Sovereign of the Ashes

The encirclement of several Rank Four and Rank Five viziers and monsters became a major obstacle blocking Sein and his group’s path.

Now that Tourmaline had reverted to her true form, the support she could offer Sein on the battlefield had noticeably decreased.

Her two green arm ribbons drifted and danced in the air.

While they pushed back the creeping deathly energy, they also drew the attention of more and more Amenkha Empire powerhouses to their position.

It could not be helped—those with real strength always stand out.

On top of that, Sein’s repeated use of the Faceless Mask to fend off enemies only made things worse. Its nature as a world-class secret treasure was now exposed, drawing greedy looks from many Amenkha Viziers.

It seemed that even within the Amenkha Empire, world-class secret treasures were not all that common.

Their overwhelming strength did not mean they excelled at forging artifacts.

At least among the Rank Four and Rank Five viziers surrounding him, Sein had yet to see anyone wielding a comparable treasure.

Compared to pyro elemental magic, lumen elemental magic was far more effective against the creatures of the Amenkha Empire.

When using the Faceless Mask, Sein mainly relied on its amplification of lumen elemental laws.

At the same time, he maintained his demonic lawful body, as its resistance to physical damage far surpassed that of a standard elemental form.

Body tempering had always been one of Sein’s greatest strengths.

After a brief moment of consideration, he decided not to switch to a pure lumen elemental body. While it would have been more effective offensively, its defensive capabilities were far too lacking.

The interception by numerous viziers and powerful monsters ahead slowed Sein’s advance once again.

These viziers were clearly not just after revenge for the one he had killed earlier, nor were they simply looking to tear him apart.

Whoosh!

A pale flame, carrying dense necromantic and umbra elemental energies, suddenly shot past Sein and struck a nearby Rank Five vizier.

Startled, Sein turned his head—only to see Leena already on the battlefield, her body wreathed in Cinderbone Flame as she activated her lawful form.

The Cinderbone Flame she had once wielded now seemed... different.

The black mages of Blackhaven never revealed everything to others, not even to their own apprentices.

But ever since her soul fused with Leena’s, it had become nearly impossible for Mikaeli to hide anything.

Even the deepest secrets of her heart had been laid bare to her, let alone the truths and arcane knowledge she has mastered.

The destructive power of the Cinderbone Flame was truly terrifying. What made it even more dangerous was its nature—it was a rare fusion of pyro and umbra elemental forces, with necromantic energy at its core.

The magic array Mikaeli personally created could, upon striking an enemy, ignite the death energy within their own body and detonate it from the inside!

It was an exceptionally cruel application of magic.

Any low-level Amenkha creatures caught in the path of the Cinderbone Flame were almost instantly reduced to burning, human-shaped torches.

Only the law-wielding powerhouses could withstand this strange and deadly fire.

Even then, many of them were caught off guard. Faced with such an unfamiliar flame, their ranks quickly fell into disarray.

This was one of the clearest differences between the Amenkha Empire’s forces and those of the Magus Civilization.

While the Amenkha Empire largely relied on negative energies, the Magus Civilization’s elites wielded an astonishing variety of elemental forces.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that there were as many elemental paths as there were law-wielding mages in Magus World.

Even among those of the Verdant Flame Faction, Sein, Gregory, and the others each walked completely different paths.

With Mikaeli and Leena joining the fight, the pressure on Sein eased noticeably.

A moment later, a violet-golden dragon flew past him.

Mel had been nearby the entire time. As a Rank Four Dragon Warlock who had awakened the bloodline of a past powerhouse, her strength—while not quite on Tourmaline’s level—was still among the very best of her rank.

With her support, Sein and his group’s breakout sped up significantly...until another surge of overlord-level power rippled out from the depths of the star domain.

This time, the fluctuations came fast and from an extremely tricky angle.

Caught in the middle of battle, Sein found himself with no time to evade.

At the critical moment, Tourmaline pulled out a mirror-like artifact from her chest pocket. Each of its eight sides was engraved with foreign-looking runes that even Sein could not recognize.

A deep blue energy barrier instantly spread out, enveloping Sein and the others.

When the lingering shockwaves reached them, the barrier managed to block most of the force.

Even so, the power that seeped through still hit hard enough to leave Sein in intense pain.

Cracks spread across his demonic form, with traces of elemental energy and dark blood seeping out.

Tourmaline fared a little better in his arms.

Whether it was due to her natural resilience or because Sein had taken most of the impact for her, even she was not entirely sure.

But they did not have time to recover. A greater threat was already waiting ahead.

A Rank Six vizier, accompanied by two Rank Six monsters, had moved in to cut off their escape.

Sein cursed under his breath. Why was this vizier targeting him instead of going after Feylis or Kruiz?

But if he were in the vizier’s position, he would have made the same choice.

Compared to Feylis, whose strength was overwhelming, Sein’s group was weaker. On top of that, he carried multiple world-class secret treasures.

Unless she was facing overwhelming numbers, Feylis was not someone easily stopped once she decided to break out.

“Can you hold on a bit longer?” Sein asked, glancing down at Tourmaline.

“Mm,” she murmured softly, then pulled out a jade vial and tipped out two golden-patterned pills.

Without hesitation, she placed one in Sein’s mouth and swallowed the other herself.

The surge of medicinal power that followed caught even Sein off guard. Even after consuming countless top-tier potions from his mentor, he had never felt anything quite like it.

He could not help but glance at the girl in his arms, wondering where she had been hiding all these treasures.

Noticing his gaze, Tourmaline flushed slightly. “What are you staring at, Sein?”

“Nothing,” he replied quickly, looking away. “I’m going to speed up. Hold on tight.”

Flames erupted behind him as he cast Fiery Wings on himself. Massive wings of fire immediately spread from his back.

With a sharp burst of speed, Sein streaked toward the exit of the Mordora Star Domain like a blazing meteor.

He had no intention of confronting that Rank Six vizier head-on.