Sovereign of the Ashes

In the days that followed, Sein spent most of his time with Thor and the other Titan gods—at least until the eve of the Magus Alliance Conference.

There was no helping it; Sein did not know many people in the Magus Alliance, and he still could not contact Lorianne or the others.

Compared to wandering aimlessly around Howling Stone World, tagging along with Thor and the others was far more interesting and efficient.

When he was with these esteemed Titan gods, it was rarely Sein who made the first move to approach others.

Instead, people naturally gravitated toward him.

During the days leading up to the conference, Sein met not only numerous Titan gods through Thor’s introductions, but also befriended many Elven deities, Beastmen deities, and even gods from other planar civilizations.

Unfortunately, he never ran into Senarius, the half-elven deity he had met a few times before, nor did he see Eugene, the God of Half-Beastmen.

He had no idea where they were now.

He figured he would only run into them once the conference officially started.

Howling Stone World was massive, after all. With over ten thousand foreign deities scattered across it, and numerous isolation measures and exploration restrictions in place, finding specific individuals was no simple task.

Mainly, it was because Sein was too weak. If he were as powerful as Hela, or if he had already advanced to Rank Five and fully unlocked the Faceless Mask’s potential, things would have been much easier.

Meeting so many deities had not given Sein any immediate benefits.

The advantages of those connections would only reveal themselves with time, and only if he actively maintained them.

If he did not nurture those relationships, even the ones he had managed to form would eventually fade away.

Sein was not very interested in some deities at all, and he suspected the feeling was mutual. They had probably only exchanged contact details because of Thor or other Titan gods.

But there were exceptions.

For example, Sein had a keen interest in the elven deities from Grand Elven World and hoped to have more exchanges with them in the future.

With the Clash of Civilizations approaching, top-tier restorative resources were bound to become highly sought-after across the Magus Alliance.

The ingredients and treasures produced by Grand Elven World were mostly great for restorative medicines.

Most apothecaries in Magus World preferred buying raw materials from Elven World over those from other allied planes.

On top of that, Grand Elven World had a formidable military force.

Its elven legions, famous for their war trees and elemental mastery, had built up a strong reputation within the Magus Alliance.

From what had been seen so far, the overall strength of Grand Elven World even surpassed that of Beastmen World, which was long known for its brutal and aggressive nature.

Sein also observed that there were more elven gods present here in Howling Stone Demiplane than beastman gods.

***

The main venue of the Magus Alliance Conference sat at the very center of Howling Stone World.

Fifty years before the conference officially began, the alliance’s powerhouses had already started gathering there one by one.

Sein arrived there too, along with Thor and the others.

The Phantom Crow King seemed to have recovered most of its composure.

After taking multiple hits to its pride and witnessing several overlords’ power up close, it looked like it had matured.

Now it followed behind Sein like a loyal subordinate, almost giving off the impression that Sein was the Rank Six being while the Phantom Crow King was just a Rank Four lackey.

Meeting more and more deities of the Magus Alliance through Thor and his contacts only made the Phantom Crow King even more determined to stick with Sein.

Leaving aside the countless powerhouses from the Magus Civilization, even among Sein’s immediate circle, like Thor, the Phantom Crow King knew it had no chance of winning against them.

While challenging someone of a higher rank might sound exciting in the Astral Realm, being the one challenged was an entirely different story.

At the entrance to the conference venue, Sein finally ran into his mentor and the others.

Sein was standing among a group of Titan gods, while Lorianne and her group had gathered around Feylis, forming their own circle.

Sein spotted Lorianne first, and when he waved, she just looked back at him blankly.

“Why... are you here?” Lorianne flew over to Sein, surprised.

The members of Verdant Flame Faction were equally shocked, especially Aelid.

Sein calmly pulled out an invitation that looked slightly different from Lorianne’s own.

He was invited to the Magus Alliance Conference not as a Rank Four divine tower master, but as a demigod‑level entity with immense potential in Magus World.

Yes, Sein was originally supposed to join this conference as a demigod‑level being.

His breakthrough to Rank Four had been an accident, one that even the person who issued the invitation had not anticipated.

He certainly had not expected Sein to later acquire the Faceless Mask, a world‑class secret treasure, either.

Life was full of surprises and unpredictable. It rarely unfolded as expected. Even overlord‑level beings could misjudge things.

Lorianne stared at the conference invitation in Sein’s hand, a mix of emotion and realization flashing in her eyes. She had so many questions in her mind, but did not know where to start.

“I’m sorry, Master Lorianne. Because of confidentiality issues, I couldn’t tell you in advance or join you at the venue. But isn’t it great that I’m here with you at the Magus Alliance Conference?” Sein said with a smile.

Lorianne scrunched her nose and said, “I wonder what else you’re hiding from me, brat.”

“I hope every surprise you give me is a pleasant one, not a terrifying one.” She raised her magic rod, clearly tempted to bop him on the head, but with so many people around, she thought better of it.

Sein smiled and introduced Thor to his mentor, then introduced the Verdant Flame Faction members to Thor as well.

The Verdant Flame Faction, which centered around Feylis, rarely interacted with Titan World within the Magus Alliance.

Gregory, Bernice, and the others did not recognize Thor, but Grandmaster Feylis seemed to know exactly who he was after giving Thor’s hammer a long look.

While the others chatted, Sein pulled Lorianne aside and spoke through mental focus.

“After the Magus Alliance Conference, can you ask Grandmaster Feylis and the others to help raise seventy million magicoins?”

“Seventy million magicoins? What could you possibly need that much money for?” Lorianne gave her apprentice a puzzled look.

“I have a way to obtain a Golden Apple, but that’ll cost seventy million magicoins,” Sein said with a small smile.

Lorianne was once again stunned.

As an apothecary, she knew all too well how valuable a Golden Apple was.

Before she could recover from the shock, another wave of “heavyweight beings” arrived at the entrance of the conference venue.

These beings were literally heavyweights. None was less than two hundred meters long.

They were plump insects with bodies covered in a faint purple sheen—the Void Aphids!

The arrival of over thirty Void Aphids of Rank Four and above immediately drew the attention of many foreign deities at the venue.

Most stares were filled with greed and envy.

Some creatures with weaker self-control even gulped audibly, staring like predators eager to devour them outright.

Leading them was a giant Aphid King nearly five hundred meters long. It was the fairest and plumpest of them all. The aura it exuded marked it as a genuine Rank Six creature.

Yet unlike other Rank Six beings Sein had met, this giant insect king radiated no aggression or hostility.

It was... surprisingly friendly.

It tilted its massive head, nuzzling a smaller female worm resting in its arms.

For a ruler of a medium-sized plane, it lacked the usual dominating presence expected of one at its level.

Sein had a good idea who this giant Aphid King was, but his gaze lingered more on the slightly smaller female it was holding.

“Looks like the Sandworm Queen is very well loved. We won’t be running out of Void Aphid Honey anytime soon,” Sein said with a small grin, glancing at Lorianne.