Sovereign of the Ashes

The Rank Five walrus managed to escape from Sein, but only barely.

It was left in a miserable state.

Not only had one of its tusks been snapped off by Sein’s magic, but its left foreleg had been thoroughly cooked by a beam fired from Sein’s Faceless Mask.

The walrus’ successful escape owed much to the intervention of a Rank Five creature from the Grand Apocalypse World.

As expected, Rank Five beings born in a large-sized world truly surpassed those from most medium-sized and low-level planes.

This Rank Five creature from the Grand Apocalypse World was clad in silver-gray armor and a metal helmet adorned with three sharp horns.

Even the rectangular metal blade it wielded was a product of advanced technological fusion.

While Sein was locked in battle with the walrus, this Rank Five being from the Grand Apocalypse World suddenly stepped in, forcing Sein to suffer a brief setback.

Its intervention marked a temporary pause in the war beyond Marvelous Plane.

The forces dispatched from the Grand Apocalypse World to this region had never been numerous to begin with.

Their delayed entry into the battlefield was meant not for a decisive blow, but to ensure the orderly withdrawal of Aquaria’s remaining forces.

From their position in the rear, the Grand Apocalypse World had already realized that attempting to defeat the Magus Civilization legions led by White Stella and Sein with their current forces alone was naive.

They were left with only two options: either persuade Orven to redeploy additional Aquarian legions or extract the Grand Apocalypse World forces from the deep rear.

Prolonging the battle would only allow the balance of victory to slowly tip in the Magus Civilization’s favor, much like Sein’s gradual dominance in his fight with the walrus.

The shrewd creatures of the Grand Apocalypse World clearly understood this.

In the end, while the vast majority of Aquaria’s law-wielding beings and elite troops successfully withdrew, the cannon fodder left behind as rearguards became targets for the Magus Civilization legions to vent their fury upon.

In just two and a half short years, nearly twenty million corpses were left scattered across this interstellar battlefield.

Aquaria suffered slightly heavier losses, while casualties on the Magus Civilization’s side amounted to roughly thirty percent.

Moreover, most of the fallen belonged to the Magus Alliance legions. Although the sea races led by White Stella had been the first to charge into battle, their losses remained relatively controlled during the prolonged war of attrition.

This was largely because they were made of elite warriors drawn mainly from the upper-class sea races.

Of course, during this period, the Magus Civilization’s overwhelming advantages in warfare systems, logistics, medical support, resource management, and troop reinforcement that were far superior to those of Aquaria also played a crucial role.

A top-tier civilization surpassed medium-sized and low-level civilizations in many aspects, far beyond the number of law-wielding beings it possessed.

As Sein undid his Ashen lawful form and prepared to return to the rear, he was stopped by a demigod-level Huusian who said he needed to take him somewhere.

Within a swamp on the back of a massive asteroid saturated with necromantic energy, Sein recovered his spoil—the broken tusk of the Rank Five walrus.

He could tell a fierce struggle had taken place here before.

From the demigod-level Huusian’s account, Sein learned that several Rank Three creatures from Aquaria had fought a demigod-level undead being here.

In the end, none of them survived, and their remains were now forever entombed in the swamp.

Reclaiming the tusk put Sein in a good mood. He turned to the Huusian and asked, “What’s your name?”

“I am Gadar, Honorable Master Sein,” the demigod-level Huusian warrior replied respectfully.

“You have done well. Go to the Divine Tower of Ashes to claim your reward. Any allied combatant who earns merit deserves recognition,” Sein said with a smile.

With that, he turned around and left.

***

The war beyond Marvelous Plane had only entered a brief lull.

Based on Sein’s years of experience in the Clash of Civilizations, both Aquaria and the Magus Civilization would continue to reinforce this front.

Skirmishes and clashes between the two sides would soon resume, though their intensity would vary.

Until one side deployed an overwhelming force for a decisive strike, the conflicts in this star domain would not come to an end anytime soon.

Upon returning to the rear, Sein immediately met with White Stella.

Both of them were responsible for overseeing battles across this star domain, but White Stella had endured far fiercer combat over the past two years, leaving her more badly injured than Sein.

There was a faint red mark on White Stella’s forehead; she must have already treated the wound.

The giant mermaid undoubtedly had access to a wide array of good healing items. Even so, some injuries simply could not be healed instantly.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Sein mentioned that he still had a few high-grade potions in his laboratory and would have them sent to her shortly.

White Stella had once held a rather poor impression of Sein, largely because of his association with black mages and his habit of constantly dragging her sister, Tourmaline, along with him everywhere.

In recent years, however, her view of Sein had shifted.

His early advancement to Rank Five, execution of multiple key missions for the Magus Alliance, and outstanding performance during the Clash of Civilizations had all greatly improved her impression of him.

White Stella’s connection with Sein had largely formed through Tourmaline.

Staying by Sein’s side, Tourmaline could likely learn a great deal.

At the very least, White Stella did not have to worry about her the way she did about her younger brother, Black Oblivion, who constantly hung around with those questionable magic beast kings.

That said, according to recent intelligence, Black Oblivion would lead his legions alongside other magic beast kings to provide support near this star domain after some time.

The Magus Civilization placed great importance on the medium-sized and small star domains surrounding Blue Star.

In any case, ever since Sein returned here with his faction, support from the Magus Civilization had never ceased.

While reinforcements poured in, the archaeological excavation teams and crystal ore prospectors in the rear also made new discoveries over the course of the war.

Aside from the discovery of several additional Gray Quartz veins, professional archaeology mages from the Magus Civilization also uncovered new evidence within two newly discovered ancient ruins.

The prehistoric top-tier technological civilization known as the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization had not perished through war or civil strife.

In fact, they had never perished; they had simply left the Astral Realm!

The Magus Civilization archaeologists also recovered a vague interstellar coordinate node.

It appeared to be a space-time hub, used by the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s inhabitants of this star domain when they departed the Astral Realm.