Sovereign of the Ashes

Sein was not exactly a saint.

The average life expectancy of Beastmen World’s ratfolk was short—barely a decade or two at most.

It was still hard to believe that native races with such short lives actually existed in a large-sized plane.

The ratfolk in front of Sein looked around seven years old. Judging by their condition, most of them would not even make it to the average life expectancy.

At the rate they were going, another two years of life would already be considered a miracle.

“Based on my research and observation, the theoretical lifespan of ratfolk in Beastmen World should be around forty. Some of the longer-lived variants might reach sixty or seventy,” Leena said, shaking her head.

Leena, who had already seen her fair share of tragedies across Blackhaven territory, was not particularly sympathetic toward the harsh reality of this small beastman kingdom. Her voice remained calm and rational.

”There’s definitely a big gap between theoretical lifespan, average life expectancy, and how long they actually live. Let’s make a note of it. There’s still a lot in this world worth studying,” Sein said.

As Sein and his group passed through the barren fields, many ratfolk looked on from a distance, eyes filled with awe and fear.

As soon as he arrived in this area, Sein had expected to be swarmed by beggars or starving peasants.

In truth, nothing of the sort happened.

The brutal hierarchy of Beastmen World meant that weaker races did not even dare to approach or plead with the strong.

The fact that slavery was not only practiced but legalized here made it clear that this world was very different from most of the allied planes Sein had visited.

In Beastmen World, it was simply unthinkable for the lower classes to defy or even approach their superiors without permission.

Sein and his group did not resemble any of the dominant beastman races, but that did not matter.

The quality of their clothing alone was enough to send a clear message to the locals that they were not people to be trifled with.

Most of the ratfolk they passed wore nothing more than dark belts, just enough to cover their private parts.

Even their farming tools were crude and wooden.

Under conditions like these, how much food could they realistically hope to grow?

Sein and Leena, not being natives of Beastmen World, viewed it all with a limited sense of sympathy.

After all, they were just outsiders trying to observe, understand, and analyze the world.

But Azelia was different. Though she was a fox maiden, she was still a member of Beastmen World.

The suffering all around them struck her hard and made her chest ache.

She wanted to help, but she knew her strength alone could not change anything on a large scale.

In truth, even the Rank Four and above beast gods likely could not change the overall state of this barren world.

At best, they could protect their own tribes—keeping their kingdoms a little better fed, a little less disease-ridden than the rest.

Saving and transforming an entire world was not something a single person could accomplish.

In truth, the Magus Civilization had already been fairly generous toward Beastmen World.

Every century, they provided a round of magicoin aid through the Magus Alliance, but that funding was just a drop in the bucket.

If Beastmen World truly wanted to prosper like Elven World, it would have to grow stronger on its own.

No one could rely on another’s charity forever.

Azelia had grown significantly since returning with Sein from Faeloria.

Back in Purgatory, she had broken through to Rank Two shortly after receiving the Goddess of Luck’s blessing.

Whether her advancement had anything to do with that blessing remained unclear.

But her strength was not the only thing that had grown—her mastery of war songs had also progressed at an astonishing rate.

Without a mentor to guide her or peers to study alongside, most of her improvement came through instinct and self-study.

Even the priest codices from Beastmen World that Sein had provided were of limited help.

Perhaps Azelia had real talent as a shaman priestess. Her war songs had impressed Sein on more than one occasion.

The halos of war songs used by Beastmen World’s shaman priests were a unique way of channeling elemental energy—completely different from conventional magic.

War songs were supportive in nature; they were not meant to be destructive like magic spells.

With her current level of proficiency, Azelia could easily enhance the performance of two thousand beastman warriors in battle.

A beastman army strengthened by war songs fought on an entirely different level compared to one without it.

The ratio of priests in Beastmen World was far lower than that of mages in the Magus World.

Out of ten thousand adult beastmen, a hundred might grow into qualified warriors, but not even one priest was guaranteed to appear.

Most beastmen were all brawn and no brains. The fine control required to manipulate elemental energy was not something these big, brawny types could easily grasp.

That was why priests held far higher status than others of the same rank.

In the Magus World, mages and knights of the same rank tended to hold equal status, though mages were often considered slightly more prestigious.

But in Beastmen World, priests were undeniably more respected than warriors. The difference in social standing could span a full rank, or even two.

Standing at the edge of the wilderness, the fox maiden suddenly broke into a powerful war song.

It was the “Song of Sobriety” that could calm the chaotic minds of frenzied warriors in battle and ease the negative effects of their berserker rage.

The clear, ringing notes carried across the land, sung in the common tongue of Beastmen World.

As tears welled up in Azelia’s eyes, the nearby ratfolk began to bow deeply in gratitude.

For the impoverished ratfolk of Beastmen World, many would go their whole lives without ever seeing a priest, let alone hearing one sing.

A pale blue halo spread out around her, enveloping all the gathered ratfolk in its gentle glow as they prostrated themselves on the ground.

More and more beastmen began to gather, drawn by the light and the voice, like pilgrims to a shrine.

In a small kingdom like Kameron, there were likely no more than a hundred shaman priests in total, including Wind Whisperers[1].

At Rank Two, the fox maiden was now a War Priest.

It was entirely possible that this quiet little kingdom in the southern part of the Du’Nahl Great Wasteland had never seen one before.

With Sein’s quiet nod of approval, Azelia began handing out copper coins to the beastmen around her.

Even a few coins could mean the world to these families.

Sein still had plenty of gold coins on him from earlier currency exchanges, but he knew better than to hand those out.

In a place like this, giving gold to the poor might do more harm than good.

Azelia’s kindness could reach only those gathered here, but what about the millions more suffering across Beastmen World?

It was not a problem they could solve on their own.

Standing beside him, Tourmaline suddenly said, “Her singing voice is beautiful. For a moment, I felt the will of this world resonating with her.”

1. Recap: Wind Whisperers are equivalent to magic initiates of the Magus World. ☜