Sovereign of the Ashes

Both Centaurworld and Beastmen World were not too far from Magus World.

This meant that during the early stages of the Magus Civilization's expansion, these two worlds had already come into contact with Magus World and were quickly brought into the fold of the Magus Alliance.

Outside both Centaurworld and Beastmen World, several space fortresses were docked.

These space fortresses did not belong to the powerful beings of Magus World but to the native deities of the respective worlds.

As a large-sized world, Beastmen World's level of development far surpassed that of Centaurworld.

When the Verdant Spring Space Fortress and the Green Bounty Space Fortress arrived outside Beastmen World, Sein realized that they were not the only group from Magus World there to recruit lower-tier cannon fodder legions.

As nearly ten thousand half-beastman troops filed into the lower decks of the fortress, Sein met with the God of Half-Beastmen, Eugene, and introduced him to Lorianne and Berecca.

Eugene was in much better shape than he had been the last time Sein saw him.

It was clear that the half-beastmen had made solid progress in recent years. Smiles appeared more frequently now on Eugene's wrinkled face.

Of course, the God of Half-Beastman was thrilled to meet Lorianne and Berecca, two Rank Four powerhouses from Magus World.

For these foreign gods, knowing more Magus World powerhouses was a symbol of "seniority".

And seniority was exactly what Eugene needed right now!

What left Sein slightly disappointed was that he did not see Reksha or the Drunken Panda Immortal.

He would love to collect a blood sample from them, especially the latter, as he was fascinated by the panda's unique transformation ability.

According to Eugene, Reksha had gone to assist another beastman god. He was known to be passionate and always willing to lend a hand.

As for the Drunken Panda Immortal, he was off wandering somewhere in the Magus Alliance, carrying a barrel of wine on his back. No one knew exactly where he had gone.

Lorianne and Berecca showed little interest in Eugene. After a few polite exchanges, they bid him farewell once the half-beastman legion had been fully loaded.

After leaving Beastmen World, Sein made another trip to Centaurworld to pick up the centaur and minotaurling legions provided by the Maya Tribe.

A single space fortress could carry over a million troops, which showed just how crucial these war platforms were.

Without a space fortress to travel between star domains, Rank Four and above Magus World powerhouses would be forced to fight interplanar wars alone.

Of course, a naturally formed space-time rift would be able to solve their problem, but such occurrences were extremely rare.

When Sein arrived outside Centaurworld this time, it was another Rank Four powerhouse who came out to greet him since Hephaes was no longer around.

Hecam was indeed a sharp individual. After Hephaes' death, he had skillfully inherited part of Hephaes' network in Magus World, thanks to the leverage he had gained during their earlier negotiations.

Since their previous conversation had gone smoothly, Lorianne found this Rank Four centaur god far more agreeable.

However, when Hecam offered to dispatch a twenty-thousand-strong centaur legion to assist in the war effort without compensation, both Sein and Lorianne politely declined.

Given the current state of troop preparations, Hecam's centaurs were simply not needed.

Still, the gesture from this Rank Four centaur god was commendable.

While Sein and Hecam chatted outside Centaurworld, several centaur gods within the plane were closely observing the situation.

The fact that Sein and Lorianne were not pursuing justice for Hephaes came as a great relief to them.

Watching the Maya Tribe's young and able-bodied warriors board the space fortress, leaving only the elderly, weak, and infirm behind, these Rank Four centaur gods began wondering if they should treat the Maya Tribe better from now on.

There were rumors that Centaurworld had a Rank Six deity, but when Sein arrived, he did not see any sign of such a figure.

Perhaps it was due to Sein's relatively low rank; he had only recently been promoted to Rank Four.

Had Grandmaster Feylis been present, even if she had not known the Centaur King personally, the Rank Six deity would have at least come out to greet her.

After departing from Centaurworld, the two space fortresses headed straight into the pitch-black, boundless reaches of the starry sky.

***

In the starry sky, there were not only countless asteroids, broken planes, demiplanes, and complete planes, but also many cosmic anomalies—some already documented, others yet to be discovered.

During their journey across the star domain, Sein and his group encountered a medium-sized energy storm.

Normally, space vessels would go out of their way to avoid such storms.

The violent energy particles within a cosmic storm could easily tear almost anything to shreds.

Even Rank Four beings in the Astral Realm had no interest in braving such storms.

Yet the space fortress carrying Sein and his companions did not even attempt to avoid this one. It charged directly into the storm.

The storm's impact caused only minor tremors, barely enough to throw the knights and mages slightly off balance.

The fortress did not even sound an alarm.

Looking through the translucent windows, Sein could see that the outer barrier had already been reinforced with a fresh layer, now glowing faintly with elemental light.

Magus World's space fortresses were equipped with automatic energy replenishment systems.

Unless the main cannon was fired or the weapon systems were used for frequent, large-scale bombardments, there was rarely any need for additional recharging—even after an interplanar war.

While the cosmic storm they encountered this time was an unimaginably terrifying disaster for most life forms, it was a rare opportunity for the fortress to recharge for free.

This single encounter saved Lorianne at least twenty or thirty thousand magicoins in operating costs.

That was enough for the main cannon to fire one or two extra rounds!

"We're pretty lucky," Lorianne said with a smile to Sein.

"Theoretically, a space fortress could match the combat power of a Rank Four being. But in terms of practicality and specific performance metrics, a standard Magus World space fortress is even more versatile than a Rank Five creature," Sein remarked.

The newest generation of standard fortresses had defensive strength rivaling Rank Five beings and could fight like one at full power.

However, due to their lack of flexibility compared to higher-ranking creatures, they were still officially rated at Rank Four combat power.

In truth, they could absolutely function as Rank Five combatants.

With each new generation, Magus World's space fortresses grew stronger.

Whether the standard model would ever reach the level of a Rank Six creature remained uncertain.

That level of power was likely achievable only with highly specialized models.

Breaking through the current magitech limits was not something that could be done with effort alone.

The main cannon's destructive power had evolved gradually—from early Rank Four, to mid-stage, late-stage, and peak Rank Four, and then into early and mid-stage Rank Five.

It had taken dozens of upgrade cycles to reach its current state.

Over the last four generations, no major increase had been made in the cannon's destructive power.

Even across the last seven generations, no drastic breakthrough had occurred.

Most improvements instead focused on other areas, like endurance, adaptability, operational stability, and internal cargo capacity.

As far as offensive might was concerned, the standard models had gradually reached a bottleneck.