Sovereign of the Ashes

In the end, under the escort of the two overseers and the senior members of the faction, the elemental giant that was Sein slowly sank into the heart of the largest volcano in the Verdant Flame Range.

An incredibly pure pyro elemental energy engulfed him almost instantly.

This was, without question, the ideal place for a breakthrough, both in terms of efficiency and the strength of the laws that could be absorbed.

"The Ashen Law..." Sein murmured, surrendering his body and mind to the maelstrom of pyro elemental force.

Once Sein's lawful body had fully submerged into the molten depths and his condition began to stabilize, Feylis turned to Lorianne and said, "Your apprentice's advancement came a little too suddenly. Let me guess—he hasn't applied for the Magus Alliance's promotion subsidy yet, has he?"

She shrugged and added, "It might be too late to go through the formal procedures, but there's still a chance to file it retroactively."

The Magus Civilization had a peculiar rule: any native being attempting to ascend to Rank Four or higher was required to apply for advancement in advance.

On the upside, peak demigods could apply for financial support from the Magus Alliance prior to breaking through to the next rank.

It was one of the many benefits reflecting the superiority of the Magus World system.

In fact, even mages or knights who had only just reached demigod level were eligible to apply.

There were subsidies issued before advancement, and additional rewards granted afterward.

Together, these were usually enough to help newly promoted Rank Four powerhouses navigate the most financially challenging phase of their lives.

And that was not even counting the low or zero-interest loans available through the same program.

These benefits extended across the entire Magus Alliance.

In other words, even peak demigod-level extraplanar beings expected to break into Rank Four could apply for support.

Unfortunately, biases still existed.

A Magus World native might have their application approved immediately without much issue, while a foreign Rank Four might face significantly longer review periods.

And in cases where the demigod in question was deemed weak, the alliance might reject the application altogether.

Feylis could already tell from Sein's actions that he had inherited Lorianne's personality—independent, and not particularly inclined to rely on the faction.

Still, even if the alliance's subsidy for demigod-level mages preparing to advance to Rank Four was not substantial on its own, the post-advancement reward combined would more than cover Sein's recent fine and leave plenty to spare.

Having a senior figure in the faction was truly a blessing.

While Lorianne was still reeling from the shock of Sein's sudden advancement and had not thought any of this through, Feylis was already five steps ahead.

At her mentor's reminder, Lorianne finally snapped out of her daze and gave a quick nod.

As Sein's mentor, these matters naturally fell to her to handle.

Fortunately, the two overseers were still present and had witnessed firsthand the absurd power Sein possessed, along with his lawful body.

With their testimony, filing the paperwork for this subsidy should not be difficult.

"Ugh, that brat is really advancing to Rank Four," Lorianne muttered, still struggling to fully register the reality of it all.

***

Sein's incident and his absence had become the most discussed topic at the faction gathering.

Many members had never even heard of him before, and they certainly had not expected another Rank Four mage to emerge from their own faction.

Selphy, now promoted to Rank Three, was already considered one of the higher-ranked members of the Verdant Flame Faction.

Given her warm and approachable personality, it was no surprise that many juniors—most of whom had never met Sein—flocked to her, eager to learn more about this mysterious senior.

Meanwhile, Lorianne, whose only apprentice had just advanced to Rank Four, had suddenly become the most admired figure at this gathering.

Before any of this, she had simply thought bringing Sein along would earn her a bit of recognition.

She had not expected this level of attention, though.

Of course, along with pride, Sein's advancement also brought pressure upon her.

Before, Lorianne had been stressed about not knowing how to properly guide her apprentice. Now, her anxiety came from the possibility of being surpassed by him.

Lorianne had never doubted Sein's talent.

The brat even had a world-class secret treasure now, while she herself still had not finished paying off her divine tower loan!

Still, when she thought about how Sein would eventually have to build his own divine tower and shoulder the same kind of crushing loan, she felt oddly relieved.

It was not that she wished misfortune on him, but misery did love company.

Lorianne was also well aware that when the time came for Sein to establish his tower, she would be expected to contribute something as his mentor.

To be fair, most of her loans were already close to being paid off.

After all, she had participated in more than a few interplanar wars over the years, and during large faction operations, her mentor and senior colleagues had always looked out for her.

She only had two or three million magicoins left to pay off.

If she avoided unnecessary expenses, she could probably clear that within the next two hundred years.

Honestly, for a mage who had only reached Rank Four a little over two thousand years ago, that was considered fast!

Even so, the idea of dipping into her hard-earned savings to help her apprentice someday made her visibly pale.

Still, it was a necessary expense.

She had always treated her apprentice well.

***

After the chaos caused by Sein's breakthrough was handled and the two overseers were sent off, the faction gathering proceeded without him.

There were two main reasons for holding this event.

First, the Magus Alliance Conference was fast approaching. Many veteran divine tower masters had already received their invitations in advance.

Lorianne, Bernice, and a few others had not received theirs yet, but their invitations were expected to arrive one after another within the next two hundred years.

The Magus Alliance Conference never convened without a reason, especially not when the gap between this session and the last had been unusually short.

Feylis also addressed the rising tensions with the Gallant Federation during this gathering.

As a Rank Six powerhouse, Feylis naturally had access to a broader range of sensitive information.

Of course, the information she shared with her apprentices and grand apprentices during the gathering consisted only of classified details that were already cleared for discussion.

Besides, those so-called "secrets" would no longer be secrets once the Magus Alliance Conference officially began.

At this point, it was fair to say that the upcoming conference might serve as a "pre-war mobilization meeting" for the looming conflict with the Gallant Federation!