Sovereign of the Ashes

The tower master truly lived up to his status.

Sein’s speech had been aggressive enough, but he had not anticipated the tower master would take things even further.

Still, it was perfectly in line with Dark Flame’s character.

Upon hearing the tower master’s brazen words, Dean Keith chuckled wryly.

“Has Tower Master always motivated the initiates like this during Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy Wars?” Sein could not help but ask Keith via mental focus.

“Pretty much. Sometimes he doesn’t even bother to show up for these wars, but that incentive has always been part of the tradition,” Keith replied with a nod.

“I see now why the Divine Tower of Dark Flame always performs so well,” Sein remarked.

Fortunately, the Divine Tower of Dark Flame’s pre-war mobilization speech was confined to its own territory, far from the other academies participating in the war within the secret realm.

Had such a bold and bloodthirsty statement been delivered in a shared space, it would undoubtedly have caused an uproar.

Only in the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War—an event designed by the Magus Civilization to train their future soldiers—could such a ruthless approach to initiate hunts be carried out so openly.

What the Tower Master of Dark Flame did was not wrong.

Rather than letting these initiates suffer unprepared in future battles against extraplanar creatures, it was better to let them experience the cruelty of the Astral Realm now.

***

After the pre-battle mobilization, a beautiful elemental gate radiating colorful light appeared before the Divine Tower of Dark Flame mages.

Led by Quasi Mages and followed by junior initiates, all magic initiates entered the gate in an orderly fashion.

The minimum requirement for participation in the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War was achieving the rank of junior initiate.

The Divine Tower of Dark Flame had the smallest number of participants, with only fifteen thousand initiates.

By comparison, the other five divine towers, even the younger ones with only Rank Four tower masters, each fielded over twenty thousand initiates.

In total, the six Divine Tower Academies sent nearly two hundred thousand initiates into the trial.

Among them, the Divine Tower of Astral Sun stood out with the largest and strongest contingent, boasting more than sixty thousand initiates.

Next was the Divine Tower of Gray Plume, which deployed over forty thousand initiates.

The forces of these two Rank Five divine towers participating in this year’s war were nothing short of formidable.

Initially, Sein and Keith had estimated that the Divine Tower of Astral Sun would send just over fifty thousand initiates, and the Divine Tower of Gray Plume around thirty thousand—numbers that were already impressive.

Yet, the actual figures far exceeded their expectations!

While the Divine Tower of Dark Flame had grown stronger over time, it was clear the other divine towers had not stagnated.

There was another reason, however, why the five neighboring divine towers saw increased participation this year.

Many initiates who had previously been part of the Divine Tower of Dark Flame had defected to these rival academies.

It was not just the initiates—full-fledged mages from the Divine Tower of Dark Flame had also joined the surrounding divine towers, their familiar faces now scattered among the ranks of other towers.

For example, a demigod-level mage who had once belonged to the Divine Tower of Dark Flame was now leading the Divine Tower of Flamewoven Sandbox’s initiate team.

By the look of it, he had clearly risen to the ranks of deans within his new academy.

Acting as team leader, this demigod-level mage had naturally noticed the fleeting presence of Dark Flame hovering briefly in the sky above the secret realm.

Though his heart still harbored resentment over Dark Flame’s decisions during the Gumo Plane War, he had no idea how to act in the presence of his old tower master.

It was an extremely awkward situation for him.

Dark Flame never dwelled on his former subordinate mages, he probably had not even noticed the demigod-level mage.

After the initiate mobilization, the Rank Five Tower Master vanished from the trial space.

No one knew whether he had hidden himself somewhere to silently observe the academy war or had simply departed.

In contrast, the other Tower Masters remained instead of returning to their laboratories.

When the teleportation gates of the various divine tower academies appeared, these tower masters ascended to positions high above the trial space.

Much like Lorianne and the other divine tower masters in the past, these powerful grand mages—whose long lifespans afforded them ample time—intended to observe the academy war.

For them, this academy war, which could span two or three years, was a welcome diversion from their usual routines of experiments and research.

Mages were human too, and even the most dedicated researcher needed to cultivate other interests.

Sein did not join the tower masters above the trial space—his current life level did not allow him to reach such heights.

Keith remained behind at the divine tower. From there, he would monitor the individual score rankings and oversee the academy’s daily affairs.

As for Sein, he traveled to a designated observation point within the trial space alongside other deans from rival academies.

Their role was to ensure the smooth operation of the trial space, and they were strictly forbidden from intervening—even if a so-called genius initiate were to face mortal danger.

This was also an opportunity for them to identify initiates with exceptional talent and potential within their academies.

Every Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War was followed by a surge of breakthroughs among initiates, as well as a peak period for full-fledged mages to take on new apprentices.

Although Sein had no plans to accept apprentices for the time being, that did not stop him from closely observing the performances of these youngsters he had trained.

As fate would have it, Sein spotted two familiar faces among the observers in this section of the trial space: Adrian and Janice, both Rank Three grand mages from the Divine Tower of Astral Sun.

Adrian and Janice were not deans, they were solely here to help maintain the normal operation of the trial space.

The leading mage from the Divine Tower of Astral Sun was a middle-aged man with a short black beard, clad in a brown magic robe. He exuded an oppressive aura that clearly signified his status as a demigod-level powerhouse.

Despite their unpleasant interactions in the past, Sein nodded politely to Adrian and Janice when their paths crossed.

Adrian returned the gesture with a courteous nod, but Janice, true to her temperamental nature, was far less composed.

The Summoner rolled her eyes at Sein and let out a sharp, disdainful snort as she crossed her arms over her chest and turned away.

Janice’s petty reaction did nothing to ruin Sein’s mood as he observed the trial. If anything, her antics struck him as mildly amusing.

His gaze flickered briefly to Janice’s attire—a white and gold dress that clung tightly to her figure, emphasizing her chest.

Janice appeared oblivious to Sein’s glance.

With all the participating initiates from the various divine tower academies now inside the trial space, the regional academy war officially began!

Sein could not help but applaud shortly after the war’s commencement, his spirits lifted by the promising start.

The initiates from the Divine Tower of Dark Flame Academy had heeded the advice shared by Sein, Keith, and the tower master during their pre-war speeches.

Shortly after descending into the trial space, a team of one hundred initiates abandoned the conventional strategy of securing resource points in their own region.

Instead, they boldly launched an attack on the neighboring zone, earning a round of applause from observers!

None of the initiates from the other divine tower academies could have foreseen such a daring and calculated move at the very start of the war.

This bold tactic was unprecedented, never before witnessed in previous academy wars!

The zone targeted by the Divine Tower of Dark Flame initiates happened to belong to the resource-rich Divine Tower of Astral Sun.

Sein took note of the leader of these daring young initiates—a promising talent whose name he mentally filed away.

While Sein was clearly pleased, the Divine Tower of Astral Sun mages, who were also observing this trial, were far less so.

Master Janice, in particular, looked utterly incensed. Her pretty face had turned as pale and icy as frost.