Sovereign of the Ashes

Seven hooted and said, “If my injuries weren’t so severe, I could have carried you away from Mystralora City. Go now, run for your life.”

The owl flapped its wing and urged, “Look for the mages from the Divine Tower, perhaps they can rescue you. I’ve seen junior and fresh initiates being taken in by them before.”

Sein could tell that the quasi-ranked magic beast genuinely cared about him.

Unfortunately, excessive blood loss and its weakened state rendered it incapable of providing any assistance to Sein.

Observing the intensifying rain of fire, Sein could not help but glance toward the north.

Although his current location was not too far from the northern part of the city, considering his pace and the impending destruction of Mystralora City...

It seemed unlikely he would make it there alive.

After urging Sein to escape, Seven’s axilla began to bleed again. His consciousness and vitality were once again fading, and his breathing grew increasingly feeble.

If the destruction of Mystralora City was inevitable, the most fortunate outcome for Seven would be to breathe its last before then and be spared from the agony of the ensuing flames.

In the depths of despair, Sein seemed to be questioning and talking to himself simultaneously, “Are we truly out of options?”

Upon hearing Sein’s question, Seven, barely clinging to consciousness, replied weakly, “If you have a Grade One energy crystal, I may be able to swallow it and prevent the injury from worsening for the time being.”

“Then again, treasures of that caliber are highly coveted resources even for full-fledged black mages. How could you possibly possess any...” it commented weakly.

“Grade One energy crystal?” A glimmer of hope suddenly returned to Sein’s eyes.

“I may not have a Grade One energy crystal, but I do have this!” In Sein’s hand, a vivid and dazzling orange energy crystal suddenly materialized.

The brilliance of this crystal was so intense that one had to squint against its radiance.

Even in its current weakened state, Seven felt the majestic and abundant elemental energy before it.

Its clouded eyes regained a spark of awareness as it hooted in surprise.

***

SWOOSH!

Meteorites and rain of fire continued to descend upon Mystralora City.

Above the northern part of Mystralora City, a dark and diminutive figure deftly navigated through the falling meteorites and flames.

Seven, having consumed one-fifth of a Grade Two energy crystal, experienced a notable recovery from its injuries and regained some vitality.

Even so, energy crystals were not a panacea that could instantly heal all wounds.

Seven’s current state was a result of harnessing the potent geo elemental energy within the energy crystal that provided it a temporary reprieve from the worsening of its condition and a burst of energy.

While Seven might appear to have recovered in the short term, the prolonged continuation of this state could lead to old injuries resurfacing entirely, along with the potential for a backlash from the absorbed geo elemental energy.

Therefore, it was crucial to find a safe haven as soon as possible and allow Seven to properly recuperate.

It was regrettable that Sein only possessed geo elemental energy crystals. If he had aero elemental energy crystals, which were more aligned to Seven’s elemental affinity, perhaps Seven could break through after this ordeal and become a real ranked magic beast.

A ranked magic beast was a formidable entity, comparable in strength to a full-fledged mage.

“Are you sure there’s a hidden passage to safety in the northern part of the city?” Seven inquired while deftly avoiding hazardous debris falling from above and carrying Sein, who was fortunately not too heavy.

“That’s what Leena told me in the letter she left me. I’m sure she wouldn’t lie to me,” Sein replied confidently.

“Fine. You have saved my life, so consider it yours now,” Seven declared, flapping its wings faster as they sped toward their destination.

Mystralora City was vacant on three sides, with only the north connected to a stone wall.

Under normal circumstances, with the imminent collapse of the lumenstone vein and the magma deluge, fleeing towards the other three sides would be the logical choice.

Even the mages from the Divine Tower and knights from the surface were quickly escaping in those three directions.

However, Sein and Seven were heading in the opposite direction.

If there was no passageway in the north, as Sein claimed, they would inevitably find themselves either burned or buried alive.

As the crisis loomed nearer, Sein still had not discovered any signs of the passageway , despite scouring most of the northern stone wall. Anxiety was beginning to well up within him.

Another massive droplet of magma streaked past in front of them.

Thanks to Seven’s exceptional flying skills, Sein could feel the scorching heat and sulfurous odor of the fiery rain.

Suddenly, Sein felt something stirring in his chest pocket and swiftly pulled it out.

It was the black key given to him by Master Morsidor.

Following the vague hints from the key, Sein pointed to a specific area below and exclaimed, “It’s there!”

Seven quickly navigated toward the direction Sein pointed.

The ruins initially seemed discouraging, but the reaction from the key intensified, heightening Sein’s excitement.

Sein quickly began chanting an intermediate magic spell before unleashing the Fiery Hand spell. Despite its injury, Seven also released an Aeroball spell from its beak.

The convergence of aero and pyro elemental energies effectively cleared most of the debris and rubble before them.

A narrow passageway, no more than two meters in height, revealed itself before them.

“There’s actually a passageway!” Seven hooted in surprise.

“Let’s go in quickly!” Sein urged.

***

As Sein and Seven ventured into the secret passageway, the city plunged into chaos, its impending destruction looming ever closer.

Meanwhile, Sein occupied the minds of two people.

“Tch, did we return too late? I had really high hopes for that boy,” the silver-armored knight, Baldor, remarked. He was carrying a spear in one hand and a spherical object in the other.

Illuminated by the fires, the spherical object revealed itself to be the severed head of Katherson, a Rank One black mage.

With wide-open eyes, he appeared to have met a shocking end.

The severed head was one of Baldor’s trophies from the underground expedition, guaranteeing merits and rewards upon his return to the Order of the Knight.

Standing alongside Baldor in front of the ruins of a stone building was the white-robed mage, Medich.

Approaching the fallen walls, he carefully examined them before shaking his head and stating, “Not necessarily. That boy is capable.”

A rumble echoed through the air.

The falling debris from above Mystralora City was no longer lumenstone fragments and magma rain.

Instead, the entire sea of magma was slowly pouring down and it was on the verge of reaching the city beneath it!

The silver-armored knight urged, “We should leave. Although this magma does nothing to us with your elemental body and my bloodline essence, I’m not interested in taking a bath in it.”

“We’re trying our best to evacuate the underground residents out of the city as soon as possible. I hope we have enough airships to bring them all,” he added.

The white-robed mage replied, “There should be enough. The Divine Tower of Dawn has responded to my report. The Tower Master seems highly intrigued by the Rank Four creature hiding in the Sand World. I’m also very interested in the battle with a Rank Four creature... It’s unfortunate I have to return to report my duties first. Another team will arrive later.”

“Let us go!” he exclaimed, wielding a rod in hand.