Chapter 538: Ch

Setting aside his surprise, Rio quickly followed up: "Indeed, 2nd Elder. I received a similar deduction just moments ago from my scouts. The likelihood that he unearthed those ancient talismans within the ancestral secret realm is exceptionally high." 79l[p[p[’’’’]’

"As for anything beyond that, I cannot be certain," Rio added.

"You might not be, but I am," the 2nd Elder replied, massaging his temples with a trace of deep frustration. "The ancestral secret realm houses mysteries that exceed even my expectations. Taking what I know of that place and contrasting it against the sudden shift in the Star Emperor’s temperament—a man who was once content to slowly solidify his authority, only to turn around and act like an entirely different person..."

The 2nd Elder pondered further, his gaze darkening as he laid out the deduction. "He definitely inherited or uncovered something within that realm that triggered this madness."

"And whatever it was, it was massive enough..." the 2nd Elder murmured.

"—massive enough to drive him to take such reckless extremes," Commander Rio finished for him.

The 2nd Elder nodded, not disputing Rio’s words—that was precisely what he was about to say. "Still, since we do not know what it truly is, speculating further serves no purpose. This was the Star Emperor’s own choice of fate, and it is far too late for us to dwell on it now anyway."

Commander Rio gave a slow nod, letting out a heavy sigh. That was indeed the harsh reality.

The ensuing silence did not last long.

The 2nd Elder stared up at the dark, roiling clouds blanketing the sky. He glanced briefly at Rio, then turned his gaze right back toward the heavens. "Go ahead and take charge of the frontline matters. Begin organizing and mobilizing the imperial legions, Commander Rio."

"B-but what about reporting this to the other elders, 2nd Elder?" Rio asked immediately, caught off guard by the sudden command.

"Leave the matter of notifying those old fellows to me, Commander," the 2nd Elder answered in a low, resonant tone, never once turning around.

The chilling weight behind his words left Rio with a distinct, unsettling knot in his chest.

Commander Rio gritted his teeth and bowed his head. "As you wish, 2nd Elder..."

Just as he turned on his heel to leave, the 2nd Elder spoke once more: "Commander Rio. One more thing."

"Yes, 2nd Elder?" Rio looked back. The 2nd Elder had finally turned, fixing an unblinking gaze upon him.

"Start drafting conscription orders for the common populace as well."

"Wh—what?!" Rio stammered, entirely astounded by what he had just heard.

Without so much as flinching, the 2nd Elder continued coldly, "The upcoming disaster is not something the imperial legions and noble private armies can withstand alone—especially across three separate border fortresses simultaneously. Conscription is inevitable. It is merely a matter of time."

Locking eyes with Rio, the elder’s tone turned chillingly severe. "It is far better that we prepare for it now than scramble later when the gates have already crumbled."

"B-but, 2nd Elder..." Rio struggled to find his words. He vehemently disagreed with the measure, and more importantly, civilian mass conscription fell completely outside the 2nd Elder’s direct jurisdiction to command.

"No buts, Commander Rio." Cutting him off sharply, the 2nd Elder saw right through his hesitations. "This is merely an order to prepare a contingency framework. I am not telling you to execute it just yet. The ultimate decision will naturally fall to the Supreme Elder once he arrives in person. However, having the apparatus ready and waiting—surely that falls well within my authority, doesn’t it?"

The 2nd Elder narrowed his eyes at him.

"Y-yes! Yes, 2nd Elder!" Rio nodded frantically. Catching the faint, dangerous fluctuation flickering deep within those ancient eyes made his heart seize with dread, and he hurriedly accepted the order without another word.

"Good!"

Seeing his compliance, the 2nd Elder gave a firm nod. "Now you may go, Commander Rio, and see to the other matters—including this one."

With that, the 2nd Elder turned away, presenting his back to Rio once more as he lifted his gaze toward the storm-choked sky above.

Rio stared at the elder’s silhouette for a few lingering moments, desperately trying to decipher the ancient man’s true intentions. Heh, I must be losing my mind... he mused inwardly, finding the absurdity of his own wishful thinking faintly amusing. Shaking off the futile thoughts, Rio offered a formal salute.

"Then I shall take my leave, 2nd Elder."

Without waiting for a reply—nor expecting one in the first place—Rio tore open a spatial portal and vanished from the courtyard.

Feeling Commander Rio’s aura fade completely, the 2nd Elder let out a long, heavy sigh.

"Just what in the hell is going on here...?" he muttered under his breath, his brow furrowing deep. "Just as I stand on the verge of breaking through, ready to push my cultivation to unprecedented heights, disaster comes knocking at the door. And on such a catastrophic scale that even I cannot foresee a clear way out..."

’No, I must do something to at least safeguard a few generations of my own bloodline, the 2nd Elder thought, his eyes narrowing to cold slits. He knew very well that he could not abandon his post at such a critical juncture.’

’Yet he was equally aware that the battle ahead would be brutal—excruciatingly so. The chances of victory were pitifully slim, while the odds of total defeat loomed overwhelmingly high.’

’First, let me sound out those other old ghosts and see where their minds are at, the 2nd Elder contemplated.’

’Knowing their selfish natures, they would almost certainly harbor identical thoughts. Once they make their move, I can follow suit. If our little arrangements are ever exposed down the line, the blame won’t land on my head—it will fall entirely on whichever fool jumped first. Hm?’

A low, sinister chuckle escaped his throat. "I was merely following the precedents set by my esteemed peers," is what I will claim.

With that calculated resolution, the 2nd Elder vanished from his cave estate. Activating the dedicated transmission line, he immediately convened an emergency session of the Elder Council and shot toward the grand council hall nestled within the heart of the ancestral lands.

Meanwhile, many hundreds of thousands of light-years away, in the SET-415 star system:

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Cataclysmic explosions thundered across the system. With every blinding flash of light, miniature suns were born and extinguished in rapid succession.

One after another, imperial vessels were swallowed whole by the blazing coronas, their hulls vaporized into nothingness. The entire star system was bathed in a violent, blinding white fire as devastating shockwaves tore through the void, causing the very fabric of space to shudder under the sheer intensity.

Trapped in the carnage, the Star Empire’s interior defense garrisons were systematically annihilated. No evasive maneuver, defensive formation, or tactical countermeasure could spare them from their inevitable fate.

Towering above the slaughter—and the sole architect behind this cataclysm—loomed none other than a wedge-shaped, hundred-kilometer-long titan: the Obliterator.

Flanked by its two lethal escorts, the battleships Antares, the monstrous trio advanced relentlessly through the churning debris field of their own making. Their weapon emplacements roared without pause, their colossal hulls continuously ablaze with relentless, blistering broadsides.

Inside the Obliterator, the Red Empress’s eyes suddenly flashed with dense cascades of streaming data. After a moment, she turned her gaze toward Kallus, who was currently directing the superdreadnought’s batteries to obliterate the final remnants of the Star Empire’s garrison fleet.

Adopting an unusually formal tone, she addressed him: "Imperial Commander Kallus, we have the latest intelligence report dispatched from Stellar Prime."

"Huh?"

Kallus paused, caught off guard, and looked back over his shoulder at her. "What bizarre stunt did they pull this time? Spill it."

"How did you know it was bizarre?" The corner of the Red Empress’s mouth twitched, as if an utterly baffling incident had indeed taken place.

Seeing her expression, Kallus gave a wry, knowing nod. "Those people and their imperial antics—they literally cannot go a single day without doing something unhinged. Besides, you wouldn’t disturb me in the middle of a fleet sweep over minor gossip. So I took a shot, and it seems I hit the bullseye."

"You..." The Red Empress was left momentarily speechless, but quickly regained her composure to deliver the briefing. "In short: the Star Emperor orchestrated a disastrous scheme behind the scenes... and now all three outer realms are on the verge of erupting. From the preliminary telemetry, this is a Grand Eruption. That means whatever entities pour out of those realms will be exponentially more numerous and far more terrifying than usual. And for a catastrophe of this magnitude, the Star Empire is completely unprepared."

Hiss—

Kallus drew in a sharp breath through his teeth, his expression darkening. "Such an existential threat sits right on their doorstep, and the Star Empire was treating it so casually? They’re only waking up to the reality of the situation now, when everything is already too late to stop? Damn fools."