Sovereign of the Ashes

Even the formidable planar barrier could not withstand the Magus Civilization Army.

It was impossible to hold them back with merely the native legions of the Verdant Leaf World, numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

However, the creatures of the Verdant Leaf World leveraged their native terrain and the support of plant beings from every corner of their plane.

At the initial clash, they indeed posed significant challenges for the centaur legions.

A barrage of green, razor-sharp winds and sharp needles swept across the battlefield, including unusual attacks with durians, pine needles and plant spores.

These green sharp winds came from the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Clan, the dominant species in the Verdant Leaf World that followed the path of passive evolution.

They could emit this special energy from the arthropod arms on both sides of their bodies, which was somewhat akin to the battle qi of the Magus World. Though much weaker, it was a rudimentary way of utilizing dendro elemental energy.

The sharp needles came from the tails of numerous insect creatures of the Verdant Leaf World.

Despite being a microplane, it was clear that its inhabitants were tiered into distinct classes.

At the pinnacle stood the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Clan.

All other insect creatures native to the Verdant Leaf World were subservient to them.

The potent tail needle was among the very few formidable weapons and abilities possessed by these creatures.

Although effective, every insect that lost its tail needle suffered a significant reduction in vitality.

Faced with powerful invaders from another world, the Bamboo Leaf Dragonflies of the Verdant Leaf World were less concerned about the loss of their subjects.

Their primary goal was to slow the invaders’ advance, even if it meant sacrificing a hundred thousand subjects!

As far as Sein’s eyes could see, many of the centaurs and minotaurlings were riddled with holes.

The insect creatures of the Verdant Leaf World obviously possessed more than just tail needles.

Summoned to battle by a demigod-level Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly, they boasted considerable combat prowess and represented the hastily assembled elite forces of their world.

As for the centaurs and minotaurlings reduced to unrecognizable pulp, the force responsible for this carnage originated from the vast forests beneath Verdant Leaf World.

The native plant creatures of Verdant Leaf World waved their stiff, slow branches, launching flower buds, shrubs, pine needles, and others into the sky.

These native plants were aware of the danger posed by the otherworldly invaders.

Most of them were under the direct leadership of the Ancient Verdant Banyan.

Despite their immobility, their level of lethality and threat seemed to surpass even that of the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Clan.

Long before the Verdant Leaf World War began, the discussion between Lorianne and the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s Rank Three grand mage at the pre-war meeting was focused on these deeply rooted plant creatures.

Among them, the most formidable were the giant trees capable of condensing gray durians, each measuring approximately ten by ten meters, atop their canopies.

This gray durians, covered with spikes and capable of great impact, could explode upon hitting its target, releasing dozens or even hundreds of smaller durians for a broader attack.

Of course, those durians were not fruits, but a kind of plant substance with a deceptive appearance.

This variety of plant life was rare, and Sein, along with others, had received explicit instructions from Lorianne through the divine tower badge during their charge.

They were to avoid damaging those Ancient Durian Trees as much as possible, as these plants were classified a Grade C war resource for future collection and preservation.

It was clear that Lorianne had her eye on this particular plant.

As a dendro mage, one of Lorianne’s few hobbies included collecting various plant seeds and specimens.

During her travels through the Elven World, she had encountered unusually thick and diverse ancient war trees.

The durian trees she now observed in Verdant Leaf World bore a striking resemblance to those ancient war trees she had once seen in the Elven World.

However, it was evident that the Ancient Durian Trees of Verdant Leaf World, in terms of size and killing capability, were no match for the ancient war trees native to the vast Elven World.

Lorianne could not afford the ancient war trees offered for sale in the Elven World. Thus, she opted to cultivate similar plant creatures by herself.

The Ancient Durian Trees, with their significant long-range striking ability and extensive attack coverage, had clearly captured Lorianne’s interest. So much so that, soon after the war began and just after the vanguard troops had entered Verdant Leaf World, she issued a specific order to all her combat forces.

The green passage littered with bloody corpses was long, and as Sein rushed through, he finally entered the Verdant Leaf World.

He visually estimated that over thirty thousand centaurs had fallen along this green pathway.

Every interplanar war was a brutal reality where blood and violence intermingled.

The loss of thirty thousand centaurs and minotaurlings was merely the grim prelude to this microplane conflict.

By the time Sein and the others entered the Verdant Leaf World, the green forest below was strewn with countless corpses and the soil was saturated with blood of various hues.

Both centaurs and minotaurlings were larger in size than the native creatures of Verdant Leaf World.

The native plants boasted well-developed roots and thick branches, contrasting sharply with the generally smaller, frailer insect creatures of this microplane.

The short Garths from Thunderfall World could even be considered strong if they were in the Verdant Leaf World.

Among the assembled resistance forces, most insect creatures did not even reach a meter in height, save for the Bamboo Leaf Dragonflies.

For nearly all of the low-ranked entities in the Astral Realm, physical resilience was the primary measure of power; not the energy skills or special elemental energies they possessed.

Creatures that evolved with intelligence like the mages of Magus World were rare.

In the lush forest below, another twenty thousand centaurs and minotaurlings had fallen.

Yet the Verdant Leaf World’s insect creatures, rallying to resist the invasion, had suffered even greater losses—likely exceeding one hundred thousand.

Years of peace had left these native creatures unprepared for the centaurs’ might, overwhelmed by the disparity in size and strength.

Victory might have been achievable even if this interplanar war were led by a Rank Four centaur god.

However, the number of casualties on their side would have been more staggering than if it had been led by the divine tower.

However, the toll in lives and the extent of injuries on their side, orchestrated by the divine towers of Magus World, would have been staggering.

With fifty to sixty thousand centaurs and minotaurlings sacrificed at the forefront, the damage sustained by Sein and the other mages and knight from the Magus World upon entering Verdant Leaf World was virtually negligible.

Under the command of several Rank Three grand mages, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Army swiftly descended toward an open plain below.

Given its rarity in the predominantly forested terrain of Verdant Leaf World, the plain was notably conspicuous.

This open plain had been selected by the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring as the site for their new fortress.

The green passage in the sky remained open even after the last of the mages had passed through.

The Magus World invading force maintained its steady pace.

Only half of the three hundred sandglasses had elapsed.

Outside the plane, Lorianne continued sustaining the green passage while updating the more than two thousand mages stationed on the demiplane about the ongoing situation.

Outside Verdant Leaf World, the numerous suppressed elemental energies began to stir.

The long-range firepower unleashed by the more than two thousand divine tower mages proved formidable to the native creatures of Verdant Leaf World.

Sein, having entered Verdant Leaf World, was swiftly engaged in combat.

Within moments, his elemental flames had claimed the lives of a dozen native creatures.

The odor released by the dying insect creatures of Verdant Leaf World was very unpleasant.

Collecting specimens was the least of Sein’s concerns right now. His primary focus was on maximizing his kills to secure time for establishing the fortress camp.

Natalya, Gould, and others who had entered Verdant Leaf World alongside Sein gradually found themselves being distanced from him after their arrival.

This was largely due to the increasing numbers of Verdant Leaf World creatures converging on them, while their own vanguard legion’s numbers were dwindling.

The invasion force was scant—less than a hundred thousand centaurs and minotaurlings combined, with only a thousand knights and mages each.

Given the challenges of the initial assault on Verdant Leaf World, Lorianne did not deploy the equally numerous aquatic races of Magus World to the battlefield at the outset.

These lesser aquatic races of Magus World were better suited to conquer the oceans of Verdant Leaf World, which were considerably larger than the land. Yet, the species that inhabit these waters were significantly less powerful than the insect and plant creatures on land.

This disparity made the oceans an ideal target for these lesser sea creatures to exploit.

Meanwhile, the remaining one hundred thousand or so vanguard legion appeared increasingly outnumbered as Verdant Leaf World’s resistance forces continued to amass from all directions.

Despite the growing disparity in numbers, the Magus World’s vanguard legion remained formidable, holding several trump cards yet to be revealed.

Upon reaching the open plains of Verdant Leaf World, all mages, Sein included, deployed more than ten special seeds each.

These were issued to them by Tower Master Lorianne before the onset of the conflict.

Of course, these seeds were not as precious as the Viridescent Seeds Lorianne had previously given to Sein.

The Viridescent Seeds had the potential to grow plant creatures capable of reaching Rank One or higher.

Not all the tens of thousands of plant creatures about to emerge from these seeds would be Rank One or above, but their size and strength were not to be underestimated.

These plant monsters cultivated by Lorianne boasted enhanced flexibility and mobility compared to traditional plant creatures.

Lorianne, being capable of raising a plant creature army so quickly, was considered a rare talent even among those of Rank Four and above in the Magus World.

Despite her financial constraints, Lorianne’s skills were undeniable.

After scattering more than ten green seeds, Sein dove back into the fray with his elemental body activated.

At this juncture, the battlefield’s focal point shifted to the aerial duel between two demigod-level entities—Maya the centaur and Lantz the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly.

Sein had yet to scrutinize the native demigod, but the striking figure of the demigod-level centaur captivated all onlookers.

Clad in thin leather armor covering her upper body, Maya’s golden longbow was fully drawn.

With a slight stomp of her front hooves, she unleashed a brilliant golden beam from her bow!