Sovereign of the Ashes

After completing the majority of his important experiments, Sein left Esca Underground City along with Yuri and Elisa.

Esca Underground City was connected to the rest of the places in Steel City’s territory by a teleportation array.

As Sein spent more time in Steel City’s territory, he noticed a significant difference between it and the southern coast of the Magus World—the cost of using the teleportation arrays was remarkably low.

For just two magicoins, one could travel between cities within Steel City’s territory using the teleportation array.

The affordable fare of the teleportation service in Steel City was truly commendable.

It suggested that Steel City’s alchemy craftsmanship had managed to reduce the operating cost of a teleportation array to less than two magicoins per use.

Sein wondered when other regions of the Magus World would catch up to the standards of Steel City.

The widespread construction and use of these teleportation arrays would greatly benefit the knights and mages across the Magus World.

It was not until later that Sein also learned that the cost of using the teleportation arrays in the Marmett Union Alliance was around two magicoins as well.

He did not realize that earlier because his journey across the Marmett Union Alliance had been by water on Tourmaline’s back.

The level of magical civilization in a region was not solely reflected by the presence of powerful mages or military capabilities.

Sometimes, even the cost of using something as seemingly simple as a teleportation array could expose significant underlying issues.

As they left Esca Underground City, Yuri and Elisa flanked Sein on either side.

Although both of them had their own spaces to stay in now, Sein occasionally allowed them outside for some fresh air.

Yuri, in particular, was integral to many of Sein’s experiments and seemed content to remain by his side.

In contrast, Elisa, the pink-tailed mermaid, though completely under Sein’s control at a soul level, had not yet fully reconciled her emotions to her situation.

Elisa curled her lips in disdain as she trailed behind Sein, observing Yuri’s complete submission and eagerness to please him.

She looked down on Yuri, unable to comprehend why a female engineer of considerable strength like her would willingly submit herself to Sein.

Elisa’s contempt stemmed not only from Sein’s control over Yuri at a soul level but also because she could sense that Yuri had devoted herself entirely to Sein.

She believed that even without the compulsion of soul magic, Yuri would remain loyal to him.

Yuri, for her part, was indifferent to Elisa’s contempt.

Sein turned to look at Elisa as he could sense her feelings of contempt on a soul level.

His gaze startled the mermaid. She quickly averted her eyes, not daring to meet his gaze.

She had been through enough of punishments and knew that Sein was no pushover either.

Fortunately, Sein did not dwell on Elisa’s fleeting thoughts, which allowed the mermaid to sigh in relief.

However, the relief was short-lived as frustration quickly set in.

Being at the mercy of someone else’s control over her soul was intolerable for Elisa.

Compared to the Rank Two black mage, Sein’s proficiency in soul magic was even more vexing to Elisa.

For instance, there was a persistent voice in her head that kept urging her to submit to Sein and willingly sacrifice everything for him.

Of course, Elisa had not yet given in to the voice within her.

However, she was uncertain how much longer she could keep resisting it.

Observing Sein, clad in his pitch-black magic robe, Elisa shuddered with a deep-seated fear.

“This man is a devil!” she thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Sein, unknowingly dubbed a devil by the mermaid, stroked his chin, pondering their next destination.

He seemed to be talking to himself, yet his words were directed at Yuri beside him.

“Shall we go to Steel City?” he proposed.

The “Steel City” he mentioned was, of course, located at the heart of this territory they were currently in.

Originally, Steel City was just a single city.

Over the course of one to two hundred thousand years, Steel City gradually expanded its influence to encompass many first-tier subordinate satellite cities.

Esca Underground Metal City was actually one of the more renowned satellite cities in Steel City’s territory.

Before Yuri could respond, Sein had already made up his mind. “Steel City, it is. Let’s go!”

He led the way to the teleportation hall, with Yuri following closely behind, like his personal attendant.

Elisa rolled her eyes. Although reluctant, she followed behind the pair.

Together, the master and his two servants continued on their journey.

***

Steel City was an immense square metropolis, spanning over a thousand kilometers in width.

The city’s architecture was equally impressive, with its tallest building soaring more than a hundred thousand meters into the sky, while the lowest structures were dug equally deep into the ground.

No, it was more than that.

It was rumored that Steel City extended even deeper underground—up to two hundred thousand meters, according to some accounts.

The mainstream media only reported on the upper hundred thousand meters because that was the section accessible to the public.

The additional nearly hundred thousand meters of underground space, sealed off from public access, represented the true heart of both Steel City and the Magus World.

This area housed the peak achievements of alchemy and contained the biggest secrets of the Magus World.

As Sein entered the outskirts of Steel City, Bev, the Rank Seven soul overmage stretched her body in the deepest part of Steel City.

She had just finished addressing the bulk of Steel City’s pending matters and was preparing to leave for the Western Archipelago, assuming no other pressing issues arose.

Although Steel City’s routine affairs were now under control, new developments were emerging from the Marmett Union Alliance—or more specifically, from the southern coast of the Magus World.

“So, the Divine Tower of Dawn who leads the twelve divine towers on the southern coast and thirty-one orders of the knights near and beyond the sea, has declared that they’ll unite to form a medium-sized force known as the ‘Dawning Secret Society’?” Bev murmured to herself.

“It appears that Savoye, the Rank Five mage from the Divine Tower of Dawn, has been promoted to Rank Six. Is naming their forces the ‘Dawning Secret Society’ an attempt to counter the southward invasion of the Pyro Secret Society?” she mused.

”Oh, those little upstarts in the Magus World...” Bev chuckled, shaking her head, her thoughts a mystery.

Bev had long anticipated that the divine towers and knightly orders on the southern coast of Magus World would form their own faction.

As far back as twenty thousand years ago, after those divine towers and orders of the knights had severed the spatial passages with neighboring forces like the Marmett Union Alliance, the signs had become increasingly clear.

Bev viewed the shift in power and the emergence of new forces positively and optimistically, remaining hopeful about the healthy competition that was burgeoning within Magus World.

After all, she was not only the head of the Marmett Union Alliance, the lord of Steel City, and the de facto heir of the Western Archipelago but also a leader who stood at the pinnacle of Magus World’s civilization.