Sovereign of the Ashes

When Hela arrived, Bev was in a discussion with others.

Hela’s unique status, along with the three-quarters Magus World bloodline she carried, set her apart from most alliance overlords.

Bev usually did not deliberately exclude her niece from important conversations.

She had clearly sensed Hela’s presence in the great hall, yet she showed no reaction and continued speaking with the others.

Hela did not interrupt her aunt either. She waited quietly, listening as Bev discussed various matters and taking the opportunity to learn about recent high-level decisions within the Magus Civilization.

This was the advantage of having connections at the very top.

Most allied deities and even overlords within the alliance could not truly grasp the intentions of the Magus Civilization’s leadership.

They could only make judgments based on limited information and position themselves early.

Hela, however, was different. She had direct access to figures like Bev. When certain matters were too sensitive to be disclosed openly, Bev would use indirect means to inform both her and Odin.

With that in mind, the titans’ status and influence within the Magus Alliance became easy to understand.

The one currently meeting with Bev was a soul-level witch from the Northern Witches Council.

Hela knew her well. In fact, she was familiar with nearly every overlord-level powerhouse within Magus World.

The Northern Witches Council had exceptionally deep roots in the Magus Civilization. After all, they were well known for their ancient legacy tied to the magi.

Aside from being home to two soul-level witches, one of Magus World’s Four Great Guardians—the Winter Guardian—also originated from the Northern Witches Council.

Moreover, the Winter Guardian was widely recognized as the strongest among the four guardians.

In other words, the Northern Witches Council had at least three overlord-level combatants within the Magus Civilization.

This did not even account for allied overlords who were on friendly terms with the Northern Witches Council, nor any hidden forces or power they might still possess.

As two of the oldest professions in Magus World, both magi and witches carried an aura of deep mystery.

Hela herself had had little contact with the Northern Witches Council in the past.

Among the four guardians, the one she had interacted with most often was the Spring Guardian.

The Dawn Goddess, current guardian of Titan World, had always maintained an exceptionally close relationship with Magus World’s Spring Guardian.

Bev’s conversation with the witch focused mainly on the recent situation in the war zones overseen by the Northern Witches Council.

The star domain battlefield under the council’s jurisdiction lay far from the titans’ area of responsibility and held little strategic value for Hela, so she did not listen particularly closely.

In truth, the current division of war zones in this Clash of Civilizations largely foreshadowed how interests would be distributed once the war ended.

The star domains seized from the Gallant Federation would inevitably require garrison forces and long-term resource extraction.

Members of the Magus Alliance could, at best, hope to pick up a few scraps.

Those truly enjoying the feast would be the native powers of Magus World.

The titans were one of the few within the Magus Alliance that could truly “share the feast”.

At present, the titans had three overlord-level combatants—Odin, Hela, and Jormungandr the World Serpent.

Odin, in particular, was a renowned Rank Eight overlord whose reputation extended both within and beyond the alliance.

On the surface, their strength even appeared to surpass that of the Northern Witches Council.

The Grand Elven World and Amethyst World also had Rank Eight overlords, but each had only one.

As for when a second might emerge, no one knew.

Perhaps the Magus Civilization would never allow a second native overlord to exist in their world.

Only Titan World seemed unaffected by such constraints.

Hela had little interest in the Northern Witches Council’s recent war experiences.

It was the latter part of Bev’s conversation with the witch that gradually caught her attention.

“The war would have progressed far more quickly if we had not been forced to deploy massive legions toward the Amenkha Empire as a precaution,” the witch said with a sigh.

“How has Master Vivian been lately? I haven’t seen her since the alliance conference,” Bev asked.

“Mother is doing well and has been closely monitoring the battle situation here,” the witch replied.

“When she left Magus World to garrison the star domains around the Grand Cosmic World, she told us that Lady Bev would be the one to lead the Magus Civilization to ultimate victory in this Clash of Civilizations,” the witch added.

“Everything the Magus Civilization enjoys today was built by those who came before us. I’m merely striving to maintain that legacy and pass it on,” Bev replied humbly.

“Master Vivian and the others deserve the greatest credit. Once again, we must depend on them to guard against the Amenkha Empire. It truly humbles me,” she added with a sigh.

“The prosperity of the Magus Civilization belongs to all of us. Whether it is Mother and the others, or you and I—wherever we may be, we’re all contributing to it,” the witch replied.

Bev nodded in agreement. When it came to devotion and dedication to the Magus Civilization, both the older generation of powerhouses and the newly rising young elite shared the same deep sense of purpose.

Hela had also heard that the Magus Civilization had deployed substantial forces in the direction of the Amenkha Empire to guard against the scrutiny of that top-tier civilization.

The Amenkha Empire’s strength far surpassed that of both the Magus Civilization and the Gallant Federation.

At present, at least one-third of the Magus Civilization’s elite legions were stationed along the Amenkha Empire’s border as a precaution.

After all, Jehovah Nordin, the Magus Civilization’s soul-level astrologer, had once prophesied that the Magus Civilization’s greatest future crisis would come from that very direction.

Douglas—the most erudite Rank Eight soul overmage in Magus World—later personally confirmed the accuracy of that prophecy.

In truth, Master Douglas was also an astrologer, though he rarely revealed himself in public. He had not appeared at the last few Magus Alliance Conferences and was effectively semi-retired.

Meanwhile, Master Jehovah Nordin, as a younger-generation soul overmage, had grown increasingly renowned.

This was the reason why he came to be known as Magus World’s only soul-level astrologer.

One thing, however, was certain: Master Douglas himself had once predicted that Jehovah’s future achievements in astrology would surpass his own.

After discussing top-tier civilizations such as the Amenkha Empire, the two female soul overmages gradually shifted the conversation toward recently discovered top-tier civilization ruins.

“Those ruins seem to be of great importance to the Gallant Federation. Even their overlord-class war fleets are redirecting their focus toward that sector,” the witch said.

“Will Master Viktor be heading to that battlefield? As Magus World’s soul-level mechanist, I imagine he’d be very interested in the ruins of a top-tier technological civilization,” she added.

Bev shook her head. “I’ve already asked. Viktor won’t be going there for now. The Gallant Federation’s overlord-class fleet near the Arid Expanse World battlefield has been identified as being under the command of the Desert Fox, Rommel.”

“I’ve decided to send Moraia, the Rank Seven psychic from the Rosen Dynasty Civilization, since Rommel was the one who killed her niece back,” she added.

The witch’s eyes lit up at this.

“Excellent. Although Moraia’s soul is severely damaged, she was once a late-stage Rank Seven psychic who nearly reached the peak of Rank Seven. Sending her to that battlefield will allow her to fight at her absolute strongest. The same goes for those remaining remnants of the Rosen Dynasty Civilization.”