Sovereign of the Ashes

Under normal circumstances, even if Sein had laughed out loud, the Faceless Mask—being a world-class secret treasure—would have perfectly concealed his reaction.

But right now, all of the Faceless Mask’s power was being used to suppress the extremely active and turbulent state of the lawful body inside Sein.

As a result, its concealment ability was not as strong as before.

That said, it was also because Sein himself still had limited control over the artifact. He could not yet bring out the full potential of something so powerful.

His laugh had not been loud, and he was in a far corner of the hall.

Most people would not have noticed such a small detail, but Aelid was a Rank Four mage. His powerful mental focus allowed him to instantly catch the brief trace of emotion that Sein had unintentionally revealed.

The Rank Four mage’s brow furrowed slightly as he turned his gaze toward Sein.

As if following his lead, most of the mages in the hall also turned to look in the same direction.

“Sein?” Selphy’s eyes lit up, and she waved cheerfully at him.

She had arrived at the tower a month ago, thinking she was already too late and had missed the gathering entirely.

To her relief, Grandmaster Feylis had arrived even later.

Selphy had the kind of personality that naturally drew people in. She got along well with many in the Verdant Flame Faction. She was also Aelid’s junior—both of them had been apprentices of the late Master Andres.

“Selphy, you know him?” Aelid asked, his tone tinged with displeasure.

There was something strange about Sein’s aura—energetic, but suppressed.

Still, Aelid did not think much of it. He instinctively categorized Sein as just another Rank Three grand mage.

Of course, a Rank Three grand mage was not low status in the Magus World. They were certainly powerful, but it all depended on they were compared to.

Some mages remained at Rank Three their entire lives, unable to take the leap to Rank Four.

That leap required a true transformation in the very essence of life—a transition from the mortal to the divine.

And Sein’s quiet laughter from earlier had clearly carried a mocking tone, as if he had seen straight through Aelid’s shortcomings.

So it was not surprising that Aelid felt a little irritated—being mocked by someone who appeared to be weaker than him would grate on anyone’s nerves.

“Yes,” Selphy said with a smile, turning to her senior. “That’s Sein, Master Lorianne’s sole apprentice.”

When he heard that Sein was Lorianne’s apprentice, Aelid’s expression noticeably relaxed.

He nodded, then turned to Sein and said, “It seems this junior of mine has a few thoughts about what I just said.”

“If you have something to add, feel free to speak. At a gathering like this, everyone’s voice should be heard,” he added with a smile.

“No, I don’t have any suggestions or comments,” Sein replied, shaking his head.

Calling out a Rank Four mage in front of a crowd was not exactly a smart move—especially when there was no real conflict of interest between them.

After realizing his mistake, Sein quickly pulled himself together.

He also noticed that Selphy had reached Rank Three. Her advancement speed was... pretty fast.

According to the Faceless Mask’s analysis, her strength was still at the early stage of Rank Three, so she must have been recently promoted.

Sein’s choice to take a step back only made Aelid’s smile widen.

People eager to prove themselves, or cover something up, often showed overly strong or defensive reactions without meaning to.

Whether or not Aelid had exaggerated parts of his story about fighting that Rank Four creature, only he knew for sure.

Maybe Gregory and Bernice knew too, but the two had been whispering to each other the whole time and had not paid much attention to what was going on in the hall.

To be fair, Aelid’s account of the Rank Four battle was meant to illustrate high-level combat to the younger apprentices in the faction.

It served to spark their ambition and fighting spirit.

Besides, showing off now and then was part of being young.

Back in the day, Gregory had been far more arrogant and overbearing than Aelid, who at least carried himself with elegance.

In his early years, Gregory had even beaten up more than a few Rank Four mages and knights.

“Fighting Rank Four creatures isn’t something a lower-ranking being can simply attempt,” Aelid warned.

“The one time I encountered a hostile creature of that rank while still stuck at the peak of Rank Three, I had no choice but to run for my life as fast as I could. So, whenever Rank Four creatures show up on the battlefield, my advice is simple—evacuate immediately. The gap between ranks may seem small, but it’s like the difference between two worlds.”

Aelid’s words earmed a quiet nod of agreement from Sein.

He had fought Rank Four creatures before and knew all too well that beings of that rank and beyond were not to be taken lightly.

Back in Faeloria, when facing Furey, an intermediate deity who had descended as a saint, Sein had felt utterly powerless.

Even though the Avatar Crisis had weakened Furey, maintaining Rank Four strength for a short while was nothing for him.

That alone showed just how lucky it had been for Sein to hunt down so many divine relics in Faeloria.

If all those gods had been at full strength, even the weaker ones would not have been easy opponents!

Sein’s approving nod caught Aelid’s attention again.

It was a bit odd—out of a crowd of a thousand mages, this guy kept glancing only at Sein. Not anyone else.

Could it be that Aelid, a fellow genius, had noticed something strange about Sein?

“Junior, you seem like a mage with a story or two to tell,” Aelid said with a smile. “Why not share some of your experiences with us?”

“If you’ve hit any bottlenecks in your pursuit of truth, feel free to bring those up too. This is a casual gathering—maybe someone here can help. Just earlier, I helped Flamey, Rikdor, and a few others work through some of their problems,” he added.

His gaze then settled directly on Sein again.

“By the way, shouldn’t you take that mask off? Even if this is a casual gathering, some basic courtesy still applies. Don’t you think it is a bit impolite to keep it on while we’re talking?”

At last, Aelid realized what had felt off about him. Aside from Sein’s strange aura, the mask stood out the most.

What surprised him most was that he could not see through it—he had no sense of Sein’s true appearance at all.

Aelid’s comments sparked murmurs of agreement across the hall.

Very few of them actually knew Sein. Selphy had only recognized him through the Faceless Mask because she was familiar with him, unlike the others.

From their point of view, Aelid had a valid point. This was not some shady secret meeting. Showing up with face hidden under a mask definitely came off as suspicious.

Under the mask, Sein frowned.

He had no intention of causing a scene or stirring up bad blood. He genuinely liked the atmosphere of the Verdant Flame Faction.

Especially after surviving the brutal initiate days at the black magic academy, this kind of camaraderie was something he now deeply cherished.

His right hand slowly reached for the mask. Just as he started to lift it, revealing the first narrow slit...

Feylis, who had just entered the hall, did not even stop to greet her two apprentices.

She immediately shouted, “You can’t take it off!”