Sovereign of the Ashes

The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

Aside from the four nearby vacant planar nodes, Sein had inspected a total of seventeen in the southern region of the Alveroth Empire with the demigod-level mage named Schubert.

Sadly, not a single one met his standards.

Their pyro elemental laws were either far too weak, or so strong that the entire surrounding area was a sea of fire or dormant volcanoes. The terrain was so harsh that even airships carrying initiates would have trouble landing.

Then there were nodes with mixed elemental energies that simply did not align with Sein's affinity.

One particular node did meet his minimum requirements, but it came with one major drawback: there were already two divine towers nearby, both established by Rank Six mages.

With those two towers constantly siphoning off resources, trying to carve out a place for himself in that kind of environment would be far more than just "difficult".

At Sein's request, Schubert continued the search, accompanying him to the central-northern region of the Alveroth Empire.

Finding a good planar node was never easy. Discovering one suitable for establishing a divine tower in just a decade or two would be nothing short of a miracle.

During his time exploring the empire, Sein also gained a much clearer understanding of how this top-tier power handled resource allocation for newly promoted Rank Four mages.

Once the superficial policies were stripped away, one would realize that the actual support the Alveroth Empire offered to new divine tower masters like Sein was quite limited.

An example of those policies was this: if Sein were to relocate his family to the Alveroth Empire, they would immediately inherit a hereditary marquis title based on his Rank Four status.

On paper, that might sound prestigious, but the empire's marquis title was nowhere near the level of nobility in the smaller kingdoms across the Magus World.

To Sein, it was nothing more than a decorative label with no real value.

And as for the so-called low-interest loans for divine tower construction... Sein could only scoff.

He was not about to become some poor soul saddled with a mountain of debt.

If things ever became that dire, and he truly found himself desperate for money, Sein might consider borrowing from Tourmaline or seeking assistance from the Spider Queen.

He knew those two were definitely rich.

Besides, Sein still had the resources and treasures he had brought back from Faeloria, along with the spoils from his earlier expedition to the Knight Continent.

After setting aside a portion for his daily research and experiments, the rest could be sold.

Once his survey in the Alveroth Empire wrapped up, Sein planned to head to the Capiche Business Alliance to handle this matter.

It remained to be seen just how much those items stored in his space conch would fetch in magicoins.

Aside from the loot Sein obtained from his god hunts, a sizable portion had been gifted to him by Anastasia, the Purgatory Princess.

Truth be told, he owed the Succubus Queen a considerable debt of gratitude.

***

Sein spent a total of fifty-one years in the Alveroth Empire.

The final outcome of his investigation left him slightly disappointed.

In the end, he managed to find three planar nodes that just barely met his criteria.

There had originally been four, but while Sein was still hesitating, one had already been claimed by someone else.

"For some reason, more and more Rank Four beings seem to be building divine towers lately. Even within the empire, some generals who never considered building towers before have now announced their plans to do so. I wonder if they're serious," Schubert commented.

"At the very least, in the past three hundred years, I've personally helped two Rank Four beings to establish their divine towers successfully," he added.

Schubert's words made Sein pause in thought.

His information was probably true.

With the looming war against the Gallant Federation and invitations for this year's Magus Alliance Conference already being issued, it was no surprise that well-informed Rank Four beings had begun sensing the approach of a civilization-scale conflict.

In a clash between top-tier civilizations, whether one had established a divine tower or not would significantly impact the final rewards for many Rank Four and above powerhouses.

Right now, this was merely the warm-up phase.

A surge in breakthroughs to Rank Four across the Magus World, and the most active period for the founding of divine towers and knightly orders would likely come on the eve of the Magus Alliance Conference or soon after.

After all, every demigod-level powerhouse with the potential to reach Rank Four understood one thing: only those above Rank Four had even a basic chance of surviving the civilization war.

Anyone below Rank Four was nothing more than an insignificant ant, waiting to be crushed.

The upcoming war with the Gallant Federation would also serve as a period of rapid development and transformation for Magus World.

It remained to be seen what kind of terrifying entity the Magus Civilization would become after absorbing the resources of the Gallant Federation once the war concluded.

"Master Sein, have you decided where to establish your divine tower?" Schubert asked.

He looked up at Sein and continued, "It seems the high-quality nodes among the remaining public ones are becoming highly contested. If you don't make a decision soon, I fear even those might..."

If Sein decided to establish his divine tower in the Alveroth Empire, Schubert, as his guide, would certainly receive a generous reward and plenty of resources.

He was already at the demigod level and had a decent shot at breaking through to Rank Four before the civilization war began.

Facing Schubert's expectant gaze, Sein finally sighed.

He smiled wryly beneath the Faceless Mask and said, "I haven't made a decision yet. Take this Water Fusion Crystal as thanks for your service over the years."

"You shouldn't have, Master Sein. The empire is paying me to do this," Schubert said as he accepted the Water Fusion Crystal gratefully.

This was one of the perks of being a guide: regardless of the outcome, the job came with a solid paycheck.

And working with a generous Rank Four powerhouse like Sein was a blessing for any demigod-level mage.

That was why, despite the time-consuming and tedious nature of the work, many demigod-level mages and even some idle Rank Four spellcasters were still willing to take it on.

At least when it came to economics and the magicoin system, the Alveroth Empire remained a clear leader among the major powers of the Magus World.

Sein still remembered that in this empire, even ordinary citizens had access to magic newspapers.

That kind of widespread magic culture—far more developed than in most other regions—had been one of the reasons he originally wanted to build his divine tower here.

But in the end, there was still a big gap between his ideal and reality.

"Never mind. Guess I'll head to the Capiche Business Alliance first and deal with the proceeds from Faeloria. The divine tower can wait. Maybe I should start considering other regions as well," Sein muttered with a sigh.