Sovereign of the Ashes

In the recuperation center of the main base...

Sein was here today to visit Sia, who had only recently regained consciousness.

Outside the fortress, the scene was still bustling with activities—piles of corpses and mountains of loot ensured that the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring mages would remain occupied for quite some time.

Sia looked better today. Dressed in a red nightgown, her face faintly flushed, though it was more a symptom of her weakened state rather than actual health.

Despite her formidable constitution, her injuries were severe enough to require a minimum of six months of recovery.

By contrast, her daughter Natalya had left the recuperation center days earlier. Though her wounds had yet to fully heal, they were no longer severe enough to keep her bedridden.

Natalya’s impatience and the “untold wealth” waiting to be claimed outside the fortress had understandably caused her to end her treatment earlier.

Sein brought a gift for Sia—a vial of “Feather Flame Potion”.

It was a powerful and precious magic potion he had painstakingly refined over the past few days, especially suited for pyro element users like Sia and himself.

With the arrival of reinforcements, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s critically depleted supplies were finally replenished.

Having gained significant resources during the war, Sein did not mind the high cost of refining the potion, even with its modest success rate of just one in five.

Sia appeared surprised by Sein’s visit.

Since he had been the one to pull her out from a literal mountain of corpses, their relationship had grown warmer.

After Sia accepted the potion gratefully, they exchanged a few pleasantries before Sein stated the true purpose of his visit.

“I’d like to ask you about the Baator Devil Blood Essence you gave me last time. If you have a way to contact that devil, I’d appreciate it if you could introduce me,” he said.

Though there were currently numerous devil legions stationed outside the main fortress base, simply approaching one of these notorious creatures to request cooperation for experiments was an unwise proposition.

After all, devils were infamously difficult to deal with.

Having an intermediary or a prior connection could save Sein significant trouble.

Sia remained silent for a moment, before finally nodding in agreement.

***

Sia, as it turned out, did indeed have connections to the devils.

Her lineage, one of the knight houses in the Magus World, was known for maintaining close ties with the devils.

Such alliances were not unusual among knight houses in the Magus World.

After all, the power of devil bloodlines was undeniable.

For Rank Two knights in the Magus World, advancing further required incorporating one or more bloodlines into their bodies.

Aside from devils, dragons, demons, and certain special creatures with robust constitutions were also options that could aid in strengthening Magus World knights.

This necessity stemmed from the fact that humans in the Magus World were rather fragile.

Mages could compensate for this weakness through their intellect, focus, mana, and knowledge, wielding incredible elemental powers.

For knights that could only rely on their bodies and muscles, they lacked such luxuries.

Integrating a foreign bloodline was nothing to be ashamed of; it was not like a Magus World knight would be fully transformed into a completely different creature after absorbing another bloodline.

Bloodline was merely a tool, a stepping stone for lower-ranking lifeforms seeking higher realms of power.

It was never meant to dominate an individual.

Sia’s family specifically maintained ties with pyro elemental devils such as the Baator Devils, Flame Devils, and Inferno Devils.

From Sein’s understanding of devil genealogy, these pyro elemental devils likely served under a common Rank Four or higher devil sovereign.

While devils had developed a belief system, it was far from straightforward.

Lower-ranking devils revered their sovereigns, but their loyalty was neither blind nor absolute.

According to Sein’s understanding, devils often ascended the hierarchy through brutal and bloody battles. It was not unheard of for lower-ranking devils to slay their own sovereigns and claim their position.

This unrelenting pursuit of power exemplified their belief in the supremacy of strength above all else.

Compared to the devils, the Wild Gorilla Clan’s respect for strength, as displayed in the recent interplanar war, seemed almost trivial.

Sein could not claim to fully understand the infamous “bloody battles” often referenced in the Magus World’s magic literature about devils.

Still, even from those two simple words, he could almost smell the scent of blood.

***

The devil sovereign that Sia’s family had maintained a longstanding relationship with was not present in Sandstorm World.

However, thanks to this longstanding alliance with the devils, Sia was able to assist Sein in hiring a Rank Three devil.

Yes, hiring.

To accomplish Sein’s planned experiments, the agreement required him to pay the devil five energy heart cores from Rank Three creatures.

At the current market rate through the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s logistics department, this was equivalent to roughly 6,700 magicoins.

Fortunately, Sein had sufficient funds on hand.

Thankfully, the Inferno War Devil was also willing to accept alternative compensation of equivalent value.

Inferno War Devil was one of the Inferno Devil’s evolved forms. From bloodline analysis, Sein knew that Baator Devils and Flame Devils shared deep genetic ties to the Inferno Devil’s lineage.

As far as Sein knew, all devils of Rank One and above originated from a common source—devil worms.

In other words, all devils shared the same primitive forms.

Their unique evolutionary pathways and complex genealogies had turned “devilology” into a distinct and entirely new field of study.

To find a way to purify his own bloodline and address the drawbacks of Natalya’s devil bloodline, Sein could definitely start his research by experimenting on this Inferno War Devil.

“Can you put your battle axe away? We’re about to conduct an electroshock experiment,” Sein said to the seven-meter-tall devil.

While the Inferno War Devil had sharp, crimson claws on its left hand, its right arm was fully transformed into a metallic double-headed battle axe.

Pyro elemental energy swirled ominously on the surface of the blade.

Paired with its hideous visage and a set of dark gray horns, the Inferno War Devil was the terrifying fusion of a war machine and a muscular monster.

Sein, who had faced Rank Three Wild Gorillas during the war, had a hunch that even most of them would not be able to withstand the raw force of this devil’s frontal assault.

It was simply... too strong!

“Fine, you mages are really fussy,” the Inferno War Devil growled, its expression showing a hint of impatience.

Despite its evident displeasure, it reverted the transformation of its battle axe to its original form.

Under Sein’s amazed gaze, the double-headed battle axe began morphing back into the devil’s right arm, guided by the precise control of its powerful muscles!

The process was a seamless transformation of metallic elements to flesh and blood!

It was a stunning display of the devil’s mastery over its pyro elemental energy and an example of peak passive evolution!

If this Inferno War Devil had not been a hired assistant, Sein would have been tempted to ask his mentor to capture it as a permanent collection in his laboratory!

Through this powerful being, Sein could see too many glimpses of truths waiting to be unraveled.