Sovereign of the Ashes

The battle of the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Royal City was undoubtedly the most intense conflict Sein had seen since joining the Verdant Leaf World War.

Although Sein had encountered grave danger during a personal combat mission in the western battlefield, it paled in comparison to this siege where the forces on each side numbered in the millions.

Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Royal City was undoubtedly the largest city in the Verdant Leaf World, far surpassing the plant cities Sein had encountered before.

Additionally, the resistance mounted by Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Royal City was the strongest among the insect creatures’ settlements.

The city was predominantly inhabited by the Bamboo Leaf Dragonflies, conservatively estimated at over five million strong.

The other insect creatures gathered in the city were staunch allies of the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Clan, making surrender nearly impossible.

Of the millions of Bamboo Leaf Dragonflies and their allies, not all were combatants.

Those truly capable of posing a threat might not even total half a million.

Nevertheless, it was true that millions harbored hostility toward the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Army.

War was never a matter of good or evil, but of profit.

To the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Clan, the invaders were villains, infringing upon the interests of Verdant Leaf World’s native creatures.

However, to Magus World’s knights and mages like Sein, this was a typical conflict between the weak and the strong, justified by their ambition to plunder substantial resources from Verdant Leaf World to enrich themselves and advance Magus Civilization.

After all, those sitting at the dining table rarely considered the feelings of the pigs, cows, and sheep that made up their meals.

Sein had long recognized the brutal nature of survival in this world and had adapted exceptionally well to the interplanar war.

He felt no pity for the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Clan’s futile resistance.

Conversely, some inexperienced mages, new to the interplanar conflict, might sympathize with these weaker beings. These mages were better suited to serving as academy mages or friendly liaisons within the Magus Alliance, leaving the darker, bloodier tasks to others instead.

However, the harsh truth was that those who ascended to the pinnacle of power on the bloody remains of others wielded the most authority.

It was challenging for genuinely kind individuals to survive in the harsh realities of this world.

If someone truly compassionate did exist among the higher echelons, they were either a rare anomaly or merely a pretender.

BOOM!

The roar of magic cannons filled Sein’s ears, heralding the grueling climax of the war.

Though the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring lacked its own space fortress and had only a few war airships, Dean Archimedes and Master Lorianne had somehow managed to procure a significant batch of magic cannons, proving instrumental in the conflict.

These cannons’ coverage was no match for the area-of-effect spells of the mage troops in open-field battles.

However, their destruction power and frequency of attacks against fixed majestic structures surpassed that of typical Rank One mages.

In the early stages of the Verdant Leaf World War, there was little opportunity for the magic cannons to demonstrate their effectiveness.

However, in the current siege of Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Royal City, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Army had already expended half its ammunition reserves.

The remainder was reserved for the upcoming assault on the Ancient Verdant Banyan.

Meanwhile, Tourmaline, the chief foreign aid of the divine tower army, was still playing in the ocean of the Verdant Leaf World.

The other three demigod-level Sea Kings who entered Verdant Leaf World were pushed to the frontline of the battlefield instead.

It appeared that the battle of the Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Royal City and the subsequent clash with the guardian could proceed without Tourmaline’s intervention, as the existing forces were deemed sufficient to conquer this segment of the microplane.

For this battle of the Royal City, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Army had amassed a legion of nearly six hundred thousand strong.

When nearly a thousand mages, supported by the relentless barrage from magic cannons, finally breached the western defenses of Bamboo Dragonfly Royal City—creating a vast gap of several hundred meters wide and creating more than ten smaller breaches—the minotaurlings, led by the centaurs, were the first to charge through.

Those three hundred thousand minotaurlings, each towering over three meters, formed a formidable gray tidal wave that surged toward the verdant expanse of the city.

With these towering minotaurlings at the forefront, and more than a hundred thousand centaurs positioned behind them with bows drawn, the might of the opposition was overwhelming.

Lorianne’s formidable plant legion, along with a few contingents of lesser aquatic races, found themselves almost redundant in the remaining stages of the battle, as Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Royal City was on the brink of being overrun.

As the minotaurlings launched their assault, a group surged forward even faster than them—the nearly one thousand knights participating in this microplane war.

Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Royal City, being the epicenter of the dominant race in this world, had amassed considerable wealth within its verdant green walls.

These knights, who had ventured to the Verdant Leaf World for battle, were primarily motivated by the prospect of riches.

The quicker they breached the city, the richer the spoils they hoped to secure.

Among these nearly one thousand charging knights, Sein spotted his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

As Rank Three Sky Knights, they were among the quickest to penetrate the city’s defenses, serving as the vanguard for the entire attacking force.

Natalya cast a questioning glance at Sein, who responded with a wave of his hand. Energized by the signal, Natalya also charged forward with her best friend.

Rank Two Knight Reina was an immense pile of flesh, carrying an imposing presence with her size alone.

Despite being only Rank Two, the thunderous din of her octagon hammer as she stormed toward Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Royal City rivaled that of the Rank Three Sky Knights in the sky.

The Bamboo Dragonfly Clan dared not underestimate Reina, and surprisingly, a Rank Three Bamboo Dragonfly came forward to confront her.

Reina was not fighting alone. Aside from having Natalya by her side, she was also flanked by at least two Rank Three Centaurs.

A Rank Three grand mage from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring even offered assistance through mental communication.

Reina, however, declined the grand mage’s offer.

With a mighty swing, her hammer blasted a crater over ten meters across into the city wall, showcasing her formidable strength to all nearby.

On the other hand, Sein approached the battle more leisurely, flying toward Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly Royal City after the centaur army had advanced.

Rather than fighting, he was more eager to find out if he could encounter some experimental materials in this vast royal city.

As Sein approached, two beams of light, one green and one dark green, streaked across the sky.

One was the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s “old friend”, the demigod-level Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly, Lantz, who was flying toward the Sea King Land Crab’s location.

The other, a darker shade, was a new demigod-level entity entering the fray.

It was initially flying toward the other Sea King, the Deep Sea Giant Eel, but then veered sharply upward, soaring toward the sky.

On the battlefield, the demigod-level centaur Maya raised her arm, her golden longbow gleaming as she loosed a golden energy arrow toward the verdant figure.

Though her shots were precise, the verdant figure continued its ascent, breaking through the aerial blockades and exiting the plane.

“Huh?” Sein, observing the scene from the heart of the battlefield, frowned in confusion.

Lorianne, observing from beyond the plane, was equally puzzled too.

Watching the demigod-level Bamboo Leaf Dragonfly exiting Verdant Leaf World, Lorianne extended her right hand, creating a verdant green elemental hand that enveloped the sky.