Sovereign of the Ashes

After the Terrabound Drakes of the Order of the Blackrock whistled past, hundreds of thousands of various enslaved creatures surged forward.

Among these creatures were numerous armored knights from the Order of the Blackrock, wielding battle qi.

It appeared that not all registered knights from the Order of the Blackrock were provided Terrabound Drakes as mounts, indicating that those who led the initial charge were likely the order’s elite.

With the Order of the Blackrock advancing to take over the frontlines, Sein and the nearby knights from the Order of the Fiery Molten Mountain could finally heave a sigh of relief.

Their camaraderie had been forged through intense combat, even though they had not fought side by side for long.

“Buck, from Order of the Fiery Molten Mountain.”

“Rais, from Order of the Fiery Molten Mountain.”

“Othel, from Order of the Fiery Molten Mountain.”

One by one, the knights approached and greeted Sein, who replied, “Sein, from Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.”

Despite being an apothecary, Sein was short on the more potent potions to restore mana and replenish mental focus. However, he had an ample supply of cheap healing potions for external wounds.

Having fought on the frontlines longer than Sein, these knights had long exhausted their own supplies of healing potions.

Sein simply distributed a limited number of his potions to the knights before him without charging them a fee.

The value of a healing potion in the heat of battle was immeasurable.

The knights looked at Sein with surprise and gratitude, offering him various gifts in return.

All were trophies from the Wild Gorillas, found across the battlefield.

Although the ground was strewn with their remains, not all the spoils were up for grabs; only those creatures personally slain by the knights were theirs to keep.

In instances where creatures fell to collective efforts or long-range magic spells, the distribution of spoils adhered to a different set of rules.

To date, this model of interplanar warfare in the Magus World had proven to be quite fair.

In the few interplanar wars Sein had participated in, Sein rarely encountered any issues with loot distribution.

The Rank One and Rank Two knights from the Order of the Fiery Molten Mountain were exceptionally generous too.

They were likely accustomed to dealing with many mages as they knew what items would interest Sein.

Whether it was their hearts, hides, or claws, all were valuable magic ingredients.

The gifts Sein received on this battlefield alone were worth at least three times the cost of the healing potions he gave away.

However, the math was not always straightforward during wartime, as the cost of healing potions often surged to two or three times their normal price among knights and mages.

Only when the Magus World’s space fortresses entered and docked in this world, allowing the flow of supplies to stabilize through the divine towers and knightly orders, would the prices of potions and similar items significantly decrease.

After the Order of the Blackrock took over the shared battle zone where Sein and the Order of the Fiery Molten Mountain were, those who had been fighting at the frontline finally had a chance to rest.

Despite this, the sky was still ablaze with magic spells.

Sein knew that the resilience of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s mage legion was not due to an abundance of mana but rather the strategic wisdom of the command center.

During periods of lesser demand for fire support, the command center had prudently allowed some mages to withdraw in advance, preserving their strength for sustained magic offensives.

This was the strategic wisdom of spellcasters.

The relentless magic elemental strikes combined with wave after wave of charges from the knight legions had finally shifted the previously stalemated frontline forward.

Just half a day ago, the area around Sein and his allies was rife with battles.

Now, after several hours, the nearest battlefront had shifted several thousand meters away.

With a clearer view, Sein could see the fierce clashes still raging in the distance.

Nearby, the battlefield had become unusually quiet, save for occasional groans of pain.

Buck, the Rank Two knight, seemed to be the leader of the group. He waved at Sein and said, “We need to get going. The order has a new mission for us. I’ll see you next time we have the chance. Your divine tower and our order’s garrisons are next to each other, so meeting up should be easy.”

After half a day’s rest, the other ranked knights from the Order of the Fiery Molten Mountain had recovered significantly.

They indeed lived up to their reputation as seasoned knights of the Magus World.

Around these knights, more than two thousand short, dark-skinned enslaved creatures had just gathered.

Sein nodded to the departing group and said, “See you all next time!”

The Order of the Fiery Molten Mountain’s knights began to leave, with Rank Two female knight Sydney trailing behind them.

With no immediate battles to fight, Sydney had deactivated her bloodline transformation and reverted to her human form.

Although her body was no longer half armored and half rock-skinned, her appearance remained androgynous. Yet, she now looked more heroic and mature.

A wisp of sadness lingered between her eyebrows and her morale was lower than that of the other male knights.

After exchanging farewells, Sein could no longer suppress his curiosity and finally asked, “The knight’s body you collected earlier, who was he?”

“It was my husband,” Sydney replied to his question honestly in a subdued tone.

Sein fell silent after hearing her answer.

As Sydney walked away, her shadow stretched out under the setting sun.

The evening sun, as red as the sticky blood on the ground, dyed the entire world crimson.

Turning to Leena and Natalya, Sein suddenly said, “Don’t ever leave me...”

As a typically stoic knight, Natalya was caught off guard by Sein’s unexpected display of sentimentality, leaving her momentarily at a loss for words.

Her face flushed, and though she parted her lips to respond, no words emerged.

Unlike Natalya, Leena, wearing a matching magic robe with Sein, maintained her composure.

She turned her head to Sein and replied, “Same goes to you too.”

***

Sein, overseeing a region and commanding over a hundred thousand enslaved creatures, did not receive direct commands from the divine tower’s command center; instead, he was responsible for delegating tasks within his own combat legions, operating not just as a lone mage but as a commander.

Sanchez was the first demigod-level creature to return.

Earlier, it had been besieged by several Rank Three Wild Gorillas, but Sein and his allies intervened just in time. Their efforts, combined with the fierce assault from the Order of the Blackrock’s Terrabound Drakes, enabled it to escape.

The Rank Three Wild Gorillas, initially surrounding Sanchez, found themselves outmaneuvered and overwhelmed by the elite Terrabound Drakes.

A few Rank Two Terrabound Drakes knights could easily eliminate a weakened Rank Three Wild Gorilla at their peak condition.

Despite their formidable nature, these Rank Three Wild Gorillas lacked the endurance of the Magus World Army.

Faced with the relentless attacks from the Magus World Army, their only recourse was retreat.

The crafty skeletal dragon did not return empty-handed; it brought with it the corpses of two Rank Three Wild Gorillas.

Naturally, Sein and Leena took each for themselves.

Natalya and the others found no use for these corpses, as gorillas were humanoid creatures. Despite her vast appetite, Reina would not consume such creatures to fill her belly except in dire circumstances.

Following Sanchez, Kingfisher and the demigod-level plant giant were the second group to return.

The Kingfisher sustained heavier injuries, with crimson blood staining much of its wings. Thankfully, its injuries were not fatal.

Unlike Sanchez, Kingfisher did not return with any trophies.

However, when Sein revisited the battlefield where Kingfisher had clashed with the plant giant, he discovered half a corpse of a demigod-level Wild Gorilla.

This remnant was left behind by the Terrabound Drake Knight who had slain it.

The knight must have recognized that the Kingfishers and the plant giant were not mere enslaved creatures and left behind half of the valuable corpse.

Leena looked at the half-corpse and sighed in amazement. “This only happens in a divine tower’s war... If we were in Blackhaven...”

Sein shook his head and said, “Normally, no one would give up on such a precious trophy in an interplanar war. At most, there would be a settlement after the war, with either subsidies or deductions in magicoins.

“The fact the Terrabound Drake Knight left behind half of this corpse either suggested that he did not consider this Wild Gorilla’s corpse to be significant, or that this particular order of the knights is exceptionally disciplined.”

With the return of the three demigod-level creatures, the low-ranking forces under Sein’s command swelled to as many as thirty thousand.

However, Green Spikefur King had not yet made it back.

Upon encountering a few plant creatures from the Emerald Forest, Sein learned that the huge hedgehog had charged too far ahead and was now stuck fighting at the frontlines of the battlefield.

After resting for half a day, Sein’s mana and mental focus had partially replenished, thus restoring some of his combat prowess.

“Let’s go and retrieve that big fellow. After all, it’s an extraplanar pet my mentor has adopted early on. It’ll be difficult to explain to Master Lorianne if it died or if we lose it,” Sein said to the group gathered around him.