Sovereign of the Ashes

Sein’s heart swelled with joy at the sight of the Quasi Mage before him.

He urgently needed someone to acquaint him with the situation on Mordoron Island, and the timely arrival of this Quasi Mage was fortuitous.

A Fiery Hand spell materialized in front of Sein, reaching toward the Quasi Mage in front of the wooden cabin below.

In the Western Archipelago, particularly in Blackhaven, both mages and knights possessed an acute sense of danger and awareness of their enemies.

The black-robed Quasi Mage had mistaken Sein for a mere senior initiate and was planning to mug him.

However, Quasi Mage’s expression shifted dramatically when he sensed the intense pyro elemental power radiating from the Fiery Hand spell.

A gust of aero elemental energy surged beneath the Quasi Mage’s feet, and Sein was impressed by his spellcasting speed.

Even so, he was still no match for Sein, a true Rank One mage. Faced with such formidable power, the initiate had no chance to escape.

The fiery hand engulfed the Quasi Mage, eliciting a piercing howl of agony.

The air was filled with the scent of scorched flesh.

Despite this, Sein controlled his power meticulously; the Quasi Mage was injured but his life was not in immediate danger.

Sein had no intention of letting him die; death was not an option for him, even if desired.

Furthermore, even if he were dead, Sein had the means to extract the information he needed.

By now, Sein had developed a deep understanding of soul magic.

He had developed a technique to extract information from the minds of the recently deceased, a method eerily similar to how devils were described devouring brains to acquire knowledge according to the notes from Van Basten, the Rank Two black mage.

Van Basten’s magic notes also revealed the location of his hidden laboratory and other assets in the Western Archipelago.

Sein paid little attention to the basic material wealth in the notes as wealth was not a concern for him.

Instead, it was the rare specimens documented by Van Basten that truly captivated his interest.

However, reaching the hidden laboratory of the Rank Two black mage was no simple task.

According to the Western Archipelago map that Sein received, the island where Van Basten stayed most of the time was north of Mordoron Island, close to the heart of Blackhaven.

Undoubtedly, venturing deeper into Blackhaven meant encountering greater dangers.

A clear indication of this was the numerous black towers constructed by black mages of Rank Four and above, peppering the main island and its surrounding smaller islands deep within Blackhaven.

In contrast, these black towers were not seen on Mordoron Island and some neighboring islands.

This absence was partly due to their southern location and partly because of the scarce resources available there.

As a result, not only did black mages of Rank Four and above show little interest in these areas, but even Rank Three mages seldom visited.

Geographically, Mordoron Island, where Sein’s seniors resided, was situated on the edge of Blackhaven’s territory.

In contrast, the fallen Rank Two black mage Van Basten had established himself on an island near the heart of Blackhaven.

If Van Basten had not been smacked to death by Tourmaline, the substantial resources he had accumulated on the southern coast could have significantly boosted his chances of advancing to Rank Three.

Sein had to admit, luck indeed played a role in one’s strength, and regrettably for Van Basten, his luck was exceedingly poor.

***

Sein successfully extracted the information he sought with soul magic, regardless of whether the Quasi Mage was cooperative.

He was well aware of the kind of threat posed by black mages, having nearly been killed by one himself.

Thus, Sein felt no remorse for this black magic initiate.

After gleaning all the information he needed, Sein swiftly broke the neck of the Quasi mage, whose skin was already nearly a third burned.

By just relying solely on brute force, Sein tore the Quasi Mage’s head off his body.

This display of raw power tempted Sein to continue pursuing physical strength. However, he quickly dismissed the thought.

Such restraint was characteristic of a prudent mage. Neither the allure of the moment nor immediate gains clouded Sein’s judgment.

He was a mage dedicated to pursuing truth, not a knight obsessed with physical power.

His formidable constitution was merely a byproduct of his experiments with the Verdant Flame Body Tempering technique.

Focusing too much on enhancing his constitution would do little to advance his magical prowess. Sein remained keenly aware of the trade-offs involved.

Mordoron Island is just a typical small island on the periphery of Blackhaven. Yet, it was home to not just one, but several Rank Two black mages... The level of conflict and violence here far exceeds other parts of the Magus World.

Peace doesn’t really exist in this part of the region. The current absence of fierce battles is solely due to a stable power distribution. The endless conflicts are put to an end because the black mages fear each other.

Sein mused as he gazed at the distant horizon.

He dropped the corpse of the black magic initiate and continued toward the center of the island.

His powerful mental focus had already revealed what was inside the wooden cabin from which the initiate had emerged—several dismembered body parts and some grotesquely alive specimens.

These macabre sights reminded Sein of his time at the Black Magic Academy in Mystralora City.

The black mages truly were masters at dissection and vivisection.

If resources throughout Blackhaven were as scarce as on Mordoron Island, then these mages would have to resort to humans—the most readily available “resources”—to quench their thirst for research.

The humans in the Western Archipelago were nothing more than “two-legged sheep”, penned and periodically harvested by the black mages as needed.

When not needed, the mages allowed them to reproduce autonomously.

However, the black mages, being demanding and not particularly interested in population management, did little to encourage growth. As a result, the human population under their control was dwindling.

It was a vicious cycle, yet tragically overlooked.

Even the black towers, the symbols of certain rules in Blackhaven, paid no heed to such “trivialities”.

“That Quasi Mage was quite knowledgeable. Is the Blackhaven’s territory divided into two distinct regions?” Sein pondered.

To the east, the islands that constitute nearly two-thirds of Blackhaven were dominated by black mages.

To the west, the remaining third of the territory was controlled by the black knights.

“I wonder how the conditions of the islands under the knights’ control are...” Sein thought to himself as he looked out toward the west.