Sovereign of the Ashes

The resources looted from White Sand World filled the entire space fortress.

Since Lorianne had strong connections within the Capiche Business Alliance, she took it upon herself to handle the sale of this massive haul.

Meanwhile, Sein led the other mages aboard the fortress back to their divine towers.

Overall, the war had been a resounding success. In addition to the spoils of war, Sein also gained around two hundred full-fledged mages as new recruits.

These mages were mercenaries who had participated in the White Sand World War.

Thanks to the favorable benefits offered by the Divine Tower of Ashes and the unique environment it provided, this group of mages decided to stay.

As of now, the total number of registered mages at the Divine Tower of Ashes has reached 327.

For a newly established divine tower, that was a very promising start.

And good news just kept coming.

Lorianne soon received word from the Capiche Business Alliance. The resources transported back from White Sand World had been roughly appraised and were expected to generate a profit of at least five million magicoins for Sein.

On top of that, the compensation from the Magus Alliance would bring the Divine Tower of Ashes another four million magicoins.

That meant roughly nine million magicoins in total cash income from this single war.

Including the value of other materials and enslaved creatures...

Well, that was the nature of war spoils.

Not long after Sein returned to Magus World, the long-silent Spider Queen finally reached out to him again.

This time, she finally fulfilled her promise.

She sent a demigod-level Dark Elf Queen to Ashenreach, along with roughly two thousand Dark Elves in tow.

But this Dark Elf Queen was not just there to serve as a maid to Sein.

Under the divine authority of the Spider Queen, Sein could technically demand anything from her.

But her true purpose in coming to Ashenreach was to help unify the fractured underground factions.

Ashenreach was a chaotic realm, teeming with black mages and overflowing with rich resources. It was also home to countless underground creatures.

Sein's Divine Tower of Ashes currently did not have the power to dominate or establish order across the entire underground realm of Ashenreach.

However, the Spider Queen could assist him in that effort.

A more stable Ashenreach would also benefit Lorthisra directly.

With the Divine Tower of Ashes now in place, she would be able to leverage her connections within the Byrne Empire more freely.

Though Lorthisra had not stated this directly to Sein, he could already sense it—some large-scale network of resource smuggling and abuse of power for personal gain was quietly forming, spanning the Byrne Empire, Ashenreach, and even the Western Archipelago.

The Byrne Empire could not openly associate with Blackhaven, so having Ashenreach serve as a neutral intermediary was the ideal arrangement.

In addition to the promised group of Dark Elf maids, Lorthisra once again stayed true to her word and sent Sein an "extra gift".

Sein looked at the divine projection before him.

"This is..."

It was what one might call a "divine clone", transmitted across space by Lorthisra.

But this was not a clone of Lorthisra herself. It was another deity who seemed strangely familiar to Sein.

Yes, it was Aurelia, the Goddess of Wealth from Faeloria.

She had once been given as a gift to the Spider Queen by the demons in Purgatory. After years of careful "training", Aurelia had finally submitted to Lorthisra.

Through certain special methods, the Spider Queen could now send the Goddess of Wealth's divine clone outside of Faeloria.

At the same time, Aurelia had also become one of Lorthisra's most effective allies in her gradual erosion of Faeloria's power.

Of course, Lorthisra's efforts to extract the Goddess of Wealth from Faeloria were well worth it for the benefits they would bring.

Sein had been right about her from the beginning: the Goddess of Wealth was indeed a rare talent.

The fact that her divine ability revolved around "wealth" alone was already a strong indicator of her innate talent for commerce and trade.

Though the Spider Queen was undoubtedly powerful, her skill in business and financial management paled in comparison to this intermediate deity, whose combat strength was not particularly remarkable.

Lorthisra had already entrusted part of her assets in Blackhaven to Aurelia, including the Dark Elves and Blood Elves.

And judging by the results over the past few years, Aurelia's performance could only be described as "phenomenal".

The Spider Queen had acquired two divine clones of the Goddess of Wealth in Magus World.

By sending one to Sein, she acknowledged both him and Ashenreach's growing significance.

Aurelia, now in the form of a Rank Five divine clone, was clearly far superior to the Dark Elf Queen in terms of both demeanor and appearance.

Lorthisra was well aware of this. Smiling faintly, she said, "I hear some bored Rank Four beings enjoy conquering divine beings of the opposite sex."

"I'm guessing your libido's as strong as any knight's because of all those body-tempering experiments? You wouldn't dare lay a hand on a divine clone like this... would you?"

As she spoke, the Spider Queen gave a casual kick to Aurelia, who was kneeling obediently at her feet.

The Goddess of Wealth had her hands bound behind her back. The tight-fitting golden dress she wore clung to her figure, accentuating every flawless curve.

There was a trace of humiliation and quiet resignation in her expression.

Having undergone complete training under the Spider Queen, Aurelia dared not resist—no matter how degrading the treatment.

During Aurelia's "training", one of the Spider Queen's subordinates—a Dark Elf Goddess—had played a significant role.

These Dark Elves, infamous for their debauchery and perversion, were experts in such matters.

Sein's lips twitched at Lorthisra's question.

Conquering a divine clone like this? While he considered himself fairly open-minded, even he had his limits.

Besides, now that he and the Spider Queen were on more familiar terms, he knew how to respond.

As she teased him without restraint, he shot back with a smirk, "Of course I wouldn't touch the divine clone. But if I were going to do something... there's a far more tempting target standing right in front of me."

As he spoke, Sein's gaze drifted deliberately to where Lorthisra's foot rested on Aurelia's body.

Lorthisra seemed to love wearing crystal heels. Right now, one of them was firmly pressed against an especially sensitive part of Aurelia's body.

Sein's eyes lingered for a moment on her exposed, snow-white toes.

That alone was enough to enrage the Spider Queen.

Had Sein not ascended to Rank Four and possessed a world-class secret treasure, Lorthisra would have taught this arrogant brat a very painful lesson.

Sein understood her well by now. He knew that blind obedience and bootlicking would get him nowhere.

Besides, he had never been one to grovel.

Power was the only way to stand on equal footing with someone like her.

Now that he had reached Rank Four and established his own divine tower, Lorthisra could no longer manipulate him so easily.

On top of that, she now had to rely on Sein's official status to further some of her ambitions.

So, faced with his bold provocation, all she could do was endure it.