Sovereign of the Ashes

Sein spent quite some time roaming through Fermont’s interior and touring the many structures built by the Insectoids.

Along the way, the Rank Five Bladeist accompanying him presented Sein with numerous specimens of Insectoid egg embryos. Sein also collected a large number of the special death crystals found within Fermont’s body.

The purity of these crystals that had formed inside a Rank Eight creature far surpassed that of any other energy crystal Sein had encountered before.

Sein had never delved deeply into death laws, but his wife, Leena, had.

These death crystals would undoubtedly please her.

During his exploration, Sein also discovered that the Insectoids were directly mining these crystalline ores from Fermont’s body and using them to construct their bases.

In return, they helped repair the damage to Fermont’s outer body.

Its previous battle against Marduk had left numerous wounds across its massive form.

Sein watched as group after group of winged Insectoids hurried through Fermont’s body, using a special mucus to repair the damaged epidermal tissue.

This unusual symbiotic relationship left Sein marveling in awe.

Fermont’s body was enormous, nearly as large as a complete plane.

There was no way Sein could explore the entirety of such a colossal body in so little time. By the time he had to leave, he had only managed to briefly examine Fermont’s digestive and excretory systems with the Rank Five Bladeist as his guide.

When Sein finally departed, Fermera left with him.

After being separated for so long, her body had already recovered considerably.

However, the Insectoids were not particularly skilled with technology. As a result, Fermera’s recovery had been nowhere near as dramatic as Sein’s after he was immersed directly in the life mucus.

Noticing the visible scars still covering Fermera’s arms and other parts of her body, Sein took her hand and said, “Once we get back, I’ll give you a proper examination and fix you up.”

Fermera lowered her head and softly hummed in response.

After everything they had endured in the previous battle, the bond between Sein and Fermera seemed to have grown even stronger.

Sein no longer saw Fermera as a robot. Instead, he regarded her as his friend and comrade.

It was also from Fermera that Sein learned more than half a year had passed since he lost consciousness.

That included the nearly two months he had spent touring inside Fermont the Deathspawn.

During that time, the war in Divine Descendants World below had also undergone dramatic changes.

Following Marduk’s downfall, the resistance throughout the world had grown increasingly weak.

***

Sein’s planetary fortress had been destroyed.

After leaving Fermont’s body and descending into the territory controlled by the Dawn Empire below, Sein found a suitable mountain range and hollowed out enough space within it to establish a temporary experimental base.

Of course, he did not forget to contact Gongsun Wudi, Belphane, Mel, as well as the God of Black Mist and his followers.

Sein had been unable to reach them through his crystal ball earlier because Fermont’s powerful Rank Eight life force field had interfered with all communication signals.

Only the Insectoids remained unaffected. Since they shared a peculiar symbiotic relationship with Fermont, they had likely evolved specialized organs that allowed them to communicate within his body.

After Sein sent everyone a message informing them that he was safe, Gongsun Wudi, Belphane, and the others quickly replied.

None of them had suffered any serious injuries during the previous battle.

However, the God of Black Mist reported that the God of the Black Dog and the God of Rotten Soil had both sustained severe injuries on the outskirts of the overlord-level battlefield.

The God of the Black Dog, in particular, as he had been wounded while trying to rescue the God of Rotten Soil.

Gongsun Wudi was overwhelmed with official duties and could not spare the time to visit Sein for the moment.

The God of Black Mist and the others had requested an audience, but Sein postponed meeting them for the time being.

He wanted to be alone for a while so he could sort through the materials and spoils he had accumulated from the recent battles. Fermera’s restoration also needed his attention.

Yuri, however, was free to pilot the Burning Flame Unit and come find him directly.

She was an excellent laboratory assistant whom Sein had personally trained, and many of his experiments could not proceed without her help.

During his brief conversation with the God of Black Mist, Sein also confirmed that his planetary fortress had been destroyed.

The destruction had been so thorough that the God of Black Mist and his companions had been unable to recover even a single usable fragment from the wreckage.

For one thing, the planetary fortress had been shattered into nothing more than basic scraps of metal.

For another, the Insectoids had sealed off the entire area.

Both Marduk and the Ark were now regarded as the personal spoils of the Empress of Blades. Naturally, the Insectoids would not allow anyone else to lay a finger on them.

“I’m truly sorry that your planetary fortress was destroyed, and that all your faithful followers responsible for piloting it perished as well,” Sein told the God of Black Mist through the crystal ball. “But don’t worry. Once we return to the main battlefield of the Magus Civilization, I’ll compensate you with a standard space fortress produced by the Magus Civilization.”

On the other end, the God of Black Mist hurriedly refused, insisting that he would never dare accept such compensation.

According to him, it had been an honor for both his subjects and the planetary fortress to sacrifice themselves for Sein.

Sein did not prolong the discussion. After offering the God of Black Mist a few words of encouragement, he ended the conversation and returned to his experiments.

***

Sein had only just resumed his experiments when another violent tremor swept through the area, accompanied by the unmistakable force of an overlord-level shockwave.

The shaking continued for quite some time, rattling the cave laboratory and forcing Sein to halt his experiment.

Two years after Marduk’s fall, the last hostile overlord on Divine Descendants World battlefield had finally perished!

Venerable Muge had truly been a tenacious overlord.

Among the three hostile overlords on the Divine Descendants World battlefield, he had been the weakest in terms of overall strength.

Yet he had still managed to hold out until the very end. That alone was enough to prove his ability!

Shortly after emerging from Fermont the Deathspawn’s body, Sein had already heard about the joint assault against Venerable Muge.

However, that battlefield was far from his current location.

Moreover, Venerable Muge had no proper lower-tier legions from Myriad Manifestations World supporting him. He was practically alone, holding out by himself.

Having only recently escaped the danger caused by the Divine Descendant Overgod’s downfall, Sein saw no reason to throw himself into yet another overlord-level battlefield.

Therefore, he did not join the forces surrounding Venerable Muge. Instead, he found a nice mountain range and focused on conducting his own experiments.

As wave after wave of turmoil from the overlord’s downfall swept closer, Sein murmured to himself, “The three opposing overlords on the Divine Descendants World battlefield have now perished one after another, and the resistance forces in this world have been mostly wiped out. The war in this star domain can finally be considered over.”