Sovereign of the Ashes

Angreas, relying on the power of his bloodline, was a formidable figure who had mastered sonido elemental laws.

Although the three of them specialized in different professions, they had enough in common that conversation never ran dry whenever they met.

As soon as Angreas noticed Sein and Grimm, he flew over right away.

Having ascended to Rank Four, Angreas had also earned his spot here as a “highly promising demigod‑level entity” in Magus World.

In fact, everyone in this section of the venue shared the same status.

Roughly two hundred people had gathered here—mostly knights and mages like Sein, along with a handful of sea races and magic beasts.

The rarest of them all were the demihumans. Only one was present: a towering, crimson‑skinned figure standing close to three meters tall, radiating the power of a peak demigod.

Sein had never seen this type of demihuman. Magus World was simply too vast, filled with countless races he had never encountered or even heard of before.

Sein and his friends were not the only “geniuses” here.

Every one of the two hundred “demigod‑level” potential seeds invited to the Magus Alliance Conference could claim that title.

Sein’s group was not even the only Rank Fours here. Nearly thirty others like them had also been admitted into this section.

In other words, everyone granted entry to the Magus Alliance Conference had already undergone their own transformations, ascending to Rank Four within just the past few centuries.

Those who had yet to ascend still possessed unique talents or rare abilities that had earned them a place here.

Since the conference had not yet officially started, creatures were still coming and going through the venue entrance. Sein and his friends spent their time chatting, exchanging stories of their recent years.

Among the three of them, Angreas had been the last to advance to Rank Four, breaking through only a hundred years ago.

However, what he lacked in timing, he made up for with his background. Angreas belonged to a well‑established and prosperous Bloodline Warlock clan.

With his advancement, Angreas lacked neither a divine tower nor a ready pool of registered mages under his command.

His Divine Tower of Serpent Fangs was funded almost entirely by the Kermoine Clan, with only a small portion of the initial construction loan coming from the Magus Alliance.

Recruiting initiates and attracting full‑fledged mages were problems that often troubled Sein. However, they were not a big deal for Angreas.

The Kermoine Serpent Warlock Clan was huge, with numerous subordinate Serpent Warlocks and affiliated Bloodline Warlock clans.

Once Angreas’ divine tower was completed, he could simply borrow personnel from the clan or from allied divine towers.

That was the unique advantage of Bloodline Warlock clans.

Bound together by bloodline ties, their development model often resembled the great knight houses of Magus World.

Even Angreas’ qualification to attend the Magus Alliance Conference was secured through his family’s backing.

Given his age and the talent he demonstrated, the Kermoine Clan’s application on his behalf was almost guaranteed approval.

If Sein had returned to the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame earlier, Grandmaster Feylis could have arranged an invitation for him as well.

But Sein had come back too late, and by then he had already secured an invitation to the conference from Klopp, the knight overlord in the Western Archipelago.

After some discussion, they realized Grimm was actually in the toughest position among them.

Grimm had advanced to Rank Four thanks to recognition by the Winter Guardian and the partial planar power granted to him.

Even so, the development of his Divine Tower of Obliteration was far behind Angreas’ Divine Tower of Serpent Fangs, let alone Sein’s Divine Tower of Ashes.

The guardian had helped Grimm gain the resources to break through from demigod to Rank Four, but she was not about to hand him magicoins to build his divine tower.

She was not Grimm’s elder, and her aid was her way of upholding the principle of equivalent exchange.

Still, Grimm had his own fortune.

While assisting the guardian with repairing a space-time turbulence that had appeared deep within Magus World, he had acquired the coordinates of a foreign plane.

The data had been incomplete, but Grimm had spent years filling in the gaps, and before leaving for the Magus Alliance Conference, he had made significant progress.

Now he was bringing it up with Sein and Angreas, inviting them to join him in developing that foreign plane.

“Although Pyreling World is a low-level plane, it’s highly developed and may have produced more than one Rank Four creature. I’ve already contacted my senior to work with me, and he has recruited two knightly orders to strike at this plane. Even so, I’m still worried,” Grimm explained.

“Two divine towers and two knightly orders aren’t enough to take a low-level world?” Sein exclaimed in surprise.

When he and Lorianne conquered White Sand World, they only had two divine towers and one knightly order working together.

This meant the coordinates Grimm had discovered pointed to a world far more valuable than White Sand World Sein had recently claimed.

“From the mirror fragments I collected in the space-time turbulence, there seem to be five or six Rank Four or higher beings in this world, and possibly even a Rank Five,” Grimm said.

Sein could not help but exclaim, “Wow!”

Pyreling World really did sound like a lucrative opportunity.

“Is this a pyro-attribute world?” Sein asked, already feeling tempted.

“Yes, it is a low‑level plane dominated by pyro elemental power. I wasn’t the one who named it Pyreling World. It’s what the native creatures call their homeplane,” Grimm replied.

“During the space-time turbulence, I even managed to capture some biological specimens from that world. If you want them, I can send a batch over for research,” he added.

Space-time turbulence was no ordinary phenomenon; even Rank Four beings had to approach it with extreme caution.

The route Sein had used to reach Faeloria through the Tablet of Fate had been opened by a space-time turbulence.

Even under the Spider Queen’s divine protection, he had suffered terribly along the way.

For Grimm to not only explore such chaos but actually come back with valuable finds spoke of incredible luck, bravery, and perseverance.

Then again, if space-time turbulence were not so deadly, Grimm might never have earned the Winter Guardian’s favor.

Sein glanced at the hair peeking out from under Grimm’s mask. It was noticeably grayer now—a clear sign of vitality loss. Grimm would be wise to focus on his health soon.

“A low‑level pyro elemental plane? I am in,” Sein said, rubbing his chin.

“Send me those biological specimens from Pyreling World. I need to analyze its species composition and prepare my divine tower for war,” he told Grimm.