Sovereign of the Ashes

Eversurge.

Over 90% of this low-level hydro-elemental plane was covered in vast oceans.

The remaining landmass was scattered across the world in the form of countless islands.

When Sein stepped through the teleportation array and arrived in Eversurge, the first thing he saw was the five space fortresses hovering in the sky.

Four of them were familiar—he had seen those fortresses during the Wild Gorilla World War.

The fifth one, smaller and crimson-colored, was unfamiliar. He figured it must belong to his senior, Aelid.

He had not expected Aelid to purchase a war platform like a space fortress so soon after completing his divine tower.

That realization lit a fire in Sein. A sense of urgency stirred in him, along with a quiet, growing competitiveness.

He decided that it was time to begin building his own divine tower and acquiring a space fortress.

At the moment, quite a few Rank Four creatures were active in Eversurge.

Aside from the two native Rank Four creatures, an expeditionary force from Magus World was also operating in this world.

While Sein did not sense Lorianne's presence, he could clearly feel Tourmaline's aura.

In truth, Tourmaline had come looking for him during the twenty-third year of his fifty-year seclusion in the Verdant Flame Range.

Unfortunately, the searing heat of that place had been unbearable for someone who preferred the cool embrace of the sea, like her.

At that time, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring had just answered the call from the Divine Tower of Floating Flame to join the campaign for Eversurge, and Tourmaline ended up drawn into the war effort.

Given the overwhelming strength the Verdant Flame Faction had displayed in Eversurge, Tourmaline's individual presence hardly made a difference.

In reality, she had rarely taken part in actual combat since her arrival.

Most of the time, she simply swam freely through the vast blue ocean.

Even so, her involvement brought over two million members of the sea races to the lower ranks of the Verdant Flame army.

Among them were several demigod-level sea kings, who had proven themselves to be excellent assets throughout this interplanar war.

After all, most knights and mages were not suited for battle in the deep sea, where crushing water pressure and complex terrain posed serious challenges.

Sending in sea race legions under the command of sea kings had been the far better option.

The Verdant Flame Faction's decision to involve Tourmaline in the war could be a strategic move to draw closer to her family in preparation for the coming civilization war.

In fact, the two million sea race soldiers deployed to Eversurge, along with the demigod-level sea kings who followed afterward, had all been sent by Tourmaline's big sister, White Stella.

Verdant Flame Faction carried significant influence in Magus World. For the sea races, aligning with such a powerful force would only bring benefits.

As for Tourmaline herself, she remained blissfully unaware of the politics at play.

She had simply come to the Divine Tower of Verdant Flame to find Sein, only to be told that he was still in seclusion.

The next thing she knew, she was brought to this moisture-rich foreign world to relax while waiting for him to emerge.

By now, the war in Eversurge had more or less reached its conclusion.

Overwhelming force had pushed the remaining native resistance into the southeastern corner of the plane.

There, a complex network of undersea corals served as one of the last strongholds for the native inhabitants.

This was only a low-level plane, one that had produced just two Rank Four beings. It stood no real chance against a force several times its size.

Besides, with the civilization war looming, neither the participating divine towers nor the knightly order had much interest in assimilating Eversurge into the Magus Alliance for long-term exploitation.

This campaign was meant to be a one-time deal.

Although the long-term benefits afterward would be less, the current spoils of war were still abundant.

By the time Sein arrived on the battlefield, the Magus Civilization's forces had already launched another assault on the native legion defending the southeastern Coral City.

The planar will of Eversurge seemed so weakened, it was barely even functioning.

Even with Sein arriving via teleportation array as a Rank Four lifeform, he could hardly feel the planar suppression effects.

High above, several gaping holes still scarred the planar barrier, blasted open by the main cannons of the space fortresses.

This world's weakened will was far too feeble to repair them.

***

"What the hell is the Third Echelon doing? Tell them to support the frontline now! Focus on cryo and geo spells—keep them going!"

In the main command room of the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring's space fortress, Jessica was barking orders to the thousand-strong mage legion fighting below.

Among all the divine towers involved in this interplanar war, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring had been the standout.

For one, there was Tourmaline and the more than two million-strong sea legion that Lorianne had brought into the campaign.

For another, the other three participating towers were mostly staffed with Pyromancers, which put them at a clear disadvantage on a battlefield like Eversurge. In deep seas or oceans, pyro elemental spells simply did not perform as well.

An area-effect spell like Meteor, for example, would probably hit with less than half its usual force here compared to what it could do on another plane.

By contrast, Verdant Spring had a wide range of spellcasters. Even Dendromancers had managed to find ways to adapt and thrive in this aquatic environment.

Lorianne's most noteworthy contribution to this campaign was her pre-war development of a special legion of aquatic plant giants designed specifically for marine combat.

These giants had incredibly short life spans, but their combat power was nothing to scoff at.

If their design were refined even further, they might even make a successful product for the Magus Alliance's broader market.

That said, the ones who were truly having the time of their lives in this campaign were the knights from the Order of the Green Bounty.

Typically, in most interplanar wars, each divine tower would pair off with one order of knights.

This was because the number of knights in Magus World was generally several times greater than the number of mages at the same rank.

But in this battle, four divine towers were working alongside a single knightly order, which meant that the number of mages massively outnumbered the knights.

Essentially, there were two to three mages providing long-range fire support for every knight on the frontline.

For knights, this was nothing short of a dream.

The Order of the Green Bounty had been established not too long ago by a Rank Four knight named Berecca, but it had grown rapidly in strength and reputation.

They had taken part in the Wild Gorilla World War and were now jointly participating in the conquest of Eversurge.

Thanks to the close relationship between Bernice and Berecca, the mages of the Divine Tower of Floating Flame and the knights of the Green Bounty had also formed strong personal ties.

"Dean, we are detecting a powerful lifeform approaching our area. They appear to be friendly!" a Rank Two mage in the command center reported.

Jessica turned her eyes to the energy detection radar inside the space fortress. A moment later, a blazing silhouette entered her field of vision.