Sovereign of the Ashes

Of course, Bernice did not beat Sein up.

The matter was resolved without straining the bonds within the Verdant Flame Faction.

At a glance from Bernice, Berecca stepped forward and admitted that she was the one at fault for overreacting.

Sein and his mentor finally dropped the act and let out a quiet sigh of relief.

After they left the Divine Tower of Floating Flame, something else was unfolding in a private laboratory at the very top of the tower... Something sensual and undeniably passionate.

Not sure if Magus World mages were perverts in general, or simply that the Verdant Flame Faction had an unusually high concentration of them...

Maybe it was just how things were in the Magus World, or maybe the Verdant Flame Faction really did have an unusually high concentration of perverts...

Either way, the session between Bernice and Berecca was far more intense than anything Sein usually got up to.

They easily pulled off high-difficulty positions that would leave even Sein, a body-tempering mage, completely stunned.

Despite being a mage, Bernice stood a full head taller than Berecca.

At that moment, Bernice wore nothing but a few metal rings. She leaned forward and buried her face in Berecca's chest, inhaling deeply as if intoxicated by her scent.

Just as she was about to move lower, Berecca—who usually submitted to her partner's will—raised a delicate finger and pressed it against Bernice's red lips.

"Tell me, are you in love with Lorianne?" Berecca asked, biting her lip.

"Is that really important?" Bernice replied with a radiant smile.

Berecca gave her a pleading look and nodded, locking eyes with her.

Bernice tossed her flowing hair over one shoulder, then slipped a metal ring from her wrist and fastened it around Berecca's left ankle, securing it to one of the bedposts.

She leaned in until their noses nearly touched and whispered, "I love you more."

Whether it was from Bernice's words or the scent of her breath, Berecca's expression turned completely dazed.

A heady mix of searing heat and verdant fragrance slowly filled the laboratory.

And with that, every trace of green was consumed in a blaze of flame...

***

After escorting his mentor back to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, Sein had barely returned to the Divine Tower of Ashes when he ran into his "strange friend".

Mayne had arrived with compensation from the Magus Alliance for Sein and the others, in recognition of their efforts in White Sand World.

As Mayne had mentioned earlier, Sein did indeed receive four million magicoins.

That was no small sum.

Lorianne and Berecca would receive the same amount as well, bringing the total to twelve million magicoins.

Facing Sein's gloomy expression, Mayne hesitated to speak. But before he could say anything, Sein raised a hand to stop him.

"Don't ask me to speak to Lady Berecca on your behalf again. If you need to talk to her, go yourself," he said.

"Lady Berecca will also receive compensation from the alliance. Why don't you just deliver it to her directly?" he asked.

If Mayne could win Berecca over on his own, he would not need Sein to act as a matchmaker.

Seeing that Sein had no solution for him, Mayne could only grit his teeth and mutter, "Fine, I'll visit her later."

Sein looked at him with a bit of sympathy. He had a feeling Mayne was heading straight for trouble.

Aside from bringing the alliance's compensation to Sein, Mayne had also come with other news.

He had successfully connected Sein with Void Aphid World.

"You're in luck. The Rank Six Void Aphid King has just awakened from its slumber. And with the 25th Alliance Conference coming up, it should not return to hibernation for now. You can use this window to send the Sandworm Queen over," Mayne said.

"If you manage to get some of the Queen's honey, don't forget to share it with me," he added.

Sein nodded.

Besides that, Mayne brought up something else.

"Did you take part in the Bouldrak World War and come into contact with the Phantom Crows?" he asked.

Sein nodded again. In fact, there were several Phantom Crow specimens on display in his laboratory.

"The Magus Alliance is looking to recruit the Phantom Crows into the alliance and needs a Rank Four expert familiar with their world to act as a negotiator. Although the beastmen were the first to make contact with the Phantom Crows, the alliance doesn't trust those beast gods to handle this properly," Mayne explained.

"Are you interested in giving it a try?" he asked.

"Me? I don't have the time right now," Sein replied, shaking his head. His experiment schedule was already packed.

Mayne laughed. "Don't be so quick to refuse. It's not like you have to leave right away."

"Right now, the Magus Alliance is working on recruiting other planes within the same star domain as Eternal Sand World. Their main target is Submerged Wave World, the medium-sized plane. But they're still hesitant and deeply wary of our Magus Civilization."

"By the later stages of the negotiations, we may need to help them decide by contacting Phantom Crow World, their old rivals. That's when you might need to head out," Mayne said, patting Sein on the shoulder.

"Why don't you go yourself?" Sein asked.

"This mission must be really dangerous, right? We're talking about a medium-sized plane in some star domain with a poor reputation. What if I get killed by the Phantom Crow King?" Sein said, clearly unimpressed.

Mayne chucked awkwardly. "Well, I have other tasks to take care of."

"Don't worry. That Phantom Crow King seems like the type who only bullies the weak. After the God of Beastmen smacked it, it fled the Bouldrak World battlefield in disgrace without so much as a parting insult," he assured.

"It's totally fine if you don't want to go on this mission. The Magus Alliance has plenty of Rank Four or higher knights and mages who'd take the job. But this is a medium-sized plane we're talking about. If we manage to recruit them into the alliance, you'll receive not just a hefty reward, but also benefit from the long-term relationship between that world and the Magus Civilization. I wouldn't even bring this up if we didn't get along so well," Mayne added.

And he was not lying.

With fewer and fewer foreign planes left to conquer, persuading Phantom Crow World was a rare and lucrative opportunity.

It was also a chance for Sein to expand his network within the Magus Alliance.

If Sein could form a connection with the Phantom Crow King, he might one day gain the support of a Rank Six combatant on a future battlefield.

"We'll see then. If I have the time, I'll consider it," Sein replied.

After spending a little more time with Sein, Mayne took his leave and headed to the Divine Tower of Floating Flame.

He was supposed to deliver the alliance's compensation to Berecca, but for some reason, he was told to go to another divine tower instead of her knightly order.

Sein did not explain much. He simply told Mayne that he would definitely find Berecca there.

Mayne left with a mix of hope and unease.

As for Sein, he had just received two large payments totaling a bit over ten million magicoins.

Before he could even enjoy the feeling of wealth, Aurelia had already volunteered to manage the funds for him.

Since taking over economic operations for the Divine Tower of Ashes, the Goddess of Wealth had performed exceptionally well.

She had even started planning several floating port projects in Ashenreach.