Sovereign of the Ashes

After exchanging a few words with the Phantom Crow King in the starry sky, Sein took it along and descended toward Howling Stone World below.

As they were about to enter, at least a thousand different detection spectra swept over them.

Among them, a golden light stood out the most, but the moment it made contact with the Magus Alliance Conference invitations carried by Sein and the Phantom Crow King, all the scanning signals scattered and dispersed.

Seeing such a spectacle for the first time, the Phantom Crow King gradually forgot its anxiety and confusion. It began scanning the strange environment around it with interest.

Tens of thousands of Rank Four and above beings, all gathered in one place!

The Phantom Crow King felt like it had gone mad—or maybe it was just numb.

At least it managed to keep its composure and avoid embarrassing itself.

It was, after all, still a Rank Six being—one that ranked in the upper middle among all members of the Magus Alliance.

According to the Phantom Crow King, it had left Phantom Crow World fifty years ago to attend the conference here.

With Magus Civilization legions already stationed in its star domain, it could have simply used the teleportation arrays they had established.

But the cost of using those arrays was outrageous, especially for a Rank Six lifeform like it.

Since joining the Magus Alliance, the Phantom Crow King had come to understand clearly what the magicoins in its possession were truly worth.

On top of that, Phantom Crow World was now crawling with development teams from the Magus Civilization.

Over the past few centuries, it had made a fortune selling resources from its star domain, not to mention the tens of millions of magicoins in aid it had received earlier from the Magus Alliance.

By any standard, the Phantom Crow King was wealthy.

Even so, perhaps out of instinct, it eventually stopped paying for teleportation and chose to fly instead.

Fortunately, as a Rank Six creature, its speed was more than enough. While it arrived a bit late, it was not too late.

Many foreign gods in the alliance traveled the same way before the conference.

This just went to show how useful it was to own a space fortress or a dedicated flying vessel.

“You should consider buying one of the space fortresses produced by our Magus Civilization,” Sein suggested.

The Phantom Crow King hesitated, nodded, but then shook its head again. “It’s too expensive.”

***

This time, the Phantom Crow King attended the Magus Alliance Conference alone.

Since its star domain had only recently joined the Magus Alliance, Magus World sent an additional invitation solely to the Phantom Crow King, without extending it to any other Rank Four or higher beings from Phantom Crow Star Domain.

The same applied to Eternal Sand World and Submerged Wave World.

For this conference, those two planes would also have just one representative each.

It was a stark contrast to Titan World, where thousands of deities gathered together in force.

When it came to numbers and presence, the difference was enormous.

After stepping back into Howling Stone World, Sein led the Phantom Crow King toward the area where the Titan deities were.

The Sandworm Queen from White Sand World should have received an invitation to the conference as well, yet he still had not spotted her anywhere.

He had no idea where Lorianne and the others were in this vast demiplane either.

While Sein led the Phantom Crow King into Howling Stone Plane, Lorianne was actually busy networking with other powerhouses alongside her mentor, Feylis.

Some of them were knights and mages from Magus World, while others were high-ranking creatures from across the Magus Alliance.

Anyone Feylis personally introduced was, without a doubt, an extraordinary figure.

For Lorianne and Aelid, this was their first time attending the Magus Alliance Conference, and they made sure to show proper respect to everyone Feylis introduced, including the foreign deities of the alliance.

Just moments ago, Lorianne had even chatted with a Rank Five Dark Sea Howler King and placed two material orders with it.

She had only just sighed in relief when she noticed Tourmaline, who had been by her side the entire time, was suddenly gone.

At the moment, Feylis and the others nearby were all busy with their own conversations, and even Aelid was chatting away with a pyro-elemental Rank Four being.

After scanning the area for a bit, Lorianne walked over to Bernice and asked, “Have you seen Tourmaline?”

Bernice, who was in the middle of talking with a Rank Four mage from the Elemental Gate Council, shook her head, then turned to Berecca, who was holding her arm, with a questioning look.

“She went that way,” Berecca said, pointing toward the west.

At the Magus Alliance Conference site, it was unlikely that anything dangerous to happen.

Lorianne was not too worried and assumed the girl had simply wandered off to play.

***

When Sein flew back to the Titan gods’ area with the Phantom Crow King, the place felt even livelier than before.

He searched the crowd for a while before finally spotting Thor, and noticed someone else standing next to him.

It was a young man in black leather armor. He was slimmer than Thor, and judging by their interactions, their relationship did not seem particularly warm.

Thor noticed Sein and waved him over, paying little attention to the Phantom Crow King at Sein’s side.

After all, there were plenty of Rank Six Titan gods around here. The presence of another Rank Six being was hardly enough to stir up attention, especially one like the Phantom Crow King, who was keeping a deliberately low profile.

“Is this your friend?” Thor asked, glancing at the Phantom Crow King.

Sein nodded and introduced them before Thor gestured to the young man beside him. “This is my younger brother. You can call him Loki, or the God of Mischief.”

Thor’s last words carried a faint amusement, as if he were holding back a laugh.

The God of Mischief... what an unusual divine title. Then again, the Astral Realm was full of oddities and wonders.

It was also possible that Loki had not yet officially awakened his own divine ability and that “God of Mischief” was just a temporary nickname.

Loki was only at Rank Four, which theoretically made him weaker than his older brother.

Still, Thor’s younger brother was far more handsome, but the glint of mischief in his eyes made him seem like someone best avoided.

What Sein did not realize was that Loki was already speaking to Thor through divine telepathy.

“This is the mage you said wants to buy the Golden Apple?” he asked skeptically.

Thor nodded and replied, “Master Sein is a highly knowledgeable individual. He also has enough assets to buy the Golden Apple.”

Loki rolled his eyes at his foolish brother. “What assets could a Rank Four mage possibly have?”