When Sein and his companions left Black Tide Plane, the war still raged fiercely across that battlefield.

Magus World had deployed nine space fortresses to the low-level plane.

While the Magus Civilization still could not rival the Gallant Federation in the sheer number and scale of war platforms, nine space fortresses, backed by dozens of prism forts and nearly a thousand war airships, were nothing to scoff at.

On their way to Nocchi, Sein and his forces brought along two space fortresses, around three hundred thousand knights and mages, as well as nearly two million enslaved creatures as reserve troops.

It was not the largest army by any means, but it was enough to take on the artificial planet deployed by the federation.

Most of these troops came from the Jehannah Kingdom, which meant the vast resources stored on Nocchi and throughout the Transversa Star Domain would end up flowing largely into their kingdoms coffers.

***

The Gallant Federations remaining fleets in the starry skies were still formidable.

Not long after leaving Black Tide Plane, Sein and his forces were immediately met with heavy fire from the federations side.

After clashing with the Gallant Federation for so long, the Magus Civilization had already unraveled many of their attack patterns.

For example, the Gallant Federation often modified asteroid belts, demiplanes, and broken planes in the Astral Realm.

What were once barren rocks became platforms equipped with the federations weapons.

Even then, the Gallant Federation devoted little manpower to these setups, relying mostly on automated systems or remote control.

In their own way, these were also the cannon fodder of a technological civilization.

But this time, seven Rank Five powerhouses from Magus World had been dispatched, including Sein himself.1

The Huusian King, Clint, Welks, and the Molten Steel T-Rex were all true Rank Five entities.

While useful against ordinary legions, the federations scattered defenses across the starry skies were completely inadequate against beings of that level.

The Gallant Federations main legions were currently bogged down on multiple fronts, leaving no spare forces to intercept them.

With the Molten Steel T-Rex charging ahead and the presence of Clint and Welks in the ranks, Sein and his group pressed swiftly toward Nocchi.

Though the Huusian King was the most badly wounded, he ended up being the most proactive of them all.

Considering this man had even offered his daughters in marriage, he might as well be family now.

Sein eased some of the burden on him by tossing over two healing potions. Those were gifts from Lorianne before he left Magus World.

Whether thanks to Seins frugality or Loriannes generosity, he still had a few vials of Amethyst Aphid Honeydew healing potion left.

Nocchi was not far from the Transversa Star Domain.

It was an artificial planet the Gallant Federation had created from a massive asteroid.

The federation excelled at expanding and reshaping artificial planets out of giant asteroids or demiplanes.

Of course, they were capable of creating a mechanical planet from scratch, but that would come at an enormous cost.

***

When Sein and his group were close to Nocchi, the federal garrison on Nocchi was already scrambling to evacuate.

Word must have gotten out about Seins group closing in.

Although a fleet had been dispatched to intercept, the federations weak garrison forces there were no match for Sein and his allies.

With so little time, it was impossible for the Gallant Federation to fully relocate all of Nocchis stockpiled resources.

By the time Seins group arrived, they had only managed to evacuate a few key figures and several scientists.

This transit planets resources are massive, a Rank Four knight remarked, his eyes glinting with greed as he scanned the world below.

He was Bondi, from the Jehannah Kingdom.

For all its reputation as one of Magus Worlds top powers, overseen by a knight overlord and revered as a sacred land for the knights, the Jehannah Kingdom was still regarded as relatively poor among its peers.

The Jehannah Kingdom, often called the Mercenary Kingdom, rose to prominence through its knights, who first built their reputation in the desert lands. Back then, being a mercenary was the most common path for them.

Nocchi was a resource hub, not an ecological colony. Because of that, the Gallant Federation had done little to green the surface of this artificial world.

The whole planet sat under dust-choked skies.

Scattered across its surface were countless massive takeoff and landing platforms, with mountains of stacked containers and supplies towering in every direction.

The Gallant Federations energy block technology had even earned approval from Magus World.

They were cheap to produce and efficient in use, far outpacing the Magus Civilizations more costly way of condensing energy crystals from elemental pools.

For many Magus World knights and mages, those energy blocks were money.

Since the war began, Magus World had seized vast amounts of the Gallant Federations resources, from energy blocks to rare metals.

They were systematically developed and put to use, with clearly marked prices and significant market values.

Just in case these federations creatures get desperate and try to blow up the planet, Ill secure it with my domain power first, Welks said.

Most artificial worlds built by the Gallant Federation came with self-destruct protocols. This was the key difference between man-made planets and naturally formed ones.

The Rank Five mage took the lead and closed in on Nocchi. From a certain height above the planet, a pale gray aura of domain laws burst from his body, spreading in all directions.

His domain power interfered directly with the federations electromagnetic equipment.

Some Rank Four and above beings on other planes even referred to this kind of power as divine domain.

Sein himself had studied the power of laws deeply since reaching Rank Four, but he had yet to develop his own domain power.

A domain was, in essence, an environment created by fusing elemental force with the power of laws, forming a barrier that expanded outward, bending the space within to the users advantage.

On planes that embraced the faith system, this was the most sought-after power among Rank Four beings and higher.

But as a mage, Sein had far too many other paths to pursue to confine himself to mastering just domain power.

Nocchi was small, perhaps smaller than even a microplane.

Under Master Welks domain power, the entire world was soon wrapped in a pale gray veil of light.

The federations garrison forces surged out to try and stop him, but they were cut down mercilessly by Sein and the others.

1. Translators Note: Again, Sein is not yet a true Rank Five being. Hes only categorized as one here because hes capable of fighting like one.