Sovereign of the Ashes

In addition to the octopus that was brimming with life force, Sein also spotted some sealed artifacts among the penguin's tarot cards.

Each of those dark golden cards held profound mysteries, and they made Sein's eyes light up.

The penguin finished shuffling quickly, and now both it and Sein could only see the backs of the floating cards.

Mystical patterns shimmered on their surfaces.

Even with the Faceless Mask feeding him data, Sein found these cards hard to read in a short amount of time.

The penguin stretched out his pitch-black right wing, motioning for Sein to go first.

Just before making his choice, Sein suddenly asked, "Do you wield the law of gambling?"

The penguin clearly had not expected the question and was caught off guard for a moment.

He nodded, then shook his head. "Just like you wield both the pyro and lumen elemental laws, I've mastered more than one type of law."

"I do wield the law of gambling—but that's not all I am. Compared to calling it the law of gambling, I prefer to call this power of mine... fate!" the penguin added.

At that moment, Sein felt that the plump penguin before him stood as tall as a mountain.

The law of fate, without a doubt, was one of the most complex and obscure laws to comprehend.

Sein did not know why the penguin was telling him this, but he could not help feeling a deep respect for the creature's strength and understanding of the laws.

At the same time, he could not help but wonder how far his own Ashen Law could truly go.

By now, the Faceless Mask could no longer offer much help. After using it to pick two cards, Sein chose the third one on his own, relying purely on instinct.

He picked a card arranged near the edge on the right.

The three cards he drew were6,9, andQ.

He had not pulled aK, but from a probability standpoint, he still had a better-than-even chance of winning.

TheQcard was the last one he drew.

It featured the illustration of a golden balance scale, which reminded Sein of the law of balance.

"Looks like fate really is on your side this time," the penguin commented with a shrug.

It had drawn7,9, and10—just slightly lower than Sein's.

A snow-white contract scroll appeared before Sein. It was his prize for winning the bet.

The scroll held the precise coordinates and key details of a low-level plane known as theWhite Sand World.

It was a foreign plane dominated by aero and geo elements, and naturally, the resources it produced were mostly of those attributes too.

There were only two high-ranking creatures on that plane, and both were just ordinary Rank Fours.

That made it a perfect target for a newly promoted Rank Four powerhouse like Sein to conquer and plunder.

To be safe, he could even bring his mentor along.

Lorianne would definitely be interested in a low-level plane like this, especially one with minimal risk.

If the penguin had given Sein the coordinates to a medium-sized plane instead, he honestly would not know where to even begin.

As for microplanes, those were completely off the table for Sein right now.

Beings at Rank Four or above could not enter microplanes, and since the Divine Tower of Ashes was not yet fully constructed, the full-fledged mages he planned to recruit would not be ready to launch an invasion on their own anytime soon.

"These coordinates to White Sand World should be useful to you. The Magus Civilization stopped conquering nearby medium-sized planes about a thousand years ago and shifted to diplomacy and alliances," the penguin said.

"With a civilization war on the horizon, I hope you will be strong enough by then to hold your own," he added.

Sein barely knew the penguin, but after their brief exchange, he could tell the bird meant no harm.

On top of that, those plane coordinates he offered were priceless.

With the civilization war drawing near, every divine tower and knightly order in Magus World was scrambling to expand their power.

A low-threat target like White Sand World could easily fetch millions of magicoins if auctioned off within the Magus Alliance.

However, its true worth was in the long-term returns. The enslaved creatures it could yield and the resources it would provide were far more valuable than a few million magicoins.

Sein had only just founded his divine tower and was in dire need of funding.

Compared to the hundred thousand or so he made in the casino, this single set of coordinates was easily the more valuable reward!

While he was still debating whether or not to accept the generous gift, Black Oblivion was finishing his conversation with the foreign goddess.

"You think seven million magicoins is a lot? What a shallow woman you are! Hard to believe I, Black Oblivion, actually wasted my time on you. Boring!" he scoffed, shaking his head and completely ignoring the despair on the Butterfly Goddess's face.

After scamming Black Oblivion out of more than seven million magicoins, the Butterfly Goddess decided she had made enough and disappeared without a trace, hiding herself in the most remote star domain of the Magus Alliance.

The magicoins themselves were not what truly upset Black Oblivion.

What really got to him was the fact that she lied to him and then deliberately avoided him afterward.

Honestly, if she had just stuck around and kept swindling him, he might not have been this angry.

At the end of the day, both of them were simply chasing what they wanted—he was rich and lustful, while she wanted money.

In truth, the Butterfly Goddess' exploitation ran deeper than just the seven million magicoins she vanished with.

A good chunk of the millions Black Oblivion had lost in the casino city could also be traced back to her.

She had been secretly working with other foreign gods behind the scenes.

That meant Black Oblivion had spent at least tens of millions on her.

The money was only part of the problem. What truly stung was the humiliation.

Black Oblivion was still young and had barely faced any real setbacks. This was the first time he had fallen so hard.

And of course, Sein's presence only made it worse.

If Sein had not been there, Black Oblivion might have cooled down and forgiven the goddess. But that smirk on Sein's face earlier had made his cheeks burn with embarrassment.

From that moment on, the fate of this Rank Five goddess was sealed.

With a wave of his sleeve, Black Oblivion turned to Sein and asked if he was ready to leave.

Sein paused for a moment in thought. He had a strong suspicion that the powerful, mysterious penguin had lost on purpose.

But with the coordinates to a low-level complete plane laid out right in front of him, there was no reason to refuse.

He accepted the scroll solemnly, gave the penguin a respectful bow, and left the gambling city with Black Oblivion.

Not long after they disappeared, a portal appeared behind the penguin. An old man stepped out, wearing a lecherous smirk on his face.

"You actually lost to a freshly advanced Rank Four? Anyone could see you were going easy on him. You're embarrassing the Gambling God and your mentor, Cheg Ghaevara," the old man said, walking in lazy circles around his apprentice.

"Who said I was going easy on him? I even used the power of fate. That guy won fair and square," the penguin replied, spreading his wings.

The old man froze, momentarily speechless.

"...What do we do with her?" the penguin asked, gesturing toward the Butterfly Goddess, still bound on the floor.

"Keep her for now. I think she's got potential," the old man said after regaining his composure.

"Send her to the highest floor of the gambling city for training. If she doesn't perform well... hehe, a Rank Five creature is still plenty valuable—dead or alive."

A lecherous grin spread across the old man's face as his eyes narrowed.

A flicker of silver flashed in the depths of his gaze, sending a cold shiver down the Butterfly Goddess' spine.