Sovereign of the Ashes

After spending another quiet night in Aqua Rhino World, Sein and Reina set off early the next morning on their journey back to Magus World.

Unlike their initial arrival, the return trip was way faster. Within ten days, they reached the spatial passage that led them out of the low-level plane.

Upon returning to the Magus World, the familiar laws of their home plane sparked a realization for both Sein and Reina.

“The will of that low-level plane seemed aligned with the Magus Civilization. We hardly felt any suppression from its planar laws during our time there,” Sein remarked.

Reina nodded in agreement.

Sein found his time in Aqua Rhino World to be deeply rewarding.

While Reina did not experience the same level of insight as Sein, she was open to the idea of similar journeys in the future.

Continuing their journey northward, Sein and Reina’s next destination was the Order of Glacier River Knights.

This stop was not part of Sein’s original itinerary but he had added the detour for Reina’s benefit, given their recent exploration of a divine tower.

The Order of Glacier River Knights, situated within the Ylli Knight Alliance’s territory, was established by a formidable Rank Five knight.

Known for its expansive territory, it boasted a large registry of knights who primarily cultivated hydro or cryo battle qi.

Knight academies were established across human kingdoms within their domain, reflecting the Order of Glacier River Knights’ dedication to nurturing the next generation. Their efforts even surpassed those of the Order of the Steel Fist.

Situated within the Ylli Knight Alliance’s territory, the Order of Glacier River Knights was not solely visited by its own members but also by knights from the other orders, who made up at least half of the knights present in the area.

As one of the top-tier forces in the Magus World, the Ylli Knight Alliance commanded an extensive array of resources, as well as allied and enslaved planes, even as a knightly order.

The Order of Glacier River Knights had access to five foreign planes, three of which were under its direct governance.

The remaining two were “public planes” shared by the Ylli Knight Alliance, yet these planes were anything but ordinary.

The low-level plane was more prosperous than Aqua Rhino World and served as an allied plane of the alliance.

The other was an undisputable medium-sized world, though its Rank Four and higher creatures had been eliminated by Magus Civilization forces, thereby reducing it to an enslaved plane.

In the teleportation hall, Sein examined the options with interest.

“Which one do you want to visit?” he asked Reina, gesturing toward the listed planes. “Each of these seems special in their own way.”

Reina studied the options before pointing to one of the spatial gates. “Let’s go to this one. I’ve never been to any medium-sized plane aside from the Wild Gorilla World.”

Sein raised an eyebrow at her choice but did not object.

“Me too,” he replied.

***

Snow Spirit World was a medium-sized world conquered by the Magus Civilization twenty thousand years ago.

Over the long passage of time, the native inhabitants have forgotten the glory of their once-thriving civilization, as well as the bloody war that led to their downfall.

As the saying goes, each snowflake in an avalanche pleads not guilty.

During the Ylli Knight Alliance’s initial conquest of Snow Spirit World, they faced fierce resistance from the native inhabitants.

It was rumored that a Rank Six Magus World creature perished in the battle.

Once the Magus Civilization claimed victory, the Snow Spirits—the dominant species of the plane—were nearly eradicated.

Today, the Snow Spirit creatures scattered across the plane were entirely new species, born and evolved over the past ten millennia.

The purest forms of Snow Spirits could only be found as preserved specimens in the laboratories of mages who participated in the war.

Official data from Snow Spirit World indicated that no native Rank Four creatures had been born in the plane.

The devastation of war, combined with the prolonged absence of high-level native creatures, had led to a steady decline in the planar laws over the past millennia. Over time, even the size of the plane had diminished.

Upon arriving in Snow Spirit World, Sein quickly discovered that this world was on the verge of being downgraded to a low-level plane.

Special interventions from the Ylli Knight Alliance, including a continuous infusion of resources, had barely maintained its status as a medium-sized world.

Without these efforts, the Snow Spirit World would have been downgraded thousands of years ago.

The vast Snow Spirit World was still visited by many knights from the Ylli Knight Alliance and mages from other regions of the Magus World.

As Sein moved through its landscapes, he even spotted witches clad in long, dark blue robes.

After some inquiry, Sein learned that during the conquest of Snow Spirit World, the Ylli Knight Alliance had partnered with another top-tier force, the Northern Witches Council, to develop this medium-sized plane.

Apart from occult arts, most of the northern witches, native to the frigid regions of the Magus World, also specialized in hydro and cryo elemental magic.

Snow Spirit World, with its abundant cryo element, served as an ideal destination for these witches to explore and deepen their studies.

This was Sein’s first time conversing casually with a witch from the Magus World.

In the contemporary Magus World, where male magi had become increasingly scarce, the northern witches inherited the oldest and most complete Magus legacy system.

In fact, Sein had included a visit to the Northern Witches Council in his travel itinerary.

Geographically, the Northern Witches Council was situated close to the West Coast, with the two regions separated only by the Magus World’s second and third-largest snow mountain ranges.

Of the Magus World’s top ten snowy mountain ranges, seven were located within the Northern Witches’ territory.

The remaining three were in the far northern reaches of the Magus World, beyond the Capiche Business Alliance and the Alveroth Empire.

They were desolate and unforgiving regions where creatures below Rank One struggled to survive.

Only highly specialized cryo elemental magic beasts could thrive in such a harsh environment.

“Sein, I just found out something interesting,” Reina began, sinking her teeth into a steaming roasted drumstick.

She continued, “A female mage mentioned that the Rank Six knight named Horsta, who supposedly fell during the Snow Spirit World War didn’t actually die. Apparently, the native Snow Spirits froze sealed him away, and placed an ‘Ice Seal’ on him in this world’s highest peak, Killimanjarro.”

Rumors like these were common in planes steeped in history, and their authenticity was often impossible to confirm.

Sein glanced at Reina, then toward the snow-capped peak she pointed at in the distance.

“Reina, that wasn’t an ordinary mage you were talking to—she’s a witch,” Sein remarked.

As if on cue, the blue-robed witch Reina had spoken with moments ago began flying toward them.