Sovereign of the Ashes

While Sein and his group were leaving Knight Continent, a Prelim Council was already in session far away in the Sky City.

The Magus Alliance Conference, held roughly once every ten thousand years, was considered the most significant event in the Magus Civilization and the guiding force behind the alliance’s direction.

After all, the fate of countless planes and races might hinge on a single proposal issued during that conference.

In truth, only a few at the very top of the Magus Civilization knew that a smaller, far more exclusive gathering usually took place before the Magus Alliance Conference.

They called it the “Prelim Council”.

It was the one that actually determined the alliance’s core direction and development, setting the agenda for what would later be discussed at the Magus Alliance Conference.

Only those who stood at the absolute pinnacle of the Magus Civilization were qualified to attend.

Every participant was either a knight overlord or a soul overmage native to Magus World without exception.

Not even foreign overlords were permitted to sit at the table.

The council’s purpose was simple: to protect Magus World’s interests!

The speaker at the moment was Clair, a soul overmage from the Alveroth Empire.

“In response to the Gallant Federation’s constant meddling with our allied worlds this past millennium, Magus World has retaliated, and not long ago, we’ve reached a significant milestone,” Clair said.

As he spoke, a glowing azure sphere of elemental light appeared in his hand, gradually forming the image of a planet, its surface covered by many steel structures.

From the details alone, it was clear that this was one of the Gallant Federation’s mechanical worlds.

Judging by its scale and infrastructure, the planet was close to becoming a full medium-sized plane.

Reaching that level of technological growth showed how dangerous the Gallant Federation could become.

A war between the Gallant Federation and the Magus Civilization was inevitable.

Even if the federation did not act first, Magus World eventually would.

Over the past two thousand years, the Gallant Federation had been making plenty of small, calculated moves, while the Magus Civilization had responded only passively.

The Magus Civilization had been busy destroying the Neisse Civilization and dispersing its forces to watch other star domains during this period.

As a result, its overall development actually lagged a bit behind the federation.

Most allied worlds of the Magus Alliance believed the Gallant Federation was Magus World’s greatest enemy and that the two sides were on the brink of war.

Yet only a handful at the very top knew the Gallant Federation was not their most serious threat.

Far beyond the borders of the Magus Alliance, near Grand Cosmic World and Steel Worlds, there lay another immensely powerful civilization: the Amenkha Empire.

When the Magus Civilization first reached top‑tier status, it made brief contact with this world.

If the two had not been separated by such vast distances; if the previous Supreme Knight Overlord had not wounded the strongest being in the Amenkha Empire before leaving the Astral Realm; if the Amenkha Empire had enemies of its own to deal with... The Amenkha Empire, far stronger than Magus World at that time, would likely have invaded them long ago.

Even now, the Magus Civilization kept at least one-third of its army stationed around Grand Cosmic World and Steel Worlds to guard against the Amenkha Empire.

Jehovah Nordin, Rank Seven astrologer of the Eastern Stargazing Heights, had long predicted that Magus Civilization’s gravest crisis would come from that world instead of the Gallant Federation.

That said, over a hundred thousand years had passed since the Magus Civilization first reached its top-tier status.

In the past two hundred thousand years, the Magus World had absorbed the vast heritage of the ancient Azeroth Civilization, claimed the star domains vacated by the Radiant Celestials, and used the Magus Alliance to accelerate its growth at a terrifying speed!

At this point, a war with the Amenkha Empire was no longer something that worried the Magus Civilization’s leadership.

Besides, the Amenkha Empire was just too far away, and launching a war against such a powerful civilization was no easy task.

By contrast, the Gallant Federation was much closer. Dealing with a near rival and removing that immediate threat should be the Magus Civilization’s top priority.

It was worth noting that Magus Civilization’s assessment of both its strength and its threats came from the judgment of its own powerhouses.

Although the Magus Civilization had made contact with several other top-tier civilizations, it had never actually fought an opponent of equal standing since becoming a top-tier civilization.

So while the theoretical data looked promising, theory was not the same as reality.

Even against the Gallant Federation, victory was not guaranteed for the Magus Civilization.

When it came to the far more formidable Amenkha Empire, a few confident Knight Overlords remained optimistic.

But the more level-headed soul overmages were not so sure—they were deeply concerned and pessimistic.

A war with the Gallant Federation, however, would provide the most direct and realistic test of Magus Civilization’s current strength.

Across the allied planes and in certain powerful world civilizations hidden deep in the starry void, many were watching closely as tensions between these two top-tier powers escalated.

Wars at this level were never just about raw power. Strategy, manipulation, and subterfuge were all part of the equation.

The Gallant Federation, for instance, knew it might be slightly weaker in terms of overall power, which was why it had been stirring the pot in recent years.

From the chaos stirred up in Wild Gorilla World, to the bait and traps laid in the Bone Graveyard Star Domain, to its meddling in various member civilizations of the Magus Alliance—all of that could be traced back to the federation.

Of course, the Magus Civilization had not been idle either.

It had responded ruthlessly in Wild Gorilla World, wiped out the Bone Graveyard Star Domain, and stepped up surveillance across its own alliance in recent years.

Apart from that, the Alveroth Empire’s infiltration unit, which had managed to make it deep into Federation territory, had also discovered something huge.

At the council, Clair, the Rank Seven soul overmage from Alveroth, continued his report.

“The Gallant Federation began developing a mechanical planet known as Nexon about a hundred thousand years ago. It houses three of the federation’s top ten heavy-industry labs. Over 31.3% of their top one thousand military manufacturing companies operate factories on that planet. It’s also one of their primary production centers for their robot army.

“Five hundred years ago, we succeeded in turning the Titanfangs—Rank Six robots—on their makers. So long as we continue supporting their push for freedom and independence, the Titanfangs promised to side with us when the war breaks out.”