Sovereign of the Ashes

While the Rank Four mage named Duffrey remained behind the Magus Civilization legions, burning through vast amounts of rare magic ingredients to dissolve the binding contract between the Zeak Empire and the Huusians, Sein had already clashed with one of the federation’s giant mobile suits.

His earlier victory over a Rank Five mobile suit had depended heavily on the aid of Nexon’s intelligent robots.

Now, Sein had little help, fighting alone and under the threat of concentrated firepower.

As the surrounding Gallant Federation forces gradually regained their footing, their attack intensity and speed against Sein began to outpace the reinforcements still on their way from the Magus World legions.

His situation was growing more dire by the moment.

Meanwhile, the other three Rank Four Huusians on the Black Tide Plane battlefield looked lost.

But when the Zeak Empire’s binding contract dissolved and they saw their king raise the banner of rebellion, they had little choice but to switch sides, even though their faces betrayed clear conflict.

The Gallant Federation’s fleets and its vassal legions had already opened fire on them.

If they refused to join the Magus Civilization, they would be crushed between two powers.

The federation would never trust their loyalty again!

It was not only the Huusians of the Black Tide Plane. In Ferramo World, the entire Huusian legion abruptly defected as well, including three Rank Fours.

Among them was a confidant recently sent there by the Huusian King himself. He was already aware of the plan.

Bisoo, the Rank Four Huusian who had long opposed the king, was stunned for a moment when he learned the rebellion was real and backed by the royal decree.

Despite his injuries, he steeled himself and threw his strength into the fight against the Gallant Federation.

With a single strike, he cleaved a federal warship hundreds of meters long cleanly in half.

As someone who dared to challenge the Huusian King and threaten to lead his people away, Bisoo was definitely no ordinary warrior.

In fact, he was the mightiest Rank Four of the tribe, second only to the king himself.

Even the tribe under his command was also one of the strongest factions in the Huusian ranks.

During the earlier battle on Ferramo World, Bisoo had been severely injured by the Magus World forces precisely because he stood out too much, drawing the focus of their powerhouses.

It was for this reason that the Gallant Federation had placed so much trust in him, assigning him to a crucial war zone.

What the federation’s commanders never imagined was that the consequences of that trust would come back to strike them so swiftly.

The federal warship destroyed by Bisoo might have been insignificant among the vast fleet encircling Ferramo World, but it was the capital ship commanding the surrounding battlefield.

It carried a two-star major general, who never even had the chance to lift a finger before Bisoo ended both his career and his life. It was a bitter end, indeed, for an officer of his rank.

The sudden loss of both the capital ship and its commander immediately threw the nearby federal ships and combat legions into disarray.

It would take time for the other senior federal commanders on Ferramo World to assume control of the deployments in this sector, and the enemy’s assault left no room for respite.

The Magus Civilization’s all-out offensive across the Transversa Star Domain was felt most strongly on the Black Tide Plane and Ferramo World.

The Huusians had indeed contributed the most to this, but Sein and the other Magus World strategists were no less indispensable.

With their already overwhelming advantage on the Bishura battlefield, the Magus Civilization had now turned the tide on more than half of the five planar battlefields in the Transversa Star Domain.

The Gallant Federation was truly struggling against its full-scale assault.

Even if they wanted to redeploy reinforcements from other star domains, it was already too late.

***

By the time the Rank Four and above powerhouses of Magus World arrived at Sein’s side on the Black Tide Plane battlefield, his lawful body already bore visible wounds.

At its core, interplanar war was nothing more than a game of chess.

The side with more pieces, or stronger pieces, naturally gained better control of the board.

Originally, the Magus World legions had held only a slight edge on this low-level plane. But that changed swiftly with the sudden addition of two Rank Five combatants—Sein and the Huusian King—together with three more Rank Four Huusians who rose in rebellion from within the federation’s own rear lines.[1]

The sudden shift in power, coupled with the surprise losses, made the Gallant Federation’s decline on this battlefield inevitable.

Welks seemed to have expended only a little mana and focus during his earlier casting of the forbidden spell. He was among the first Magus World powerhouses to arrive on the scene.

This peak Rank Five mechanic’s lawful form was highly unusual. Dense clusters of gears and complex metal structures covered his body, making him look more like a robot than a mage from a distance.

Master Welks was certainly not a robot. A closer look at his lawful body revealed it to be a metal-elemental lawful body.

The mechanics profession in Magus World had evolved and branched off from other spellcasting paths.

In truth, the modern spellcaster professions of Magus World were never completely distinct. They all shared commonalities and were closely connected.

After all, in the earliest days of Magus World, there had only been one kind of spellcaster: the Magi.

As Sein observed the peak Rank Five mechanic who had just arrived on the battlefield, Welks was studying him in return.

In his combat form, Sein’s most striking features were his towering physique and the mask that covered his face.

Welks’ attention lingered on that mask.

The unrestrained torrent of elemental energy spilling out in battle made it clear the mask had to be a world-class secret treasure.

Welks knew that Sein had just returned from an infiltration mission deep within the federation’s star domains.

He could not help but marvel inwardly. Only elite mages were capable of venturing into the heartland of a hostile, top-tier civilization.

The exact details of Sein’s mission were unknown to Welks. Only a handful of Magus World’s upper echelons were privy to the truth.

But the fact that the higher-ups had ordered Sein’s rescue at any cost made it clear that the mission he had carried out deep within the Gallant Federation’s territory was of critical importance.

On the ground, another wave of robotic and armored artillery legions closed in on Sein’s position.

These lower-tier federal legions were little threat to beings of Rank Four or higher, yet their sheer numbers and persistence made them a constant nuisance.

Before Sein could act, Welks took care of them. He hurled a massive spinning gear from his hand.

As it whirled through the air, swarms of mechanical creatures poured out, clashing with the advancing federal troops.

Those creatures took strange forms. Some looked like oversized nuts fitted with limbs, and they even showed a hint of intelligence.

Watching them, Sein was reminded of Lorianne, who had once “seeded the battlefield”, scattering beans that quickly sprouted into plant soldiers.

The sight inspired him. Perhaps one day he would pursue a similar path, creating expendable legions of cannon fodder he could summon at will.

Surely, that would spare him a great deal of effort in battle.

1. Translator’s Note: Sein was considered a Rank Five combatant here, not because he had reached Rank Five, but because he could fight on par with one through the help of the Faceless Mask, as mentioned in the past chapter. ☜