Sovereign of the Ashes

After enduring a relentless week of high-intensity battle, the fortress command center granted Sein a break.

However, it was only for one day—a luxury considering the relentless onslaught of the Wild Gorilla Army against the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s main base.

The combat command center could only manage staggered breaks for all participating mages, so a full day for Sein was already a stretch.

Rank Three grand mages, with their deeper mana reserves, had not taken a break all this while.

Wherever reinforcements were needed, they were dispatched without question.

Their refined elemental energy enabled them to fight for durations many times longer than Rank Two mages. Moreover, their combat power was significantly superior.

Despite the fighting for the past week, Sein still retained considerable stamina and mana.

His robust constitution, mana reserve, as well as ample supply of potions and magic equipment allowed him to perform at a level on par with Rank Three mages.

Still, Sein accepted the designated break, understanding that only proper rest would enable him to wield his power better on the battlefield.

With the pace of war slightly slowed, it was a good time to restore mana and focus.

Preparing for the next significant offensive from the Wild Gorilla Army was essential to avoid being overwhelmed.

As Sein withdrew to rest, so did Natalya, Reina, Leena, and Yuri.

Apart from two Rank Three Wild Gorillas, they had also taken down multiple Rank Two and more than a dozen Rank One Wild Gorillas—not to mention countless lower-ranking cannon fodder.

Though all were elite forces within their respective worlds, there was still a clear difference between the Rank Two powerhouses of the Wild Gorilla World and those of the Magus Civilization.

More importantly, Sein, Natalya, Reina, Leena, and Yuri had stayed close to one another throughout the battles.

Together, these five formidable Rank Two beings formed a highly effective, well-coordinated unit, armed to the teeth.

With the plant creatures led by Sein and undead cannon fodder under Leena’s command, it was no surprise that their group had achieved such notable victories.

While Sein and his group retreated for their day’s rest, Sia, Sanchez, and Kingfisher continued to fight on the western side of the base.

The plant legions, undead cannon fodder, and magic beast forces also remained on the battlefield, holding the line without reprieve.

They had no choice—the main fortress base required the power of those at Rank Three and above.

For now, “fairness” was only extended to Magus World knights and mages like Sein.

The magic beasts could be grouped and rotated for breaks due to their vast numbers, but the plant legions and undead cannon fodder were expected to fight to their last breath to defend the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

There was little Sein could do to change this harsh reality.

Even the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s mages had sustained casualties throughout the past week; he could scarcely afford to concern himself with the expendable troops.

What he could manage, however, was to use his limited authority to direct Kingfisher and the plant legions under his command to areas with slightly less intense fighting before leaving the battlefield.

These plant legions had accompanied Sein from the Verdant Wilderness World, and while he was a cold and ruthless divine tower mage, he still showed a measure of kindness to his own subordinate forces.

During his break, Sein ran into Angreas, the Rank Two Kermoine Serpent Warlock.

It turned out that Angreas and his fellow warlocks had not managed to leave Sandstorm World in time.

Initially arriving to conduct business, they found themselves trapped by the sudden attack and effectively turned into free labor for the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

On second thought, calling them “free labor” was not entirely accurate—they were, after all, fighting for their own survival.

If the main base were to fall, their fates would be equally dire.

While Lorianne and the other Rank Four and higher powerhouses might find a way to break through, Rank Two beings like Sein and the others stood little chance of escaping the Wild Gorilla forces’ encirclement and reaching another plane safely.

With the Wild Gorilla Army’s relentless offensive, holding their ground was the best and perhaps the only option for Sein and the Magus World legions stationed in the Sandstorm World.

After all, over eighty percent of the Wild Gorilla Star Domain’s complete planes had fallen into the hands of the Magus Civilization Army.

It was unlikely for the intense conflict raging in Sandstorm World to go unnoticed.

Even if the Wild Gorilla Army had managed to slip past the main Magus Civilization forces undetected with assistance from the Gallant Federation, any vigilant elite legions stationed in neighboring planes would have responded once they noticed something was amiss.

At least, Sein believed that his grandmaster, Lorianne’s seniors, as well as the sea legions led by Black Oblivion and White Stella, would come to their aid.

While conversing with Angreas, Sein learned of another troubling development.

The space fortress belonging to the Kermoine Serpent Warlock Clan had suffered significant damage and was forced to land on the yellow sands near the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s main base.

This fortress held not only millions of enslaved creatures but also nearly a thousand warlocks.

A consensus had actually been reached between the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring and the Kermoine Serpent Warlock representatives.

Since the millions of enslaved creatures could no longer be transported and sold as originally planned, they would serve as decent-quality cannon fodder to defend the main base and be thrown into battle.

Angreas and the other warlocks in the base were set to leave with the “Magic Beast Assault Corps” organized by the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring to regroup with the warlocks and enslaved creatures trapped in the yellow sands.

With the space fortress badly damaged, it was unlikely for the stranded thousands of warlocks to withstand the relentless assault of the Wild Gorilla Army.

Though the space fortress held millions of enslaved creatures, there were insufficient knights and mages to command them, rendering them little more than an unruly horde.

Sein quickly realized that their one-day rest was likely only granted to prepare them for the mission to converge with the Kermoine Serpent Warlocks.

His suspicions were confirmed when he received new combat orders after meeting with Angreas.

In these dire times, even Sein, as the tower master’s apprentice, had to follow combat directives.

The Magus World’s major divine towers and knightly orders entrusted their operations command center to individuals with a strategic vision and talent for planning, rather than to the highest-ranking knights or mages.

In fact, it was entirely possible for Rank One or Rank Two mages in the command center to issue orders to Rank Three grand mages on the battlefield.

Within the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s command center, only Dean Archimedes, a Rank Three grand mage, was present to oversee deployments.

The rest of the Rank Three grand mages, including other deans, were engaged in combat throughout the fortress, much like Sein himself.

Sein trusted that Dean Archimedes would not send him on a futile mission.

After all, the success of regrouping with the warlocks and bringing back millions of cannon fodder was vital for the fortress’ defense.

For this reason, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring deployed its most elite forces.

Joining Sein were nearly four hundred mages from the divine tower, including Archimedes’ apprentice, Grimm, and two Rank Three grand mages.

Sein knew that if the fortress base’s defenses were not already stretched so thin, more Rank Three mages might have been assigned to the mission.

Accompanying this group was the Magic Beast Assault Corps, comprising around twenty thousand units, most of which were high-level magic beasts.