Sovereign of the Ashes

Before the war in the Wild Gorilla World had fully concluded, Sein was already on his way to other battlefields in neighboring star domains.

Scattered resistance still occurred throughout various regions of the Wild Gorilla World.

Despite the Magus World’s repeated victories that broke the spirit of the once-mighty Gorilla Gods, completely subjugating a medium-sized civilization with a history spanning over a hundred thousand years would take more than just a few years.

Some Gorilla Gods still managed to escape but the Magus World leaders, represented by Feylis, were organizing elite forces of Rank Four and above to hunt them down.

Following the decisive battle at Wild Gorilla City, the Rank Six Wild Gorilla God, along with around ten subordinate Gorilla Gods, forcefully broke through the Magus World encirclement and fled their homeplane.

Although Wild Gorilla God managed to escape, the Rank Six White Banisher Gorilla God and the Guardian White Ape remained behind.

As the plane’s guardian, White Ape was bound by duty and could not abandon his homeplane.

The White Banisher Gorilla God, already severely injured by repeated clashes with Magus World powerhouses, was too weak to escape.

Feylis and other top-tier Magus World powerhouses were determined to capture or eliminate the formidable Wild Gorilla God.

Specialized Rank Four or higher mages, skilled in tracking, were assigned to keep watch over its movements.

Reports indicated that Wild Gorilla God had fled northeast, toward the star domain where the Feral Beast Star was.

Facing insurmountable odds, the once-proud deity had sought refuge and aid from its old rival.

Moreover, Wild Gorilla God’s northeast flight path brought it closer to the Gallant Federation—a power known for its capacity to contend with top-tier civilizations.

Though support from the Gallant Federation on the Wild Gorilla World battlefield had been minimal, their involvement had enabled the Wild Gorilla Army to mount surprising resistance in two battles.

These clashes even resulted in the deaths of two Rank Four Magus World powerhouses.

Both of them were struck by the Wild Gorilla Army’s blue paralyzing particle beams.

One died on the spot, while the other, though initially rescued, succumbed to their injuries.

Thus, the campaign in the Wild Gorilla World had not been without deaths.

While this fact was known to the Magus World’s upper echelon, most of the ordinary knights and mages remained oblivious to it.

After all, the leadership had no intention of spreading news that could dampen morale.

For Wild Gorilla God to reclaim control of his homeplane, relying solely on the weakened Wild Gorilla Clan was insufficient.

It needed support from outside forces.

Unfortunately, the top-tier civilization known as the Gallant Federation had made no move to send troops to assist the Wild Gorilla World.

They were not even willing to openly declare their stance against the Magus World.

Instead, any aid they provided was under the guise of Roman Planet’s support.

“Are we destined to become wandering gods in the Astral Realm?” asked a despondent peak Rank Five Gorilla God, one of Wild Gorilla God’s trusted allies.

As they fled, it cast a sorrowful glance back at the receding silhouette of their homeplane.

No one had an answer to its question.

With a new scar marring its face, Wild Gorilla God snorted, then took the lead, flying deeper into the starry expanse.

This retreat had been so rushed that it had been forced to abandon his massive flying saucer, a vessel rivaling the Magus World’s space fortresses in size.

The scar across its face was a brutal reminder of that accursed Rank Six Magus World mage’s flaming whip.

“I’ll be back, I swear it!” Wild Gorilla God vowed darkly in its heart.

***

Lavender Harmony Plane...

This poetic and elegant name came from Sein’s mentor.

Before the arrival of the Magus World Army, this low-level plane was simply referred to as “RQ300”—a dull and uninspired designation of letters and numbers.

The Wild Gorillas did not have particularly good naming sense.

Since the concept of “planet” was introduced, the Wild Gorilla Clan’s leaders began to favor naming methods akin to those used by technological civilizations.

It seemed to lend their kind an air of sophistication.

Lavender Harmony Plane was not an ideal low-level world.

The plane’s total resource output was quite limited, nowhere near the levels of Thunderfall World or Verdant Wilderness World.

This scarcity was due to the Wild Gorilla Clan’s earlier plundering of the plane.

Originally, the Lavender Harmony Plane had its own native species and deities.

However, the invasion by the Wild Gorilla Army led to its full annexation into Wild Gorilla World, and the native gods had long since fallen.

Today, the dominant species in Lavender Harmony Plane consisted of the Wild Gorilla Clan’s offspring with its native inhabitants.

The change in dominant species had weakened the planar will as a result.

Although the Magus World engages in foreign conquests, the knights and mages rarely conduct such interstellar colonization.

If the enslaved planes willingly offered tribute to the Magus Civilization, providing ample resources and wealth, the leaders of the Magus World were even inclined to grant them significant autonomy.

This formed the foundation of the Magus Alliance system.

Rather than calling these offered resources a “tribute”, “protection fee” might be a more fitting term.

The main resistance force in the Lavender Harmony Plane was an army of approximately three million subspecies of gorillas.

Though their numbers were vast, these legions lacked resilience.

Without a Rank Four or higher Gorilla God to lead them, this army of subspecies was no different than a disorganized horde.

This time, even without the assistance of the Order of the Fiery Molten Mountain, the army of over two million magic beasts alone was more than enough to overwhelm the subgorilla army.

Black Oblivion had previously suggested returning to Magus World to bring back another wave of reinforcements, but Lorianne had dissuaded him.

Given the current situation in the Wild Star Domain, additional legions were unnecessary.

The forces assembled were sufficient to raze the domain two or three times over.

As expected, the subgorilla legions of the Lavender Harmony Plane put up little resistance.

While Black Oblivion and the other magic beast kings might have found the lack of challenge disappointing, Hephaes, the centaur god, was delighted.

These easy targets were exactly the kind Hephaes enjoyed crushing.

Although Lorianne and the others offered it only a small share of the spoils, it was enough to leave Hephaes beaming.

Out of the eighteen centaur gods in the entire Centaurworld, Hephaes was the only one fortunate enough to partake in the Wild Star Domain campaign and reap its benefits.

It was easy to imagine the envy and jealousy of other gods at Hephaes’ good fortune.