Sovereign of the Ashes

After temporarily escaping danger, Sein and the others continued flying toward their predetermined destination.

At Sein’s side were dozens of knights and mages ranging from Rank Two to Rank Three. However, his attention was focused mainly on the two Rank Four research mages, Black Oblivion, and his two cousins.

The male Rank Four mage was Roth, and the female was Grethel.

Based on their performance after activating their elemental bodies earlier, Sein could tell that these two researchers had scarcely experienced real combat!

It was hardly a surprise as Magus World mages did not advance through battle, nor did they rely on it to acquire resources.

After a brief conversation, Sein learned that both Roth and Grethel had chosen the research path as early as Rank One and Rank Two.

Before reaching Rank Four, they had been “academic mages” of divine tower academies.

Their solid scholarly foundations, along with years of experience in teaching and administration, had earned them enthusiastic recruitment offers from multiple divine towers.

Over the course of their long academic careers, they accumulated enough resources to advance to Rank Four.

Even after reaching that rank, neither of them established their own divine towers. Instead, they continued to join more powerful divine towers or soul towers, pursuing the mysteries of truth.

The growth paths of these two Rank Four mages actually reflected the trajectory of a large portion of Magus World’s academic mages.

They were not skilled in combat, nor did they enjoy it, preferring instead to follow their natural inclination toward research.

Take Grethel, for example. At over fifty thousand years old, she could hardly be called young anymore.

She had begun as a hydromancer, but gradually developed an interest in the mysteries of the geo element. At one point, she even settled in Amethyst World for nearly ten thousand years.

Through her deep study of geo elemental principles, she expanded into archaeology and ancient civilization research, eventually becoming a leader in those fields.

As a result, she was directly assigned to explore the ruins of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization.

Roth’s situation was much the same. He, too, was far older than Sein and possessed deep expertise in archaeology.

Yet like Grethel, his combat ability paled in comparison to Sein’s.

Their survival during the breakout owed something to luck, but also to their “relative youth”.

Among the Rank Four mages who had perished or gone missing in earlier battles, several were elderly men and women, likely approaching a hundred thousand years of age.

Though there was a saying among mages that age brought greater resilience, these scholarly mages had never excelled in combat to begin with.

Fifty thousand years old was hardly considered ancient among Rank Four mages.

Thanks to her mastery of hydro elemental laws, Grethel maintained remarkably youthful skin. She appeared only slightly older than Lorianne, still very much a young woman.

The other mage, Roth, who was likely several thousand years younger than Grethel, appeared merely middle-aged.

After withdrawing from combat, the two Rank Four academic mages each retrieved healing potions and began tending to their wounds.

Despite their lackluster combat ability, their healing techniques were practiced and professional.

Grethel offered Sein several elemental potions she had brewed herself, but Sein politely declined, as he already had superior ones on hand.

As a dendromancer with far greater dedication to apothecary, Lorianne’s potions clearly surpassed Grethel’s in quality.

Sein’s immediate concern, however, was Hanliu’s condition.

Since escaping the Gallant Federation’s pursuit and fleeing through the underground metal passage, Hanliu’s injuries had worsened significantly.

Although his body was covered in wounds, Sein found that the most painful and troubling injury lay near the spine.

It had likely been caused by the Rank Five mobile suit’s close-range self-detonation.

Superficial damage alone would have been manageable. The real problem was that the explosion had not only struck Hanliu’s spine, but also released a peculiar radiative force that had seeped deep into his body.

Recalling the moment of the explosion, Sein remembered waves of a special nuclear energy spreading outward in all directions.

Sein had been relatively close to the blast center, yet suffered little lasting harm.

In hindsight, this was likely the result of his years of body-tempering experiments, particularly those involving radiation exposure.

His cells had already developed a degree of resistance against this unusual radiation force.

Years earlier, Sein had fought on a low-level plane known as Radbow World. It was likely also during that period that his body had begun developing radiation resistance.

“It appears to be a specific form of radiation force that’s continuously eroding his bone marrow and spinal column,” Grethel commented after completing a close examination.

“What should we do? How do we treat this?” Black Oblivion asked anxiously.

Black Oblivion himself had suffered serious injuries, yet he clearly placed Hanliu’s condition above his own.

After all, Hanliu was his younger cousin. If anything were to happen to him in this battle, not only would White Stella and the other family elders never forgive him, but Black Oblivion himself would never be able to live with the guilt.

“Don’t panic. It’s not life-threatening for now,” Sein said, frowning.

He still had two Golden Apple Potions in reserve, and the three dragonkins undoubtedly carried no shortage of valuable healing items as well.

While Hanliu’s condition was not immediately fatal, Sein needed to think carefully about the best course of treatment.

As he pondered in silence, Grethel had already handed several healing potions to the dragonkins.

These hydro elemental potions might not address their issues, but they would at least help restore some vitality.

At that moment, Qixiu spat out a golden gourd bottle. He removed the cork and poured several perfectly round pills into his palm.

Seeing a magic artifact stored inside someone’s stomach was a sight Sein, Grethel, and the others had never witnessed before. They all stared in stunned silence.

Although the pills, which emitted a faint and peculiar fragrance, were unfamiliar to them, they immediately recognized their nature.

“Could these be immortal pills produced by the Immortal Realm? I heard their effects are very similar to the magic potions of our Magus World!” Grethel exclaimed.

This Rank Four mage possessed extensive knowledge and was well-versed in matters concerning the Immortal Realm Civilization.

As a top-tier civilization, the Immortal Realm had achieved astonishing accomplishments in both artifact forging and alchemy.

Pills or equipment used by law-wielding beings were typically honored with titles such as “immortal pills” or “immortal artifacts.”

From time to time, artifacts originating from the Immortal Realm Civilization would find their way into Magus World.

Although contact between these two civilizations had dwindled over the past tens of thousands of years, it had never been completely severed.

Now in human form, Black Oblivion slapped his forehead hard and exclaimed, “Damn it, I was panicking so much that I forgot I have a few Four-Refinement Golden Pills!”

He then poured several law-infused pills etched with intricate patterns from a jade bottle.

The moment these pills appeared, the eyes of Sein, Grethel, and Roth widened even more. All of them were staring intently at the golden pills resting in Black Oblivion’s hand.

The lower-ranking mages nearby, especially those at the demigod level, also sensed the abnormal fluctuations emanating from this area.

However, they could only watch from a distance. None of them dared to approach or investigate further.