Sovereign of the Ashes

Treating Reina’s injuries did not take long. She had exceptional resilience, and the wounds themselves were not severe.

Her knowledge of the situation on the Grand Eye Demon World’s frontlines was limited to what she had seen with her own eyes.

If Sein wanted a clearer picture, he would have to investigate himself.

Perhaps it had simply been too long since their last time together, but as Sein spread the ointment across her skin, his touch grew intimate.

Reina’s cheeks flushed, but she did not resist.

Knights, after all, had far greater needs than most mages.

She had never taken the initiative with Sein on her own before. In the past, it had always been Natalya who pulled her along.

The two quickly found their rhythm.

Perhaps because he was within his own divine tower, with its floors shielded by powerful wards, Sein did not bother to cast a soundproofing spell.

Reina’s stamina was impressive, but Sein was just as relentless. Without Natalya there, she simply could not keep up with him.

In the midst of their heated union, Sia arrived at the upper levels of the tower, dressed in a form-fitting training outfit.

She had just finished a body-tempering session, but rushed over before her sweat had even dried when she heard of Reina’s return to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Sia carried a deep hatred for the Grand Eye Demon World and followed every report from the Philan Demiplane front.

She was especially concerned for House Ernst and her own family, many of whom had joined the Order of the Steel Fist in its desperate defense.

She could not help but wonder how the two knight houses had fared after so many years of fighting.

Knights of Magus World often placed bloodline and their family’s growth above all else.

Knights of the Magus World placed family and bloodline above nearly everything else. Unlike mages, who prized truth and apprenticeship, knights were bound tightly by worldly ties.

Unlike mages, who prized the pursuits of truth and apprenticeship, knights were undeniably more grounded in the secular world.

Reina’s family, at least, had fared better than Sia’s and Natalya’s.

Though they had suffered heavy losses in the recent conflict, both of her parents—the two massive Sky Knights—were still alive.

Her father had even distinguished himself in battle and broken through to the demigod realm.

During earlier conversations, Sein had learned that Reina’s parents owed part of their battlefield performance to his “Fat-Burning Secret Technique”.

Sein had long since shared his self-developed fat-burning burst techniques with Reina’s family, later refining them even further.

He had no qualms about passing on this knowledge, since it did not touch upon his core secrets.

Besides, teaching Reina’s parents these fat-burning techniques could also increase their odds of survival in interplanar wars.

In fact, given the opportunity, Sein intended to study this field in greater depth. It was, after all, another form of body-tempering techniques.

Before arriving here, Sia had tried to reach both Sein and Reina, but their communication devices had been switched off.

When she finally tracked them down to a floor near the top of the divine tower, the sounds she overheard made her face turn crimson.

Clicking her tongue in disgust, she quickly left.

Back in her quarters, Sia found herself restless, unable to calm her thoughts.

“Youngsters these days are really full of energy,” she muttered under her breath.

***

In the vast experimental zone on the middle levels of the Divine Tower of Ashes, Sein watched Yuri assemble the new mecha.

It had yet to be given a name—he would leave that to Yuri.

The massive construct stood nearly two hundred meters tall, dwarfing the old silver mecha.

Thanks to the use of a special ductile metal developed in Steel City, the mecha could shift its combat form at will.

Sein did not make this decision because he had too much money to spare.

After witnessing the battle style of Nexon’s advanced intelligent robots, he had come to believe that variable size and form were critical for adapting to the complex battlefields of the Clash of Civilizations, especially against the Gallant Federation.

He still vividly remembered Titanfang, now known as Aetherend, and the way it fought during that breakout battle beyond Nexon.

In its normal state, Aetherend could compress itself to around ten meters in height. Yet in battle, it could freely expand anywhere from one hundred to a thousand meters tall.

Its massive size and crushing weight gave it the force to rip apart federal warships with its bare hands.

Yet when faced with the concentrated energy barrages from the Gallant Federation, even a powerhouse like Aetherend would shrink down as much as it could and adopt a more defensive posture.

Robots and mechas still fell far short of elemental beings and creatures of flesh and blood.

From the very beginning of its design, Sein had to account for every possible detail.

Though he was technically an Elementalist, he now considered himself at least half a mechanic.

His growing knowledge of robots and mechas had already pushed his expertise far beyond that of most mages of his rank in Magus World.

This allowed him to make unusually demanding requests of the alchemy teams in Steel City and Sky City.

Two more rectangular black elemental cannons were slowly mounted onto the mecha’s shoulders.

Moments later, a special silver-plated casing covered over them, concealing the menacing muzzles.

These black elemental cannons were made in Sky City, originally intended as secondary weapons for specialized space fortresses.

Through his connections there, Sein had managed to secure a few.

The silver casings, however, were bought from the Capiche Business Alliance. Manufactured in the Norman Federation, a large-sized allied world that was a remarkable warship manufacturer.

During the Clash of Civilizations, the Norman Federation had proven its worth and earned the Magus Civilization’s approval.

It seemed this technological civilization, with most of its infiltrators exposed during the Magus Alliance Conference, was now fully committed to Magus World.

When the Clash of Civilizations first broke out, the Magus Civilization had legions awaiting deployment to cluster near the Norman Federation’s star domain.

Even now, many allied forces remained stationed there.

In truth, the Norman Federation had turned out to be far more dependable than the Grand Eye Demon World, which had only feigned loyalty.

***

Assembling the new mecha was going to take time, along with Yuri’s test drives and adjustments.

That was one of the drawbacks of a technological civilization.

Even if Yuri possessed the raw strength to support Sein earlier, without her mecha she could not contribute much.

Just as the new construct neared completion, Sein received another envoy from the alliance—a Rank Four mage from Sky City.

“Master Sein, this is the mission reward the alliance instructed me to deliver to you. Thank you for your contributions to the Clash of Civilizations!”

The mage named Bosh handed him the dark Magic Cube.