Sovereign of the Ashes

Sending Tourmaline away had not been Sein’s decision, but one made by his grandmaster.

Recent shifts in the war had made Feylis increasingly uneasy about the risks they faced on the battlefield.

No one understood Tourmaline’s background better than she did.

Compared to staying here with her own legions, Feylis believed Tourmaline would be far safer with her older sister, White Stella.

To put it bluntly, Feylis did not want the responsibility of protecting her.

In a war of this scale, she could not keep a constant eye on Tourmaline. If anything happened to the girl, she would be in trouble.

Under those circumstances, sending Tourmaline back to her sister was the simplest solution. It spared Feylis the burden, and she was more than willing to hand that responsibility over.

Sein supported the decision.

He had heard that the Mordora Star Domain had remained relatively stable, with no major conflicts breaking out recently.

It was also a medium-sized star domain rich in hydro elemental energy—an environment he believed Tourmaline would enjoy.

Over the years, Sein had not been able to spend much time with her.

This time, he made sure she would not be alone by sending her off with Sev and Lou.

After changing into a fresh set of magic robes and settling his mind, Sein headed into the mechanical laboratory.

HALL-E had been waiting there for quite some time. It had now become Sein’s most important assistant in mechanical research.

Since leaving the subspace secret realm, HALL-E had clearly grown fond of its new environment.

Assisting with experiments in the laboratory seemed to have given it a renewed sense of purpose.

In its spare time, it even took the initiative to interact with the Burning Flame Unit and other angel robots.

Perhaps HALL-E was not in love with the Burning Flame Unit back then. It was more likely just looking for something it could communicate with.

This new way of life seemed to suit it well.

When Sein entered the laboratory, he took out the Magic Cube from his pocket and placed it at the center of the experimental table.

During his recent missions, he had kept it with him at all times.

The battlefield was too unpredictable, the tides of war shifting without warning.

Having the Magic Cube close at hand gave him at least a small measure of reassurance.

Fermera remained on standby within Sein’s Magic Cube, along with several hundred thousand angel robots.

Over the past few years of war, these robots had suffered heavy losses.

Some of them could no longer be repaired with Energy Amethysts alone.

Sein had recently learned that the Magus Civilization’s legions on the frontlines had captured several robot production lines from the Gallant Federation’s Icarus Group, including facilities capable of producing both domestic and combat-type angel units.

He had already issued a high-reward request within the Magus Alliance, hoping to acquire those captured production lines.

If the Magic Cube could absorb and analyze the underlying technology, then with enough materials and energy, it might one day be able to mass-produce its own angel robot legion to support Sein in wartime.

For now, those advanced production lines had not yet reached him. However, Sein had recently obtained several standard robot production lines.

After the cube absorbed and processed them, Sein could finally confirm that it was indeed capable of large-scale robot production.

Its internal mechanical space was vast enough to sustain the operation of entire workshops and factories.

That said, access to this space was still limited. At present, only mechanical beings could freely enter and exit.

Sein had also experimented with bringing in living beings, particularly enslaved creature legions used as cannon fodder.

The results were mixed. A small number of sentient beings could be accommodated, but anything beyond that quickly exceeded the cube’s limits.

Using it to transport entire armies was, at least for now, unrealistic—unless those armies were composed entirely of robots.

Even so, the Magic Cube still had tremendous potential for growth.

During the last battle in the Golden Rock Worlds, Sein had fed it a significant amount of “nutrients”.

They were not limited to technological secret treasures. Any Rank Four or Rank Five technological construct, or even those close to the demigod level, could be absorbed and assimilated by the Magic Cube if they contained the power of law.

The difference lay in quality. True technological secret treasures were like powerful tonics; just a few could trigger rapid evolution and transformation within the cube.

In contrast, ordinary federal warships and mobile suits were little more than basic sustenance. They could “fill up” the cube’s reserves, but offered minimal growth.

Relying on such ordinary constructs to drive the Magic Cube’s evolution would require an astronomical quantity.

Sein was never picky about what he fed on, and neither was his Magic Cube.

In his view, the cube’s own “intelligence” had only just begun to take shape after several rounds of evolution.

The more varied and complete the technological laws it absorbed, the better it would be for its long-term growth.

Because of that, there was no need to chase after rare, world-class treasures just to feed it.

Not that Sein had any realistic way of obtaining such things anyway...

Opportunities like the ruins of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization did not come around often.

His experiments to further enhance the cube were only halfway complete, and he had not even gone to his mentor to collect the latest batch of body-tempering potions when an urgent transmission forced him to stop everything.

“Tourmaline and the others are under attack?” Sein exclaimed in surprise.

Since the Rank Five knight escorting Tourmaline served under Feylis, the moment they came under attack, the space fortress he commanded immediately sent out a distress signal.

What the signal revealed was far worse than expected. It was not just Tourmaline’s group under attack—the entire Mordora Star Domain was under heavy assault.

Tourmaline and the others had been unlucky enough to arrive at the edge of the star domain just as enemy forces began their siege.

These enemies were nothing like the Gallant Federation forces Sein had faced before.

This was a terrifying army, radiating an aura of death and dark power!

After a quick meeting with his grandmaster and the others, Sein learned that the attackers came from a top-tier civilization known as the Amenkha Empire.

“Although I have not yet managed to contact Master Zenasus of the Pyro Secret Society, I’m certain the worsening situation on the frontlines over the past few decades is connected to the Amenkha Empire,” Feylis said gravely.

“We can no longer proceed to the Trimmis Star Domain. All legions are to redirect immediately toward the Mordora Star Domain! It’s a critical transit hub for us. If we lose it, our supply lines will be severely disrupted, even if we retake the Trimmis Star Domain. That, in turn, will affect the entire front across the surrounding star domains,” she said firmly.

Even so, Sein could not shake the feeling that her true priority was rescuing White Stella.