Sovereign of the Ashes

To regulate the value of magicoins, the Magus Alliance announced that it would release a batch of strategic reserve resources, intended to boost the currency’s value.

On the surface, this was good news for many member planes of the Magus Alliance, as their money would gain value.

At first glance, it seemed as if the Magus Civilization was scraping the bottom of its reserves and selflessly giving away its wealth.

However, few knew the truth. Alongside releasing strategic reserves, the Magus Civilization would also be issuing another massive batch of magicoins to fund the upcoming Clash of Civilizations.

The total value of this new issuance could reach billions or trillions of magicoins.

Such a flood of currency would undoubtedly impact the alliance market yet again, but the upper echelons of the Magus Civilization did not care.

The magicoins themselves were little more than a tool through which the Magus Civilization could siphon wealth from its member planes.

It was a softer, subtler method of plunder compared to outright looting, which would have caused immediate and severe backlash.

The control of magicoins was a game of laws, one that only the top powers of the Magus World were truly qualified to play.

Even the few large allied planes could only hope to protect themselves from this financial onslaught, let alone break free from the magicoins’ influence.

The only way to escape was to create an entirely new currency system, but doing so would inevitably offend the Magus Civilization.

To the Magus Civilization’s leadership, the recent constant depreciation of magicoins was driven by one core factor: the civilization’s rapid issuance of currency had gradually outpaced the total resource output of Magus World itself.

On the surface, the magicoins appeared relatively stable, but beneath that facade, the core of the system was already on the verge of crisis.

The only reason it had not collapsed entirely was due to the continuous intervention and regulation of those among the Magus Civilization’s upper echelons.

But this “game” of quietly draining resources from allied planes could not continue forever. Sooner or later, it would break.

The Magus Civilization needed new markets, new resource worlds to sustain its ever-growing system.

Regardless of its diplomatic relations with the Gallant Federation or the development of neighboring civilizations, the Magus Civilization had to wage war to support its ever-expanding volume of magicoins!

It was easy to foresee that after winning the war with the Gallant Federation, the Magus Alliance would incorporate even more planes into its territory. At the same time, the value of magicoins would likely spike dramatically.

That single wave of value recovery would far outweigh any temporary boost from releasing a stockpile of strategic reserves.

And when that time came, the Magus Civilization would once again leverage its magicoins to squeeze even more value out of its allied planes.

***

The ninth agenda item of the conference announced that the new generation of space fortresses was now officially available for purchase by Rank Four and above knights and mages.

Meanwhile, Magus Alliance members were given access to the B3-type space fortress, first introduced by the Magus Civilization seventy thousand years ago.

With previous agreements already addressing mandatory price reductions for fortresses and the boosted value of magicoins, this conference was the perfect opportunity for many allied gods to acquire large-scale war platforms like space fortresses.

After this chance, there might not be another one anytime soon.

Of course, some planes simply did not have the financial strength to take advantage of this opportunity.

However, Titan World ordered nearly five hundred space fortresses from the Magus Civilization this time, showing exactly why it was considered the “big brother” among allied planes!

Elven World, usually preferred to keep a low profile, purchased nearly two hundred fortresses.

Amethyst World’s elemental kings were wealthy, yet they made no purchases. Perhaps geo elemental creatures simply were not interested in tools of war like space fortresses.

***

The eleventh agenda item addressed 9,751 serious disputes that had accumulated within the alliance over the past ten thousand years.

These conflicts ranged from territorial divisions and personal grudges among Rank Four and above beings to deeper historical issues.

All in all, no trivial matters were raised during the conference.

***

The seventeenth agenda item also concerned resource allocations to large allied planes. This time, the vote was nearly unanimous, approving three hundred million magicoins for construction assistance.

That was because the world receiving the aid was none other than Floral Psychic World.

***

Floral Psychic World was not the only one to receive massive magicoins funding. Several other special worlds, such as Activator Fairy World and Void Aphid World, also received substantial financial assistance.

These worlds all had one thing in common: they produced vast amounts of high-quality resources, most of which were restorative and enhancing in nature.

If not for the poor nature of Activator Fairy World and Void Aphid World, the Magus Civilization might have already pushed to elevate them from medium to large-sized planes.

The extremely prosperous Grand Elven World also enjoyed certain privileges from the alliance, though there was no need to bring it up during the conference.

Likewise, Hela, the overlord from Titan World, would never openly admit that Titan World’s order of over five hundred space fortresses had actually been secured at twenty percent off the already discounted price.

***

The Magus Alliance Conference had begun with a sense of novelty and excitement for Sein. But as time passed, that excitement gradually faded.

Most of those attending the conference also had little interest in motions that did not affect their own worlds.

Many simply sat there, quietly wondering when it would finally be their turn to hear a motion that actually concerned their homeplane.

The difference between Sein and most of those foreign deities and native knights, however, was that he did his best to listen carefully to every motion. He tried to figure out what each one really meant and what interests might be hidden behind it.

Of course, he did not always guess correctly, and there was no way to confirm if his deductions were right, but he still listened attentively.

Beside him, Grimm and Angreas were much the same. From time to time, the three newly promoted Rank Four mages held quiet discussions through mental focus.

***

Finally, by the twenty-third agenda item, it was Sein’s turn to speak.

This conference had already been going on for almost two months.

The process of presenting, debating, and voting on each motion was anything but quick or simple.

By this point, Sein actually felt more tired than after undergoing body tempering experiments.

Still, he focused himself, raised his hand, and conjured an elemental flame to signal his intent to speak.

The twenty-third agenda item dealt with various problems that had surfaced in Magus World in recent years and potential solutions being considered.

It was always fascinating to hear about the conflicts and hidden issues of Magus World during such conferences, and many of the allied gods listened with great interest.

The speaker before Sein was a Rank Five witch from the Northlands. She argued that the traditions of Magus World needed to be respected and the Magus lineage supported more strongly, instead of being constantly pushed toward innovation.

The rising popularity of modern mage systems had, in her view, caused many younger spellcasters to forget their roots.

“Do not forget... the homeplane we stand on is called Magus World!” she declared, her cold and unyielding tone leaving many spellcasters deep in thought.

“Young Rank Four mage, do you have anything you would like to add?” Lady Bev, host of the conference, gestured to Sein with a smile, inviting him to speak.

Yes, everything was arranged beforehand.

Who was allowed to speak and who was not was usually decided in advance, ensuring that no unexpected disruptions could occur.

There had been real mishaps in past Magus Alliance Conferences, some even embarrassing enough to trouble the executives who hosted them!

These days, however, the Magus Alliance Conference had become increasingly polished and formalized.

At least in the last thirty thousand years, there had not been any incidents.

“Honorable Lady Bev, I would like to speak about the issue of the demihumans,” Sein began.