Chapter 1372: Tension between the Allies-1

Planet Azakra —

"Still no news?" Elinor’s soft, melodic voice echoed delicately through the grand hall, "It’s been

years

since that infamous auction day."

Rinara exhaled deeply, shaking her head with weariness weighing down her tone. "Robin Burton hasn’t made a single appearance since that day. Not a word. He hasn’t sold a single item, hasn’t responded to any of the requests sent to the Chamber of Truth, and all personal message on the Soul Society? Ignored. It’s as if he vanished completely from existence—as if the earth itself opened up and devoured him whole."

"How strange..." Elinor murmured as she descended the steps before the throne, her expression thoughtful. "A man like him—someone with his talent, his charisma, his influence—could’ve amassed unimaginable wealth if he had simply continued working with the Soul Society. He was at the peak of demand. Why would someone like that just... stop?"

"Wealth isn’t everything in everyone’s eyes, Elinor..." Rinara’s gaze dropped for a moment, her voice barely above a whisper. "To be honest, I’m not even sure he ever cared for it in the first place. From the start, he only seemed interested in building a name for himself— only spreading his creations."

"What kind of nonsense is that, sister?" Elinor raised a brow and gave a disbelieving chuckle. "The man made billions—literal billions! Just The

Breath of the Ages

alone earned him over twelve billion Pearls! Who looks at that kind of staggering fortune and still thinks he was doing it all just for recognition? That much money... it can buy anything! Power, territory, loyalty—even love itself!"

)

"You didn’t see the level of extravagance he lived in

before

he even reached the Mid-belt." Rinara’s eyes widened with memory. "At his coronation, I saw an entire city more majestic, more sophisticated, and more radiant than our empire’s capital—the very capital we spent seven million years constructing. I saw fleets of starships shimmering with untraceable alloys, arrays fueled by energy sources I couldn’t even identify. I saw

three

Beast Kings seated calmly, observing the ceremony as if they were no more than domesticated pets."

She paused, then shook her head slowly. "Sometimes I wonder if he was born within the heart of an eternal vault—an unending reservoir of riches, technology, and magical resources. Everything about the way he speaks, the way he moves, the way he

spends

—it screams of someone who never had to worry about scarcity. Have you ever looked into the salaries he pays his soldiers?"

"I didn’t see their wages," Elinor replied, her voice low, "but I’ve seen how they fight... and they are worth

every

single pearl I tell you that. No exaggeration. They utterly outclass the so-called elite of our army." Her tone was sharp, almost scathing.

"Of course they do," Rinara replied firmly. "They’re all

Rune Knights

! Their armors and weapons is all epic— every one of them was literally buried under layers of enchanted armor. Life sigils to keep them standing even after fatal blows, speed runes to blur them into a streak of light, explosive and smoke talismans to create dynamic cover in battle... The sheer quantity and

variety

of tools at their disposal is mind-numbing."

She took a breath, brows twitching as she recalled the reports. "My specialists conducted a detailed analysis—item by item, enchantment by enchantment. They calculated the cost of deploying a

single

Rune knight from the True Beginning Empire during combat. From damaged armor components, to talismans consumed mid-battle, to the flow of pure energy from pearls constantly pumping beneath their suits..."

Her eyes rose slowly, locking onto Elinor’s. "Roughly ten pearls per soldier—

each battle

. And that’s not even including the operational cost of their enormous, terrifying war fleets."

Silence...

Elinor stopped dead in her tracks. Her brows drew tightly together as she stared at her sister, trying to process the numbers.

"That can’t be right... Something must be wrong. There’s no way that’s accurate."

But the numbers didn’t lie.

The current active army of the True Beginning Empire was composed of roughly sixty thousand fully-equipped Rune Knights. If each of them consumed around ten pearls per battle...

That’s six hundred

thousand

energy pearls for every single engagement.

Six. Hundred. Thousand.

Elinor’s voice came out in a whisper, almost fearful.

Does the

entire planet

even hold that much value?!

"Apparently, they don’t care much about traditional metrics anymore," Rinara said with a dry, almost hollow laugh that echoed off the high obsidian pillars of the imperial hall. "They don’t bother with strategic ratios, don’t track troop efficiency, or calculate battle yield like we do. No... all they seem to care about are planets. Planets and battlefield experience. As for currency? Profit?" She scoffed under her breath. "It seems to be little more than an afterthought to them now."

Her eyes drifted downward for a moment, clouded with a mix of confusion and reluctant awe.

"And after we witnessed the ludicrous sum that The

Breath of Ages

sold for... who are we to question their resources? Who are we to even begin to fathom the depth of their vaults?" She let out a chuckle, but there was no humor in it—only irony, almost a quiet sense of humiliation.

She—the sovereign ruler of an empire that had spanned the stars for over seven million years, whose hands had shaped constellations and overseen the rise and fall of ancient dynasties—was sitting here, begrudgingly acknowledging the power of an empire that hadn’t even celebrated its three centuries.

"..."

Elinor remained silent for a breath, her expression tightening as she glanced toward the great mural that depicted their ancestral ascension from mortal realms to the celestial echelons. Her voice came low, calculated.

"Couldn’t we just... hand them over our front line?" she asked, words chosen like daggers. "Let them face the Twilight Spectrum Empire directly. If they’re so confident, so bold... why not see how they fare against our true enemies?"

Rinara didn’t hesitate. She raised her hand in a sharp, dismissive motion, as though swatting away a fly.

"And you think they’d simply agree?" Her tone was pointed, edged with cynicism. "Caesar Burton is no fool, Elinor. They didn’t build that empire on arrogance or luck. And the one they call Prime Minister? He’s cold steel wrapped in politics—unbending, methodical, and dangerous. Every subtle push we’ve made, every diplomatic suggestion, every layered clause—we’ve been met with countermeasures, counterproposals, and silence. That man has fortified their empire’s will like an unbreachable wall."

"Why not force their hand?" Elinor snapped, frustration flaring in her voice. Her eyes burned with impatience.

"Their army is practically untouchable on the ground! As long as they keep pouring resources into their ranks—those absurd numbers—they’re unstoppable. We could ride their momentum. Support them with a few of our World Cataclysms. Let them take the brunt of the Twilight Spectrum Empire campaign. Let them march ahead as our blunt spear." She paused, her lips curling slightly.

"And if they fall? So be it. We lose pawns and our enemy weakened. If they succeed? We reap the victory. Either way, we’re untouched."

She stepped forward, closing the space between her and Rinara. Her voice lowered, coiling with conspiratorial intensity.

"We wouldn’t even need their permission. Redirect our World Cataclysms under the excuse of fortifying against the Twilight Spectrum Empire offensive. Announce a prophetic vision, a precognitive warning, anything! Shift our narrative. Once our forces reposition, Caesar and his commanders will be cornered. They’ll have no battlefield to operate on, no planets to contest. They’ll be forced to withdraw."

Her arms opened wide, like a performer on a grand stage.

"What do we lose? Nothing. The four contested planets return to their original holders—the Iron Boar Empire. The True Beginning forces are left wandering, unfocused, with no war front, no enemy, no goal."

She laughed—a rich, dangerous sound.

"And then? Then you apologize, smile, and say it was war. Nothing more. Offer them the same partnership—but this time, on the Twilight Spectrum Empire front. Shift their entire attention away from the core sectors."

Her hands dropped to her slender hips with mock elegance.

"And if you need a spark to light this little fire? I’ll strike the match myself. I’ll take a fleet and launch a preemptive strike on one of the Twilight Spectrum Empire territories. Force a response. Make them move. That gives you all the justification you need for a full redeployment."

Rinara tilted her head slightly, regarding her sister with the gaze of someone watching a storm gather in the distance.

"Perhaps... perhaps that idea might have worked three or four decades ago. Back when they still relied on our strength. Back when we had leverage. But now?" Her voice fell, tinged with resignation. "They don’t need us anymore."

"You overestimate them, Rinara," Elinor hissed. "They’re still just children. Their empire is little more than a flickering ember compared to our eternal flame. Their planets haven’t even fully evolved yet. How could they possibly produce World Cataclysms on their own? Even after planetary evolution, they’d need tens of thousands of years under our guidance—under

protection

—before they could ever birth a true cataclysm naturally."

Her brow furrowed as her voice hardened.

"Why are we bending to them? Why are we allowing these upstarts to dictate the pace of our ancient empire?"

Rinara exhaled through her nose, a sound more akin to surrender than breath. Her words were soft—but each syllable struck like a hammer.

"Because they’ve already moved beyond our grasp, Elinor. We just refused to see it. They haven’t called upon our World Cataclysms in over two years. Not one request. And the ones we

did

place there—the observers, the planted guardians—they’ve reported nothing. No summons. No deployments. Not even a whisper of need."

Elinor blinked, stunned. Then her voice rose—disbelieving, angry.

"That’s madness! That’s... that’s impossible! Just three months ago, I heard they established a fortified presence on their fifth planetary node—

their fifth

! And they’re sweeping it clean. Purging it. On whose authority? Under

what

protection?!"

"I don’t know..." Rinara admitted, her voice faltering for the first time. Her regal poise cracked, ever so slightly. Her eyes shimmered with something rare—doubt.

"But what I do know... is that their army must now include World Cataclysms. There’s no other explanation for their rapid planetary consolidation."

Elinor recoiled, fury igniting behind her eyes.

"I refuse to believe it! Where would they

get

Cataclysms? From who? Did they rent them from some galactic market? Rent them by the hour like mercenaries?!" Her voice shook with rising indignation.

"If we weren’t already at war with the Iron Boar Empire, we would

never

have permitted this insanity to begin! Who else could have lent them such power—besides

us

?!"

She turned violently, her cloak whipping through the air like a sword slash. She began storming toward the exit, her voice cutting through the hall like lightning.

"No more speculation. No more doubt. I’ll see it with my own eyes."