Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 1731: Negotiations

The Phantom Crow King remained Sein’s guest for quite some time.

For the foreign deities of the Magus Alliance, cultivating relationships with Magus World powerhouses was a way to affirm their standing and status.

The more top-tier beings from Magus World one knew, the easier it was to hold one’s head high within the Magus Alliance and even gain an edge over others.

The Phantom Crow King knew very well how to make an impression. During this visit, it presented Sein with an extraordinary gift: the Ten Thousand Souls Orb.

This orb was one of the Phantom Crows’ special products. When these powerful crows absorbed enough souls and flesh essence, a blood-red orb would condense within their beaks—known as a Soul Orb.

Soul Orbs could be consumed to strengthen one’s soul energy.

The Ten Thousand Souls Orb gifted to Sein contained the essence of at least three million souls.

For an existence like the Phantom Crow King, the Clash of Civilizations was the perfect hunting ground.

After each battle, the Phantom Crow King and its subjects could harvest vast quantities of soul essence from the battlefield.

By comparison, the Gallant Federation’s technological artifacts and energy blocks held far less appeal for them.

Soul Orbs also served as highly effective gifts, which the Phantom Crow King often used to curry favor with others.

Many Magus World knights and mages were deeply interested in them, including Sein.

Yet Sein did not immediately accept the Phantom Crow King’s gift. Instead, he made a request.

Sein’s legal wife in Magus World, Natalya, remained trapped in a state of soul slumber. The Phantom Crow King happened to possess expertise in this area, and Sein hoped it could help.

While the Phantom Crow King was adept at devouring souls, when it came to saving lives... it could only promise to do its best.

Natalya’s body was still sealed within the Divine Tower of Ashes in Magus World by Sein himself. Bringing her over would take considerable time, and there was no way to speed up the process.

Taking advantage of the situation, the Phantom Crow King insisted on leaving the Ten Thousand Souls Orb with Sein.

Even if the rescue ultimately failed, it would at least have secured a favor from him. Surely Sein would not hold that against it.

After seeing the Phantom Crow King off, Sein could not help but shake his head with a sigh.

Any Rank Six being that had survived for countless ages and continued to prosper was, without exception, shrewd.

***

Months later, Orric, Darian, Karazo, and several other allied deities all paid visits to Sein.

The Huusian King did not come. This father-in-law of Sein’s had just been dispatched to an interstellar battlefield beyond the subspace region.

The fighting there was relatively light, making it a favorable assignment for the Huusians.

Before receiving any direct combat orders from the base, Sein was instead assigned a new mission by Grandmaster Feylis—a negotiation with the Gallant Federation.

Under sustained pressure from the Gallant Federation, the Magus Civilization finally confirmed the time and location for the information exchange.

The negotiation site was set within the ruins of an underground bunker in the westernmost part of the Steel Ruins.

The Magus Civilization dispatched a delegation of ten or so negotiators, with Sein among them.

This was the task personally entrusted to him by Grandmaster Feylis. It was also through this mission that Sein met the Rank Six mage who just arrived at this subspace—Leonardo, a strikingly youthful and handsome man with short blond hair.

Of course, a mage’s age could never be judged by appearances alone.

Though Master Leonardo looked even younger and fairer than Sein, he was in fact of the same generation as Sein’s mentor.

During his interactions with the two Rank Six mages, Sein sensed a clear note of respect in Leonardo’s words toward Feylis.

Whether this stemmed from Feylis’ superior strength or her imminent breakthrough to a higher realm was unclear.

Although Feylis and Leonardo were nominally co-responsible for overseeing the overall situation on this subspace battlefield, it was obvious that Feylis held the final authority.

Sein, along with more than a dozen other Magus Civilization powerhouses, set out for the designated negotiation site.

Strictly speaking, the underground bunker lay within an overlapping zone of influence between the two civilizations.

Not far from the negotiation site, a Magus Civilization alliance legion numbering two million clashed fiercely with Gallant Federation forces.

Moreover, Sein knew that the moment their delegation entered the underground bunker to begin talks, it would signal the launch of the Magus Civilization’s full-scale, preemptive offensive across the entire subspace front.

To ensure unified command and secure the Rosen Dynasty’s full assistance, Feylis had already coordinated with its overlord-level psychic and obtained her support.

The instant Sein and his group stepped into the underground bunker, violent energy fluctuations and surging elemental tides erupted across the battlefield behind them.

The Gallant Federation’s negotiation team arrived here before Sein and his party, showing their greater sense of urgency.

Moreover, their delegation vastly outnumbered Sein’s party, with more than a hundred federal personnel present.

This stood in sharp contrast to Sein’s group, which consisted of only ten or so individuals.

That said, most members of the Gallant Federation’s delegation possessed relatively low life levels.

Only six of them exhibited energy fluctuations of Rank Four and above, and two massive mobile suits stood guard outside the underground bunker.

“All of you are quite bold,” a Rank Five Magus World mage remarked upon seeing the federation’s negotiators. “Are you not afraid we might simply eliminate you and take your bargaining chips?”

Despite being outnumbered, the Magus Civilization’s delegation could still casually speak of eliminating the other party.

Yet after the mage spoke, no one doubted the truth of his words—not even the Gallant Federation’s negotiators. It sounded like a perfectly plausible outcome.

The thunderous roar of ongoing battles behind both sides, coupled with the distant energy fluctuations of clashes involving even overlord-tier beings, caused many of the federal negotiators to pale slightly.

The Magus Civilization’s legions across this subspace had launched a full-scale offensive against the Gallant Federation without even a warning.

Faced with this sudden shift, and especially with the Rank Five mage’s blunt display of dominance, an oppressive weight settled over the federation’s delegation like storm clouds gathering over a city.

Under pressure that fell squarely on the Gallant Federation side, a cold snort suddenly broke the silence.

It came from Bond, who was clad in black combat gear.

As a Rank Five powerhouse himself, Bond was clearly the backbone of the federation’s negotiation team.

The moment he entered the underground bunker, he too had sensed the violent upheavals erupting across multiple battlefronts throughout the subspace.

Yet he merely frowned slightly, showing no visible alarm.

As his gaze swept across the ten or so Magus Civilization powerhouses, it did not linger on the Rank Five mage who had spoken earlier. Instead, his eyes settled on Sein, who stood quietly among the group.

“Long time no see, Mage Sein,” Bond said.

The two had crossed paths many times in this subspace battlefield, and Bond had also reviewed extensive intelligence on Sein from the federation’s central database.

“Indeed, it has been quite some time,” Sein replied.

“I never imagined we would meet again under circumstances like these.” He smiled faintly as his gaze drifted to the metallic bangle around Bond’s wrist.