Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 1809: Shifting to the Arid Expanse Worlds

His conversations with Mikaeli were nothing more than a brief diversion amidst Sein’s busy life on the battlefield.

By now, Sein had already extracted most of the useful knowledge Mikaeli had about the Cinderbone Flame.

As fellow researchers of pyro elemental laws, Sein did not need to rebuild his own foundation from the ground up. All he needed was Mikaeli’s decades of experimental records and research results.

Those insights were invaluable, and they would save him many unnecessary detours in his future pursuit of the truth.

***

The war in the Golden Rock Worlds lasted nearly two centuries in total.

During that time, Sein carried out many missions, ranging from direct assaults to specialized support and logistical operations.

The most rewarding experience he gained in this medium-sized star domain war was taking part in the siege of a Rank Six federal warship fleet.

In the end, Sein obtained most of the wreckage of a battleship known as the “Wing Suit Alpha”.

The vessel was two kilometers long and capable of unleashing attacks with Rank Six destructive power.

After analyzing it through the Magic Cube, Sein integrated several of the battleship’s core technologies into both the cube and Fermera, including its energy conversion system, B7-type thermo-optical particle cannon, and DF shield.

These technological components were not necessarily the strongest available, but they still significantly improved the capabilities of both Fermera and the cube.

Sein had also tried to further upgrade Yuri’s Burning Flame Unit.

However, the Neisse Civilization’s power system could not be classified as pure technology. The growth of the Burning Flame Unit was fundamentally tied to Yuri herself.

Because of that, all Sein could do was urge Yuri to speed up her training and growth.

***

The war in the Golden Rock Worlds was jointly directed and brought to a close by Feylis, Fathis, Celloza, and White Stella.

Once the war ended, Feylis and Celloza quickly left this medium-sized star domain and headed for their next battlefield—the Arid Expanse Worlds.

White Stella and Master Fathis, however, did not continue the offensive.

Master Fathis had to remain behind to oversee the postwar affairs of the Golden Rock Worlds.

Two centuries of war had left the Golden Rock Worlds in utter chaos.

The Gallant Federation’s heavy industry factories were not something the Magus Civilization could simply take over overnight.

Master Fathis would need a great deal of time to consolidate the Golden Rock Worlds and bring its resources under control.

During this period, Welks would also remain in the Golden Rock Worlds as Steel City’s representative, overseeing all related affairs.

After fighting alongside each other for a time, Sein and Welks had developed a certain degree of respect for one another’s strength, fortune, and understanding of the deeper truths of their respective studies.

Even so, things were still a little awkward between them.

Welks had asked for permission to dismantle and study Fermera, but Sein refused.

Likewise, when Sein asked to take a close look at the modifications made to the Molten Steel T-Rex King, Welks politely turned him down.

It seemed that many exceptional talents found it especially difficult to become true friends.

Watching Welks standing atop the back of the Molten Steel T-Rex King as it gradually disappeared into the distance, Sein turned and signaled for his legion to depart.

It was said that after the war in the Golden Rock Worlds ended, White Stella’s sea race legions would also be transferred to other battlefields.

The scorched and desolate environment of the Arid Expanse Worlds was clearly not well-suited for them.

Orric, the Ocean King whose interests were closely tied to Sein’s, would also lead his legions in continuing to follow White Stella and the other sea race legions into battle.

During his years fighting in the Golden Rock Worlds, Sein had only limited contact with powerhouses from the Magus Alliance, such as Orric. Most of the time, he operated under Fathis’ command.

Over the course of these two centuries, Sein earned more than forty million magicoins, along with countless rare materials and unusual specimens.

***

Unlike the Golden Rock Worlds, where the Gallant Federation’s fleets and mobile suit forces had been the main opponents, the primary enemies in the Arid Expanse Worlds were creatures from the Grand Apocalypse World and various native vassal species.

The Magus Civilization’s unrelenting offensives across these outer local battlefields made its ambition perfectly clear—it intended to swallow the Gallant Federation whole.

In terms of battlefield intensity, the Arid Expanse Worlds far surpassed the Golden Rock Worlds.

That was not only because an even greater concentration of forces had gathered there, but also because it had become a stage for strategic clashes between overlord-level beings.

The Rosen Dynasty’s overlord-level psychic, Moraia, was still there. According to reports, the overlord from the Grand Apocalypse World was also active in nearby star domains.

The two sides had already clashed in two brief engagements.

This was a clash between the Magus Civilization and an overlord aligned with the Gallant Federation.

Judging from the final outcome, Moraia, the Rank Seven psychic with the stronger background, had clearly outmatched that Apocalypse World overlord on the battlefield.

After all, in terms of civilization level and overall power, the Rosen Dynasty at its peak had possessed nearly five times the strength of the Grand Apocalypse World!

The gap in power between large-sized world civilizations could sometimes be immense.

***

Not long after arriving at the battlefield of the Arid Expanse Worlds, Sein was approached by a group of familiar faces.

“Long time no see, Master Sein,” Veunoia greeted him with a smile.

This Rank Five psychic had come to discuss another deal with Sein, this time concerning the export quota of Energy Amethysts.

She hoped that Sein would agree to increase the amount exported this time.

Judging by the situation, the recent wars in the Arid Expanse Worlds had clearly dealt heavy losses to the Rosen Dynasty’s legions.

Of course, Veunoia had not come empty-handed. This time, she brought Sein an extremely valuable gift.

“Bring her in,” Veunoia instructed the Rank Five mobile suit pilot behind her.

At once, a prison cage roughly ten meters square was brought before Sein, escorted by two Rank Four mobile suit pilots.

“What is this...?” Sein stared at the creature inside the cage in surprise.

“She’s a half-dragon, half-human creature born in the Grand Apocalypse World. Over there, this species seems to be called a Celestial Dragonian,” Veunoia explained.

“It took us quite a bit of effort to capture her alive. We hope Master Sein will find this gift satisfactory,” she added with a smile.

For Veunoia and the others, killing a Rank Four creature would not have been difficult.

Capturing one alive, however, was a very different matter.

The Celestial Dragonian imprisoned inside the cage had two slender dragon horns and a long tail. Her white dress was stained with dirt and blood.

Most striking of all were her amber-brown eyes. Their pupils could narrow and shift like those of a reptile.

A gift like this would appeal to both knights and mages.

Knights would be drawn to her beauty and to the “novelty” of bedding an exotic otherworldly creature.

Mages like Sein, on the other hand, would be far more interested in vivisecting her and uncovering the secrets hidden within her body.

And sure enough, the moment Sein saw her, his eyes lit up.

He turned to Fermera behind him and said, “Take her to my lab... uh... Lab Three.”

He then turned back to Veunoia with a smile.

“Thank you for this gift, my friends from the Rosen Dynasty Civilization. As for the matter of the Energy Amethysts, I believe we can indeed discuss expanding our trade arrangements.”