch confidants.

Meanwhile, deep within Stellar Prime, upon the sacred ancestral grounds, an elderly man reclined in a simple rocking chair situated on a vast, open terrace. Embedded in his forehead was a pristine white gem, across which faint arcs of dark lightning crackled and pulsed with quiet menace.

Swish—!

Suddenly, the ambient space beside him warped and folded inward, forming a swirling void rift. Stepping out of the breach came a hulking figure clad from head to toe in pitch-black obsidian armor—the Supreme Commander of the Annihilation Armada.

Without hesitation, the armored titan dropped to one knee before the elderly figure and bowed his head deeply.

"Supreme Elder... dire news."

Though his tone was tightly disciplined, the underlying tremor betrayed his profound agitation.

The Supreme Elder's eyelids twitched, then snapped open. He locked his gaze onto the kneeling warlord and spoke calmly, "Why the agitation, Reo? What catastrophic news could shake the Supreme Commander of our primary armada so thoroughly?"

The commander, Reo, kept his head lowered as he answered immediately: "Supreme Elder, the Star Emperor has committed a monumental blunder—one that threatens the very survival of our Empire!"

The Supreme Elder's brow furrowed, his eyes narrowing sharply. "What has that boy done now for you to utter such treasonous words? Speak clearly, at once!"

Daring not to meet the elder's eyes, Reo kept his gaze fixed firmly on the ground. "Out of pure spite toward the Loyalist faction, he suppressed critical intelligence regarding the Outer Realm eruption. He led them to believe the main cataclysm was still distant, claiming the anomalies were mere erratic fluctuations that posed no immediate threat. But that was a blatant lie! I personally cross-referenced data from the Outer Realm Management Bureau and the Anomaly Detection Grid... the true eruption could burst forth at any second!"

"Hmph... What foolish pettiness," the Supreme Elder sighed in disdain, though his expression remained largely unbothered. "How could he let court politics cloud his judgment to such a degree? Still, if that is all, deploy the Phoenix Legion at once to reinforce the Loyalists and reinforce their armada and fleet. That should stabilize the defensive line, shouldn't it?"

Yet no sooner had he spoken than the elder's brow knitted tighter.

He knew Reo intimately. If this were merely a standard perimeter breach, the iron-willed commander would never have lost his composure like this, let alone claimed the Empire stood on the brink of total annihilation.

Erratic fluctuations... Suppression of warnings... An impossible timeline that he still wasn't sure about due to long sleep that he and other elder have woke from...

The pieces of puzzel abruptly clicked together in the supreme elder's mind. His withered frame shoot up.

BOOM!

A terrifying, primordial aura erupted from his aged body—a cosmic force towering astronomically above any mere peak Star Law realm entity. The shockwave shattered the peaceful terrace, sending the sturdy rocking chair hurtling backward like a discarded leaf.

"Do not tell me..." The elder's voice shook with dawning dread. "Is this the Grand Eruption cycle?!"

Bearing the full, unrestrained brunt of that monstrous pressure, Reo gritted his teeth, barely able to nod. Even as a Quasi-Eternal existence, he felt his divine marrow creak under the weight; the elder's power wielded laws far beyond anything he had yet comprehended.

"Dammit! How dare he! How dare that fool do this?!"

The Supreme Elder's fury erupted like a collapsing star, roaring into the sky as if the floodgates of ancient wrath had been ripped wide open.

"And the Eternal Guard—how could they have failed to notice this?! How?!"

Yet even as burning fury scorched the ancestral grounds, the ancient sovereign did not lose his razor-sharp intellect. Beneath the roaring storm of his aura, millions of strategic calculations were already churning at blinding speed.

"I have already investigated that matter," Supreme Commander Reo spoke, mustering every ounce of strength and gritting his teeth to break through the oppressive silence.

His words halted the Supreme Elder's spiraling thoughts. The ancient being locked his gaze onto Reo and immediately reined in his suffocating aura. As the crushing weight vanished, Reo's tense body relaxed, letting out a silent sigh of relief before he hurried to explain.

"The Eternal Guard was somehow bought out by the Star Emperor and has already defected. At the very least, the entire cadre of the Eternal Guard stationed outside the ancestral lands has formally sworn fealty to him, becoming his—"

A cold, sharp gleam flashed through the Supreme Elder's eyes. So it wasn't that the boy lacked capability; his mind was entirely consumed by usurpation.

Just as swiftly as the realization struck, the fleeting spark vanished into cold fury.

"No wonder..." the Supreme Elder muttered, his voice dipping into a chilling register. "No wonder we received not a shred of intelligence regarding this game that he was playing. No wonder we were not awoken during the previous two Outer Realm eruptions!

To think that I and the other elders believed he was merely being considerate of our lingering injuries...

It turns out the brat was playing an entirely different game right beneath our noses."

"Yet this time, he has crossed every conceivable line..."

The Supreme Elder's voice was frigid, laden with absolute authority. He turned his gaze upon the kneeling commander.

"Reo, go. Inform the other elders without delay. Mobilize our direct ancestral elite from the Eternal Guard immediately. Subdue the rogue imperial guards, purge those elements of the Eternal Guard who swore fealty to the Emperor, and take the Star Emperor himself into strict custody!"

He lifted his eyes toward the firmament above Stellar Prime, where the celestial expanse was rapidly dimming into an ominous, brooding twilight. Dark cosmic signs were already beginning to manifest across the void.

"Once the throne is secured, launch an immediate, thorough investigation into every single scheme and decree he has carried out behind our backs," the Supreme Elder commanded, his tone hardening into iron.

"Simultaneously, issue emergency deployment orders: mobilize the Annihilation Armada, the Dragon Spear Legion, and the Phoenix Legion to lock down and garrison the three Outer Realm gateways without exception.

At the same time, dispatch the Internal imperial troops to conduct an exhaustive sweep across every corner of our domestic territories—root out and slaughter every outer demon and hidden beast that has managed to slip through our borders!"

"If you find even a single beast or demon, mobilize our elite forces to eradicate them down to the very last trace!"

Supreme Commander Reo nodded solemnly. But just as he turned around and stepped toward the spatial rift, the ancient voice called out once more.

"Ah, one more thing, Reo."

The Supreme Elder's tone grew heavy, stripped of all arrogance, carrying a grim realism. "Mobilize the Transportation Bureau without a second's delay. We need to begin evacuating our people from the sectors surrounding those three Outer Realm gateways immediately. It is already painfully clear that once the tide erupts, holding the line will be an impossibility. We will have to fight a steady, calculated retreat merely to survive and buy enough time for the reinforcements I intend to summon personally. If that is the path we must take, we must ensure our populace remains unharmed."

Hearing this, a cold sweat broke out across Reo's back.

It wasn't merely the staggering logistical nightmare of mobilizing and relocating trillions upon trillions of imperial citizens that shook him—it was the sheer terror of what this tactical retreat implied.

A Grand Eruption's tide was a force that was capble of annihilating there whole empire. Would their fleets even be able to endure its crushing advance long enough for help to arrive? Or would the front lines crumble into dust within the first few hours?

Noticing the dread hardening on the commander's face, the Supreme Elder let out a quiet, weary sigh.

"Do not despair just yet," the elder murmured, his eyes glittering with an ancient resolve. "I will awaken the Divine Beast of Fortune to stand alongside you on the front lines. With its destiny-altering domain providing divine warding, we should, with any luck, be able to hold the defensive perimeter that much longer."