Sovereign of the Ashes

During his initial conversation with the Phantom Crow King, Sein did not immediately bring up the topic of recruiting it into the Magus Alliance.

Instead, he casually spoke about other matters, like the history of Phantom Crow World, which interested him.

The Phantom Crow King was seen as somewhat of a revolutionary figure among the Phantom Crows, as it was the one who led them in overthrowing the Soul-Eating Beasts and transforming their world into a medium-sized plane.

Its aggressive, expansionist stance aligned with the interests of nearly all Rank Four and above beings in Phantom Crow World.

Naturally, the Rank Four and higher Phantom Crows were fiercely loyal to their king. Some of them were elders who had fought alongside it in the war for control of the plane.

That war was not all that long ago—only about seventy thousand years had passed since.

Understanding the history of Phantom Crow World was also a way for Sein to gain deeper insight into this species.

While the Phantom Crow King hesitated and was still trying to figure out what these Magus World beings truly wanted, Sein had already gathered much of the information he sought.

In his eyes, all the elaborate tales and vivid carvings of that brutal war could not hide one simple truth: the Phantom Crows had only managed to overthrow the Soul-Eating Beasts, creatures above them in the food chain, because of their overwhelming advantage in reproductive ability.

The Phantom Crow’s population was thousands of times larger than that of the Soul-Eating Beasts.

Many of the reliefs depicted swarms of Phantom Crows besieging a massive Soul-Eating Beast.

“The Soul-Eating Beasts that once ruled the fate of the Phantom Crows were now history. So tell me, Phantom Crow King... Are you ready for the next turning point in history?” Sein casually asked as he ran his fingers along the carvings.

The Phantom Crow King let out a confused caw. Lost in its own thoughts, it failed to keep up with Sein’s train of thought.

Blinking its red eyes, the Phantom Crow King asked, “What... do you mean?”

Sein smiled slightly, choosing not to repeat his question right away. Instead, he turned and gestured to the mages behind him.

They slowly unfurled a massive law contract in the hall.

Recruiting a Rank Six creature, along with multiple Rank Four or higher creatures, and an entire medium-sized star domain into the alliance was a matter far too complex for an ordinary magic scroll to handle.

This was a special scroll with binding power; once signed, it would be subject to the constraints of law power.

The massive scroll detailed the rights and obligations that the Phantom Crow King would have upon joining the Magus Alliance.

Judging by the number of clauses that took up two-thirds of the contract scroll, it seemed that the Phantom Crow King’s rights and benefits outweighed its obligations.

Its obligations appeared minimal, covering less than one-third of the scroll’s content.

Even though the contract was written in the Magus World’s language, it was formed through the power of law.

The Phantom Crow King could still understand everything because it could wield the power of laws.

Whether it was the sheer detail of the contract or the fact that the Phantom Crow King had never encountered anything like it before, it read through it slowly and with visible effort.

Knowing that the Phantom Crow King was unfamiliar with the Magus World’s magicoin system, one of the terms in the contract offered Phantom Crow World a gift of two million cubic units of high-quality soul crystals if it agreed to join the Magus Alliance.

The fact that the Magus Civilization offered two million cubic units rather than just two million soul crystals made it clear they were flaunting their wealth and deep reserves.

The conditions offered by Magus World were indeed extremely generous, at least far better than the terms previously offered to Eternal Sand World.

The Phantom Crow King had no reason to refuse!

But faced with such an important law contract, it fell silent once again.

It might be a Rank Six creature that liked to bully the weak, but it was no fool. There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Though it lacked the wisdom to see through all the traps and risks that might be hidden in the contract, it knew at least one thing: the Magus Civilization was not the kind of world civilization that handed out benefits without a reason.

The slap from the God of Beastmen still stung to this day. And even the God of Beastmen was just one of the Magus Civilization’s subordinate forces.

One could only imagine how vast and powerful this civilization and the so-called Magus Alliance really were.

The Phantom Crow King gulped and said, “I would need to think about it first.”

“Of course. I’ll wait for your decision here in Phantom Crow World. Our Magus Civilization is an inclusive and open world civilization. We look forward to welcoming you and Phantom Crow World,” Sein replied.

“I would also be happy to be your friend,” he added with a smile.

Friend... that word sounded so foreign. The Phantom Crow King could not remember having any real friends.

Deep in its memories, it had once had a friend.

But that friend had been devoured by a powerful Soul-Eating Beast.

The fear and confusion from that experience had influenced the Phantom Crow King’s decisions in life.

Sein’s decision to stay in Phantom Crow World and wait, instead of leaving right away, made it clear that the Magus Civilization’s patience was wearing thin. They wanted the Phantom Crow King to make up its mind soon.

The Phantom Crow King stared at Sein with its glowing red eyes for a long while before slowly nodding.

While weighing its options about joining the Magus Alliance, it did not neglect its guests.

Sein and his group were led to a designated area to rest, and the Phantom Crow King even thoughtfully sent over some local specialties as gifts.

Many of these so-called specialties were native creatures brimming with soul power.

The Phantom Crow King’s real intention might have been for Sein and his group to “devour” them.

Because of Phantom Crow World’s unique plane evolution and food chain, many creatures here evolved with a focus on strengthening their souls.

Such soul-rich creatures were pretty rare and valuable specimens.

The mages chose to collect them as specimens, and Sein also examined them with great interest for quite some time.

After hosting Sein and the visitors from the Magus World, the Phantom Crow King summoned its most trusted confidants to gather in its temple.

Across the entire Phantom Crow Star Domain, there were only about thirty creatures of Rank Four or higher.

This time, it summoned just four.

Among them, only one was a Rank Five Phantom Crow; the other three were Rank Four. One of the Rank Fours was a female—the Phantom Crow King’s mate.

“Should we join the Magus Alliance?” the Phantom Crow King asked, presenting the law contract that Sein had left behind.