From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 820 Battle of the Royal Tomb
Inside the royal tomb, the dark and complex passages, like a maze, seemed endless. The stench of decay mixed with a sweet, cloying blood grew stronger and stronger, making it hard to breathe.

The sounds of psychic collisions and roars coming from behind were gradually fading into inaudibility. Amber and the Phoenix King's assault team were rushing deeper into the tomb.

The stone slabs beneath their feet were no longer smooth; instead, they were corroded and pitted by those evil psionic techniques, making each step feel like stepping on twisted flesh.

"There's an ambush ahead!" a Spirit Master with specialized perception suddenly warned in a stern voice.

Before the words were finished, the elven soldiers depicted in the murals on both walls suddenly came to life. No, they didn't come to life, but rather a dozen or so real rebel fanatics who used some kind of psychic energy to disguise themselves and merge with the murals, and at that moment launched a surprise attack.

Deep blue psionic blades shot out from all directions, turning the narrow passage into a death trap.

"Everyone, be careful!"

Amber reacted with lightning speed, advancing instead of retreating, charging forward like a cannonball into the midst of the densest attack.

The blue lightning on his body coalesced into a solidified shield, deflecting most of the attacks. The few that managed to escape only left shallow scorch marks on his power armor.

Amber unleashed the spiritual energy he had gathered in his hand, the violent energy blasting a large hole in the stone wall behind a rebel soldier, sending debris and blood flying everywhere.

The Phoenix King, on the other hand, presented a completely different picture. His boundless rage transformed the golden spiritual energy around him into burning flames.

He made no extra movements, simply raising his hand, and a golden shockwave spread out from him.

Very elegant, very pretentious, making Amber quite envious.

The rebels who launched the sneak attack didn't even have time to scream before they were purified into ashes in the sacred and violent golden flames.

The battle ended in a matter of seconds, but everyone's pace slowed for a moment as they passed through the narrow tomb passage again, only to find the path ahead suddenly opened up.

The group arrived at a spacious circular hall where several paths converged. According to the Phoenix King's calculations, they had already completed half of their journey.

However, what stood in their way was no longer ordinary rebels.

Three corrupted guardians, each five meters tall, stood in a triangular formation, blocking all paths.

Their skeletons were thicker, and the twisted psionic energy almost materialized into black flames burning on their bodies.

Especially the one in the middle, which held a huge battle axe made of the spine, with traces of golden psionic energy remaining on the blade, belonging to its former owner.

“It’s…it’s Orlando the Dawnbreaker!” A master elf’s voice trembled, filled with grief and disbelief. “He was the chief bodyguard of the first Phoenix King.”

Seeing the legendary hero of yesteryear desecrated in this way, all the elves present felt a pang of heartache and anger.

"Don't let your emotions get the better of you! They're just manipulated corpses!" Amber snapped, reminding everyone.

But as soon as he finished speaking, the corrupted guardian named Orlando in the middle let out a deafening psionic roar and charged over, wielding his giant axe.

"I'll take care of it!" The Phoenix King's eyes flashed with golden light as he stepped forward to meet it.

"I'm here to help you!"

Amber realized that when facing the Queen, he would still need the Phoenix King's help, so he immediately rushed up to help him share the burden.

The remaining two guardians also activated simultaneously, flanking the team from the flank.

"Leave it to us!" The two older elven masters exchanged a glance, each leading several psionicists, and resolutely headed towards the two monsters.

A fierce battle erupted instantly, and the entire hall was enveloped in the light of various colors of psionic energy. Only one older psionic master did not join any of the battles. His gaze swept rapidly across the entire hall, searching for the right path.

"This way!" Based on his memory, he pointed to an inconspicuous fork in the road on the left.

Upon receiving the information, the group immediately adjusted their pace and moved towards the fork in the road during the battle. However, the tomb guardians stationed there were not weak in combat. Although they might not be in mortal danger with the group's careful handling, they could definitely hold them off for a considerable amount of time.

"Time is of the essence! We can't delay any longer, Your Majesty! You should take your men and leave first."

A resolute glint flashed in the eyes of an elf master, and in the next second, he forcibly activated spiritual energy beyond his own limits. A large number of weeds immediately sprouted from the cracks in the floor and walls of the tomb and quickly transformed into countless vines, binding the tomb guardians tightly.

But the Guardian's power far exceeded his imagination; the black, corrupting energy suddenly erupted, instantly breaking free of all restraints.

The elf master groaned, blood gushing from his mouth and nose, while the guardian's bone claws were already within reach.

"Mentor!" a young elven psionicist cried out in alarm, trying to come to the rescue, but it was too late.

The bone claws pierced the old man's chest without mercy, but in the last moment of his life, the master revealed a smile on his face. He used his last strength to detonate his psionic core.

"For this universe"

boom--!
A gentle yet powerful life energy exploded outwards, without any destructive impact, yet like the most powerful purification spell, instantly dissolving the three corrupted guardians.

"Go!" Amber grabbed the young elf who was trying to rush forward, her voice as cold as ice. "Don't let him sacrifice himself in vain!"

Suppressing their grief, the group followed Amber and rushed into the passage that had been bought with blood and lives.

It's unclear what the ancestors of the elves were thinking, but the internal structure of the tomb was far more complex than imagined, resembling a giant anthill.

The group repeatedly found themselves in dire straits, only to be forced to fight their way out. Along the way, they encountered sporadic resistance and activated nightmare creations, and the number of members in the group dwindled with each bloody charge.

Finally, they stopped in front of a giant gate carved with twin phoenix totems.

Behind the gate lies the core area of ​​the mausoleum.

The Phoenix King raised his hand, about to use the royal secrets to open the giant gate, but Amber suddenly stopped him.

"Wait a moment."

He walked to the door, listened intently for a moment, and then, without hesitation, raised his foot and kicked the massive door hard.

"Boom!"

The massive, ten-thousand-ton spirit metal gate let out a loud bang, caved inward, and several suppressed gasps and the sound of a spirit energy shield shattering came from behind it.

"There's a surprise behind the door." Amber pulled her foot back and stretched her ankle.

Phoenix King: "."

The other elf masters: "."

The Phoenix King shook his head and didn't use any more secret techniques. Instead, he used the most brutal spiritual energy impact to completely blast open the already damaged giant door.

The sight behind the door made all the intruders gasp in shock.

A magnificent underground dome, large enough to accommodate small warships, appeared before everyone's eyes.

The rock walls of the dome were not formed naturally, but were carved into an intricate star map, with countless tiny psionic crystals embedded in them, shimmering with a faint light like real stars, illuminating the entire space as bright as day.

In the center of the entire core area, a huge, bizarrely shaped, pitch-black device stands there.

Its main structure is not the elegant streamlined shape of the Elven race, but is full of inhuman, cold geometric cuts. The constantly flowing golden runes on the surface exude a heart-palpitating energy fluctuation that seems to come from another dimension.

This is the 'Return Beacon'. Queen Liana stood before the beacon, her magnificent royal gown stained with dust and blood, yet she stood ramrod straight, her expression cold and haughty.

Behind her were the last few dozen fanatical traitorous psykers, forming the final line of defense, each with eyes filled with a death wish.

"Liana, stop."

The Phoenix King's voice echoed in the empty dome, carrying a hint of weariness, heartache, and helplessness.

"For the sake of our people, for the sake of Eldaram, it's not too late for you to surrender now."

Liana let out a contemptuous sneer, as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Our people?"

She raised her eyes, her gaze full of mockery, sweeping over the Phoenix King before landing on Amber beside him.

"Are you referring to those lost sheep you led into the abyss, or these lowly barbarians who have defiled the resting place of our ancestors?"

She stepped forward, her voice sharpening: "My king, look at yourself! Have you forgotten the oath we swore beneath this star map? You promised to lead the empire back to its glory, yet now you associate with these insects, desecrating our most sacred place!"

"The most sacred place?! Do you even deserve to mention 'the most sacred place' to me after what you've done?!"

The last trace of warmth on the Phoenix King's face vanished completely, replaced by the majesty and coldness of a monarch. He slowly raised his hand, and golden psionic light began to gather.

"Liana, you are beyond saving."

Before the words were even finished, the Phoenix King's figure had already transformed into a golden streak of light, and his boundless spiritual energy gathered into a dazzling spear of judgment, piercing straight at Liana.

"For the true God!"

Liana let out a shriek and unleashed her own powerful psionic energy. A deep blue energy barrier instantly formed in front of her, within which countless distorted soul images wailed.

"boom!"

Two streams of psionic energy, representing the pinnacle of the Thousand Star Empire's combat power, collided violently, causing the entire core area of ​​the mausoleum to shake violently. Psionic crystals on the dome extinguished and shattered in large numbers, and a terrifying energy storm swept outwards.

The battle broke out in an instant.

"Take care of the others, don't let them interfere with His Majesty!" a psionic master loyal to the Phoenix King roared, leading his companions to meet the rebels.

Without the slightest hesitation, Amber's goal became even clearer. He charged straight towards the most densely populated area of ​​the traitorous psionicists, like a cannonball fired from a gun.

"Stop that human!" a rebel leader shouted sternly.

Several traitorous psionicists immediately changed direction and unleashed their multicolored psionic attacks at Amber.

However, Amber made an incredible twist in mid-air, easily dodging most of the attacks, while raising her right hand with her five fingers spread.

"All things are attracted by heaven!"

"what?!"

An invisible gravitational field suddenly erupted, causing the bodies of the traitorous psionicists who were casting spells to stiffen. They were involuntarily pulled together and their formation was thrown into chaos.

Amber's figure appeared among them like a ghost.

There were no elaborate spells, only a burst of spiritual energy refined to its extreme.

Punches, elbows, knees, and legs, supplemented by point-blank electromagnetic rifle shooting and hand-to-hand combat spike attacks.

Each attack struck a vital point with pinpoint accuracy. Accompanied by the cracking sound of bones breaking and the shattering of psionic shields, in just a few breaths, the traitorous psionicists were sent flying like broken sacks, completely incapacitated.

A psionic master, catching a glimpse of this scene during a lull in the fighting, exclaimed in horror, "Is this how humans fight? There's absolutely no beauty in it!"

“But it’s terribly deadly,” another psionic master calmly replied.

Meanwhile, the battle between the Phoenix King and Queen Liana has reached a fever pitch.

The golden holy flames and the deep blue psionic energy collided and annihilated each other, causing the space to visibly distort with each clash.

They were once the most distinguished couples in this empire, intimately familiar with each other's fighting styles, but now they have turned that familiarity into their most lethal weapon.

Phoenix King swept a whip kick toward Liana's side, but she anticipated it and dodged it. At the same time, a dagger made of psionic energy silently pierced toward Phoenix King's heart.

The Phoenix King grunted and forcefully twisted his body, the dagger grazing his breastplate and sending a burst of lightning through him.

He seized the opportunity to grab Liana's wrist, and with his other hand, he gathered golden flames and slammed them into her abdomen.

A ruthless glint flashed in Liana's eyes. She neither dodged nor evaded, allowing the Phoenix King's attack to strike her. At the same time, she gathered all her spiritual energy in her other hand, transforming it into a purplish-black claw that went straight for the Phoenix King's chest.

Trade injury for injury!

"boom!"

Both of them let out a painful groan at the same time, and were sent flying backward, crashing heavily to the ground.

"Your Majesty!"

Several traitors rushed over, helped up Liana, whose mouth was bleeding, and shielded her behind them as they retreated to the base of the 'Return Beacon'.

The Phoenix King also struggled to his feet, a deep, bone-revealing claw mark on his chest was shocking, and blood stained his magnificent robes.

Amber and the remaining elven psionic masters dealt with most of the enemies and quickly arrived at Phoenix King's side, surrounding Liana and the others.

"It's over, Liana." The Phoenix King said, his voice hoarse as he struggled to stay upright.

Just then, a violent explosion came from the other side of the dome, and a huge gap was blasted open in the thick rock wall.

As the smoke cleared, squads of soldiers clad in brand-new, specialized power armor rushed in, their heavy metal boots clattering in unison on the ground.

Leading the group were the burly Roma marines from the Atlas Group.

"Great! Reinforcements have arrived! It seems the rebels outside have been largely wiped out!"

Upon seeing the arrival of reinforcements, the elves on Phoenix King's side all showed expressions of relief, and everyone felt that the outcome was already decided.

However, when Liana, surrounded by the traitors, saw the Roma marines rushing in, her face did not show despair, but instead a strange and cold smile appeared on her face.

"The end? No."

She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, her eyes sweeping over the Roma people with a venomous glint.

"The real show is just beginning."

(End of this chapter)