Sovereign of the Ashes

The Redbeard Pirates were quickly broken up and absorbed.

Since leaving the Vermi Star Domain, Sein’s pirate crew had grown noticeably stronger.

In front of Sein, Tourmaline, and the others, Aribbean played the obedient henchman—but he was arrogant and overbearing when dealing with lower-ranking pirates.

Right now, he was clearly enjoying a level of power and comfort he had never imagined before.

As for the unfortunate interstellar merchant fleet that had been raided, the Ashen Star Pirates did not kill them.

They plundered most of the valuables and left just enough for the survivors to reach the nearest supply station.

“The Astral Realm has its own rules. Not just in the Magus Civilization, even in remote star domains like this, there are systems in place,” Sein said, stroking his chin. “If we keep raiding without restraint, we might profit in the short term. But sooner or later, trade routes will dry up, or nearby star domains will band together and come after us.”

He paused before continuing, “If we want something stable and sustainable... it might be better to become part of the system.”

“Part of the system?” Tourmaline looked up at him.

“Yes. We could integrate ourselves into their network and collect protection fees, or take a share of the trade routes and skim a cut from every transaction,” Sein suggested.

He let out a quiet breath. “That way, we get a steadier flow of resources. Otherwise, the faster we gain, the faster we fall.”

“Of course, that only matters if we stay in this region long-term. If we’re just passing through, we don’t have to worry about any of that,” he added with a faint smile.

Tourmaline nodded, though Sein was not sure if she fully followed.

Lowering her head, she took a sip of the potion he had prepared for her.

She never liked drinking potions on their own—they were usually too bitter.

Her recovery was the fastest among them, but she had not fully returned to peak condition yet. That was why Sein had gone out of his way to prepare a batch of restorative potions just for her.

He had even added plenty of sweeteners this time, which she appreciated.

Recently, while studying the Spring Waters of Vitality and Joy, Sein had made a few discoveries.

When added to potions, these two special, law-infused spring waters noticeably boosted their potency—and Tourmaline liked them even more.

That said, Sein was far more cautious when it came to the Spring Water of Joy.

Through his study of emotional laws and his observations of Jessica, he had already come to realize that certain emotional powers could be addictive.

Within the Magus Civilization, emotional power was considered rare, obscure, and difficult to grasp.

Just looking at the fearsome reputation the devils had built around the Magus Civilization’s territory was enough to show how extraordinary that kind of power could be.

Because of that, Sein always handled both the Spring Waters of Joy and Hatred with great care.

Tourmaline was different from Jessica.

Jessica had already sunk deep into that path. Lustfire had gradually become part of her foundational law power, something she could wield freely at will.

With her, Sein could experiment freely with emotional powers. As long as he stayed within certain limits, she should be able to handle it.

But with Tourmaline, that was out of the question. He would carry out such a risky experiment on her.

Mages might be crazy, but even the most extreme among them still had their own boundaries.

Tourmaline, Leena, Lorianne... they were sacred ground that Sein protected.

When it came to extraplanar subjects, he could be as ruthless as he needed to be.

The path to ultimate truth was always paved with bones and corpses.

Yet holding on to a sliver of humanity while pursuing it was how Sein defined his own path.

***

The first complete plane Sein and his group came across was called the Blue Waves World.

It was a hydro-attribute microplane, with oceans covering more than ninety percent of its surface.

On the eve of their arrival, Aribbean—whose confidence had been running high lately—thumped his chest and boldly declared that he could take the microplane on his own, without any help from Sein or Goodess Tourmy!

Conquering a world was something Aribbean had never even dared to dream of before. Now, it felt within reach!

Despite his demigod-level strength, Aribbean had only just brushed the threshold of that realm. His so-called status was far from solid.

Even a microplane, the weakest type of complete plane, had a planar barrier strong enough to keep most invaders out.

As for the native demigods within, they could definitely put up a real fight against Rank Four beings once empowered by the planar laws.

After all, Rank Four entities could not simply force their way into a microplane. At best, they could only send in their legions.

Some weaker Rank Four beings with shallower foundations might even find themselves completely helpless against a well-fortified planar barrier.

Not everyone had something like a Magus Civilization space fortress—a weapon built for siege on that scale.

So where did Aribbean’s confidence come from?

The answer was the Turbulent Conch Tourmaline had gifted him not long ago.

It had been one of her childhood toys, capable of unleashing a hydro-elemental attack comparable to a late-stage demigod’s full-force strike.

Back then, she had used it to create rainbows.

In Aribbean’s hands, however, it effectively doubled his combat power!

On top of that, he had recently received quite a few new pieces of gear and items he had not even had the chance to use yet.

Just the thought of conquering a plane had him so excited that he could barely contain himself.

Unfortunately, his fantasy did not last long. Sein glanced at the distant Blue Waves World and shook his head. “We’re not taking this plane.”

“The Flowing Water Plane isn’t far from here. Compared to what we might gain from a microplane, I’m far more interested in the ransom offered by the God of Dusk Desire. I don’t want anything tipping our hand before then,” Sein said calmly.

His words hit like a cold wind sweeping down from a snow-capped peak. Aribbean shivered and immediately bowed his head. “Understood, Your Divinity!”

Sein’s Ashen Star Pirates had disguised themselves as a standard mid-sized merchant fleet.

After seizing the ships of the God of Dusk Desire and going through several more battles, their numbers had steadily grown.

Most pirates were natural performers.

They knew how to talk to anyone and adapt to any situation, so passing themselves off as ordinary merchant crew came easily.

Of course, not all of them measured up. Those who did not know their place, or were simply poor actors, were either locked away in the lower decks or ended up as dissected specimens on Sein’s worktable... or reduced to wandering souls in the Astral Realm.

There were always a few who were either bold or foolish enough to challenge Sein’s authority.

Most of the time, he did not even need to act.

A single cold glance from Fermera was enough to make most pirates wet their pants.

That included Aribbean, who proclaimed himself the sixth-highest-ranking member of the Ashes Pirates.

The five above him were Sein, Tourmaline, Fermera, Yuri, and the Burning Flame Unit, who had been reduced to nothing more than a head.

“The trading scene on this microplane looks decent. I might be able to pick up some technological materials,” Sein said, looking down at Blue Waves World below.

“Let’s see if we can rebuild the Burning Flame Unit’s body.”