Sovereign of the Ashes

The Creek Orchid Grass Resource Point, under relentless attack from Sein and his group, fell within a day.

In this conflict, the Divine Tower of Shadow did not suffer many casualties.

However, all five hundred of their initiates chose to activate their badges and exit the trial space, resulting in a significant point gain for Sein’s group.

Sein, aiming strategically, managed to drive away the two Quasi Mages at the resource point, thereby securing their point values for himself.

Initially, Sein had hoped to kill those two Quasi Mages.

Unexpectedly, the Quasi Mages quickly activated their badges to withdraw once the magic prohibition array, which had withstood a relentless half-day assault, was finally breached.

It was well-known among the initiates from the Divine Tower of Shadow that the top initiate of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring was formidable and ruthless, often employing lethal tactics without leaving any room for escape.

The two Quasi Mages had considered confronting Sein in battle but changed their minds after witnessing Sein dissolve an undead mummy, comparable in strength to a senior initiate, with just a round of six Solar Eye beams.

Realizing their magic shields were likely no more robust than the mummy’s body, they abandoned any thoughts of confronting a killing machine like Sein.

The accumulation of points from the five hundred initiates was substantial.

While some from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring were not fortunate enough to secure any “heads”, there were more resource points to conquer in the Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory.

Sein, having claimed the Creek Orchid Grass Basin as the first conqueror, earned a total of 3,000 points from this victory.

Coupled with the points obtained from expelling the two Quasi Mages, his total earnings from this conflict rose to 7,000 points.

Anna, who came in second, gained 2,000 points for her efforts.

The third marker of the Creek Orchid Grass Basin was a senior initiate whom Sein was not particularly familiar with.

It was his exceptional contribution to the offensive that earned him the opportunity to be the third marker of the resource point.

While Sein was the leader of this conflict, he did not use his position to unduly favor Selina.

He believed in proportioning rewards according to contributions.

Besides, it was not necessarily advantageous for an intermediate initiate to acquire too many benefits and resources.

Even so, as Selina’s cousin, he naturally tried to support her more.

For instance, in the subsequent attacks on several medium-sized and small resource points, Sein subtly ensured that Selina received a few opportunities to mark them.

He did not directly handle this but hinted at it. Anna, co-commanding the team, understood his intention and allocated a few slots to Selina.

Anna herself was indifferent to the value and wealth of these point values.

Since childhood, Anna had never experienced a shortage of training resources.

She was well-provided for by her family, which had started amassing resources for her eventual promotion to a full-fledged mage ever since she became a senior initiate.

In terms of family background, it was unlikely that any of the initiates from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring could surpass her lineage.

***

Two months after capturing the Creek Orchid Grass Resource Point, Sein, Daniel, Anna, and other initiates from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring had achieved significant gains.

They managed to seize control of seven medium-sized and thirty-six small resource points within the Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory.

During this period, the number of initiates from the Divine Tower of Shadow eliminated by Sein’s group exceeded two thousand.

However, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring also suffered its share of losses, with several initiates either eliminated or fallen.

Two months later, Sein and his team advanced to another large resource point. Blackgrave Forest was pretty much the last location they had to conquer in their campaign.

“Blackgrave Forest and its surrounding three medium-sized and nine small resource points are our limits. We only have so many initiates available, and a significant number have already been eliminated. Plus, we need to allocate enough manpower to maintain control over each captured resource point. After securing Blackgrave Forest, we can’t push any further,” Daniel informed Sein when they reunited outside Blackgrave Forest.

There were three large resource points in the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s territory, while the Divine Tower of Shadow had four.

Blackgrave Forest, situated almost centrally in the Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory, represented a significant conquest, signaling that nearly half of the Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory had been occupied by the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

The majority of the initiates from Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, including Sein and Daniel, were eager to continue their eastward push—not only to fully conquer the Divine Tower of Shadow but also to rival the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder and Divine Tower of Land Academy.

However, the initiates from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring lacked the sheer strength to achieve such lofty ambitions.

If they had nearly thirty thousand initiates, similar to the Divine Tower of Land Academy, or if their average strength and caliber matched those of the Divine Tower of Land Academy and the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder, then perhaps under Sein’s leadership, they could have realistically swept through all five territories.

Unfortunately, the truth was that their capabilities did not extend to such grand conquests.

Not only were they unable to invade the territories of the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder and the Divine Tower of Land Academy, but they also could not fully occupy the Divine Tower of Shadow.

Approximately five thousand of the remaining elite initiates were gathered in the eastern part of the Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory.

These initiates had fortified themselves at various resource points, reinforced by magic prohibition arrays and summoned creatures.

With only about three thousand initiates from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring at Sein’s command, how could they contend against such fortified locations?

In large-scale warfare, the impact of a single individual, no matter how powerful, had its limits.

In reality, for the initiates and instructors of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, reaching this point was already a significant achievement.

Sein nodded, acknowledging Daniel’s caution.

He looked at the radiant golden pillar of light surrounding him and declared, “Let’s do it. This is our final location to conquer together.”

***

Half a month later, at the Bone Flower large resource point...

A Quasi Mage with a somber demeanor approached Poppuri and reported, “Following the loss of Creek Orchid Grass Basin, we’ve now lost Blackgrave Forest as well.”

“However, the initiates from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring did not proceed eastward after capturing Blackgrave Forest and its neighboring resource points. It seems they’ve halted their advance.”

The face of the Quasi Mage delivering the news was pale with dismay.

He had been the first to occupy the Blackgrave Forest resource point, and its loss meant a significant reduction in his score.

Even for an immensely strong Quasi Mage like him, forfeiting 3,000 points was a substantial blow.

After all, his total score was only 7,000 points, and this loss had effectively halved his tally.