Sovereign of the Ashes

Two months later...

Sein glided through the Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory, his feet firmly on metal disks, continuing his hunt for “prey”.

Having been in the region for three months, his reputation had gradually solidified among the initiates from the Divine Tower of Shadow.

Golden Mask, Golden Demon, Butcher, Executioner—these were some of the nicknames that intermediate and junior initiates from the Divine Tower of Shadow had coined for him.

Meanwhile, senior initiates and Quasi Mages had repeatedly attempted to ambush and gang up on Sein.

However, thanks to his crystal ball, he consistently detected these threats in advance.

Not only did he elude their sieges, but he also seized moments of their vulnerability, unleashing havoc when they least expected it.

“Wisdom truly is the key to a mage’s success or failure, with power being merely a superficial, secondary aspect,” Sein remarked blandly, wiping blood from his arm after a battle.

Before him lay three lifeless bodies of the initiates from the Divine Tower of Shadow—two senior initiates and a Quasi Mage.

The Quasi Mage was the most formidable opponent Sein had encountered in the trial space so far.

Apart from his ability to summon two shadow servants for assistance, the array of umbra and shadow magic spells the Quasi Mage wielded proved to be a significant challenge for Sein.

Shadow-type magic was a new category Sein had encountered, seemingly a derivative of umbra magic.

The name of this fallen Quasi Mage was unknown to Sein.

Had he not taken the initiative to strike stealthily, a direct confrontation would have been fraught with danger, particularly since the Quasi Mage was accompanied by two other senior initiates.

This Quasi Mage’s name was Wallace, a key contender from the Divine Tower of Shadow.

His status and reputation were comparable to Daniel and Anna, the two strongest experts from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Academy.

Wallace’s death was not without cause.

Motivated by Sein’s disruptive actions in the Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory, particularly his defeat of Klump the “Necromancer” and the thwarting of their academy’s scheme to seize the Creek Orchid Grass Resource Point, Wallace had actively pursued Sein.

As the ace of the Divine Tower of Shadow Academy, Wallace felt compelled to take matters into his own hand.

In fact, Wallace was the mastermind behind the multiple collective attempts by the initiates from the Divine Tower of Shadow to surround and overcome Sein.

Unfortunately, Wallace’s arrogance led to his own downfall.

Anticipating that Sein might foresee their ambush, he brought only two senior initiates, using himself as bait.

Sein did appear, but Wallace was not able to wait for additional support to come.

His exceptional performance, bolstered by two shadow servants and his mastery of umbra and shadow magic, made him a formidable opponent.

However, Sein greeted him with his Solar Eye spell—six shots initially, followed by twelve more.

The two senior initiates could have escaped, but they were either stunned by Sein’s prowess or intent on saving Wallace.

By the time Sein swiftly eliminated Wallace, it was too late for them to flee.

Their deaths further enhanced Sein’s fearsome reputation.

When Wallace’s body was discovered two days later, a senior initiate from the Divine Tower of Shadow remarked in shock, “That guy is more evil and terrifying than any demon or devil our instructors have described to us before! We stand no chance against him. Even Wallace fell to him!”

“Don’t say such demoralizing things, bastard! With over fifteen thousand of us, I refuse to believe we can’t stand up to one initiate from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring!” another senior initiate retorted, though his pale face betrayed his lack of confidence.

A third senior initiate pointed out, “If he continues to pick us off one by one, how many of us will remain? For the past two months, he’s been targeting senior initiates like us, especially those who are alone.”

His words sent a ripple of tension through the group.

The Divine Tower of Shadow indeed boasted 1.5 times the number of senior initiates compared to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Yet, despite their numbers and strength, they feared Sein’s continued onslaught could decimate the senior initiates of their divine tower.

This apprehension was heightened by the memory of Martinez’s emergence as a formidable force in the last academy war. Now, it seemed, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring had produced another fearsome talent in this war.

“We still have Poppuri, the Reaperess. Let her lead us. Surely, we can defeat this assailant together!” a hopeful senior initiate exclaimed.

Poppuri the Reaperess, another talented initiate, possessed renown and strength nearly matching that of Wallace.

She excelled in necromantic summoning magic, capable of conjuring two quasi-ranked undead creatures and buffing them up with powerful magic spells.

“Stop dreaming! Even Poppuri might struggle to find and eliminate this elusive assailant! We need to band together with the intermediate and junior initiates. With over a hundred of us, he surely won’t dare to attack,” another initiate argued.

“Remember what happened at the Creek Orchid Grass Resource Point? Besides securing resource points, we must assign some initiates on lookout for surprise attacks,” proposed another senior initiate.

His prudent recommendation was met with nods of consensus from the majority of the other initiates.

Ignoring the one still bent on revenge against Sein, the initiates from the Divine Tower of Shadow quickly vacated the area.

It was no longer safe for senior initiates to operate alone; now, they needed the numbers and support of intermediate and junior initiates.

The vengeful initiate, watching the others leave, suddenly shivered and hurried after them as though fleeing.

“Hey, wait for me!” he shouted.

***

North of the Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory...

Sein, who had not infiltrated the Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory for several days, was now shifting his focus.

The initiates from the Divine Tower of Shadow, increasingly aware of his presence, began to communicate more frequently among themselves, effectively freezing out any opportunities for Sein to exploit.

“It’s unfortunate I can’t capture those resource points alone. They would have been a significant source of revenue,” he mused regretfully.

“Forget it, I’ll head north next. I think that’s the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s territory...” Sein pondered to himself as he gazed toward the north.