Sovereign of the Ashes

After chatting with Sein and urging him to rest more, Archimedes left the recuperation room.

Sein was currently in the central fortress, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s stronghold in the Verdant Leaf World.

He had no idea how Sia had managed to bring him all the way here at that time.

Not just Sein, but Natalya as well, was gravely injured by the demigod’s energy surge.

It must have been tough for Sia to rush to the central fortress, seeking aid for two critically injured members in her team.

Sein’s mentor, Lorianne, was an exceptionally gifted and powerful Rank Four dendro mage.

The spellcasters who primarily wielded dendro, lumen and hydro elemental magic in the Magus World were typically capable healers.

In addition to the Healing Water Crystal Coffin and the Life Green Algae, Lorianne also provided Sein with numerous valuable recovery items to preserve his life.

For instance, within the Healing Water Crystal Coffin, there was an elemental conduit, and a viscous green liquid was continuously injected into Sein. It was activator plasma, prepared under Lorianne’s guidance.

A single drop of this substance cost a magicoin.

The total cost for Sein’s healing during this period was estimated to have exceeded twenty thousand magicoins.

His mentor was the one who had paid for him in advance.

He was Lorianne’s sole apprentice. Losing him would cost her far more than just twenty thousand magicoins.

Moreover, her apprentice was injured while fighting for the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

News of Sein’s injuries had circulated among the mages of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring during this time.

While the exact amount of Sein’s medical expenses was unknown, the focus remained on his role as a tower master’s apprentice who had actively engaged on the battlefield, directly confronting threats from a foreign demigod-level being.

This time, he had narrowly escaped death!

Those unfamiliar with Sein might remain indifferent to his fate.

However, this incident revealed that the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring was indeed a new holy tower, known for its fair and just environment.

After all, nobody wanted to be treated as mere cannon fodder.

The Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s practice of assigning combat missions fairly, regardless of the mage’s background, had certainly caught the attention of many ordinary mages in the Viridescent Land, particularly those from small and medium-sized mage councils that lacked significant influence.

Sein could never have anticipated that his severe injury would end up promoting the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

The mages were rational analysts.

His situation had not been deliberately publicized by the divine tower; instead, it was the ordinary mages, previously hesitant and observing from afar, who formed their own judgments.

It seemed inconceivable that the tower master would recklessly gamble with her own apprentice’s life.

Furthermore, those mages who were still uncertain had to concede that, although their combat missions in Verdant Leaf World were not excessively dangerous, the rewards were exceedingly high.

Joining the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring indeed seemed like an appealing choice!

Sein, who was still recovering from his grave injuries, remained oblivious to these developments.

His primary concern was to regain his health and nothing else.

Due to the ongoing fierce conflicts on the western and northern battlefields, compounded by the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Clan’s mobilization of over a million troops in the east, the central fortress was under threat.

As a result, the knights and mages Sein counted among his friends had been unable to visit him.

They only sent their thoughts to him via crystal ball or divine tower badge.

This was actually the most peaceful period Sein had experienced since his arrival in Verdant Leaf World.

Free from his routing experiments and research, he spent his days in the crystal coffin, either sleeping or meditating.

After living like this for a month, his health had improved significantly.

He had now moved to a clean, white hospital bed, swathed in white magic bandages infused with vitality.

His mentor visited him through the projection of herself that she had left in Verdant Leaf World.

Lorianne warned him that prolonged stays in the crystal coffin could potentially weaken his cellular autoimmunity and resistance mechanisms.

Lorianne knew of Sein’s Verdant Flame Body Tempering experiments and believed his severe injuries and the cellular transition from necrosis to normal presented an ideal opportunity for him to temper his body and strengthen his constitution.

After all, many powerful knights had forged their resilience through trials of life and death.

Lorianne was not trying to save money; her advice was genuinely aimed at benefiting Sein.

Sein gratefully accepted his mentor’s wise counsel and care.

He also agreed that enduring pain was instrumental in fortifying his constitution and cellular strength.

Moreover, it could also hone his mental fortitude because the pain was truly excruciating!

While recuperating, Sein managed to gather some information about the ongoing war, particularly the movements on the western front.

The demigod-level giant plant activated by Sein was currently still fighting on the western front, but so far, the situation there had not shown any significant improvement.

In recent months, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Army had successfully eradicated several Rank Three plant creatures from Verdant Leaf World. However, the more formidable demigod-level adversaries remained unvanquished.

The first to fall among the demigods of the Verdant Leaf World would likely be the Green Cypress Pine—the creature that had injured Sein.

The Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s command center had devised a strategy to besiege and eliminate it.

However, a counteroffensive from the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Clan from the eastern region had further complicated the matter.

The Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Army still held several trump cards, including the demigod-level Viridescent Seed held by Master Archimedes and the potential direct intervention of Master Lorianne’s clone.

In the recuperation room, Sein considered an alternative approach that could expedite the war in Verdant Leaf World without incurring significant costs—calling upon Tourmaline, the dragon turtle, for assistance.

Initially, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring had been reluctant to involve Tourmaline in the conflict, largely due to concerns about the reaction of Tourmaline’s sister, White Stella.

At the time, there were still too many unknowns surrounding the Verdant Leaf World, making it risky to deploy such an important demigod-level dragon turtle.

As the war progressed, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring had come to understand the situation in Verdant Leaf World fairly well.

Sein never doubted his bond with Tourmaline and could only imagine how the dragon turtle would react upon seeing him so severely injured.

If Tourmaline decided to join the Verdant Leaf World war out of anger, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring could offer a reasonable explanation if White Stella later expressed her dissatisfaction.

They had not requested Tourmaline’s involvement; rather, she was the one who had insisted on joining to seek revenge for Sein.

Furthermore, Tourmaline had previously expressed dissatisfaction at being left out after the Thunderfall World War.

Inviting her now would align with her desires.

Sein wondered how Tourmaline had been faring, slumbering in the depths of Jewel Sea.

Before their departure to Verdant Leaf World, he had visited her. As expected, she was soundly asleep.

Opting not to disturb her peaceful rest, he left quietly.

Just as Sein weighed the benefits of involving Tourmaline in the Verdant Leaf World war, the door to his starkly white recuperation room creaked open.

Natalya entered with her arm bandaged, clad in a red battle dress. It was rare for her to show her feminine side, except on special occasions like her engagement when she donned a flowing, lavish dress. Even while recovering from her injuries, she wore thin leather armor over her dress, poised to join the battle at a moment’s notice.

Upon entering, Sein immediately sensed something was off with Natalya.

Her face was flushed a vivid red, but not from any illness—it suggested a different emotion entirely.

Without speaking, she reactivated the room’s elemental ward, then walked up to Sein’s bed and began to undress.

Caught off guard and still not fully recovered, Sein clenched the sheets with his right hand.

Struggling to sit up, he managed to prop himself on his elbows and blurted out, “What are you doing?!”