Sovereign of the Ashes

Bev had brought the Three Divine Children of Titan World to the Valthwain Star Domain for more than just a simple reunion with their aunts.

At the high-level multilateral summit that had just concluded, nearly every faction involved in this Clash of Civilizations had sent representatives to attend.

The only exception was the Magus Alliance. Its interests were already deeply intertwined with those of Magus World, so there was little need for an alliance overlord to participate.

Besides, a summit of that level—one involving the division of interests among the major powers—was not really the sort of occasion where alliance overlords should involve themselves.

Titan World, however, was a special case.

Setting aside the fact that Titan World was currently the largest plane within the Magus Civilization, Odin was also Bev’s own younger brother. Naturally, she had to show them a little consideration.

People were selfish by nature. Even the leaders of civilizations were not always exceptions.

By summoning Hela and the others this time, Bev and Liese were essentially giving Titan World an advance heads-up on several important developments.

When it came to major alliance policies, the earlier a member plane learned about them, the more opportunities it had to benefit.

For example, the summit had discussed establishing exchange rates between magicoins and the currencies of the Immortal Realm, as well as the Magus Civilization’s plans to further raise overall prices.[1]

The amount of magicoin resources involved in such policies could easily reach hundreds of billions.

That was more profit than Titan World might earn from conquering an entire large-sized star domain belonging to the Gallant Federation!

And this was hardly the first time Titan World had benefited from such advance knowledge.

Whenever the Magus Civilization introduced a major policy change, Titan World was almost always among the first to hear about it.

After Titan World came the Grand Elven World, Beastmen World, Grand Amethyst World, and several other major members of the Magus Alliance.

Only after that would the various medium-sized planes receive the Magus Civilization’s official announcement at roughly the same time.

And during that brief gap, any medium-sized plane that reacted too slowly could easily find itself becoming the target of someone else’s “exploitation”.

As for the low-level worlds and microplanes sitting at the very bottom of the Magus Alliance’s hierarchy... They usually had it the worst.

That was precisely why those weaker alliance planes often had no choice but to band together simply to survive.

Over the years, the Magus Civilization had continued refining this hierarchical system, making the entire structure increasingly stable.

Even Titan World, represented by Hela and the others, understood exactly where the boundaries lay.

The Magus Civilization might allow them to take a small share of the benefits, but they absolutely could not upset the balance.

Of course, among the Three Divine Children, Hela was currently the only one who truly understood how this alliance system worked.

As for Thor... explaining all of this to him would only be a waste of breath. He would just stare back blankly anyway.

Meanwhile, Loki would have already run off somewhere else.

There was a reason Hela was always sighing over her two foolish younger brothers.

The burden of Titan World was still far from ready to be placed on Thor or Loki’s shoulders.

If neither of them could step up in the future, perhaps Titan World’s next ruler would simply have to be a queen instead—with Hela ascending to the throne herself.

By comparison, Gongsun Wudi, who seemed only a few years older than Thor and Loki, seemed far more mature. Perhaps part of that came from her higher position within the family hierarchy.

Whenever the Dawn Emperor was unable to personally handle state affairs, Gongsun Wudi displayed even greater composure and competence than the Crown Prince.

More importantly, she also commanded tremendous prestige within the military of the Dawn Empire.

***

Sein remained in the Valthwain Star Domain for more than two years without ever being granted an audience with the Magus Civilization’s high command.[2]

It was not until two and a half years later, when Sein’s patience was beginning to wear thin, and Lorianne’s leave was almost over, that the Magus Civilization finally sent someone to receive him.

The mage who met with Sein was not an overlord-level figure, but a Rank Six peak necromancer from the Marmett Union Alliance.

Fortunately, the remaining procedures did not take long. After submitting his mission report and confirming the rewards granted by the Magus Civilization, Sein was finally free to leave for the Grand Apocalypse World battlefield with his mentor and reunite with Grandmaster Feylis and the others.

“You were right, Master Lorianne. The Magus Civilization really did grant me several hundred years of rest this time—536 years, to be exact,” Sein told Lorianne.

“Nice. Now you’ll have enough time to finish all the experiments you originally planned,” Lorianne replied with a smile.

After a brief pause, she asked, “Do you think you can break through to Rank Six during this time?”

Sein hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “I’ve only just reached the peak of Rank Five. Although I’ve gained some insight into the path toward Rank Six, I still can’t say for sure.”

“I still need to meet Grandmaster Feylis and seek some guidance from the old woman before attempting a breakthrough,” he added.

Lorianne poked him and reminded, “Your grandmaster isn’t that old. You’d better watch your mouth when you meet her.”

“Besides your grandmaster, you should also have a chat with Gregory. He’s close to reaching the peak of Rank Five as well, so the two of you should have plenty to discuss,” she suggested.

“In the Astral Realm, a Rank Six being is already powerful enough to represent an entire medium-sized plane. That barrier is certainly not an easy one to cross. There’s no need to rush things.”

“Yes, Master,” Sein replied.

***

On their way to the Grand Apocalypse World, Sein and Lorianne relied mainly on teleportation arrays and her space fortress to cross the vast distances between star domains.

The entire civilizational war theater was simply too enormous. If they had relied on flight alone, who knew how long the journey would have taken?

As they passed through one teleportation array after another, Sein could not help but notice just how many Immortal Realm cultivators had flooded onto the civilizational battlefield.

Near one of the teleportation arrays they were about to use, for example, a large group of Yao Clan members and ghost cultivators had gathered.

Through the Faceless Mask, Sein even spotted a demon cultivator hiding among the crowd. The man possessed a Rank Five Life level, and countless vengeful spirits seemed to cling to him wherever he went.

“Hmm. Judging from the dark power surrounding this guy, and the sheer number of lives he’s taken, he’s probably no better than the black mages of the Magus Civilization,” Sein remarked.

Although Sein frequently used forbidden spells and had caused countless casualties on the civilizational battlefield, he had never chosen a path of growth that relied on slaughter or the absorption of living beings’ power.

Even the top-grade blood crystals he used for body tempering had been thoroughly purified. As a result, using them would not leave behind too many negative effects or excessive traces of death-related blood energy.

That demon cultivator, however, was different. Despite concealing himself well, Sein could still tell that this was someone who killed without mercy—a being fully capable of bringing devastating disaster to an entire low-level world.

“What’s wrong?” Lorianne asked curiously.

“Nothing. I just noticed an interesting fellow,” Sein replied, shaking his head.

Just then, another figure stepped out of the teleportation array ahead of them. It was a man dressed in a simple cultivator’s robe, with a machete hanging at his side.

A Rank Four Immortal Realm cultivator.

His clothing was plain, and neither his weapon nor his equipment appeared particularly remarkable.

Yet for some reason, the moment Sein saw him through the Faceless Mask, his attention was immediately drawn to him.

As Sein’s gaze settled on the man, something razor-sharp suddenly swept toward him.

It was so piercing that Sein instinctively raised a hand to his face.

For a brief moment, he felt as though an invisible blade, or perhaps sword energy, had just grazed his cheek.

“What’s wrong with you now?” Lorianne asked again after noticing her apprentice’s subtle movement.

The machete-wielding cultivator clearly seemed unusual to Sein.

Lorianne, however, sensed nothing particularly strange about him.

He was merely a Rank Four Immortal Realm cultivator. On the civilizational battlefield today, beings of that level were hardly uncommon.

Sein continued watching the man as he walked away before finally replying, “Nothing.”

The teleportation array before them served as a major transit hub connecting several surrounding star domains.

At every moment, large numbers of Immortal Realm cultivators and Magus Civilization powerhouses came and went.

Everyone was headed toward different star domains, and as for which specific plane each person intended to visit, that was even harder to tell.

It would be perfectly normal if Sein never saw the cultivator again after this.

He was simply curious about the incredibly sharp energy the machete-wielding man radiated.

In fact, that Rank Four cultivator interested him even more than the demon cultivator he had noticed earlier.

However, while speaking with Lorianne, Sein suddenly noticed something else. The Rank Five demon cultivator had suppressed his aura even further and was quietly following the machete-wielding cultivator away.

Seeing this, Sein could not help chuckling softly.

“Interesting...”

“What exactly is going on?” Lorianne asked, now beginning to get annoyed. Sein had a habit of saying only half of what was on his mind, leaving her completely in the dark.

“It’s really nothing. It has nothing to do with us. We’re in a hurry anyway. Let’s go.”

With that, Sein called out to Lorianne and stepped onto the teleportation platform first.

As the energy crystals surrounding the platform gradually began to glow with dazzling white light, Sein suddenly asked, “Master Lorianne, if Immortal Realm cultivators were to get into a serious fight within the territory of our Magus Civilization, would the Magus Civilization intervene?”

“I suppose they would,” Lorianne replied, but sounding somewhat uncertain.

Author’s Notes:

1. Of course, these price fluctuations would mainly affect Immortal Realm cultivators, while having only a minimal impact on the Magus Alliance. ☜

2. This was mainly because the Magus World’s leadership had been occupied with a series of internal meetings, including briefings on the battlefields of the Dawn Empire, the Insectoids, and Divine Descendants World. Since they could obtain updates directly from the Empress of Blades and Gongsun Wudi, Sein naturally received a little less attention. ☜