Sovereign of the Ashes

A low-level plane could barely withstand the descent of a Rank Six being.

When a Rank Six existence entered a low-level world that had never hosted such a powerhouse before, the impact on the planar will and its underlying laws was immense.

Marvelous Plane was precisely such a case. This world had never before welcomed a Rank Six being.

As a result, when White Stella descended, the planar will let out a cry of pain.

In truth, White Stella had not yet reached Rank Six. Her life level remained at Rank Five.

However, the amplification provided by the Royal Trident, combined with the sheer mass of life energy contained within her colossal body, placed this giant mermaid only a step away from true Rank Six power.

Fortunately, the planar will recognized White Stella as an ally summoned from another foreign plane and did not attempt to repel her.

Otherwise, the one to suffer in the end would have been Marvelous Plane itself.

Tourmaline followed the path of pure strength—overcoming all techniques with brute force.

Sein had never personally experienced Tourmaline’s full might, but watching her swat the Sand Crocodile still made his eyelid twitch involuntarily.

It was not simply because her physical attacks had reached Rank Five, but because such raw, unrestrained strength was a rare spectacle.

After descending from the sky, White Stella did not immediately retrieve the Royal Trident. Instead, her massive fishtail slammed downward, unleashing a towering surge of seawater.

This was an exceptionally pure manifestation of oceanic laws. White Stella possessed not only a terrifying physique and immense strength, but also deep mastery over law power.

No wonder Feylis had described her combat power as equivalent to that of a Rank Six being.

“Guh! You dare ambush me? Why don’t you face me one-on-one!” The Sand Crocodile coughed up a mouthful of blood from taking Tourmaline’s single strike.

It was terrifying. For a creature of its life level and defensive strength, being wounded during its prolonged battle with Sein was understandable.

But being injured so effortlessly by a Rank Four being?

Tourmaline pinned the Sand Crocodile firmly to the ground beneath her colossal body.

The green arm ribbons coiling around her body bound the creature tightly in place, acting as perfect restraints as she rained down dragon-claw blows upon the sand crocodile’s skull.

Immediately afterward, the overwhelming force unleashed by White Stella completely silenced the Sand Crocodile before it could utter another word.

Its blood-red eyes nearly bulged from their sockets under the crushing force of Sea’s Might.

The Sand Crocodile’s massive body looked as though it were being torn apart, with vast chunks of its incredibly tough scales snapping loose and scattering in all directions.

Seeing the creature reduced to such a miserable state, Sein arrived on the battlefield and silently joined the assault.

He had to admit that the Sand Crocodile was indeed a formidable opponent.

But among Rank Five beings, it was not especially troublesome, likely because its brain was not exactly its strongest asset.

Frankly, this brute had done nothing more than lower its head and charge straight into battle.

Aside from that somewhat decent crescent bone blade, the only notable item it possessed was the crystal it had thrown out during its earlier escape attempt.

Beyond that, what else did it really have?

Faced with the world-class secret treasures deployed by Sein, Tourmaline, and White Stella, its defeat was inevitable.

Of course, Sein made sure it did not die outright. He wanted it alive.

A Rank Five specimen like this was a rare prize for his laboratory.

After all, many mages carried a collector’s instinct, and Sein had already set his sights on that crocodile head.

***

The brutal war dragged on for another half year after White Stella and the others arrived.

White Stella and Tourmaline had not come alone. Several sea kings and a small contingent of elite sea race legions appeared alongside them on Marvelous Plane.

This fresh wave of small reinforcements immediately drove the slower-to-retreat Arid Expanse World legions into utter ruin on the battlefield.

In the end, only a handful of powerhouses managed to escape, including some of the Aquarian legions and the interstellar mercenaries.

The giant mermaid later produced yet another treasure—the Glass Dome—which enveloped the skies of Marvelous Plane.

This crystalline barrier functioned much like the energy membrane the Arid Expanse World legions had once put up around the plane.

How the tables had turned. Who could have imagined that they would so quickly find themselves trapped in the very same predicament once inflicted upon the beings of Marvelous Plane?

As someone who had witnessed the entire battle firsthand, Sein quickly realized that the crystalline dome was completely different from the energy membrane previously deployed by the Arid Expanse World legions.

The latter was clearly a technological construct of the Gallant Federation, rooted in advanced principles of energy manipulation and electromagnetism.

The former, however, shared clear alchemical similarities with the two green arm ribbons worn by Tourmaline. It likely originated from the same civilization.

The sea races were known to be wealthy.

Even Sein had to acknowledge that.

Among Rank Five mages, Sein could be considered well-off. Yet compared to White Stella, the gap was far from small.

Even her younger sister, Tourmaline, was a walking treasure vault in Sein’s eyes.

Sein still remembered that when he had once sought a loan from the Magus Alliance to fund the construction of his divine tower, Tourmaline had offered to help him.

Of course, he had politely turned down her offer at the time, but he could not help wondering how many valuables Tourmaline kept tucked away in her little vault.

After the fierce fighting ended, Sein returned to the Ashen Fortress to receive the final battle report.

The campaign on Marvelous Plane was a resounding victory.

Aside from one severely wounded Rank Four Huusian and one injured allied deity, not a single Rank Four powerhouse on their side had fallen.

By contrast, the Arid Expanse World allied forces invading Marvelous Plane had one Rank Five creature captured alive and seven Rank Four beings killed in action.

Such results would count as a major victory on any battlefield.

Since launching its full-scale war against the Shadowbat Civilization, Arid Expanse World had never suffered losses this severe.

Even in its earlier clash with the Shadowbat Civilization’s main force, led by a Rank Six being, Arid Expanse World’s allied forces had lost at most five Rank Four creatures in a single engagement—and that was only after inflicting heavy casualties in return.

The Magus Civilization’s involvement truly changed everything compared to the skirmishes with medium-sized and small world civilizations in this star domain over the past two decades.

Of course, losses had not been entirely avoided.

However, every casualty in this battle was borne by Marvelous Plane itself.

By this point, every being of this plane—from Queen Hippolyta down to the most ordinary creatures—had endured immense suffering.

Before the war, Marvelous Plane had one Rank Five being and six Rank Four beings.

Aside from Hippolyta and her daughter Beatrice being rescued, only a single Rank Four being was fortunate enough to survive the battle.

It was the Ancient Banyan King, famed for its extraordinary vitality.