Sovereign of the Ashes

During the mecha upgrade process, Sein gave Yuri a great deal of autonomy in making decisions about the modifications.

Faced with the temptation of significantly increasing her combat ability, Yuri nodded in agreement without hesitation.

The thrusters used in war airships would give her short-term burst speeds comparable to those of Rank Three creatures.

The energy crystal used in prism forts would also vastly enhance her combat endurance.

What if the thrusters on her mecha’s back were hit during a battle?

What if the base material of her mecha could not withstand the prolonged elemental conductivity of the prism fort-grade energy crystal?

None of that mattered right now.

In this world, nothing was absolutely safe.

Even the constructs of technological civilizations required constant testing and maintenance to remain functional.

Yet the Magus World’s Rank Three mages never had to undergo any routine “body maintenance” after every battle.

This was the fundamental difference between technological civilizations and cultivation civilizations.

While Old Peyton had a valid point and Yuri had already agreed to the modification, Sein still wished to prioritize her safety above all else.

For example, instead of using the ordinary thrusters that Peyton had salvaged and hoarded, Sein ordered brand-new, reinforced unit directly from the factory.

The same went for the energy crystal—though Peyton insisted that the ones he had were absolutely fine, Sein sourced an even higher-quality version for Yuri.

In addition to that, the Burning Flame Unit was fully upgraded, and all other materials used were the latest models.

The word “expensive” was an understatement!

Even with Peyton’s extensive connections in Sky City’s heavy industry laboratory, allowing him to source components at the lowest internal prices, the total cost of Yuri’s mecha upgrade still came close to twenty thousand magicoins.

That did not even include Peyton’s labor costs.

If Sein had not known Old Peyton personally and had to source everything directly through Sky City himself, the price tag for such an upgrade would have been over sixty thousand magicoins.

For an alchemist, nothing was more gratifying or exhilarating than crafting top-tier magic artifacts with their own hands.

Old Peyton had not expected Sein to be so wealthy—or so willing to spend!

Not only had Sein paid the ten thousand magicoins fee, but the top-tier alchemy materials he ordered through Peyton alone were enough to ignite the old man’s full enthusiasm for creation.

The modification and upgrade of the Burning Flame Unit took them half a year.

Since the factory’s tasks could not be put on hold, the old man and Sein worked tirelessly, day and night.

The final result was, of course, a masterpiece.

The original Burning Flame Unit, which once stood a little over twenty meters, had been reinforced and transformed into a huge mecha of over fifty meters.

Four thrusters of different lengths were mounted on its back like a row of metallic wings.

Thanks to Sein’s ample resources and payment, Peyton even installed additional mini-jet boosters in the mecha’s feet and hands.

These would enhance flight speed while also serving as secondary weapons.

With a prism fort-grade energy crystal and a space fortress-grade energy converter, the mecha could now wield even more powerful mounted weaponry.

The original main cannon, once embedded in the Burning Flame Unit’s chest, had been deemed too weak by Peyton, so he replaced it with a Black Hole Particle Cannon—his own personal creation.

A single shot from this cannon could match the full-force attack of a Rank Three creature.

If charged for a period, it could fire a Black Hole Beam, with destructive power nearing that of a demigod.

Of course, such immense firepower came at a price—even with Sein’s top-tier modifications, the mecha could only fire a few shots before its energy reserves were depleted.

Beyond the main cannon, Peyton outfitted Yuri’s armor with an arsenal of auxiliary weapons, mounted on its shoulder armor, arms, legs, and back.

At Sein’s suggestion, Peyton even integrated an energy lightsaber into the mecha’s wrist.

Rather than calling it an upgrade, it was a revolutionary transformation.

Even with centuries of experience, Peyton had not undertaken a project of this scale in hundreds of years.

The experimental research Old Man Peyton had been involved in at the heavy industry laboratory was undoubtedly more rigid and structured than this mecha upgrade project.

Yet, that had been a team-driven alchemy experiment, completely different from this private undertaking.

Now, after this extensive remodeling, Yuri’s Burning Flame Unit bore a signature style uniquely Peyton’s, and the old man was more than satisfied with the outcome.

The inclusion of a Black Hole Particle Cannon had actually been Peyton’s own idea, so Sein had only paid two thousand magicoins for the cost of the materials.

After the upgrade was complete, there was a surplus of top-tier materials due to the large initial investment.

At Sein’s suggestion, and with Peyton still riding the high of his success, the old man nodded without much hesitation, agreeing to use the leftover materials to enhance Yuri’s other standard-model mechas.

As a Neisse Civilization engineer, Yuri could control more than just one mecha.

While Peyton continued working on the mechas, Sein turned to Yuri and said, “With this upgrade, your combat strength will definitely reach Rank Three level. Even so, you shouldn’t neglect your training to improve your mental focus.”

“The Neisse Civilization’s evolutionary system emphasizes both mental focus and mecha. I hope to see you grow even more in the future,” he added.

Yuri nodded, her infatuated gaze split between Sein and her newly upgraded mecha.

As a major world civilization, Neisse Civilization had produced experts on par with Rank Seven overlords—their evolutionary system was anything but weak.

Sein did not want Yuri to become a subordinate completely dependent on external mechas.

Comprehensive growth was the only path to true strength.

***

Once Peyton finished enhancing and upgrading Yuri’s additional ten or so standard-model mechas, it was time for Sein to leave.

His trip to Sky City had never been solely about upgrading Yuri’s mecha units.

During his time collaborating with Old Peyton, Sein had absorbed an immense amount of the old man’s alchemy techniques.

Even without the upgraded mechas, the sheer alchemy knowledge he had gained was worth more than the tens of thousands of magicoins he had spent here.

After all, knowledge was priceless.