Sovereign of the Ashes

Regardless of the world, the deep, dark underground remained synonymous with “mystery” for surface creatures.

Beyond the physical obstruction of sight, the psychological pressure of the unknown darkness left most creatures accustomed to the surface environment hesitant—if not outright resistant—to delve beneath the surface.

This unease even extended to the two fearless female t-rexes known as Reina and Natalya.

Sein, however, was different. He had spent his initiate years in the dark, underground world.

Even during his time studying magic at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, he gravitated toward quiet, dim research spaces. Perhaps it was an unconscious remnant of the habits instilled during his initiate days.

While most surface creatures in the Magus World exhibited an innate rejection of the oppressive underground environment, Sein felt an inexplicable affinity for it.

In the darkness, Sein found solace.

Perhaps only someone like Sein, who had lived and adapted to the dark, could feel at ease in such an environment.

The Rank Three Goul Groundworm’s escape was pretty swift.

Even with Sein’s formidable mental focus, he only managed to follow the creature’s trail for about ten minutes before ultimately losing its presence amidst the complex underground network.

When they first descended from the surface, the passage before Sein and his companions was a single tunnel, carved out by the fleeing Rank Three Goul Groundworm.

However, as they delved deeper—roughly a thousand meters below the surface—the scene transformed.

Countless pitch-black tunnels branched out, leading into stalactite-lined grottos and cavernous spaces.

As expected, the underground world of different planes shared similarities—the one in Gumo Plane immediately reminded Sein of Gloomhaven in the Magus World.

Yet, unlike Gloomhaven, the Akre Plains’ underground network boasted a wider space with more spacious caves and grottos.

It resembled a sprawling labyrinth, thanks to the innate burrowing abilities of the Goul Groundworms.

It could be said that not just the Akre Plains, but two-thirds of the entire Gumo Plane’s underground had been carved out by these creatures, creating an environment perfectly suited to their survival.

If not for their small size and limited intelligence, the ordinary Goul Groundworms might have established their own kingdom long ago, rising as the sole dominant species of Gumo Plane.

The underground world of our Magus World is home to a vast array of luminous plants and special minerals due to the high concentration of magic elements and energies throughout the plane. Their dim glow that seems insignificant to surface creatures provides the very source of life to the Underworld,” Sein remarked.

“But this Gumo Plane... It doesn’t appear to have many lumen elemental ores or glowing plants,” Sein paused, a slight frown crossing his face.

To Natalya and Reina, who were unacquainted with the Underworld of the Magus World, this vast underground space was the embodiment of mystery and the unknown.

Though knights were trained to rely on their strength, at this moment, the calm, knowledgeable tone of Sein brought an inexplicable reassurance to the two women.

This was the sense of security that a learned spellcaster could provide.

Natalya pressed closer to Sein’s lumen elemental body, though he could not tell if she was genuinely uneasy in the darkness or merely using it as an excuse to stay close.

Meanwhile, Yuri, nestled within her mecha, curled her lips in envy. She, too, wished she could be in Sein’s arms, but such thoughts remained hers alone.

The light emanating from Sein’s lumen elemental body illuminated their immediate surroundings, but it was a mere speck against the vast expanse of the underground world.

While observing the differences between the underground world of Gumo Plane and that of the Magus World, Sein led Reina and the others onward.

Though the fleeing Rank Three Goul Groundworm remained elusive for the time being, Sein’s mental focus, aided by several detection spells, quickly uncovered signs of other life forms nearby.

Sein did not necessarily need to target Rank Two or Rank Three creatures from this foreign plane.

Even eliminating a significant number of Rank One creatures or native cannon fodder legions would earn him mission points from the Divine Tower of Dark Flame’s command center.

This underground space beneath the Akre Plains was undoubtedly teeming with Goul Groundworms—many of whom had likely burrowed deep for shelter after being injured during the war.

***

Research was the cornerstone of a mage’s existence, not combat.

While some might find the monotony of study unappealing, the vast majority of Magus World mages, including Sein, took great pleasure in it.

On the seventeenth day after delving into the underground world of the Akre Plains, Sein had already set up a laboratory in a grotto excavated by external forces.

Only someone as eccentric as Sein would conduct research in the midst of a war.

During this time, Sein, Natalya, and Reina had explored various corners of this underground space, gathering rare materials inaccessible to surface creatures.

Among their discoveries were gray lakes, acrid black underground rivers, native humanoid creatures standing no more than a meter tall with no eyes, and a host of unfamiliar extraplanar magic beasts.

It became clear that the underground resources of Gumo Plane had been remarkably well preserved, revealing a wealth far beyond what had been estimated before the war.

The Goul Groundworms, through countless millennia of burrowing, surviving, and reproducing, had unwittingly constructed a second world beneath the surface.

The Goul Groundworms’ secretions were highly viscous bodily fluids that could fortify the vast network of caves and prevent large-scale collapses in the underground environment.

Even their feces, as Sein’s research uncovered, were rich in organic compounds, providing fertile soil for low-level flora and fauna.

This explained the remarkable biodiversity and vibrancy of the underground world!

Should the Divine Tower of Dark Flame succeed in conquering Gumo Plane, they would not just gain dominion over the surface resources.

They would also inherit the underground world, with its immense breadth and depth—effectively gaining control over two worlds instead of just one!

Only Gumo Plane, with its unique and abundant Goul Groundworms, could produce such an extraordinary dual ecosystem.

It was no wonder that Rank Five Tower Master of Dark Flame had no intention of sharing Gumo Plane with other Rank Four and above Magus World powerhouses.

Regardless of the cost of the war, the immense resource wealth of Gumo Plane would more than repay any losses!