Sovereign of the Ashes

Traveling through space was an extremely monotonous experience.

The sights were breathtaking at first, but after a while, they lost their novelty.

More importantly, Sein’s journey was not a leisurely trip—it was a race against time.

To avoid wasting even a moment, he refrained from doing anything unnecessary.

Fifty years later, he finally reached the border region of the Magus Civilization’s territory.

Perhaps due to the civilization’s strict secrecy protocols, he was not instructed to use any of the remote teleportation arrays scattered across the Magus Civilization’s home star domain.

Even the small spacecraft he traveled in was devoid of magitech. It was purely a technological product.

After half a century of flight to reach the border star domain, Sein’s first thought was whether the spacecraft would fall apart.

He was not overthinking it. After fifty years of continuous use, the vessel had developed serious problems.

The vast Magus Star Domain was far too large for such a small vessel to traverse in its entirety.

Even though it had only traveled a quarter of the Magus Civilization’s territory in a straight line, the spacecraft was already on the verge of being beyond repair.

Thirteen years earlier, a meteor shower at the edge of a medium-sized star domain had smashed away a third of its metal frame, heavily damaging its most critical propulsion system.

Thanks to Yuri, Sein had recently been studying technology and mechanical engineering.

Between them, they managed to patch up the damaged vessel just enough for it to hold together until it reached the first stop on his route: the Bexar Star Domain.

It was a small star domain that maintained a secret alliance with the Magus Civilization.

Though not an official member of the Magus Alliance, it had long been a loyal vassal.

Years ago, Ivory Bone had passed through this domain, only to be captured by its Rank Five powerhouse, Noctus, who then handed it over to the Magus Civilization.

By the time Sein’s battered vessel arrived at a special demiplane within Bexar Star Domain, Noctus was already there waiting.

Sein’s entire route had been laid out in the mission instructions sent by Klopp, so the Rank Five being clearly knew exactly who he was and why he had come.

“Greetings, powerful one from Magus World. I’m Noctus, and I’ve been sent by the great Magus Alliance to assist you in slipping into the Voskel Civilization.” Noctus spoke respectfully as Sein stepped out of the spacecraft.

The Voskel Star Domain lay even farther from the Magus Civilization. It was a truly neutral region with no clear political alignment.

In the star map Sein had acquired, the description of Voskel was brief. It was a medium-sized civilization that had fully embraced technological development and possessed immense potential.

But Voskel was not Sein’s final destination.

Before reaching the border of the Gallant Federation, he would need to pass through several medium and small star domains—some neutral, some outright hostile.

The purpose was to “clean” his identity.

Like Sein, Rank Four powerhouses from Magus World carrying out special covert missions were usually given an item to disguise themselves before departure.

Sein did not need one as he had the Faceless Mask.

Even a Rank Five being like Noctus could not see through his true nature.

Wearing the mask, Sein stepped off the ship and nodded to Noctus while studying him.

The Bexar Civilization appeared to have developed along a path that combined both technology and physical might.

Noctus himself was clearly a being of flesh and blood, yet his body had strange tubes connected to it.

A thick metallic shell covered most of him, leaving only a few patches of gray skin exposed, like his elbows and neck.

His weapon was a lightsaber bound to his arm.

At the moment, it was inactive, appearing as nothing more than a rectangular “metal box”.

But that unassuming box could also be used for long-range attacks if needed.

Though both were low-level world civilizations, the Bexar Civilization far surpassed Pyreling World that had been recently conquered by Sein and the others.

As for Noctus, his early goodwill toward the Magus Civilization likely meant he had already received generous benefits from the Magus Alliance.

After examining the metal fixtures on Noctus’ body for a moment, Sein turned to glance at his battered spacecraft.

“Noctus, right? Could you help me repair this vessel?” he asked, gesturing toward the craft behind him, which was on the verge of becoming scrap metal.

Noctus paused, then said, “That’s not part of the task assigned to me by the Magus Alliance.”

However, after a brief moment, he added, “But... I’d be happy to help you with that problem.”

Under Noctus’ guidance, Sein made his way across the Bexar Star Domain.

During this time, Noctus did not introduce him to any other Rank Four or higher beings.

It was understandable, as Sein was here on a secret mission.

The Bexar Star Domain, represented by Noctus, had already secretly aligned itself with the Magus Alliance.

Most Rank Fours here were likely still unaware of that, so there was no way Noctus could openly introduce Sein to others without raising suspicion.

Sein’s spacecraft eventually arrived at a military factory in a remote corner of the star domain.

As a semi-technological civilization, the Bexar Civilization had built and deployed countless metallic satellites both within and beyond its home star domain.

The satellite now repairing Sein’s spacecraft was one of them, about two kilometers in diameter.

It was said that the Gallant Federation had even more satellites, and they were larger in size and superior in quality. On this infiltration mission, Sein hoped he would get to see them for himself.

The Neisse Civilization, where Yuri hailed from, was also a semi-technological civilization. It had developed a sophisticated mecha technology, but their progress in artificial satellites lagged behind.

Clearly, there were wide differences between technological civilizations.

Take the Norman Federation, for example. It was a staunch ally of the Magus Civilization and a power rivaling the strength of a large world civilization. They had focused their technological advancements entirely on “androids”.

During the Magus Alliance Conference, Sein had even seen quite a few “super androids” from the Norman Federation, each strong enough to rival a Rank Four or higher being.

Sein ended up staying in the Bexar Star Domain for two months, mostly waiting for his spacecraft to be repaired.

Noctus had warned him that the next leg of the journey, to the Voskel Civilization, was still a long way off.

“I heard you recently captured a Rank Four creature named Ivory Bone, who has a grudge against our Magus Civilization?” Sein asked as Noctus came to see him off near an asteroid belt.

“Yes, I did.” Noctus nodded.

After secretly delivering Ivory Bone into Magus Civilization’s territory, he had received his current special assignment from the civilization’s higher-ups—to receive Sein and assist him with his infiltration.

“There are a few friends from Magus World who asked me to convey their gratitude to you.” Sein pulled back the hood of his magic robe and gave a polite nod.

It was a common gesture of respect among the Magus World mages.

Noctus hurriedly returned the gesture.

“It’s what I ought to do,” the Rank Five replied humbly and respectfully.