Sovereign of the Ashes

Sein did not recognize most of the residents who were fervently pleading for his cause.

Only a few in the front row seemed vaguely familiar to Sein, reminding him of those underground humans he had briefly interacted with during his mission to exterminate Green Plumes.

At that time, Sein could not carry all the Green Plumes’ remains, so he generously offered them to those humans.

To Sein, it was merely a commodity he could hardly carry back, but for these people, those Green Plumes’ remains had prevented almost a thousand of them from succumbing to starvation.

True to Sein’s suspicion, those underground humans could not bring themselves to enjoy the flesh of the valuable magic creatures.

Instead, they sold most of the flesh. The profit was used to buy affordable underground edible moss, enabling them to survive the grim period when their crops were destroyed.

Under the leadership of these hundreds of people whom Sein had saved, more and more residents who had experienced Sein’s kindness began to rally behind him.

Mystralora City had a population of three hundred thousand people. These underground residents were on the brink of being “rescued” as the black mages were about to be defeated.

Mages and knights from the Divine Towers and the Orders of the Knight were going to transport them to the surface using airships.

While it remained unclear whether these esteemed knights and mages truly cared about the lives of these residents, this was part of their mission to exterminate the black mages.

Upon the mission’s completion, both the Divine Towers and the Orders of the Knights would document and assess the success of their operation this time.

Three hundred thousand people constituted a significant number. When they crowded together and stirred up a commotion, the knights who were unaware of the real truth actually believed that Sein had helped all these people in the past.

In reality, the circle of humans within Mystralora City was exceedingly small.

They were all like ants, living under the oppressive and cruel rule of the black mages.

Amid this dark and grim existence, the black magic initiate who showed them kindness became a beacon of light, warm and comforting as a ray of sunshine.

Even Sein himself was unaware of the profound impact his unintentional actions had on these ordinary residents.

In fact, Sein’s acts of kindness toward these residents extended beyond that one instance of charity involving the Green Plumes.

Throughout his three years as an intermediate initiate, Sein had interacted with the ordinary humans of Mystralora City during his bi-monthly academy quests.

Having a stronger moral compass than other black magic initiates made Sein stand out and shine among them.

As a result, when challenged by these powerful knights, it was the underground humans who were the first to defend him and display the courage to do so.

A significant part of this was also attributed to the gentle and non-offensive behavior of these surface knights toward the residents.

This group of knights was reasonable and principled, respecting the lives of the weak.

The collective appeal of these underground residents finally reached the silver-armored knight who had been silent. As the leader of the group of knights, he was the one who had the ultimate authority.

With his spear in hand, he intervened just in time before the yellow-armored knight could put the shackles on Sein.

He removed his silver-colored helmet, revealing a bald head. He was a stern-looking man with intimidating black eyes.

“Not all black magic initiates have been assimilated and corrupted by those evil black mages. They are also victims. We’ve encountered initiates with kind hearts, some even accepted as apprentices by the mages from the Divine Tower of Dawn,” the bald silver-armored knight stated.

The black magic initiates he mentioned were mostly the junior and fresh initiates who had managed to survive in Shadow Valley.

Many fresh initiates and several junior initiates found themselves accepted as apprentices by the mages from the Divine Tower of Dawn because they were young and not entirely corrupted by the dark environment of the Black Magic Academy yet.

These initiates had distinguished themselves through their motivation and discipline, earning admiration from several mages from the Divine Tower who could not help resist taking them under their wing as apprentices.

These Divine Tower mages asserted their desire to guide these black magic initiates back onto the right path.

“Why did you help these civilians?” the silver-armored knight asked as he approached Sein.

The opponent’s unparalleled strength and suffocating presence were enough to compel anyone with deceitful intentions to reveal their true colors.

The silver-armored Knight was a ruthless man who had participated in interplanar wars for hundreds of years. He trusted his own judgment on a young man who was only in his twenties.

In response to the silver-armored knight’s question, Sein did not mince his words and spoke what was on his mind. “I don’t see them as just civilians. They’re human, just like me.”

His response seemed to freeze the air around him for a moment.

This was followed by hearty laughter from the silver-armored knight. Unlike the group of Rank One knights around him who had mocked their comrade, Zeke, for being injured by a black magic initiate, the silver-armored knight’s laughter was more genuine.

He seemed like he wanted to pat Sein on the shoulder, but Sein’s height was too short for him to do that. Besides, he was also concerned about applying too much force and unintentionally hurt the 1.8-meter-tall young man.

In the end, he tucked the silver helmet under his armpit, waved to Sein, and said, “You want to meet a Divine Tower mage, yes? Come on, I’ll take you to Master Medich.”

“Not only do the mages from the Divine Tower are curious about that Sand World, but I am as well,” the silver-armored knight added, leading the way toward the city.

Observing the silver-armored knight’s departure, Sein wasted no time and followed suit.

Before leaving, he made sure to bow to the group of residents from Mystralora City who were still prostrating themselves and pleading on his behalf.

It was at this moment that Sein found himself pondering something different.

What is the true meaning of magic? In the pursuit of magic knowledge, must one adopt the practices of black mages, including the disdain for and disregard of life?

Sein felt the urge to pose this question to Master Morsidor.

With Master Morsidor’s wisdom, he could surely guide Sein in the right direction.

However, the lingering question remained—where could Master Morsidor be right now?

***

Mystralora City, at this moment, had undergone a drastic transformation from Sein’s memory.

Almost half of the once-majestic city now lay in ruins.

According to the silver-armored knight, their next step was to completely overthrow and bury Mystralora City.

This central hub of the Underworld was on the brink of becoming a relic of the past.

“I’m Baldor, young one. If you manage to become a full-fledged mage in the future, you can seek me out at the Order of Land Sword from the Boundless South Sea of the Magus World. I have very high hopes for you,” the silver-armored knight said before guiding Sein toward a stone building in the eastern part of the city, near to the heart of it.