Sovereign of the Ashes

Everyone journeyed through this world on a path of their own. Along the way, many paths might cross, but few would remain intertwined forever.

Knights and mages of Rank One and above in the Magus Civilization generally enjoyed remarkably long lifespans.

Upon reaching Rank One, one could typically live for around a thousand years.

The theoretical lifespan of a Rank Two being was three thousand years, while a Rank Three could live for as long as ten thousand.

Such longevity was enough to make countless beings from foreign worlds envious.

In some worlds, even demigods could live for only a few hundred years at most.

From another perspective, this was also one of the reasons Magus World had so many law-wielding powerhouses.

After all, the longer one lived, the more time one had to accumulate the knowledge needed to achieve a breakthrough.

Of course, there were always exceptions.

In certain worlds governed by unusual laws, Rank One beings could easily live for several thousand years, while some creatures below Rank One could theoretically survive for as long as ten thousand years.

Such cases, however, were ultimately rare and could hardly be considered the norm.

Moreover, lifespan alone could not determine how far a species had progressed along the evolutionary path.

Some creatures from low-level planes could indeed reach the demigod realm within only a few hundred years, but they often did so by burning through their own life essence in pursuit of a higher life level. The chances of success were also extremely low.

Then there were worlds like the Grand Elven World, where the average lifespan of elves far exceeded that of Magus World knights and mages of the same rank.

But did that mean the Grand Elven World was more advanced than the Magus Civilization?

Of course not. Under the vast Magus Civilization, the Grand Elven World was merely one of its vassals.

Sein had already reached the peak of Rank Five and had even begun exploring the path to Rank Six. Yet when it came to Eileen and Selina, even he had no good solution.

He could obtain life-extending treasures for them, but a breakthrough in life level was something they ultimately had to achieve on their own.

The same was true for Julius. At most, Sein could give his great-grandfather a push in the right direction.

He could not guarantee that Julius would succeed.

And judging from how much Eileen and Selina had struggled on their paths to Rank Two and Rank Three, their potential had indeed nearly reached its limit...

Marie’s reminder weighed heavily on Sein’s heart.

After all, the two women had been by his side since his Rank One days. No, their bond went back even further, all the way to his years as an initiate at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Just like Natalya, whose soul remained in a slumber, Eileen and Selina were among the people closest to Sein.

The thought that they too might one day leave him forever made Sein, who had only just returned to his family and the Verdant Flame Faction, suddenly feel a deep sense of loneliness.

On this long road in pursuit of truth, how many people could truly remain beside him until the very end...?

“I’ll visit them later,” Sein said.

***

After Marie, Reina, Sia, Kram, and the others entered Sein’s office one after another.

Without Sein around to keep an eye on Reina all these years, her weight had rebounded considerably.

Reina herself did not seem too bothered. She merely shrugged and declared confidently, “Just give me two years. I’ll definitely be back in shape by then!”

Sein nodded.

“Now that I’m back, we’ll have to resume our old body tempering experiments. You’ll need to get your diet back under control according to the plan I set for you.”

He looked her over for a moment before adding thoughtfully, “I don’t think it’ll take two years. If everything goes well, half a year should be enough to get you back to how you were before.”

At those words, Reina’s chubby cheek twitched slightly.

“Well, we don’t have to rush. You should focus on your own experiments first,” she said, trying to dissuade Sein.

“No. I want you to progress faster,” Sein replied, shaking his head.

Talking with Reina gradually lifted some of the gloom that had been weighing on Sein’s heart.

She was still that same chubby girl who always seemed to go through life without a care in the world.

Of course, Reina had her own sensitive moments and times when she felt down. She simply rarely let anyone see them.

Her current strength was roughly at the late stage of Rank Four.

In terms of talent, she was indeed ahead of Sia.

Sia had advanced to Rank Four slightly earlier than Reina, yet after all these years, she had only reached the mid stage of Rank Four.

Even that was partly thanks to the pressure of the Clash of Civilizations and the numerous body tempering experiments Sein had arranged for them before his departure.

Under normal circumstances, Reina might still have been stuck at mid-stage Rank Four, while Sia could easily have remained in early-stage Rank Four even after another two or three thousand years.

Advancing one’s life level was never easy.

When Sein made it clear that Sia would also be taking part in his next round of body tempering experiments, she took the opportunity to bring up two matters.

The first concerned Scarlet, a younger member of her family.

The female knight, who had met Sein a few times, had now advanced to the Demigod Realm, and her potential was looking quite promising.

Sia hoped Sein could spare some resources for her. In other words, she wanted Sein to let Scarlet participate in his body tempering experiments as well.

After all, Scarlet truly had the potential to advance to Rank Four.

The second matter concerned Natalya.

In recent years, Sia had managed to contact a Rank Five mage who specialised in soul magic through certain channels. She hoped this mage could examine her daughter.

Her daughter’s state had remained a constant source of worry for Sia.

Sein nodded after hearing this.

“Those who are truly skilled in soul magic are usually the black mages of Blackhaven, or the Rank Six necromancers of the Marmett Union Alliance. Now that I’m back in Magus World, I’ll look into this matter again,” he promised.

Sia quickly nodded, her eyes filled with excitement and trust as she looked at Sein.

This household truly needed someone it could rely on.

With Sein’s return, everyone seemed to have found their pillar again.

The same was true for the Klytherans, Huusians, and even the centaurs who had chosen to align themselves with Sein.

***

Beatrice, the powerhouse from Marvelous Plane who had already reached the peak of Rank Four and was preparing to attempt a break through to Rank Five, was among the last to leave Sein’s office.

Leaving alongside her was Maya, the centaur who had only recently advanced to Rank Four.

Come to think of it, when Lorianne mentioned that the centaur Sein had once “had a fling with” had advanced to Rank Four, Luna had been the first person who came to mind.

Unexpectedly, it was not Luna who had advanced first, but her grandmother, Maya.

Just as they were about to leave, Maya suddenly turned back toward Sein. Her lower body had taken on human form, giving her the appearance of a remarkably beautiful woman with a shapely figure.

“Master Sein, Luna has been wanting to see you. But since you’ve only just returned, I didn’t let that girl come along,” she said.

These days, any otherworldly being who wished to meet Sein generally had to be at least Rank Four.

Of course, exceptions were made for demigods who shared a special relationship with him, like the two Huusian princesses, whom Sein had sent back to his laboratory to wait for him.

Sein paused briefly at Maya’s words. He and Luna had indeed known each other for many years.

As he recalled, she was a lively centaur with a flowing silver hair, quite different from Maya’s pale golden hair.

“You can bring her along next time. The partnership between our Divine Tower of Ashes and your Centaur Tribe goes back many years. Our relationship has already stood the test of time,” Sein said with a smile.

“Yes, Master Sein. Our Maya Tribe will never forget the kindness you’ve shown us,” Maya replied with a slight bow.

Perhaps remembering how Sein had rescued her from that auction in the Western Archipelago all those years ago, she felt a faint blush creep across her cheeks.

***

Of course, Sein’s relationships with these law-wielding powerhouses were not built on personal feelings alone. Maintaining such ties also required tangible benefits on both sides.

The Klytherans, Huusians, centaurs, and others all relied on Sein in one way or another, just as Sein needed their strength.

By the time Sein had finished meeting everyone and finally saw the last of them off, even he felt exhausted.

He sank into the armchair in his office and let out a long sigh.