Sovereign of the Ashes

Sure enough, Sein ran into several federal patrollers not long after he entered this star domain.

These fleets had limited combat strength, but Sein still chose to avoid them rather than engage.

The Golden Apple Potion was rapidly restoring his health, but one major problem remained.

After bringing him out of Alpha-007, the Faceless Mask was nearly drained of energy, greatly weakening its aura suppression and concealment abilities.

As a result, Sein was forced to rely on his own skills to avoid detection.

However, this was extremely risky as he had never been especially skilled in concealment or stealth magic.

In his early years, he had studied Tourmaline’s breathing patterns and even created the Aura Restraint spell. But that was so long ago.

By the time he reached Rank Three, he had stopped putting serious effort into that field.

And once he acquired the Faceless Mask, there was no reason to waste precious time on such experiments.

Between pyro elemental magic, body tempering techniques, alchemy, and even apothecary, Sein already had more on his plate than he could handle.

True mastery of concealment and stealth was usually found among mages who specialized in umbra or aero elemental magic anyway.

The first gift Lorianne had ever given Sein was a rare shadow creature after the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War.

That specimen probably held deep insights into concealment and stealth techniques, but Sein had never truly studied it. Over the years, it had become more of a keepsake.

The federal patrollers he encountered clearly did not have the best reconnaissance capabilities. If they had, Sein would never have been able to evade them so easily.

It also helped that the Golden Apple Potion had nearly restored him to peak condition. Otherwise, with how dead he had looked earlier, slipping away would have been impossible.

Still, he knew he could not keep dodging them forever.

The federation patrollers had not spotted him yet, but who could say when higher-level recon ships might suddenly appear?

Sein dared not underestimate the Gallant Federation!

Even if the Faceless Mask were fully charged and intact, it would not be surprising if their advanced technologies could see through its concealment.

After all, since the day he had obtained the Faceless Mask during the secret realm trial, Master Jorces had made it clear that the mask was not omnipotent. At best, it could conceal him from most Rank Six beings.

Just as Sein slipped past several more patrollers, an explosion suddenly erupted nearby.

The federal vessels immediately flew toward the blast site.

Sein hid in a crater on the asteroid and glanced in that direction.

“Did they discover a Nexon robot that got stranded here?” he wondered.

He had spent enough time with Nexon’s intelligent robots to know that the scale of the explosion just now matched their power reserves.

The thought stirred a pang of sympathy in his heart for the fellow robot stuck in the same situation.

For a moment, he even considered charging out and confronting the federal fleet head-on. But instinct and reason forced him to hold back.

Scanning the area, Sein tried to figure out how to leave this star domain without drawing the federation’s attention, while also working to pinpoint his coordinates.

A sizable fleet caught his eye. It was clearly not the federal military. The ships looked outdated but were flanked by two formidable frigates, one on each side.

Those two were the federation’s vessels, and they seemed to be escorting or “watching” the fleet.

The sight of this strange fleet rekindled Sein’s will to survive.

Despite the risk of exposure, he steeled himself and flew toward them.

***

Princess Gwyneira of the Huusians sat at the stern of the ship, staring out into the starry sky.

Lately, the Gallant Federation had imposed strict restrictions, forbidding their ships from moving freely through the surrounding star domains.

Because of that, Gwyneira had not piloted her own craft in a long while.

She was a Huusian woman, born with a bold spirit and valued freedom above all else.

Princess Gwyneira was never one to be bound by rigid dogma or stale tradition. With a father who seldom disciplined her or her younger sister, they grew up with a wild streak and a tomboyish nature.

But in recent years, Gwyneira had softened quite a lot.

Many of her older relatives who knew her well felt she had changed tremendously.

Yet no one could say exactly what—or why.

Only her younger sister knew the truth. Gwyneira had fallen in love.

No, it was more than love.

In a short span of time, she had tasted love, heartbreak, and the ache of unspoken longing.

Ever since that Bokrian man named Bousse had left, Gwyneira was often seen gazing into the distance from the starship.

Perhaps she was imagining where Bousse might be now. Maybe he was in some distant star domain, or wandering through strange planes.

Of course, she had kept his true name a secret from everyone else. That was a secret shared only between Sein and her.

Not even her younger sister knew.

Her quiet moment today was interrupted when her younger sister strode up to the stern.

“You should be training right now. At this rate, you’ll trip the moment you step onto the battlefield. Father and the elders foresee dangers far worse than we imagined in this war. Even with our whole tribe gathered, they have little hope for our survival,” Gwyndira said.

“Yet, here you are, wasting time staring at the stars!” she scolded her.

In truth, the sisters were equally strong. Both were at Rank Three, but with the help of tribal artifacts and their father’s weapons, they could wield power close to that of demigods.

Since entering the Gallant Federation’s territory and with the front lines drawing nearer, their father had been too busy to watch over them.

Gwyndira’s sharp words finally made Gwyneira sit up and stretch lazily.

But before she could say anything, her eyes fell on a familiar face that grew clearer as it drew closer.

Caught completely off guard, she rubbed her eyes hard and turned to her younger sister.

“Am I seeing things?”