Sovereign of the Ashes

The main cannon of a space fortress had an immense deterrent effect, but in reality, foreign gods rarely got shot down by its beam during a typical interplanar war.

After all, the products of magitech and alchemy were not omnipotent.

This type of metal continent was ultimately just a “tool” created by the mages of the Magus World. It could not be considered equivalent to a Rank Four or Rank Five creature.

Since the cannon needed time to charge up, it was far more effective for blasting immovable targets like planar barriers.

It was also a formidable mass destruction weapon against lower-ranked creatures.

However, against Rank Four and above beings from the Astral Realm, the fortress’ sluggish movements were a significant disadvantage.

In the Astral Realm, the warships of certain technological civilizations could indeed unleash power comparable to Rank Four and higher, making the so-called “God Hunting” possible.

However, it was important to know that these technological warships did not operate alone.

Some powerful technological civilizations claimed to be able to hunt gods, but they never sent a single warship to confront a Rank Four creature. Instead, they deployed entire fleets.

A full fleet, composed of several main ships capable of threatening Rank Four creatures and above, supported by tens of thousands of assault ships, frigates, transport ships, and a multitude of drones and turrets, could besiege and annihilate a living Rank Four creature.

The Gallant Federation, now standing on equal footing with the Magus Civilization, was one such top-tier technological civilization.

While its strength differed from that of the Magus World, it was not too far behind.

There was no doubt about the dominance of the Magus Civilization in the surrounding star domains.

However, the power of the Gallant Federation could not be dismissed either.

The strength of technology was not necessarily inferior to that of magic and battle qi.

Before formally engaging with the Gallant Federation, no one could predict the outcome of the war.

Such considerations belonged to those with a higher level of insight. Even Feylis might not be able to grasp the grand schemes of those civilizations, let alone the weaker beings of lower ranks.

Within the grand trajectory of the Magus Civilization, Sein was a participant, not a decision-maker—just like the billions of other lower-ranked beings in the Magus World.

At least, for now.

To reach the level of influencing the overall decisions and interests of the Magus Civilization, even being a Rank Six Divine Tower Master was not enough.

One would probably need to be at least an overlord of Rank Seven and above to barely begin to have such influence.

Overlords were the peak of power within the vast Astral Realm. It was estimated that a complete plane, governed by thousands of laws, might only produce a single overlord.

The Wild Gorilla World that the Magus Civilization had set its sights on at this time was merely a medium-sized world civilization that had not yet produced even a single overlord.

I heard that the Magus World’s space fortress, even as far back as a dozen generations ago, could threaten and even kill beings of Rank Four and above.

But breaking through the energy utilization barrier is even more challenging than an individual advancing to a higher life level.

After all, it’s knowledge that alchemists gain by studying external objects, rather than elemental mysteries that can be directly applied to their own bodies.

Thus, the innovations of the past few generations of space fortresses have primarily focused on comfort, stability in space-time jumps, and the use of spatial folding within the fortress.

Master Feylis’ space fortress is significantly stronger, and from what Master Lorianne told me, it was custom-built at great expense by a renowned heavy industry laboratory.

I wonder if Grandmaster’s space fortress has the power to contend with Rank Six creatures in the Astral Realm.

Sein mused as he looked at the Verdant Spring Space Fortress descending from the sky.

The three space fortresses that had arrived in the Verdant Wilderness World were those of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, Whispering Flame, and Floating Flame.

Among the three, it was clear that Gregory’s crimson space fortress was the largest, resembling a slowly burning meteorite falling from the sky.

It was not only large but also intricately made.

He had undoubtedly invested considerable effort into its construction.

While it could not compare to the masterpiece belonging to Feylis, it was still far superior to Lorianne’s “new toy”.

Still, there was no reason for Lorianne to feel bad. Her Verdant Spring Space Fortress was definitely a middle-tier war fortress that the Magus Civilization had in service.

There were many fortresses inferior to hers.

Bernice’s Floating Flame Fortress, which was also participating in this interplanar war, was similar in size to the Verdant Spring Space Fortress.

However, its surface was covered in battle scars and showed the wear of time.

The performance of her space fortress was also far inferior to Lorianne’s new fortress.

The reason for this was that Bernice, who had been promoted to Rank Four shortly before Lorianne, had purchased her space fortress second-hand during the early stages of constructing the Divine Tower of Floating Flame when she was in a financial bind.

Though it was enough for typical low-level or microplane wars, Bernice’s space fortress seemed out of place among the other, more formidable fortresses in a large-scale conflict like this one.

Bernice’s space fortress was so old and worn that it contrasted sharply with the new and polished appearance of the Verdant Spring Space Fortress.

It was at this moment that Lorianne slowly began to feel better about the burden of debt she had incurred when purchasing her fortress.

As expected, women were subconsciously competitive.

Even a Rank Four mage like Lorianne was no exception, though she would never admit it openly.

Nevertheless, Lorianne had a strong relationship with her seniors.

The impressive performance of the Verdant Spring Space Fortress brought her a sense of relief in her seniors’ presence; she did not develop any conceit or desire to flaunt it.

Any satisfaction she felt remained private. At most, she only smiled inwardly.

After the Verdant Spring Space Fortress landed, Sein immediately contacted the fortress command and reached out to the two girls, Eileen and Selina.

Not only them but even Natalya and Reina had come along.

These two Rank Two female knights had only been temporarily stationed at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, but they were participating in this interplanar war for some reason.

It was mainly because of Natalya’s insistence on accompanying Sein. As for Reina, she was only here because she was pulled along by her friend.

Sein’s mother-in-law and members of House Ernst had not yet arrived.

For the time being, the Verdant Wilderness World War only involved the four divine towers within the Verdant Flame Faction, without any additional divine towers or orders of the knights.

However, as far as Sein knew, quite a few divine towers and knightly orders from the Magus World were preparing to join in and seize an opportunity for themselves.

Among them was Thunder, a Rank Five knight who recently had some disagreements with Lorianne in the Capiche Business Alliance.

The reason why Thunder knew about the Wild Gorilla World was likely because of the Order of the Steel Fist.

For someone who had just pawned his space fortress and was in the process of crafting a world-class secret treasure, Thunder faced as much financial pressure as Lorianne—perhaps even greater.

The weight of his debts had pushed him to shamelessly return to Lorianne.

Change is the only constant, and this is why one should not burn any bridges.

Lorianne, after being upset by Thunder in the Capiche Business Alliance, certainly did not have a favorable view of the bearded, middle-aged knight.