Sovereign of the Ashes

Marie and Angie spent a total of one week at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

During their stay, Sein and Marie engaged in nothing extraordinary. Rather than fleeting physical connections, Sein cherished the comfort of their long-standing friendship, reminiscent of the cozy aroma of aged wine.

Both seemed to deeply value this brief period they spent together.

A week later, Marie and Angie returned to the South Coast.

With the Verdant Wave Canal operational, their journey back to the Divine Tower of Dawn would take no more than a month.

Although the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring had yet to establish a teleportation array with other divine towers, several floating ports within the Viridescent Land were already preparing for construction.

These floating ports, funded not by the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring and Lorianne but by powerful human nations and prestigious magic families of Viridescent Land, promised to significantly boost regional prosperity.

The modest initial investment in construction was dwarfed by the anticipated benefits and economic prospects.

Should the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring's finances improve, Lorianne could leverage the name of the divine tower to install teleportation arrays in the busiest of these ports, claiming at least half of the profits without direct investment.

Lorianne was not robbing them; this reflected the inherent advantages that divine towers enjoyed.

The flourishing of these ports, established by individual families, owed much to Lorianne's influence—and she had not even charged them interest yet!

***

Two years after Marie's visit to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, another significant event had taken place.

Elisa, a pink-tailed mermaid, had ascended to Rank One.

She had not even informed Sein of her breakthrough attempt, nor had Sein prepared any potions or items to aid her in the endeavor.

It was as if Sein had stepped out of his laboratory one day only to realize that Elisa had ranked up.

Following her ascent, Elisa did not express any intention to leave Sein.

Technically, Sein had no right to hold the mermaid captive, given their rarity in the Magus World.

Should Elisa choose to protest or make her situation known to the divine towers or other full-fledged mages, Sein would not only have to set her free but also potentially face penalties from the Magus Alliance.

Yet, for some reason, Elisa chose to stay.

The day after her promotion, even before fully stabilizing her newfound strength, she prepared a large meal for Sein.

For the past two months, Sein had been so engrossed in body tempering experiments that he had barely noticed Elisa's presence, let alone maintained his usual diet.

It was not until Selina coaxed him out for dinner near the end of his experiment that he truly noticed Elisa's ascent.

With a profound and thoughtful look, he watched her for a moment before nodding appreciatively and commenting, "Not bad."

It was unclear whether he was commending her culinary skills or her successful advancement.

Either way, Elisa's fair cheeks flushed at Sein's compliment.

Sein sat at the end of the banquet table, with Selina at his side. He also invited Yuri and Azelia to join them on the table.

Even Sev, the owl, stood on the table directly across from Sein.

In Sein's close-knit circle, familiarity bred a casual disregard for strict hierarchies.

Having been together for decades, they had long become accustomed to each other's company.

Although Sein did not directly inquire about the specifics of Elisa's breakthrough, he reminded her to pick up an Azure Potion from him after dinner.

Azure Potion was a precious concoction that primarily restored a mage's focus and was effective even for Rank Two mages like Sein.

Given that its main ingredients were rare marine creatures, it was speculated that its effects on stabilizing Elisa's newfound strength would be even better than recovering Sein's focus.

Elisa acknowledged his instruction with a soft hum.

The pink-tailed mermaid had been with Sein for a long time, and her character had evolved considerably since their initial acquaintance.

Sein's attention soon shifted to the fox maiden.

Perhaps it was because she tended to look after Sein more, or maybe Sein was deeply fascinated by the Beastmen World and the power systems of the beastmen tribes, he cared more about the fox maiden's advancement to Rank One than Elisa's.

The fox maiden had received extensive support from Sein over the years. Given this and her potential, her progression was highly anticipated.

Sein estimated that her promotion to Rank One could occur in the coming years.

Seizing the moment after discussing Elisa's recent advancement, Sein advised during dinner, "You shouldn't be distracted by duties like cleaning the lab. From now on, focus entirely on your advancement to Rank One."

"I'm really looking forward to your performance," he added, looking earnestly at the fox maiden.

The fox maiden nodded shyly, suddenly feeling the weight of her master's high expectation on her shoulders.

***

After Elisa's promotion to Rank One, it was the three Sea Lizards who first achieved a breakthrough to Rank One, rather than the fox maiden.

Raising these big eaters was financially taxing.

Heisse and the other three Sea Lizards' advancement to Rank One was not solely due to their innate potential or their experience in battle.

Sein believed that their consumption of vast quantities of high-quality flesh and blood was a significant factor.

This was the advantage of synthesized undead chimeras—as long as one invested enough resources, the returns were inevitable.

Leena's skill in synthesizing undead chimeras was undeniable. With her ability to create Heisse and the other three Sea Lizards when she was only at Rank One, it was no surprise that the Tower Master of Cinderbones was keen on taking her as an apprentice.

In the years since Sein returned to the Magus World, the conflict in Blackhaven near the Black Tower of Cinderbones had escalated significantly.

The strife between the Black Tower of Cinderbones and the neighboring Black Tower of Bone, Black Tower of Dark Crystal, and Black Order of Skra intensified.

More specifically, the three Blackhaven forces—comprising Rank Four black mages and black knights—had been working together to suppress the Black Tower of Cinderbones.

This alliance was not formed because the Black Tower of Cinderbones was overly aggressive; rather, these groups also needed room to expand.

The ascent of any formidable black mage typically involved accumulating numerous corpses from their homeplane.

Leena's notoriety in the southern part of the Black Tower of Cinderbones's sphere of influence in Blackhaven had grown, earning her titles like "Dark Reaper" or "Netherflame Wielder" from some of the lower-ranked knights and mages.

It would appear that clearing her name nowadays was becoming increasingly difficult.

Though she had not spilled much blood of divine tower mages or registered knights, the count of Blackhaven black mages and knights she had killed was nearing the triple digits.

Even during their last long-distance communication, Sein sensed a disturbance in Leena's flames and detected a repulsive force that came from the planar light within him.

Sein frowned, knowing this was due to Leena's hands being stained by the blood of too many creatures from the Magus World, predominantly those of Rank One and higher.