Sovereign of the Ashes

War had never been about justice or evil. It brought only destruction and death.

When the forbidden-level Meteor Fire Rain spell swallowed the giant mountain city in Rongyue World, the entire place was quickly reduced to a sea of fire.

Rongyue World might be a medium-sized plane, but its overall development was nothing remarkable.

After all, truly exceptional civilizations were rare in the Astral Realm.

Most planes were simply... average.

Against Sein’s forbidden spell, the Rongyue creatures had little to rely on. The totem poles scattered around the giant mountain city barely managed to project a faint white totem barrier, struggling to hold back the attack.

Beyond that, they had no real way to defend themselves.

Once the city’s already battered defenses—worn down by the Dawn Empire’s assault—finally collapsed, everything within range was wiped out in an instant!

Countless natives could only watch in terror as blazing meteors rained from the sky until their lives were snuffed out.

“BASTARD! I’LL KILL YOU!”

With a thunderous roar, a ferocious Rank Five Rongyue warrior forced his way through Fermera’s energy barrage and charged straight at Sein.

For this Rongyue creature, this was a fight to defend his homeland.

The slaughter of his people and kin had dragged out every ounce of his buried savagery.

At this point, even if it meant dying together with Sein, he would not hesitate.

Rongyue creatures were generally straightforward by nature. Toward enslaved beings or outsiders, they could be brutal and savage.

But when it came to their own kind, their sense of loyalty and belonging ran deep.

The war with the Dawn Empire had dragged on for five hundred years, and not a single Rongyue warrior had deserted.

Even their enemies could not help but respect that.

The Rank Five warrior charging at Sein was humanoid. His muscles and veins bulged, straining against his skin.

Once he entered combat form, his body expanded to hundreds of meters tall, with arms nearly a hundred meters long.

The reckless charge alone showed he had gone beyond a normal combat state—he had likely entered a berserk state, having already lost his sanity.

An enemy like that took the least effort to deal with.

As the enemy charged, Sein calmly studied his movements. It did not take long for him to conclude that this creature’s method of physical cultivation and even its evolutionary path were fundamentally flawed.

This was a poorly developed Rank Five being. Its so-called bravery amounted to nothing more than a meaningless suicide.

Sein did not even need to act. Fermera, who had been holding the creature off, noticed that many of her energy blasts were passing straight through his body, yet still failing to slow him down.

Without hesitation, the cannons mounted on her shoulders and along her wings retracted.

A radiant white lightsaber appeared in her right hand.

With a single motion, she raised it before her chest. Her eight metal wings flared open, and in the next instant, she was already in front of the charging Rongyue creature.

The blade flashed, cold and brilliant, as it cut straight across his body.

The creature was moving too fast and it did not even try to dodge.

To anyone watching, it looked as though the massive figure had thrown itself directly into the path of her blade.

Swoosh!

Against an opponent far stronger than himself, the Rank Five Rongyue warrior failed to evade the strike.

His thick, hundred-meter-long arm was severed cleanly and dropped from the sky.

Blood poured down in a heavy rain.

The torrent of crimson surged from the wound was proof of just how much vitality the creature possessed.

Even Fermera paused for a split second. She had not expected to sever his arm with a single strike.

A Rank Six could certainly overpower a Rank Five, but not this easily.

Even after losing an arm, the Rongyue creature did not slow down in the slightest. Still bleeding heavily, he continued charging straight at Sein!

That had been his target all along!

Even if it cost him a limb, he was determined to take revenge for the forbidden spell Sein had unleashed!

Fermera reacted immediately, her wings snapping inward as she moved to intercept again.

But the attack was already coming.

With his remaining arm, the Rongyue warrior swung his weapon—a massive spiked club unique to his world.

As it came down, a surge of special law energy spread around it, forming a massive shadowy projection of the club that also came crashing down toward Sein from above.

If that strike had landed squarely on an ordinary Rank Five mage, they would have been coughing up blood or dead on the spot.

While the bold feared the reckless, the reckless feared those with nothing left to lose.

The Rongyue warrior in front of Sein clearly belonged to the last category.

Against an opponent like this, even a prodigy from a top-tier civilization could end up badly injured if they were careless.

Sein had just finished casting a forbidden-level spell, but he was not caught off guard. Fermera had already stepped in and held the enemy back long enough for him to recover.

It was too late to cast another spell, so Sein transformed into his Ashen Demon form and charged forward.

That magic rod in his hand had been refined and upgraded countless times over the years.

After exploring the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization’s secret realm, he had even reinforced it with a variety of rare metals.

Even so...

CLANG!

The impact rang out like thunder as it collided with his enemy’s weapon.

Under the force of the blow and the violent clash of law powers, the magic rod that had accompanied him for years cracked!

Then again, a magic rod was meant for casting spells, not for trading blows.

No matter how much Sein had reinforced it, it was never designed to be used like a blunt weapon.

Still, the damage spoke volumes about the sheer force behind the strike delivered by the Rongyue creature in its frenzied state!

As Sein registered the damage to his magic rod and the strength of his opponent, the Rongyue warrior froze for a split second.

His first thought was how this seemingly frail mage had suddenly become something so massive and ferocious.

His second was how he could be this strong.

Sein did not waste time dwelling on the crack in his staff. Instead, he reached to his side and pulled out a massive alchemy hammer—the one he usually used during his experiments.

In both size and weight, it was no smaller than the spiked club in the creature’s hand.

Taking advantage of that brief opening, Sein swung the hammer with full force and brought it crashing down on the creature’s skull.

At the same time, Fermera’s attack struck from behind.

The master and his servant moved in perfect sync, landing their combined assault in the same instant.