Sovereign of the Ashes

After exiting the silver palace complex on Sanok World, Sein did not immediately hurry to speak to his grandmaster on behalf of the Shadowbat Civilization’s people.

Instead, he stepped beyond the bounds of this medium-sized plane.

He could feel the Ashen Fortress arriving.

As the Tower Master of Ashes, Sein naturally maintained a constant mental connection with the space fortress under his command.

When the colossal structure slowly emerged from the depths of the cosmos, a wave of familiarity and warmth washed over Sein.

For the extraplanar beings beside him, though, it brought only crushing pressure and wordless awe.

“Master Sein’s space fortress is truly remarkable,” Karazo breathed.

In sheer scale and presence alone, the Ashen Fortress easily ranked among the top ten in this region.

At Sein’s invitation, Karazo and the others would spend some time touring the fortress.

Sein also agreed to let them bring wounded Klytheran fighters aboard the Ashen Fortress for treatment.

Ever since joining the Magus Alliance, the Klytheran Legion led by Karazo, as well as the Blue Star natives, had firmly aligned themselves with Sein, following his lead without hesitation.

Within the Magus Alliance, the Klytherans knew only one person, and that was Sein.

The Rank Six Lumimancer named Fathis might have appeared friendly earlier, but Karazo could sense she was far less approachable than Sein—certainly nowhere near as sincere.

And that made sense. A Rank Six mage like Fathis could not possibly bare her heart to the survivors of a fallen world.

By contrast, Sein had gone through the ups and downs with them, fighting at their side for years.

He understood the Klytherans’ needs and struggles and treated them with genuine empathy.

Because of all this, once the Klytherans chose to join the Magus Alliance, they found themselves gravitating naturally toward the “Sein Faction”.

As for the Blue Star natives, they were completely loyal to Sein. In all his years in the Astral Realm, Sein had never met any beings more gentle and easygoing than them.

The “Sein Faction”... Without realizing it, Sein’s influence within Magus World and the Magus Alliance had grown into something formidable, something that commanded respect.

Feylis had likely noticed this potential from the start, and that was why she gave this grand apprentice such special attention.

Though both were third-generation members of the Verdant Flame Faction, Aelid remained focused on developing his own strength and divine tower, while Sein had already ascended to Rank Five and earned substantial support within the Magus Alliance.

The Huusians, the intelligent robots from Nexon, the Klytherans, the Blue Star natives, even Phantom Crow World...

And then there was the Golden Apple Sein had obtained earlier, which pointed to his extraordinary ties to Titan World, the alliance’s mightiest member.

These factors confirmed Sein’s rising influence, elevating him to a status worthy of Feylis’ full attention.

Upon entering the space fortress, he was greeted by Reina and Sia, both of whom had now reached Rank Four.

Reina’s figure had returned to its perfect proportions. It seemed like she had finally found a training path that worked for her.

His mother-in-law, Sia, was clad in crimson armor. Sein had crafted it, so he knew every detail of it by heart.

Following behind the two Rank Four knights were Marie, Selina, and Eileen.

Selina and Eileen’s growth had slowed over the past few years. Their progress was even slightly lagging behind that of Azelia, the fox maiden.

It could not be helped. Not everyone had the opportunity to push into higher realms, even with all the support Sein provided.

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since Sein had been intimate with these two innately frail female mages.

Now that he had ascended to Rank Five, his physical strength had increased even further, widening the gap between him and the two women.

If he did not deliberately suppress his aura and the natural pressure of a Rank Five being, even standing close to them would likely overwhelm them with stress and discomfort.

Ants could never coexist comfortably with dragons. Faced with this reality, Sein could only sigh.

Rank Five beings were not free to act however they pleased. All he could do was continue supporting them. How far they would ultimately go depended entirely on their own fate and talent.

Setting aside the lingering regret he felt for Selina and Eileen, Sein smiled at the members of the Divine Tower of Ashes who had come to greet him.

“I’m back!”

***

Upon returning to the Ashen Fortress, Sein remained extremely busy for quite some time.

After meeting the dean and all the vice deans of the divine tower, and sending one of them to guide Karazo and the others on a tour of the fortress, Sein was still not done. He then listened to Dean Marie’s report on the current state of the Divine Tower of Ashes.

Even though she was far away from Magus World, Marie had kept a close watch on the Divine Tower of Ashes over the past few years.

After all, new war mages constantly needed to be deployed to the frontlines, while the wounded had to be transported back home for recovery.

The Magus Civilization possessed an exceptionally refined and flexible wartime system for rotating, adjusting, and replenishing its knight and mage legions.

All in all, despite Sein’s absence, the Divine Tower of Ashes had maintained steady development over the years.

The number of full-fledged mages participating in combat had not only remained stable but had actually increased compared to centuries prior.

This stability was partly due to the fact that the Divine Tower of Ashes legion had managed to avoid brutal conflicts so far.

During the Grand Eye Demon World’s star domain campaign, their responsibilities were mostly limited to defending logistical bases.

Later, when they reached the Netherworld Star Domain battlefield, the Divine Tower of Ashes legion’s deployments were temporarily suspended due to Sein’s “disappearance”.

During that time, Feylis quietly provided significant support to the Divine Tower of Ashes.

If she had not stepped in, the Divine Tower of Ashes legion, masterless at the time, would likely have been assigned to the frontlines, perhaps even to an exceptionally dangerous sector.

Instead, they were assigned to relatively low-risk peripheral battlefields, spending most of their time coordinating with the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring Army.

Since the Divine Tower of Ashes was closely associated with the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, mages from both towers frequently interacted.

It was also widely known that Tower Master Sein was the Tower Master of Verdant Spring’s only direct apprentice.

Thus, after losing Sein as their anchor, the vast majority of mages from the Divine Tower of Ashes naturally followed the Tower Master of Verdant Spring’s instructions.

They were far less inclined to obey a Rank Four mage temporarily assigned by the Magus Civilization, someone they had never even met.

“You’ve all worked hard during my absence,” Sein said to Marie.

“It’s nothing,” Marie replied, her voice choked with emotion. “As long as you return alive, nothing else matters.”

Sein and Marie had once been intimate, back when he was still a Rank One mage traveling along the South Coast.

But as both advanced to higher ranks, and especially after Marie took the position of dean at the Divine Tower of Ashes Academy, they gradually learned to hold back.

Their relationship now leaned more toward friendship and professional respect than anything romantic.

Noticing the prominent veins and slightly gaunt look of Marie’s hand, Sein said quietly, “You really have worked yourself to the bone for the Divine Tower of Ashes.”

“I know you’ve always been interested in apothecary, and that dendro magic is your specialty. I have a notebook here that Master Lorianne gave me years ago. I hope it’ll be useful to you.” He produced a black notebook.

Sein always kept Lorianne’s gifts in perfect condition, and he rarely parted with them.

Yet, this notebook showed clear signs of age and heavy use. It was also filled with annotations—evidence that Sein had studied it thoroughly over the years.

It was thanks to Lorianne that Sein achieved so much in apothecary.

Magic notes like these, carrying a mentor’s legacy, were not things one simply handed away.

Normally, he would have needed Lorianne’s permission, or Marie would have had to become Lorianne’s apprentice.

Yet Sein offered it anyway, planning to explain things to Lorianne later.

And knowing how indulgent Lorianne was with him, she likely would not mind.

After all, the notebook only covered her experimental insights from Rank One to the demigod level. Any deeper truths beyond Rank Four were not recorded in it.

Marie understood exactly how valuable the notes were. A faint flush rose to her cheeks along with gratitude.

Accepting that refusing was pointless, she carefully took the notebook. Once they were alone again, she brought up another matter.

“I heard something about Leena not long ago,” Marie said.

“Oh?!” Sein straightened up at once.