Sovereign of the Ashes

Across all frontline star-domain battlefields, the Magus Civilization’s combat strength ratio among law-wielding mages, knights, and allied deities was roughly 1:3:6.

This distribution accurately reflected how the Magus Civilization allocates its high-ranking combat power.

That was precisely why the forces led by Sein, Grandmaster Feylis, and others to the Shadowbat Civilization and Blue Star sectors were regarded as elite legions.

Within this structure, the overall number of knights and mages far exceeded that of ordinary allied combat creatures.

Moreover, the forces assigned to this battlefield were among the strongest the entire Magus Alliance could field at their respective ranks.

In recent years, the Magus Civilization had continued to reinforce this star domain. Most of the reinforcements consisted of allied foreign deities and alliance combat legions.

As a result, the overall combat strength ratio in Sein’s battlefield gradually came to resemble that of other frontlines.

Of course, additional law-wielding knights and mages also arrived.

The presence of several Rank Five beings, in particular, significantly reduced Sein’s authority over the battlefields surrounding Marvelous Plane.

Sein himself felt little about this change.

He understood his own limits.

Commanding battles involving millions of combatants, including several law-wielding beings, was well within his experience.

However, commanding a civilizational battlefield that involved tens or even hundreds of millions of troops, especially with nearly a hundred law-wielding combatants on each side, was far beyond his capabilities.

In fact, even coordinating engagements involving more than ten law-wielding beings was already pushing his limits.

Fortunately, White Stella, leader of the sea races, proved highly skilled in such large-scale command.

In addition, both the Klytheran Legion and the Huusian Legion under Sein’s command had established their own command hierarchies.

The Klytherans followed the leadership of Karazo, while the Huusians operated under the direct authority of their king.

Sein’s responsibilities extended beyond the few Rank Four beings under his personal command. He also coordinated several allied deities who had joined this battlefield, all of whom acknowledged his authority and followed his directives.

The arrival of Rank Five knights and mages from the Magus Civilization was a good thing in Sein’s view.

Their presence eased much of the burden on his shoulders, and when the final spoils of the Clash of Civilizations were tallied, Sein would surely still receive his share.

Rather than bearing the responsibility of steering the outcome of an entire battlefield, Sein much preferred spending his time in the laboratory, pursuing experiments that genuinely interested him.

That day, after wrapping up another round of exciting body-tempering research, Sein prepared to head out.

Yuri remained behind, continuing to assist with the experiments.

On the experimental table lay a Rank Four sea monster with numerous tentacles. Its entire body glowed with a crystalline blue sheen, its skin covered in bumps and red, wart-like growths.

This was the creature Reina and Sia had brought down.

Of course, they had not accomplished it alone. During the battle, they had received substantial support from allied deities, including Rank Four Klytheran warriors like Kram.

Even so, Sia and Reina had still expended no small amount of effort to subdue the monster finally.

It had now been reduced to a specimen on Sein’s table because of a discovery he made during dissection—its unique neurotoxin offered remarkable benefits for his body-tempering experiments.

Using toxins to stimulate physical states and unlock deeper cellular potential was a research direction Sein had pursued for a long time.

Unfortunately, the toxins he encountered during his Rank One and Rank Two days had been far too weak and had almost no effect on him.

However, the neurotoxin of this Rank Four sea monster proved effective even against Sein, now a Rank Five being.

This was simply... exceptionally rare and utterly fascinating!

Whenever he found a spare moment, Sein would return to study it.

“The verdant flame passed down by Grandmaster Feylis is inherently venomous,” Sein mused after completing his experiment.

“It’s just a shame my Ashen Flame followed the path of fusion rather than venom,” he added with a hint of regret.

Leaving the laboratory, Sein flew straight toward the command center of Marvelous Plane.

As the wars in the surrounding star domains intensified and expanded in scale, the Magus Civilization had designated a dedicated location for pre-battle deployments and major strategic decisions, rather than continuing to hold discussions inside Sein’s Ashen Fortress.

The command center lay in the northwestern part of Marvelous Plane’s ocean, where a colossal white shell rose conspicuously from the surface, serving as the gathering place for Sein and his allies.

It was actually a Rank Four sea king.

The Sea King had only recently arrived as reinforcement for the Marvelous Plane battlefield, accompanied by vast legions of sea races and other Sea King creatures.

White Stella wielded exceptionally strong influence over the sea races.

Wherever she appeared on the battlefield, the fighting spirit and fearlessness of the low-tier sea race legions and the generally less intelligent Sea Kings surged far beyond their usual limits.

In truth, Tourmaline could exert a similar effect.

Although Tourmaline struggled to command the massive sea kings, Sein noticed that the lower-ranking sea races seemed to revere her even more deeply.

Unfortunately, neither White Stella nor Sein felt comfortable sending Tourmaline to the frontlines, especially in recent years.

As more and more law-wielding beings gathered on both sides, even Sein gradually felt the situation slipping beyond his control. Under such circumstances, how could he possibly risk sending Tourmaline into battle?

Thankfully, Tourmaline had been remarkably well-behaved over the past few years. No matter how fierce the fighting became at the front, she spent most of her time sleeping peacefully in the depths of Marvelous Plane’s ocean, seemingly unaffected by the clashes raging above her.

Only on rare occasions, when high-ranking battles erupted too close to the Marvelous Plane, were Tourmaline’s beautiful dreams disturbed.

When that happened, she would swing her mountain-like dragon claws and teach the pesky ones a harsh lesson for interrupting her rest.

Most of the time, however, Sein and the others ensured that enemies never came anywhere near Marvelous Plane.

By the time Sein arrived at the command center, several figures were already present.

A man dressed in black strode toward him, arms spread wide in greeting.

It was Black Oblivion, who had arrived at this star domain battlefield four years earlier.

Unlike Tourmaline’s gentle and docile nature, Black Oblivion was restless by temperament.

In just a few short years after arriving near Marvelous Plane, he had already taken part in multiple battles. He had even joined forces with other law-wielding beings and slayed two hostile Rank Four creatures.

Black Oblivion had not come alone. In addition to a sizable entourage of magic beast kings—his usual rowdy companions—he had also brought along two relatives this time.

It was with the support of those two relatives, combined with his own formidable trump cards and equipment, that Black Oblivion managed to pull off the unexpected feat of killing two Rank Four creatures.

Thanks to this accomplishment, Black Oblivion rapidly became a rising star, despite having been on Marvelous Plane battlefield for only four years.

And he clearly enjoyed being in the spotlight.

Black Oblivion had always been a “troublemaker” in White Stella’s eyes. Perhaps this was because he was always eager to prove himself and show off his strength.