Sovereign of the Ashes

Sein’s battle with the Rank Three one-eyed Wild Gorilla ended with his victory.

With Sein’s extensive arsenal, including his magic equipment, his strength was roughly on par with that of the Rank Three Wild Gorilla without employing the Viridescent Seeds.

However, in a chaotic battlefield where armies clashed, battles were rarely straightforward duels between equals.

As the defenders, Sein and his allies held the advantage of the terrain, reinforced by the surrounding magic towers providing continuous fire support.

The magic shield above, while flickering under constant strain, still held firm, preventing the Wild Gorillas outside the fortress from overwhelming them.

Only those who managed to breach the barrier during its momentary lapses could join the fray within the fortress.

Natalya and Yuri inevitably intervened in Sein’s fight with the Rank Three Wild Gorilla, which proved decisive.

Their intervention was the key reason behind the Wild Gorilla’s swift defeat and eventual death.

Before engaging Sein, the one-eyed Wild Gorilla had confidently vowed to end the fight in under three minutes.

Yet, Sein managed to hold it off for four minutes in melee combat before Natalya seized an opening to launch a side attack, cleaving through half of the Wild Gorilla’s body with a single, powerful swing of her sword.

The ongoing battle had sapped the creature’s strength, preventing it from continuously channeling blood and qi throughout its body for defense.

Trained under a renowned mentor and seasoned by countless battles as the most dangerous thorny rose in the Order of the Steel Fist, Natalya’s keen eye for opportunity allowed her to strike with deadly precision when the Wild Gorilla showed even a moment of vulnerability.

Most Rank Two knights would have struggled to perform such an attack in this situation.

Even after being blasted by Sein’s pyro elemental spell and losing half its body to Natalya’s sword, the Wild Gorilla unexpectedly survived.

It gathered what strength it could to make a final, desperate attempt to break free.

The resilience of the Rank Three creature’s body was remarkable and evident in this moment.

Had it managed to escape, despite its severe injuries, it might still have clung to life.

For many high-ranking beings, the regeneration of severed limbs was hardly a challenge.

Sein had absorbed a Flame Devil’s bloodline, which was known for its remarkable regenerative abilities as a devil species. Even if one of his limbs were severed, he could regrow it over time.

For certain devils with exceptional vitality, even decapitation was not necessarily fatal; as long as their heart core remained intact, survival was still possible.

The vast expanse of the Astral Realm was indeed home to countless rare and extraordinary lifeforms.

Sein’s laboratory held numerous experimental specimens, but they represented only a tiny fraction of the Astral Realm’s diversity.

What ultimately sealed the fate of the Rank Three one-eyed Wild Gorilla was Yuri’s intervention from the battlefield perimeter.

Yuri deployed a silver-white mecha, which, despite being an ordinary construct, hurled itself with a suicidal impact to impede the Wild Gorilla’s escape.

This brief delay was all Sein and Natalya needed to eliminate any chance of the creature’s survival.

The silver-white mecha was ultimately destroyed in the Wild Gorilla’s last, desperate counterattack.

Nevertheless, sacrificing a mecha with strength comparable to that of an ordinary Rank One creature to take down a Rank Three Wild Gorilla was worth it.

Furthermore, the spoils from this one-eyed Wild Gorilla went beyond its flesh and blood.

Sein discovered a finely crafted earring in the creature’s earlobe, resonating with spatial energy, confirming its nature as spatial storage equipment.

Though it resembled a space ring, this Wild Gorilla had worn it like it was an earring.

Sein had no time to inspect the contents of the space ring on this chaotic battlefield.

After swiftly gathering the Rank Three Wild Gorilla’s remains and his spoils, Sein immediately rejoined the fight in nearby areas.

***

The battle at Sandstorm World’s main base raged relentlessly for an entire week, with Sein barely having a moment to catch his breath.

The Wild Gorilla forces, seemingly driven by sheer madness, launched wave after wave of ferocious assaults on the Verdant Spring’s base.

During this week, the large magic shield that protected the fortress base was breached three times, with the longest period of deactivation lasting a grueling day and a half.

That day and a half marked the most intense and exhausting period Sein had ever endured.

After a week, the Wild Gorilla Army’s relentless attack began to show signs of slowing. This allowed Sein and the others a much-needed moment to catch their breath.

However, the slowdown didn’t indicate that the Wild Gorilla Army had retreated entirely.

To the east and north of the fortress, their assaults continued unabated.

Sein and the others were fighting on the western side of the base, a crucial area housing vital supplies, making it impossible for them to abandon their positions.

Thankfully, with reinforcements from the fortress command center arriving steadily, the battle on the western front was the first to conclude.

The magic shield there had been reinforced with extra wards, making it significantly more durable compared to other areas.

The southern front, defended by the formidable legions of magic beasts, also saw a reduction in enemy pressure.

The millions-strong army of beasts presented a challenge that the Wild Gorilla Can could not easily overcome in a short amount of time.

The strength of the Wild Gorilla Army lay in their ambush that caught their enemies off guard.

However, once the Magus World Army stationed at Sandstorm World managed to regroup and endure the initial chaos, the tide of battle began to shift.

The organized and elite forces of Magus Civilization gradually regained control, forcing the conflict into a battle rhythm that suited them.

While many lower-ranking mages found relief as the attacks waned, Sein, privy to the inner workings of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, understood that the situation remained far grimmer than it appeared.

The Wild Gorilla Army’s assault on Sandstorm World was not limited to the main base where Sein and his team were stationed.

All three of the major bases established across Sandstorm World came under attack, and the situation at the other two less fortified bases was even more dire.

These bases were defended by Rank Four magic beast kings—the white-feathered pelican and the two-headed giant wolf.

While formidable in their own right, they were undoubtedly weaker than Black Oblivion and Milena.

Additionally, the legions stationed at these bases were smaller, with only two to three hundred thousand magic beasts and even fewer mages and enslaved creature forces.

The Magus Civilization Army employed elemental jamming devices capable of disrupting communications and detection.

Similarly, the Wild Gorilla Clan used the “divine domain power” of their gods to cut off the communication between the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s forces and the rest of the Magus World Amy.

During brief moments of communication before the conflict began, the leadership of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring learned that the other two main bases in Sandstorm World were also under siege.

The nearby resource demiplanes were likely in dire straits too.

Sein considered himself fortunate to have been reassigned to Sandstorm World in time; if he had stayed in the Violet Chrome Demiplane, defending against the fierce Wild Gorilla Army with only a handful of troops would have been impossible.

For now, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring had lost contact with the Magus World legions in several surrounding planes.

Lorianne was nowhere in sight. She, along with other Rank Four and higher powerhouses, had been fighting since the onset of the conflict over a week ago.

Even Tourmaline’s guardian, the formidable giant squid, had joined the battle, indicating just how fierce the conflict had become.

This suggested that at least six Rank Four or higher Gorilla Gods were involved in the assault on Sandstorm World!