Sovereign of the Ashes

After the Magus Civilization Army arrived, Sein was one of the first to appear at Lorianne’s magic tower.

As the original instigator of this interplanar war, Lorianne was naturally among the first Rank Four mages to receive the news.

Once Sein and the others arrived, Lorianne briefed them on the situation.

The first wave of the Magus Civilization Army to enter the conflict against Wild Gorilla World included thirty-one mages and twenty-seven knights, all of Rank Four or higher.

The fact that there were even more mages than knights was a clear indication of just how alluring this war was to the upper echelons of Magus Civilization.

Hence, the powerhouses in Magus World who were less affluent or influential were unable to join the war for the time being, even if they wished to.

The peak Rank Five knight, Thunder, who had previously reached an agreement with Lorianne, was one such individual.

According to the plans made by the major forces of the Magus World, he was expected to join the battlefield in the second or third wave of reinforcements.

Lorianne was definitely not being petty and deliberately punishing him.

In fact, more than seventy percent of the powerhouses who had just arrived were part of the Pyro Secret Society. The remainder were either closely associated with them through cooperative agreements or from their subsidiary councils.

This made it obvious that the Pyro Secret Society was taking the lead in the war effort against Wild Gorilla World.

The simultaneous arrival of over fifty space fortresses, which had to cross long space-time barriers to reach Verdant Wilderness World, was likely the work of Magus World’s overmages or overlords.

Without the intervention of Rank Seven or higher powerhouses to tear open large spatial passages, even space fortresses equipped with the ability to jump through time and space would not have been able to arrive so quickly and in such perfect synchronization.

Before this, Sein had heard no whispers of large-scale military preparations in Magus World.

The appearance of such an immense army not only took him by surprise but also sent shockwaves through the creatures of Verdant Wilderness World.

Each space fortress housed at least one million combat units.

With over fifty fortresses, the scale of the entire army was staggering.

On top of that, many of the arriving powerhouses were Rank Five mages and knights, with Rank Six powerhouses like Feylis also among them.

According to Lorianne, the first batch of elite figures comprised three Rank Six beings.

Among them were two Rank Six mages and one Rank Six knight.

Including Feylis, this brought the total to four Rank Six beings in the Magus World camp, effectively doubling the number of such high-ranking beings in the Wild Gorilla World.

These four Rank Six powerhouses from the Magus World now stood as the main commanders in the war against Wild Gorilla World.

The Magus World was not trying to overpower the opposition with sheer force; there were simply too many experts in the Magus World interested in the rich resources of Wild Gorilla World.

Years of foreign conflicts had reduced the number of suitable targets for invasion and conquest within the surrounding star domains.

Lorianne had waited for nearly ten millennia before she managed to stumble across the coordinates of only two complete planes, and even that involved a stroke of luck.

For those less fortunate than Lorianne, reaching Rank Four might not guarantee finding a viable target for conquest within thousands of years.

This was quite a predicament for their civilization.

As the Magus Civilization developed over time, it gradually reached a certain bottleneck, with the entrenched interest groups becoming increasingly solidified.

The control exerted by the older powerhouses or forces of the Magus World over numerous enslaved planes would not just vanish overnight.

As these entities continued to consolidate their power, the forces under them would also continue to grow.

Therefore, for newer Rank Four and above powerhouses like Lorianne, viable targets for invasion and conquest were becoming increasingly scarce.

This scarcity became a critical issue, potentially stoking conflict between the established and emerging forces within the Magus World.

It was challenging for newly promoted powerhouses to carve out their legacy when no planes were left for them to conquer.

In the vast Astral Realm, where opportunities were scarce, it was tragic to possess immense power yet have nowhere to utilize it.

Thunder, the Peak Rank Five knight, found himself lacking sufficient magicoins to support his own growth and development.

Was this due to his low motivation or laziness?

Absolutely not!

If someone like him were considered unmotivated and lazy, then there would be no true hard workers in Magus World.

Beneath the surface of Magus World’s apparent prosperity lay a hidden crisis—its diminishing access to external wealth.

The Magus Civilization had grown to such an extent that it had to find an opponent of sufficient magnitude to satisfy its insatiable appetite for expansion.

The war with the Gallant Federation was not a coincidence; it was an inevitability!

Should the Magus Civilization fail to find suitable targets for annexation, and if the vast Astral Realm offered no further options, then the entire civilization would face an imminent crisis.

After all, the higher the tower, the heavier the fall.

Many of Magus World’s top powerhouses and leaders had recognized this problem, which was why they supported the initiation of the Wild Gorilla World War.

Aside from the Gallant Federation, the Magus World faced other even more formidable civilizations.

The boundless Astral Realm had given rise to many powerful and formidable world civilizations, with the Magus World being just a drop in the ocean.

For now, the dire consequences previously mentioned would not befall Magus World.

Furthermore, should Magus World one day truly reach that point, perhaps they could consider the large number of civilizations within the Magus Alliance...

***

Of the dozens of space fortresses mobilized, only twenty-two eventually descended into Verdant Wilderness World, while the others continued orbiting around the plane.

The arrival of such formidable powers and numerous extraplanar creatures undoubtedly dealt a severe blow to Verdant Wilderness World.

After two years of diligent efforts led by its guardian, the world had just begun to show signs of recovery.

However, the sudden arrival of more than twenty Rank Four or higher powerhouses from Magus World plunged the native creatures back into a state of turmoil, reminiscent of the chaos they had endured before.

The arrival of these elite combat legions from other worlds has also triggered drastic changes in the climate and environment of Verdant Wilderness World.

The sky had been perpetually charged with blue lightning, starting no fewer than ten forest fires across the plane in just half a month.

Even the gravity of this low-level plane had been altered significantly, leading to the widespread demise of species.

Sein surmised that the change in gravity could be linked to the influx of the twenty-two space fortresses that had entered the plane, alongside the thirty-odd fortresses that remained outside.

As the liaison between the two world civilizations, Sein had been frequently consulted by White Spirit during this period.

Yet, as merely a Rank Two mage, Sein found himself somewhat outmatched in the face of the dozen Magus World Rank Four or higher powerhouses who had arrived at Verdant Wilderness World. He could do little more than roll his eyes in frustration.

Even his mentor, Lorianne, seemed overwhelmed by the situation.

Currently, the efforts to expand the space-time rift in the northern icefield were being spearheaded by Feylis and three other Rank Six powerhouses from the Magus World.

“Hehe, not bad! To think that this plane can accommodate our entry simultaneously without collapsing. I expected no less of a dendro elemental plane,” Rank Six mage Ortega remarked, tapping his magic rod on the ground.

Ortega’s seemingly casual act triggered a series of cracks and geological shifts across hundreds of miles of the northern plains.

He had not intended to cause such commotion, but the plane was already teetering on the brink of its capacity.

The only area that remained unaffected was the white space-time rift, guarded by a protective seal inscribed by Feylis and the others.

“It’s not just because this is a dendro elemental plane. It’s also because our faction has paid a significant price to collaborate with the guardian and the native Rank Four creature of this world,” Feylis explained.

”Thankfully, we chose not to eliminate that Rank Four tree; without its influence stabilizing the planar laws, we’d only be able to send in a maximum of ten Rank Four or higher knights and mages,” she added.

Feylis’ words served as a reminder to the gathered knights and mages.

“We, the Verdant Flame Faction, have paid a hefty price. After the battle, all these costs are to be accounted for and reimbursed.”

The gathered Magus World powerhouses, astute as they were, clearly understood Feylis’ implications.

Rank Six Knight Siegel, a pyro knight known for his impatience, cracked his knuckles and asked, ”Hehe, can we start now? I’m eager to see what Wild Gorilla World has to offer.”

As he spoke, a pair of metallic, flaming gloves materialized on his hands.

His weapon of choice was no doubt rare among Rank Six powerhouses of the Magus World.