Sovereign of the Ashes

Leena was protected by Sanchez, the demigod-level skeletal dragon, so she should be safe.

Upon receiving her message, Sein exhaled a long sigh of relief.

Still, from what he could tell, Leena’s condition was far worse than his own.

However, this was war, and excessive concern for his lover could be a dangerous distraction.

The same went for Natalya and her group, who were not currently by his side.

Then again, they were positioned further back and likely spared from the devastating impact of the Dwarf Bombs.

The Wild Gorilla Army’s use of Dwarf Bombs was not limited to the battlefront of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Being near the neighboring warzone, Sein could feel the massive turbulence and energy shockwaves from the region where the Divine Tower of Floating Flame and the Order of the Green Bounty were stationed.

He wondered if that ominous light blue energy beam had also appeared there.

If it had, the situation was far worse than expected.

No wonder Lorianne had resorted to launching a forbidden spell.

***

The time required for mages of Rank Four and above to unleash a forbidden spell was notably shorter compared to demigod-level mages.

The Wild Gorillas should be proud as Lorianne was invoking a small-scale forbidden spell with significantly greater destructive power than the micro forbidden spell she had unleashed before.

Casting a forbidden spell was a serious and irreversible process.

The prolonged prelude to such a spell left even the most powerful mages vulnerable to external disturbances.

It was a known fact that overpowered abilities come with limitations; there was no such thing as absolute “perfection” or “invincibility” in the Astral Realm, at least according to what had been known so far.

The consequences of being interrupted during the incantation process and experiencing elemental backlash were dire.

That was something every initiate learned from their mentor in their first magic lesson.

Fortunately, the combined efforts of Oneille the Rank Five knight, Milena the white tiger, and Fenrir the two-headed giant wolf on the battlefield kept the three Gorilla Gods of the Wild Gorilla World at bay, preventing them from getting close enough to threaten Lorianne.

As the elemental fluctuations from the forbidden spell grew more intense, the ground across the battlefield began to shake.

Even the slowest and least intelligent creatures could sense that disaster was imminent.

With the forbidden spell on the brink of release, the remaining cannon fodder of the Magus World Army, under the cold orders of the knights and mages, continued their charge toward the crumbling metal line with tears glistening in their eyes.

These “suicide legions” were composed mainly of stone-skinned dwarves from the Order of the Fiery Molten Mountain and minotaurlings from the centaur tribe under the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s command.

Sympathy had no place in war.

To the powerful, wars were nothing more than numbers. What truly mattered was how much they invested and what they gained in return.

Considering the value of Wild Gorilla World and the hundreds of planes in this star domain, the Magus World powerhouses were obviously determined not to lose.

The pain from the brand on their soul and the shouts of their centaur masters drove the remaining stone-skinned dwarves and minotaurlings into a final, desperate charge.

These unfortunate beings, lucky to have survived the shockwaves of the Dwarf Bombs, now faced a different death.

Of course, not all would perish.

Sometimes, one would find a way to live when placed on the field of death.

The Magus World Army had shifted into high gear, launching a fierce counterattack against the Wild Gorilla Army.

All that was required now was for the remaining weak creatures to hold out just a little longer.

If they could withstand the dual threat of the Wild Gorilla Army and Lorianne’s forbidden spell, there was a chance they might see the Magus World Army achieve victory on this battlefield.

But by then, not many of them would remain alive.

Lorianne’s incantation for the forbidden spell took thirty sandglasses to complete.

This span of time was just enough for the cannon fodder to cross the scorched earth left by the Dwarf Bombs and reach the front of the Wild Gorilla Army’s metal front.

Sporadic clashes had broken out about a dozen sandglasses earlier, as some creatures, unable to bear the looming double threat of death, chose a quicker end.

Their corpses had once again formed a significant pile in front of the metal barrier.

By the time the elemental glow of the forbidden spell descended from the sky, two space fortresses, several prism forts, and more than twenty war airships from the Magus World Army had also arrived at the front lines.

Sein finally spotted several war airships bearing the insignia of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

As he had suspected, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring did possess its own war airships; Lorianne simply had not wanted to risk losing them until now.

The powerful forbidden spell, the charged main cannons, countless beams of energy and relentless firepower combined to engulf the distant metal wall in an instant.

Large sections of the metal barrier evaporated into thin air. Sein could not even catch sight of the Wild Gorilla Army behind the metal wall—their bodies and fortifications were obliterated together under the devastating onslaught of Magus World’s firepower.

When it came to long-range firepower, the Magus Civilization was second to none.

The mobility and effectiveness of their mages far surpassed anything seen in so-called technological civilizations.

The mage troops positioned at the back of the formation seized this moment to unleash their powerful long-range spells.

Sein, however, held back.

Having consumed several precious potions earlier, he had deliberately conserved his stamina and mana for what was yet to come.

There was no reason to waste his mana or expose his position prematurely.

He knew there were others on the battlefield who shared the same strategy.

The two thousand elite mages that Lorianne had deployed as the vanguard could not all have perished in the earlier assault by the Dwarf Bombs.

The Rank Three grand mages were resilient and unlikely to fall so easily, while Rank Two mages would have survived as long as they were not at the center of the explosions.

For the Rank One mages... their survival would come down to sheer luck.

Sein crouched on the edge of a deep crater left by the Dwarf Bombs, quietly observing the situation at the frontlines.

When the ravages of Lorianne’s forbidden spell subsided and the two space fortresses unleashed their main cannons three times, obliterating half of the metal wall, Sein signaled to Green Spikefur King and Kingfisher—it was time to charge.

It was not that Sein’s timing was perfect; it was that he had no choice.

If he did not move now, he would miss any chance to benefit from the battle.

After all, the combined might of the space fortresses and Lorianne’s forbidden spell had already done most of the work.

Sein had no doubt that if the battlefield had not shifted so decisively in their favor, the space fortresses hovering above would have fired their main cannons a few more rounds, especially considering the heavy losses suffered by the Magus World Army.

Like Sein, many others seized the moment to join the fight.

Despite the casualties they had sustained from the Dwarf Bombs, the knights from the Order of the Fiery Molten Mountain surged forward, their battle cries echoing as they charged.

Their speed even surpassed that of the centaur troops and the magic beasts that had originally formed the front ranks.

These knights, battle-hardened and seasoned, were experts in warfare.

With the Wild Gorilla Army’s metal front now in disarray, this was the perfect time to strike.

The weakened state of the Wild Gorilla Army also indicated that they had run out of their earlier “secret weapons”.

Sein, turning into a streak of green light atop Green Spikefur King, sped forward, outpacing even the charging knights.