Sovereign of the Ashes

After returning to the laboratory, Sein did not immediately begin his work on fusing the planetary fortress and his Magic Cube. Instead, he first turned his attention back to his daily research on Ashen magic.

Sein still needed to focus on more sophisticated spell models, the rare elemental flames he had collected, and several lingering questions from the past.

Several months passed.

When Fermera quietly slipped back into Sein’s laboratory, she found Sein holding a brilliant, unusual law flame that burned silently in his palm.

Sein glanced at Fermera and immediately understood that her pursuit had ended. The repairs to the planetary fortress beneath their feet were also largely complete.

He did not ask her about the details of the battle.

After carefully placing the strange law flame into a specialized laboratory vessel, Sein exhaled softly.

“Let’s go. We’ll proceed with the next experiment.”

In the starry sky, a massive planetary-class war fortress stood in silence.

Large, conspicuous gashes and metal patches marred its outer walls, making it obvious at a glance that this planetary-class war fortress had recently endured the ravages of battle.

The flickering lights throughout this massive construct further showed that it was no longer as intact as it had been when it was first commissioned.

Sein stood at the very center of the fortress’s control hub, with Fermera by his side.

Aside from the personnel needed for basic operations, the vast majority of the fortress crew—including pilots and maintenance staff—had been ordered to evacuate on short notice.

After all, experiments were inherently risky. Sein was also rather prone to causing small explosions in the laboratory, and even those “small” explosions were not something ordinary beings could withstand.

Strictly speaking, this Fortress Activation and Modification Analysis Experiment also carried enormous risks.

Fermera remained at Sein’s side partly to protect him.

Sein took a deep breath and announced, “Let’s begin.”

He slowly pushed the shimmering, dazzling Magic Cube forward from his chest.

A blue-violet glow instantly illuminated every corner of the planetary fortress’s main control room.

The light, imbued with immense magical energy and the laws of technology, showed no obvious reaction when they first came into contact with the metal structures inside the planetary fortress.

The surroundings remained completely still.

Only Sein, wearing the Faceless Mask, seemed able to perceive the turbulent elemental forces and law power clashing beneath that calm surface.

A single bead of sweat, born from tension, quietly appeared on his forehead.

Yuri, who was standing not far from Sein, noticed this and reached out to wipe the sweat from his brow.

However, Fermera grabbed her arm and stopped her!

Yuri was not afraid of Fermera. She had been with Sein longer. More importantly, she was a living, breathing human being—someone who had shared physical intimacy with Sein. Fermera, on the other hand, was only a mechanical construct.

Yuri shot Fermera a slightly annoyed glare, but Fermera’s icy expression did not change at all.

Sein had been so deeply focused that he had completely missed the small exchange beside him.

RUMBLE!

A thunderous noise suddenly erupted.

He snapped his gaze toward the top of the fortress.

At first, only the beings inside the planetary fortress noticed that something was wrong.

But when the entire fortress began to shake violently and twist out of shape, every living being inside stared in utter disbelief at the scene unfolding before them.

The Rank Five God of Black Mist, who had also sensed the overwhelming energy and law fluctuations, was now frantically watching from the starry sky outside the planetary fortress.

At first, he thought the Gallant Federation fleet had returned to attack, which gave him quite a scare.

But after realizing that was not the case, the God of Black Mist breathed a sigh of relief—only to immediately witness the changes taking place in the planetary-class war fortress before him, changes far beyond anything he had ever imagined.

Pointing at the scene before him, he could only stammer in shock, “W-What...”

Before the God of Black Mist’s eyes, the planetary-class war fortress he had once known like the back of his hand was now undergoing a transformation that completely defied his understanding.

The massive construct, once slightly tilted and covered in patches and gashes, was now changing from the inside out.

Throughout this process, countless brand-new metal plates and mechanical circuits were revealed before the God of Black Mist and the others.

Even more astonishingly, the planetary-class war fortress, which had originally been shaped like an elliptical sphere, was gradually shifting into a humanoid form!

It was becoming a colossal metal robot nearly twenty thousand meters tall!

The overlord-class giant mobile suits produced by the Gallant Federation did indeed have initial forms that exceeded twenty thousand meters in height, but those were overlord-class mobile suits.

Some giant mobile suits below Rank Six could also reach absurd sizes after being enhanced and expanded with memory alloy.

However, this giant mobile suit, which had transformed from a secondhand planetary fortress, clearly could not compare with those top-tier constructs.

Considering its manufacturing cost, it would already be impressive if it could match a Rank Four mobile suit.

Yet now, as the distinctive blue-violet light of laws illuminated the surface of this colossal fortress robot, the power it radiated had clearly surpassed that of an ordinary Rank Four being.

More importantly, its sheer size was far beyond anything anyone had expected!

No one knew how this massive, terrifying metal robot had come into being.

Only Sein, who was currently at the core of the metal construct, might know the secret!

At that moment, a strange spatial ripple appeared in a corner of the starry sky.

Clad in a white cloak and wearing a white mask, Kigard slowly emerged from the spatial ripple.

Gustavo had dispatched him to establish contact with the Dawn Empire.

Given his current status, he naturally could not approach the Dawn Empire’s powerhouses directly. It would be best to use a Magus Civilization powerhouse, such as Sein, as an intermediary.

After all, Kigard was only working for the Magus Civilization at the moment.

The Phantom Thief had only just stepped out of the spatial vortex when the sight of the colossal metal robot before him left him momentarily stunned.

Although this robot had been transformed from a planetary-class war fortress, its underlying principles and mechanics were still far from mature.

It had the size and presence to intimidate, but overall, it came across as stiff, sluggish, and strangely awkward.

“Which Magus Civilization master did this?” Kigard muttered to himself.

He had met Sein before, but looking at this colossal fortress robot, there was no way he could associate it with him.

The “operations” and “tests” of the fortress robot continued for quite some time.

Much like the fusion technique between Sein and Fermera, this technology likely suffered from initial incompatibility and required a long adjustment period.

As for when it would be fully ready for combat, that remained to be seen.

Just as Kigard was pondering how he should present himself and introduce himself to this astonishingly powerful grand mage of the Magus Civilization later, another wave of chaotic and violent law fluctuations surged through the air.

The massive, imposing fortress robot before him was actually beginning to disintegrate!