Emperor of the Source

Chapter 338: The Fifth Faction

Nightshade stood near an expansive viewport of his warship, his dark robes blending seamlessly with the shadows of the command deck. Ahead of him, the absolute center of the Andromeda Galaxy had been transformed into the greatest theater of war in recorded history.

Four colossal armadas dominated the void, directly confronting one another across the cosmic expanse. The size of the fleets assembled behind each faction was so immense that their overlapping energy shields, defensive arrays, and endless running lights blotted out the natural starlight itself. Entire regions of space looked less like a battlefield and more like artificial constellations forged by war.

Behind him, dozens of High Rule Stage commanders stood at attention, monitoring holographic displays that tracked fleet movements, energy signatures, and communication channels across a thousand different fronts.

Through his intelligence networks, Nightshade had already analyzed the four assembled sides in detail. Every single faction had brought at least five Peak Rule Stage beings to the vanguard. These forces were not purely born from internal strength; they were volatile mixtures of heavily paid mercenaries, subsidiary Upper Minor Sect leaders bound by contracts, and long-cultivated political debts finally being called upon. Every one of them was investing everything they possessed, risking generations of accumulated wealth, influence, and power because they all desired the same thing: the supremacy of the Andromeda Galaxy.

Even Nightshade himself was no exception.

Originally, despite being the Sect Leader of one of the strongest sects in the galaxy, he had been the only Peak Rule Stage being within the Thousand Veils Sect. To prepare for this war, he had absorbed two subsidiary Upper Minor Sects beneath his banner, granting him two additional Peak Rule Stage combatants. For the remaining two positions required to stand equal against the other factions, he had been depending entirely on Hestia and Adrian.

Yet strangely, as he stood here now, staring at the battlefield he had once dreamed of, he felt none of the fire he had expected.

For millions of years, he had moved through shadows, weaving information, assassination, and politics with one ultimate ambition hidden in the depths of his heart: galactic supremacy. But after seeing Adrian, that dream had fundamentally changed.

More honestly, it felt as though he had already accepted a truth he did not wish to admit: that against someone like Adrian, supremacy was never truly his to claim.

The thought had settled into him long ago, and every event since had only proven it further. When Adrian had casually slaughtered Peak Rule Stage beings without even using authority, Nightshade had stopped lying to himself.

He exhaled slowly, watching distant energy signatures flare and fade across the battlefield like dying stars.

While the entire galaxy believed there were four sides in this war, Nightshade could see the truth.

There were five.

The four strongest sects of Andromeda… and the Crimson Vital Sect.

His thoughts were interrupted as the doors to the command deck hissed open.

Kaevryn entered quickly, his usually composed expression carrying something dangerously close to disbelief.

Nightshade turned slightly, narrowing his eyes. "What is it, Kaevryn?"

Kaevryn hesitated for only a fraction of a second before replying. "Sect Leader… even if I explained it, it would be difficult for you to believe. So rather than trying, I brought them here for you to see for yourself."

Nightshade's brow furrowed. Kaevryn was not someone easily shaken. The elder had witnessed countless battlefields, negotiated with mercenaries and tyrants, and stood beside Nightshade through wars that had lasted centuries. For him to be this unsettled—

At that moment, the doors parted wider. Lara, Maelis, Torvain, Varcain, and Caelum stepped onto the command deck.

Nightshade looked at them, and for a brief moment, his mind completely stalled. There was nothing overwhelming about their arrival. No aggressive aura leaked from their bodies. No divine essence pressed against the atmosphere.

Instead, it looked like a group of ordinary people simply walking into a room.

But to someone like Nightshade, that perfect absence of pressure was more terrifying than any overwhelming aura. Only Peak Rule Stage beings with absolute mastery over their divine concepts could suppress themselves so flawlessly.

Behind him, several High Rule Stage commanders turned sharply, their hands instinctively reaching for weapons before freezing mid-motion. They felt it too, not the presence of power, but the deliberate absence of it. Like standing in a room where gravity had been removed, yet everything remained in place.

For the first time in a very long time, Nightshade was genuinely speechless.

He stared at the five figures standing before him, his mind racing through calculations, implications, and strategic shifts. He already knew Adrian and Hestia stood at the Peak Rule Stage as well. That meant the Crimson Vital Sect now possessed seven Peak Rule Stage beings.

Seven.

A sect that had not even formally claimed Upper Minor Sect status until recently now possessed more Peak Rule Stage combatants than any of the four strongest sects in the Andromeda Galaxy, and they had done it without hiring a single mercenary.

It was a terrifying accumulation of power, and this revelation solidified a chilling reality in Nightshade's mind.

This war was never four-sided. It was five-sided. The only reason no one else could see it yet was because Crimson Vital currently stood beside him.

Recovering from his shock, Nightshade stepped forward, his dark robes swirling slightly as he moved. His expression settled into something closer to respect than surprise. "Congratulations," he said, his voice steady. "To all of you. Reaching Peak Rule Stage is no small matter, even on the scale of galaxies. You have crossed a threshold most cultivators never even glimpse."

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Lara inclined her head slightly, her crimson robes catching the faint light from the viewport. "Thank you, Sect Leader Nightshade."

Nightshade's gaze moved across all five of them before asking the question that mattered most. "Where is Sect Leader Hestia? And where is Elder Adrian?"

The atmosphere shifted subtly. The commanders behind Nightshade leaned forward slightly, their curiosity palpable.

Lara stepped forward first, "Master Hestia and Elder Adrian are currently handling matters of greater strategic importance," she said. "They will arrive when that work is complete."

Nightshade's eyes narrowed slightly. "More important than the war for galactic supremacy?"

Lara met his gaze without hesitation. "Yes."

For a brief moment, silence lingered.

Then she continued, "Master Hestia instructed us to inform you personally. She and Elder Adrian will arrive when their work is complete, but until then, the five of us will stand on the frontline in their place."

Maelis stepped beside her, her expression cold and sharp. "We are not here as placeholders."

Torvain folded his arms, his voice carrying quiet confidence. "If the enemy believes our Sect Leaders' absence weakens us, they are welcome to test that mistake."

Varcain and Caelum simply gave a faint smile.

Nightshade stared at them. He truly could not imagine what could be more urgent than the war for supremacy itself.

But looking at the five Peak Rule Stage beings standing before him with absolute confidence, he slowly accepted it.

They had the numbers, yes, but Nightshade did not allow the numbers to make him careless. The Ashen Vortex Sect, Grave-Sky Sect, and Ironbound Path Sect had survived for millions of years. No force that old revealed everything at the opening of a war.

"Then let us not keep our rivals waiting," Nightshade said at last, his robes swirling into shadow as he turned back toward the viewport.

Kaevryn stepped forward, activating a holographic display that showed the four armadas converging toward the center. "All sides are moving into position. The Peak Rule Stage beings from each faction have already begun advancing."

Nightshade nodded once. "Inform the fleet. We move now."

…

At the center of the battlefield, the tension had already reached its breaking point.

The vast empty space between the four armadas remained untouched, a silent arena reserved only for the kings of the galaxy. Smaller skirmishes flickered at the edges, High Rule Stage cultivators testing formations, scouts probing defenses, but the center remained clear. Waiting.

Ignis was the first to step forward. He emerged directly into the dead center of the void, flanked by Pyros, Asteria, Yselia, and another male cultivator who was the Sect Leader of a subsidiary Upper Minor Sect, bound by contract and ambition alike.

The ambient temperature of space itself spiked instantly. The void warped under the sheer heat radiating from Ignis's unrestrained presence. His crimson-and-gold armor blazed like a miniature sun, flames licking across his shoulders and trailing behind him in ribbons of molten light.

He laughed, the sound rumbling like a volcanic eruption across the battlefield. "Look at us," he mocked, his eyes burning with arrogance as he spread his arms wide. "Four pillars of the galaxy, finally dragged into open war. I gave every one of you a chance to kneel beneath the Ashen Vortex banner. Now, you will bleed for your pride."

From the opposite flank, Morwenna of the Grave-Sky Sect emerged, her mercenaries and Peak Rule Stage allies following behind her like shadows wrapped in death. Her pale skin seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it, and her domain carried the stench of death.

"Submit to you, Ignis?" she sneered, "You are a brute pretending to be a king. Your Supremacy Declaration was nothing more than desperation to hide your humiliation at the UNI-Auction."

On the other side, Balthazar of the Ironbound Path Sect floated forward from his warship, slamming his massive gauntlets together. The shockwave shattered a drifting asteroid nearby into dust, the fragments scattering like glittering snow across the battlefield.

"The Ashen Vortex Sect has overstepped too far," he said coldly, his voice like grinding stone. "Today, we break your spine and divide your territory among those who actually know how to rule."

His four Peak Rule Stage allies spread out behind him, their armored forms bristling with weapons and defensive artifacts.

Nightshade drifted into the void last. His two subsidiary sect leaders flanked him on either side, followed closely by Lara, Torvain, Maelis, Varcain, and Caelum.

Together, they moved slowly toward the center.

Nightshade's domain remained perfectly suppressed, his presence like a void within the void. The others could feel him, but only as an absence, a place where reality bent slightly inward, refusing to reveal what lay beneath.

For the first time in millions of years, the absolute apex of the Andromeda Galaxy had gathered in one place.

Across the surrounding fleets, countless cultivators watched in stunned silence. Holographic displays magnified the scene, projecting it across every warship, every command deck, every sect headquarters monitoring the war. Disciples who had never witnessed Peak Rule Stage combat held their breath. Elders who had lived through millennia of conflict leaned forward, their expressions grim.

Many had expected the war to begin like ordinary sect wars, with low-level disciples thrown forward first as cannon fodder while the true rulers watched from above.

But reality was proving otherwise. This war would not begin with the weak; it would begin with the strongest.

As the forces drifted closer, the four dominant sect leaders studied one another.

They all knew each other too well. They had negotiated, betrayed, plotted, and fought through endless proxy wars across millions of years. Everyone here desired absolute supremacy, and they all understood one truth: the Peak Rule Stage beings present would decide the fate of the galaxy.

Then everyone's attention shifted toward Nightshade's side, and in that instant, their eyes flickered with surprise. There were more than five figures, and no intelligence report had prepared them for that.

Ignis's flames dimmed slightly as his gaze swept across the newcomers. Morwenna's expression tightened. Balthazar's gauntlets stopped mid-motion, suspended in the void.

It was especially devastating for Yselia. She knew these five. She had nearly killed them before in the war and nearly destroyed their sect. Yet now, the same five elders stood there as Peak Rule Stage beings.

Her hands trembled slightly before she forced them still. It was something her mind refused to digest.

While Yselia was still trapped in disbelief, Ignis laughed loudly. "Nightshade," he called, his voice dripping with venom. "I see you brought the stray dogs of the Crimson Vital Sect. But where is Hestia? Where is that arrogant little boy, Adrian? Did they finally realize that wealth cannot buy survival in a true war and run away?"

To Ignis, it did not matter if those five elders had reached Peak Rule Stage. To him, they were simply larger insects to crush.

He shook his head and laughed again. "To think you allied yourself with an alchemy sect instead of making them your subsidiary sect. It only proves how unworthy you are to remain among the strongest sects of the Andromeda Galaxy, Nightshade. And look at this, they did not even bother sending their leaders. They sent their elders to die in their place."

Balthazar grunted in agreement, "If Hestia and Adrian cannot be bothered to attend their own war, perhaps they deserve to lose it."

Morwenna said nothing, but her pale lips curved into a faint, cruel smile.

Before Nightshade could respond, Lara slowly floated forward.

She did not draw a weapon. Rather, she simply released the restraint on her Rule Core.

The void shuddered violently, and a pristine, suffocating wave of Peak Rule Stage domain exploded outward from her body. The crimson essence of Crimson Vital Dominion flooded the space around her, dense and overwhelming, pressing against reality itself.

Behind her, Maelis, Torvain, Varcain, and Caelum did the same.

Five perfect Peak Rule Stage domains overlapped flawlessly. The combined pressure slammed into the center of the battlefield like divine judgment, forcing even Ignis's blazing fire and Morwenna's deathly energy to recoil. The void itself seemed to scream under the weight of their authority.

Lara looked directly at Ignis. Her voice carried across the battlefield without the slightest tremor. "Our Sect Leader and Elder Adrian are handling matters far more important than you."

Her gaze was cold, unwavering, "You are not worthy of their time. We are more than enough to erase you."