Chapter 65: seven thrones
The absolute spatial collapse of the Temple of the Shattered Horizon left the Void-Emperor Imperial Haven suspended within a quiet, dark cosmic vacuum. Outside the massive viewports, the swirling violet starlight slowly re-settled around the tower, its foundational alloy struts humming softly as the system code fully absorbed the fresh Level 34 parameters.
"The external gravitational feedback has completely dropped to zero," Major General Shin Ye-rin reported, her voice carrying a deep, post-battle exhaustion as she stepped away from the master terminal console. She unpinned her tactical headset, letting her short black bob fall naturally as she rubbed her temples. "Min-jae, the fortress is entirely un-trackable within this sub-space pocket. The perimeter parameters are completely green for the next six hours."
"Good. Set the automated mechs to patrol the perimeter faults," Min-jae commanded flatly.
He unsealed his heavy, light-absorbing dark armor, allowing the obsidian plates to dissolve back into his system inventory with a quiet hiss. Dressed in his simple black silk lounging shirt, his hands slid naturally into his pockets as his deadpan black eyes scanned the quiet lounge.
The intense adrenaline of the melee exchange with Prime Templar Malakor had faded, but his core spirit was still carrying a massive, heavy thermal draft from the unsealed attribute dump.
"You’re tracking the numbers again, Monarch," Liu Xiao voiced softly, her low, seductive melody sending a warm ripple straight through the silent room.
She walked gracefully over from the inner sanctuary corridor, her green and white silk hanfu draped flawlessly over her exceptionally voluptuous hourglass curves and full, heavy chest. Operating at her newly unsealed 50% capacity, her very presence radiated a soothing, sub-divine weight that completely neutralized the residual spatial tension in the lounge.
She didn’t stop a polite distance away. She stepped directly into his personal space, her exotic emerald eyes shining with a deep, tearful relief that she was no longer trying to hide. She raised her slender, pale hands, gently pressing them against his chest to check the alignment of his underlying mana pathways.
"Your breath is solid, but the primordial ignition strike left a heavy kinetic resonance in your shoulder," Liu Xiao murmured, her face flushing a beautiful crimson as she leaned her full chest directly against his arm. She cast an alluring, playful look over her shoulder. "Ji-a, Bylai. Bring the celestial oils. Our Monarch requires immediate physical restoration before the second stronghold locks its gates."
Before Min-jae’s cold fixer mind could formulate a calculated refusal, Yoo Ji-a marched straight out from the armory bay, her long midnight-black ponytail swaying violently as her violet eyes flashed with an intense, playful jealousy. She had changed into a tight, sleeveless training tank top that perfectly highlighted her athletic, narrow waist and toned curves.
"I’ve been waiting for my turn in the queue all day, Xiao!" Ji-a purred loudly, aggressively pushing her athletic body onto the sofa directly beside Min-jae, wrapping her slender arms tightly around his right arm. Her heart raced violently against his side. "He shielded my left flank from that Level 66 halberd. I’m cleaning his shoulder plates first tonight!"
The stunning Ice Goddess, Gu Bylai, stepped into the lounge with a heavy, regal grace. Her pale ice-blue and white traditional gown drifted gracefully like frozen mist, her narrow waist cinched tightly by her pale-purple belt. Her flawless porcelain face was entirely devoid of cosmetics, displaying an image of natural, noble innocence that left her icy-blue eyes looking deeply alluring yet intensely vulnerable. She carried a polished crystal bowl filled with glowing celestial ointment.
"Let us stay like this for a bit, Min-jae," Gu Bylai whispered softly, her dark violet lips parting as a deep crimson blush covered her cheeks. She sat gracefully at the edge of the sofa near his knees, her long, silk-covered legs lightly brushing against his boots as her cool fingers gently began to massage the base of his left neck. "The heat from your solar domain is intense... but sitting beside you, my ice parameters don’t feel fractured anymore. They feel entirely whole."
Min-jae sat perfectly still, caught between the tight, warm pressure of Ji-a on his right, the soft weight of Liu Xiao leaning against his left, and the gentle, soothing touch of the beautiful Ice Empress at his knees. A sudden, massive wave of human shyness hit his chest, a deep crimson flush creeping all the way up his neck beneath his collar as his ears burned. The ruthless mastermind who had just deleted a creator-class vanguard was completely short-circuited by the concentrated affection of his court, his fingers awkwardly shifting on the leather cushion.
"The parameters are... fully operational, girls," Min-jae muttered, his voice dropping into a low, thoroughly flustered baritone that made the entire harem let out a collective, soft laugh at his rare human embarrassment.
"Don’t get too comfortable on that couch, boss! The forge lines are fully heated!" Han Chae-won’s high-energy voice barked from the adjacent armory bay, breaking the quiet romantic warmth.
Min-jae cleared his throat, using the interruption to gracefully escape the sofa’s close-proximity lock. He walked into the forge room, his hands sliding back into his pockets as Chae-won brought out the pulsing, diamond-like Horizon Sovereign Core they had just strip-mined from Malakor.
"Upgrading the defensive line!" Chae-won beamed, her fingers flying across her terminal as she channeled her Infinite Void Treasury to slam the core directly into the anvil’s central combustion slot.
[Sub-Divine Celestial Anvil Active! Forcing Auxiliary Equipment Mutation!]
[Target Selected: Gu Bylai’s ’Empress’s Frost-Weave Shroud’ (True Divine Tier)!]
[Fusing Horizon Sovereign Core and 50,000 High-Tier Cosmic Crystals... 100% Success!]
[The Shroud has successfully ascended to: ’The Sovereign Glacial Absolute-Zero Armor’!]
[New Skill Unlocked: ’Shattered Horizon Shell’ — When Gu Bylai deploys her 35% ice field, her armor forcefully copies 50% of Min-jae’s active solar damage reflection, projecting a massive, freezing counter-shockwave that permanently shatters the physical weapons of any Level 60+ attacker upon contact!]
Crack!.
A blinding, absolute-zero wave of pristine white frost and silver starlight violently exploded from the forge anvil, shooting the upgraded gown straight back over Gu Bylai’s voluptuous frame. The pale ice-blue silk tulle instantly gained a glowing, diamond-like crystalline texture that thoroughly outlined her graceful silhouette, her icy-blue eyes flaring with an unyielding, fanatical devotion.
"The armor code is completely stable, Min-jae," Bylai voiced, her melody carrying a deep, breathless submission as she held his hand. "My absolute frost field is fully locked into your solar reflection loop."
Before the romantic warmth could linger, the primary console of the Celestial Compass Grid cut through the air with a piercing, red-tier alarm. The holographic star-map violently fractured into seven distinct, bleeding crimson coordinates.
"Critical spatial anomaly detected!" Major General Shin Ye-rin shouted, her steel-gray eyes flashing with intense tactical focus as she execution-tapped her terminal glass. "Min-jae! The remaining seven creation lords of the deep cosmos have broken their silence! Realizing that the Shattered Horizon has been emptied, they have bypassed all standard diplomatic protocols and merged their regional dimensions simultaneously!"
The star-map projected a terrifying, colossal fortress structure materializing right outside their coordinates—The Palace of the Seven Thrones.
"They are launching a synchronized, multi-directional planet-piercing bombardment to collapse our sub-space pocket!" Ye-rin reported sharply. "Over eighty thousand primordial dreadnoughts are charging their core cannons! We have less than two minutes before the first salvo drops!"
Min-jae slowly summoned his True Vajra Sub-Divine God-Armor back onto his frame, the light-absorbing dark alloy plates locking tightly over his chest with a sharp mechanical hiss. His Solar Zenith Domain erupted from his skin, turning the entire armory bay into a burning inferno of white primordial solar fire as he grabbed the heavy hilt of his claymore.
"They think a combined numerical advantage can change the core rules of the ledger," Min-jae murmured, his low baritone cutting through the spatial tension like an absolute blade, a dark, ruthless grin spreading across his handsome face. He looked toward his nine flawless queens, who stood in a precise, lethal vanguard line, their True Divine weapons humming with absolute execution parameters.
"Hold onto my shoulders," Min-jae commanded flatly, his voice carrying an absolute, god-like authority. "Keep your mana loops locked. We are dropping straight onto the center of their seven thrones to strip-mine the highest rulers of this universe."
"Spatial Void Phase," Min-jae murmured.
Voom!.
Space across the entire fortress completely fractured like brittle glass. In a fraction of a millisecond, the air imploded with a massive vacuum pop, and Min-jae along with his nine flawless queens vanished from the sub-space pocket, launching a direct, unannounced drop invasion straight into the heart of the Seven Thrones to turn an entire cosmic empire into a burning graveyard of vaporized steel.
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