Sovereign of the Ashes

If Sein’s path to Rank Three revolved around the fusion of multiple rare and unique pyro elemental energies, Adrian’s path was rooted in the meticulous and specialized study of pyro elemental fusion.

At this stage, it was difficult to determine which was superior—the mystery of truth Sein unraveled or Adrian’s research outcome.

Each had its own distinct characteristics, and both were formidable in terms of raw lethality!

The twin nuclear bombs unleashed by Adrian caused two small mushroom clouds to rise from the hilly area in the southern part of the Petrified Forest.

Despite his immense power, Adrian was still a traditional mage.

Close combat was not his forte, unlike Sein, whose unconventional fighting style often turned the tide in battles against opponents of equal strength.

Master Janice’s Baneful Green Python had fallen quickly largely due to its lack of knowledge about Sein’s abilities and combat style.

Adrian’s magic robe billowed as he raised a green magic rod.

With the trained eye of an alchemist, Sein quickly identified the rod as a top-grade weapon.

As the mushroom cloud of smoke cleared, Sein stood at the center of the explosion, his body encased in a shield of Ashen Flame.

Rather than being weakened by the impact of the nuclear blast, the Ashen Flame flared even more intensely.

“Can it absorb pyro energy?” Sein could not help but wonder.

The Ashen Flame was a new form of pyro elemental energy he had gained following his promotion to Rank Three, and much about it remained a mystery to him.

This unexpected property had not been part of Sein’s original research. It appeared to be one of those “accidents” that often emerged during experiments.

With so many special flames fused together, their ultimate form had been unpredictable from the start.

In addition to the flame absorption ability, Sein had also noticed a peculiar property during his battle with Janice—a distinct energy erosion effect on her magic barrier.

This effect bore similarities to the Azure Flame’s decomposition ability on metal particles.

Whatever changes the Ashen Flame had undergone, further study in the laboratory would be required to fully understand its properties.

While Sein marveled at the unique properties of Ashen Flame, the Divine Tower of Astral Sun mages stood silently, observing him.

Adolff, the Rank Three grand mage from the Divine Tower of Astral Sun who had also arrived at the battlefield, chose not to engage in the ongoing clash between Adrian, Janice, and Sein.

Instead, the old mage quickly moved to the edge of the chaotic battlefield, gathering the Rank One and Rank Two mages who had been injured by Sein’s earlier attacks.

With the intensity of the battle between Rank Three mages escalating, leaving these severely wounded lower-ranked mages on the field would have significantly increased the risk of them being further harmed by the shockwaves of the ongoing clash—a misfortune they could ill afford.

Whether it was Adrian’s Nuclear Fusion technique or Sein’s Ashen Flame, both unleashed devastating power far beyond what ordinary mages could not endure.

Meanwhile, Janice, who had been under relentless pressure from Sein since the start of the confrontation, refused to withdraw even after Adrian’s arrival.

At four thousand years old, Janice was considered to be in the late middle age of her Rank Three grand mage lifespan.

Despite being clearly outmatched by Sein, she showed no sign of conceding. Her defiance seemed rooted in her unyielding, headstrong personality.

Sounds of rapid spell chanting filled the battlefield as she scattered handfuls of magic spices on the messy battlefield.

While Sein and Adrian were locked in their initial exchange of blows, Janice completed her spellcasting.

Several elemental light gates materialized across the battlefield.

After a brief pause, strange, otherworldly creatures began pouring out of the gates, surging directly toward Sein.

In the Magus World, Summoners were always known for fighting in groups.

Ordinary Rank One and Rank Two Summoners could summon only a handful of contracted creatures at a time, with strict limits on both the duration and number of summons.

However, as a Rank Three grand mage with exceptional summoning skills, Janice opened what was known as “Dimensional Gates” and summoned a small army of extraplanar creatures.

Only Summoners of Janice’s caliber could become a one-person legion, fully demonstrating the overwhelming strength of this specialized profession.

Sein had some experience with summoning, though his methods were vastly different—he had called upon Sanchez, a skeletal dragon from the Undead World, to assist him in battle.

However, Sein’s summoning technique relied primarily on Sanchez’s dragon bone and the death energy within the skeletal dragon.

It was far from the traditional summoning arts, and Sein had never learned the buff spells typically wielded by Summoners to enhance their summoned creatures.

Furthermore, Sein had not cultivated a friendship with Sanchez. In fact, the skeletal dragon had suffered greatly during the Wild Gorilla World War thanks to Sein.

It ended up returning to the Undead World severely wounded after that war.

Were it not for the significant benefits Sanchez had gained during the Wild Gorilla World War, it was unlikely the skeletal dragon would ever respond to Sein’s summons again.

***

As Sein clashed fiercely with a Summoner and a Pyromancer in the southern part of the forest, the sovereign of magic beasts dwelling deep within the northern reaches of the Petrified Forest gazed southward with a mix of fear and unease.

The Petrifying Tortoise was far from weak among the Rank Three magic beasts of the Magus World.

With its ability to release powerful petrification rays, it feared no magic beast of its rank and had even once faced off against a Rank Three dragon in a territorial dispute.

Yet, even the mightiest of magic beasts knew to tread carefully when dealing with the knights and mages of the Magus World.

Looking at its trembling Rank One and Rank Two subordinates, the Petrifying Tortoise opened its jaws as if to speak, but ultimately let out a heavy sigh.

“For now, let’s avoid venturing to the outskirts of the forest,” it said solemnly.

As if to reinforce the Petrifying Tortoise’s warning, another series of deafening explosions erupted from the southern forest, far more intense than before.

“I wonder when this chaos will finally end...” the tortoise muttered, its voice heavy with resignation.

The resulting mushroom clouds were massive and white this time, nearly seven times the size of the previous ones.

It was a chilling sight that seemed to sap the courage of all who beheld it!

Pitch-black storm clouds gathered ominously over the southern sky.

Rumble!

Bolts of blue lightning lighted up the dark clouds, foretelling the arrival of torrential rain.

A violent hurricane tore through the southern forest, its fierce wings toppling trees like matchsticks.

This destructive gale was not caused by aero elemental energy but by the powerful collisions of pyro elemental energy with other elemental forces.

CRAAACK!

A massive pillar of lightning cleaved the sky, briefly illuminating the forest in a dazzling flash of light.

In the midst of the electrifying chaos, the Petrifying Tortoise’s cloudy gray eyes widened in shock.

It seemed to have glimpsed a towering pyro elemental giant catching a scorching, dazzling miniature sun with its two hands.