Sovereign of the Ashes

The battle outside the space fortress proved to be far more intense and chaotic than Sein had anticipated.

The air was charged with a maelstrom of various elemental energies, resulting in a significant increase in the surrounding area’s temperature.

The Viridian Venom Flame World had a naturally higher average temperature compared to the Magus World in the first place. Therefore, any changes in temperature here could easily be detected by foreign invaders like Sein.

Sein’s observations from within the space fortress were confirmed—the majority of the main base below remained under the control of mages from the Magus World. Only a small area in the southern part was breached.

In addition to Sein and the mages emerging from the fortress, reinforcements from various parts of the base were seen converging toward the compromised area in the south.

The howls of various enslaved creatures filled the air. Amidst the turmoil and peril of the war, these enslaved beings were considered the most expendable and neglected form of cannon fodder.

Aside from the massive space fortress hovering in the sky, Sein also spotted numerous war airships, magic-powered puppets, and even full-fledged mages engaged in aerial combat.

On the two wings near the bottom of the fortress, there were two spherical forts, each nearly a thousand meters in diameter.

These smooth, metallic structures were probably the more renowned alchemy creations of the Magus Word, known as the prism forts.

Although less complex than the space fortress, the construction cost and complexity of the prism forts were still notably higher than that of war airships.

These forts played a crucial role in maintaining the base’s defenses, providing energy shields and occasionally launching elemental beams, thereby holding the eastern and western defense lines amidst the ongoing siege.

Due to his position high above in the space fortress earlier, Sein never noticed the presence of these smaller prism forts until now.

He could not help but wonder whether Grandmaster Feylis had more than these two prism forts deployed in other parts of the Viridian Venom Flame World.

Sein also recalled seeing the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame and the Divine Tower of Floating Flame’s space fortresses in the sky upon his return to the main base two years ago.

However, he now noticed the Divine Tower of Floating Flame’s space fortress had vanished, but deduced that it must have been relocated within the past two years rather than destroyed.

Nevertheless, he remained mostly clueless about the military movements.

Sein had attempted to contact Eileen and Master Jovian from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring during his stay in the fortress but received no response, suggesting they might have been deployed to battlefields that were far away from the main base.

***

Under the command of mages from the Magus World, tens of thousands of enslaved creatures surged toward the compromised area in the southern part of the base, facing the formidable metallic constructs and native creatures from the Viridian Venom Flame World, whose numbers were equally formidable.

Upon their initial engagement, many of the enslaved creatures were decimated by a relentless volley from the Neisse Civilization’s mecha units, effectively reducing them to sieves.

However, the mecha army from the Neisse Civilization and the native creatures of the Viridian Venom Flame World fared no better.

Apart from magic spells and elemental beams, the Magus World Army was also supported by magic towers, war airships, prism forts, and space fortresses that were raining destruction upon the enemy constructs and pyro elemental creatures!

In such a vast conflict, the significance of an individual’s power seemed diminished.

Sein, with his small success in body tempering, was now enveloped in vibrant verdant flames. Even so, he found that his arrival on the chaotic southern battlefield barely made a splash in the grand scheme of things.

No, he did make a ripple; not solely through his effort but the collective efforts of hundreds of mages.

Apart from those hundreds of mages, there were also those that were already stationed here at the first place and those arriving from other parts of the base.

By the time Sein had blended himself into the intense battle, the number of full-fledged mages in the vicinity had exceeded two thousand, with enslaved creatures rallying around Sein numbering over fifty thousand by rough estimates.

As the Magus Civilization Army assumed a defensive stance, these forces, Sein included among the other mages, remained steadfast at the southern end. They focused on holding their ground, effectively preventing any additional breaches.

Under command of the mages, the elite enslaved creatures from the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame also formed a barricade with their bodies at the front lines of those shattered magic towers.

Among these defenders, Sein spotted various plant creatures, ranging from a few meters to dozens of meters tall.

For some reason, Sein felt strangely drawn to them. The sight of them reminded him of his mentor, Lorianne.

It was at this moment, he remembered about the Viridescent Seeds in his possession. As he observed the relentless assault on the southern defense, his expression hardened with resolve.

***

The breach in the southern part of the main base concerned many, including Lorianne, who was within the space fortress.

The sudden emergence of a Neisse Civilization’s mecha army in the Viridian Venom Flame World a year ago was seen by Lorianne not as a coincidence but as part of a calculated scheme.

When Gregory was fighting with Anridar the Venom Flame Demon King, he was blindsided by an ambush from a silver mecha belonging to the Neisse Civilization and suffered considerable injuries.

In order to support Gregory and address the sudden emergence of mecha armies throughout the Viridian Venom Flame World, Bernice had to mobilize her space fortress.

Wars raged across the Viridian Venom Flame World, with even the main base under threat.

The space fortress had identified a mecha with combat capabilities surpassing a Rank Four creature, overseeing its army’s engagement just outside the fortress.

Observing the prolonged effort to seal the breach in the southern part of the main base, Lorianne exhaled a soft sigh in the control room at top of the fortress.

“Without Master Feylis here, I can’t afford to lose this space fortress nor the mages within the main base. Well, it’s not like I’ve never fought against an enemy construct with combat capabilities of Rank Four or above before. Let’s see how much strength remains in those on the brink of losing their homeplane.”

Lorianne snorted coldly, then unleashed a pillar of emerald green light around her.

The emergence of this green pillar of light that reached the sky was observed not just by the majority of mages within the fortress, but also by the mecha armies from the Neisse Civilization and the native creatures of the Viridian Venom Flame World outside.

Under the glow of the green light, some of the severely damaged enemy constructs that were already running low on energy began plummeting from the sky.

The native creatures of the Viridian Venom Flame World also quivered in the presence of this “divine miracle”. The mentally weaker ones had already turned around and fled for their lives.

This represented a crushing disparity in life levels, the insurmountable divide between higher and lower beings.

Lorianne, the Rank Four mage overseeing the fortress’ main base, was finally intervening!