Sovereign of the Ashes

The encounter with Gould was a brief interlude in Sein’s life at the fortress.

Sein returned to his temporary quarters provided by the space fortress with Yuri without extending an invitation for Gould to enter due to limited space.

The rooms were filled with various experimental equipment essential to Sein’s work, leaving little room for guests even to take a seat.

Moreover, Gould, with his large bear-like stature, might accidentally knock Sein’s delicate apparatuses over.

Since Sein did not extend an invitation, Gould refrained from barging in uninvited despite his intense curiosity about the laboratory.

Despite his rough exterior, Gould harbored a less-known aspiration—he dreamed of marrying a beautiful Rank One female mage.

The desire to marry a mage skilled in apothecary or alchemy was a common dream among knights, one that would likely make them smile even in their sleep.

House Ernst probably viewed Sein in a similar manner, valuing him for the substantial resources he could access from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, far surpassing those available to an average mage.

Upon returning home, Sein organized the materials he had purchased before calling Yuri into the laboratory.

Taking a break from active duty did not mean slacking off for Sein; unlike Gould, who had enjoyed a period of relative inactivity, Sein was busier than ever.

His routine remained packed with magic experiments and meditation.

He also had to set aside some time to fix Gould’s armor and concoct magic potions.

Potions, extremely useful during wartime, were not only consumed by Sein himself but could also be sold or bartered with other knights, further expanding his network.

The quarters allocated to Sein were actually quite spacious, but his array of experimental instruments made them appear much smaller than they actually were.

Even Yuri’s ten-meter-tall mecha, surrounded by a slew of experimental tools, nearly filled one of the laboratories.

Beyond the bedroom where he rested, three of the four remaining rooms had been converted into laboratories.

The last room served as a storeroom, overflowing with unsorted loot and magic ingredients for experiments.

When Sein entered one of the laboratories, Azelia was busy cleaning it.

Last night, Sein had stayed up again, leaving a clutter of unused bottles and jars scattered around the laboratory.

Azelia, a longtime companion of Sein who had been diligently learning from Yuri, was far better at tidying up the laboratory compared to the mermaid.

Although the pink-tailed mermaid had a pretty face, she had broken a piece of Sein’s equipment recently.

Since she had become much more docile over the years, always serving tea and handling minor chores, Sein refrained from reprimanding her too harshly.

By the time Sein and Yuri entered the laboratory, Azelia was nearly finished with the cleanup.

She respectfully bowed to them, gathered some rags and the unused empty bottles, and prepared to leave.

Before she could exit, Sein called out to her.

Noticing the string of red beads at the base of her tail, Sein remembered something and asked, “How have you been getting along with that Thunder Beast lately?”

The Thunder Beast he referred to was none other than the Rank One creature he had captured on the Thunderfall World Battlefield.

Despite being buried under rubble during the recent fortress defense battle, the beast had survived with remarkable vitality.

At the time of its rescue, the fox maiden sang a soul war song in the ancient language of the Beastmen World.

Sein later learned from Azelia that the lyrics were in praise of the great war god.

Soul war songs, as their name suggests, were meant to resonate with the soul.

Despite its seemingly primitive nature to outsiders, there was a good reason why the Beastmen World managed to reach the standards of a large-sized world.

This particular soul war song piqued Sein’s interest due to his studies in soul science.

Although the Little Fox Lady knew only this basic song intended to soothe the departed, its simplicity belied its power.

The fox maiden had mastered only this one basic war song, intended merely to soothe the souls of the departed.

In the Beastmen World, such songs were often performed during rituals following large-scale wars, believed to prevent the emergence of powerful vengeful spirits and the undead.

Azelia had sung this song because she was deeply stirred by the tragic aftermath she witnessed on the battlefield.

Unexpectedly, this unlocked a latent power within the soul war song—the Call of the Wild.

Call of the Wild was another signature ability of the shaman priests, complementing the War Song’s Halo.

It allowed the priests to make a pact with a powerful creature, establishing an equal relationship on the soul level.

This ability, along with the profound meanings embedded in the soul war song, resonated deeply with the Rank One Thunder Beast that was trapped under the ruins, tormented by pain and distress.

This beast’s plight was indeed pitiable.

While its kind fought fiercely against the Magus World Army nearby, it had been captured due to its injuries and bore a soul seal left by Sein.

Although the Thunder Beast did not directly engage with the creatures from its home plane, it inadvertently supplied Sein’s magic towers with a constant stream of energy, effectively financing the enemy.

Desperate for survival after nearly losing its life, the Thunder Beast had come to understand the value of existence.

Being of a higher intelligence than ordinary Thunder Beasts below Rank One, it felt a greater anguish in its heart.

Under these circumstances, the Thunder Beast achieved a level of soul resonance with the fox maiden and subsequently became the familiar of this Wind Whisperer, who had not yet reached Rank One.

After becoming Azelia’s familiar, something extraordinary occurred.

The soul seal on the Thunder Beast’s brow was erased by the arcane power of the soul war song. Sein also observed significant improvements in the strength, mental focus, and soul resilience of the fox maiden.

Previously seen as merely a beautiful but temporary companion, she now showed the potential to remain by Sein’s side for an extended period.

Sein could tell she had the capability to reach Rank One. Together with the Thunder Beast, now completely loyal to her, they formed a formidable fighting force.