Sovereign of the Ashes

The Shadowbat Civilization had been pretty prideful.

When Sein first arrived with the Klytheran Legion, the Huusian Legion, and millions of Magus Civilization troops, including the Divine Tower of Ashes Army, near Blue Star, the Shadowbat Civilization did not immediately come begging for aid.

Instead, they chose to grit their teeth and endure.

Half a year after Gregory’s subsequent arrival at the periphery of Blue Star with tens of millions of legions and established defensive lines, the Shadowbat Civilization had finally reached its breaking point and was forced to seek aid from the Magus Civilization.

They truly could not hold out any longer!

Sein reached this conclusion almost immediately after meeting the Shadowbat Civilization’s envoy.

A major reason for their rapid collapse lay, ironically, with the Magus Civilization itself.

Had the Magus Civilization not stationed Gregory and his vast troops to guard the Blue Star perimeter, neither Arid Expanse World, Aquaria, nor the Grand Apocalypse World backing them would have felt such urgency to intensify the attack.

Under the relentless assaults from Arid Expanse World, the Shadowbat Civilization’s already overextended frontlines collapsed one after another.

Even though they hastily formed multiple defensive lines afterward, this only bought them time. They had already lost the ability to confront Arid Expanse World head-on.

Reports indicated that Bennyworth, a Rank Six powerhouse of the Shadowbat Civilization, had been gravely wounded by Seiron, a Rank Six powerhouse of Arid Expanse World, in a recent major clash at the front.

It was Bennyworth’s defeat that directly triggered the collapse of the Shadowbat Civilization’s forward positions.

During that battle, Bennyworth activated the Shadowbat Civilization’s world-class secret treasure, the Batwing Helmet.

It was a technological artifact capable of greatly amplifying the combat power of Shadowbat combatants.

Yet Seiron, the strongest of Arid Expanse World, not only relied on his own world-class secret treasure, the Wasteland Armor, but also revealed a weapon never seen before—the Lightning Ax.

Empowered by two world-class secret treasures, Seiron’s strength was pushed from the late stage straight to the peak of Rank Six.

The peak of Rank Six was similar to the demigod realm faced by Rank Three beings—a critical stepping stone toward even higher realms.

In the Astral Realm, many planar civilizations further divided life levels into smaller realms.

For example, they treated both the demigod level and the peak of Rank Six as entirely separate realms.

Some civilizations even split life levels into more than twenty distinct stages...

Only the more old-fashioned Magus Civilization powerhouses cling to the fundamental truth, firmly maintaining the simple classification from Rank One to Rank Nine.

To them, Rank Three was Rank Three, and Rank Six was Rank Six. They refused new titles unless they had truly broken through to the next life level.

This straightforward numerical system also reflected the Magus Civilization mages’ no-nonsense attitude.

In any case, now that Seiron had reached the peak of Rank Six with the aid of two world-class secret treasures, the Shadowbat Civilization was no match for him.

As this news spread, it began to raise concern within the Magus Civilization.

At present, the Magus Civilization had not deployed any peak Rank Six powerhouses to the surrounding star-domain battlefields.

Grandmaster Feylis was undeniably powerful, yet Sein had the feeling she had not quite reached the peak of Rank Six.

But she was probably not far behind either.

Otherwise, the Magus Civilization would not have felt confident assigning her to this region.

Aside from relaying this intelligence back to the Magus Civilization, Sein also received Beatrice, who arrived at Ashen Fortress alongside the Shadowbat Civilization’s envoy.

Beatrice had come seeking aid as well, this time on behalf of Marvelous Plane.

With the Shadowbat Civilization’s frontlines collapsing, Marvelous Plane was now facing direct assault from the combined forces of Arid Expanse World and Aquaria.

Their homeplane was gradually being consumed by the flames of war.

Beatrice sought help not for herself, but for the billions of lives on Marvelous Plane and for her mother, Hippolyta.

Hippolyta, the Amazon Queen of Marvelous Plane, refused to abandon her world or her people. Faced with the advancing enemy, she chose to remain behind and defend Marvelous Plane to the very end.

Beatrice knew that returning alone would change nothing. That was why she came to seek Sein’s help first, together with the Shadowbat Civilization’s envoy.

After all, Sein was the only familiar face she knew within the Magus Civilization.

In response to Beatrice’s plea for help, Sein regretfully explained that he could not act on his own without direct orders from the Magus Civilization’s higher command.

To Beatrice, Sein’s response felt like “cold indifference”, even “hypocrisy”.

This blunt and fiery Rank Four warrior bore countless deep scars from years of brutal combat.

Even during their meeting, Sein noticed a particularly striking scar on her arm, along with faint traces of dried blood on her otherwise flawless face.

Rather than diminishing her presence, these marks only heightened Beatrice’s battle-hardened, heroic aura.

Beatrice was not one to cling or plead. After hearing Sein’s answer, she spat bitterly, “Does your Magus Civilization not claim to uphold peace and stability across the star domains? From where I observe, you guys are just a bunch of selfish bastards looking out for yourselves! To think I even helped you more than once back in the Sanok Star Domain!”

“If you won’t send troops, then I’ll go back on my own!” With that, Beatrice turned and walked away without looking back.

If negotiations between civilizations always unfolded like this, not many planar worlds in the Astral Realm would ever cooperate.

The Shadowbat Civilization’s envoy, however, remained calm. Although Sein had refused their request, the envoy did not give up.

Instead, they stayed behind, patiently and persistently explaining their civilization’s dire situation.

Watching Beatrice leave, an inexplicable weight settled in Sein’s chest.

By the cold logic of a black mage, the fate of Marvelous Plane and Beatrice’s life or death should have meant nothing to him.

But Sein was no longer a black mage. His outlook and values had shifted profoundly over the years.

More importantly, he believed firmly in the principle of equivalent exchange.

Beatrice had truly helped him before. Even if her assistance had been limited by her Rank Four strength, it had still come at the right moment.

The same applied to Orric. Among the Magus Civilization’s many powerhouses, Sein had been one of the few who openly supported Orric’s claim to the throne of Planet Aquaria.

Orric and Beatrice were both individuals who had clearly stood behind Sein and the others during the battle in the Sanok Star Domain back then.

At the very least, their stance back then had been far more decisive than that of Darian or Auron.

Sein let out a soft sigh. Between the interests of civilizations and those of individuals, matters were rarely simple.

Fortunately, his inner turmoil did not last long.

After receiving Sein’s urgent report, Feylis finally delivered her response regarding intervention as the representative of the Magus Civilization overseeing the Chaos Sea Star Domain.

“Woohoo! Finally, we get to stretch our legs!” Gregory laughed, clenching his fists.

“Master Gregory, please lead the Magus Civilization’s main force to the Shadowbat Civilization battlefield. I’ll head to Marvelous Plane first,” Sein said.