Sovereign of the Ashes

The distant sun began its ascent early in the morning, casting a golden glow across the land.

Warmth returned to the world once again.

Blessed with gentle natural conditions, Faeloria supported a diverse and thriving population.

After setting up a simple underground laboratory, Sein placed the five captives inside before returning to the wooden cabin.

There, he found the girl already awake.

She slept only a few hours each night, always rising with the first rays of sunlight that flooded the cabin.

Upon seeing Sein, her face lit up with excitement.

She staggered slightly as she leaped into Sein’s arms, whispering, “Big Brother...”

Normally, as a visitor from another world, Sein would avoid forming emotional attachments to the native inhabitants.

But this girl was different.

He sighed softly and produced a bright red strip of cloth he had found in the sewer the night before.

The girl reacted with shock; the flower of death at the back of her head trembled, signaling intense mental activity.

Tears streamed down her face as she clung to Sein, burying her head against his chest and murmuring, “Big Brother... Big brother...”

Sein tied the red cloth around her hair into a ribbon, pulling her sparse hair into a ponytail.

The withered gray strands indicated her weakened soul essence and the death energy eroding her body.

She was born human but had been transformed into what Sein termed a “half-undead.”

Given the state of Sein’s current laboratory equipment and his knowledge, it would take time to figure out how to get rid of the flower of death and improve the girl’s constitution.

He had to admit that his years assisting the Spider Queen’s clone in the laboratory had not only deepened his understanding of umbra and necromantic elements but had also significantly enhanced his knowledge of magic arrays.

This fishing village, along with nearby Blackwater City, was not a place to linger for long.

It was likely that the group of five from the previous night had come to deal with the siblings who had been left to roam this remote village.

With a Rank One being and four adventurers missing, the Church of Bones in Blackwater City would surely take notice within a few days, no matter how dull they might be.

However, before leaving the area, Sein needed to make a trip to Blackwater City.

Only within the city’s three religious organizations could he uncover more about the true nature of this world.

The information he had gleaned from the adventurers’ minds was too superficial, too generic.

Although the girl still appeared sickly pale, the vibrant red ribbon in her hair lent her a hint of life and energy.

This girl had a beautiful face, but the suffering she endured had worn away her beauty.

Sein paused for a moment before taking out the black crystal that had remained after he killed the gray monster.

He fastened the crystal to the ribbon in the girl’s hair, where it rested like an onyx accessory.

The faint aura of death energy it emitted resonated with the girl’s current state.

The familiar aura within the crystal immediately won her favor, increasing her reliance on Sein.

Although the gray monster was gone, the crystal carried a lingering trace of its presence.

In this way, the siblings would remain connected, as inseparable as if her big brother were still by her side.

Sein had inspected the black crystal before and concluded that it was just a common, flawed necromantic heart core.

He did not deny that sentimentality had played a part in his actions.

***

During the day, the girl would venture out to collect firewood and search for food.

Despite her limited intelligence and extremely unstable mental state, her survival instincts remained intact.

Sein allowed her to continue these activities without interference.

At night, she promptly crawled into bed and snuggled up beside Sein.

It was likely that the flower of death at the back of her head, which was most active at night, exacerbated her mental distress, leaving her drowsy and difficult to awaken.

After the girl fell asleep, Sein quietly left the cabin to visit the underground laboratory he had set up the day before.

He exchanged his tattered robe for a pristine white lab coat.

In his hands, he held two scalpels.

Under the glow of the magic incandescent lamps, the sharp tools gleamed coldly, adding an eerie chill to the laboratory.

Aside from these scalpels, tools such as tweezers, clamps, scissors, and a patella hammer were all readily available.

Dissection and vivisection were Sein’s fortes.

Even during his early days as an initiate at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Academy, his dissection skills had garnered praise from seasoned mages.

Now, his expertise was even more polished.

This underground laboratory was outfitted with numerous specialized devices that lay beyond the understanding of ordinary people.

They were all Sein’s treasures, essential for uncovering the truths he pursued.

Fortunately, Sein had managed to bring all his research equipment to this foreign world.

Without these tools, even with his vast knowledge, conducting research in this world would have been immensely challenging.

On the experimental table, the captives capable of basic movement watched Sein approach with terror in their eyes.

To this day, these unfortunate individuals still did not understand what they had done to provoke a “Legendary Being” like Sein.

Sadly, their prayers to their gods went unanswered.

After all, gods of Rank Four or higher would hardly be bothered by mere pests of Rank One or lower.

In any world, only a select few possessed the ability to communicate with the gods.

Many beings of Rank Three did not even qualify to disturb the gods.

Sein’s previous encounter with the Spider Queen in the underworld was sheer bad luck, as her consciousness had descended into a nearby temple at that time.

For deities who had embraced the faith system, there was a chance they might sense someone invoking their divine or true name.

However, this method was unreliable, especially over great distances.