Sovereign of the Ashes

The names and titles of the divine towers in Magus World were decided by the personal preferences of their tower masters.

The Magus Alliance recorded these divine towers without interfering with the names their owners chose.

Sein's Divine Tower of Ashes, for example, was named after the law power he commanded. There was nothing particularly deep about it.

Unlike Sein, who liked to keep things simple, many other divine tower masters considered different factors when picking names.

For instance, the Tower Master of Hosta named his divine tower after his family, showing how much he valued his family's growth.

It was likely his family had played a big part in helping him rise to Rank Four.

The Divine Tower of Lava Volcano got its name from its location near the famous volcanic cluster in the southwest of the Byrne Empire, where many dragons and sub-dragon species lived.

The Divine Tower of Crimson Golden Dragon, on the other hand, was said to be led by a Rank Four Pyromancer who had a golden dragon as a mount.

The naming inspiration for the Divine Tower of Flowlight Waterfall was similar to Sein's—the tower master was a Rank Four Hydromancer.

As for the only female divine tower master, who led the Divine Tower of Moon Tide, she was an Astrologer who commanded the rare law of gravity.

She had led her divine tower through four interplanar wars and was, in fact, the most experienced in this kind of warfare among the six divine tower masters!

"It's mainly thanks to the guidance of many elders in the empire. Truth be told, the Divine Tower of Moon Tide itself doesn't have the resources to start an interplanar war on its own," the Tower Master of Moon Tide said humbly.

"The moon's gravity law she commands can pull in demiplanes and asteroid belts of medium size or smaller. In interplanar wars, attacks like that can sometimes be more effective than the main cannons of space fortresses. The tidal surge in foreign planes also boosts her core strength," the Tower Master of Lava Volcano explained.

"So never underestimate the Moon Tide, she's a rising star in the southwest military division of the Byrne Empire," he added with a chuckle.

Applying the law of gravity to this extent really went beyond what most people could imagine.

Sein had once tried something similar—moving an asteroid belt to boost the destructive power of his pyro elemental forbidden spell.

However, his method back then was pretty crude. He had Yuri pilot a mecha to push some small asteroid fragments into position. It was far less direct than the Tower Master of Moon Tide's approach.

Sein could not help glancing a few more times at the fair-skinned tower master, impressed that an astrologer like her could hold her own in battle.

He could already picture the moment this Rank Four mage pulling a moon toward a foreign plane's core during battle... Or it could be multiple moons as some planes with unusual environments even have more than one moon!

No wonder the Tower Master of Moon Tide was a prized asset of the Byrne Empire's southwest military division.

If Sein ran into a plane with a particularly tricky environment, he would want to recruit this mage too.

Interacting with these Rank Four mages from the Byrne Empire had helped Sein understand them more.

Even with the Divine Tower of Hosta, which was kind of a rival, Sein still had a pleasant chat with its tower master.

He even finalized a preliminary cooperation deal between House Hosta and the Aurelia Chamber of Commerce in Ashenreach on the spot.

This Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War was also a chance for Sein to build his own network.

Before this, he had never visited the Byrne Empire, let alone met any of its mages.

While talking with his peers, Sein suddenly remembered that there were actually quite a few divine towers in Magus World that shared the same name.

The "Divine Tower of Blazing Sword" founded by Aelid was one example; several divine towers shared that name, and there were even more knightly orders called the same.

On the other hand, the Divine Tower of Ashes should be unique, since that was a rather uncommon name.

As for naming a divine tower after his family... House Grantt had once been known as "House of Cercis" back in the days of the Lysian Alliance.

That would make his tower the Divine Tower of Cercis?[1]

Sein glanced at the Tower Master of Hosta beside him, who was giving off a strong floral scent. But after a moment's thought, he resisted the urge to cast any air purification magic.

***

The Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War gradually began as the six tower masters chatted.

These academy wars usually lasted anywhere from two to five years, sometimes up to seven, and in rare cases, even over ten.

All the initiates from the six divine towers arrived at the trial secret realm through teleportation gates.

The secret realm was set up in the Blackwood Plains, on the southwestern border of the Byrne Empire.

It was an area known for being barren and dry, but inside the secret realm, the environment was much more varied, with mountains, forests, deserts, swamps, plains, and lakes.

The Tower Master of Flowlight Waterfall had even gone to the trouble of creating a range of snow-capped mountains about 1,500 meters high.

Sein had also contributed by carving out a large underground area filled with resource points and trial creatures, giving the young initiates a chance to hone their skills.

The goal of the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War was to speed up the growth of these initiates so that once they reached Rank One, they could serve the Magus Civilization right away.

That was why even a small trial secret realm was designed with complexity, so it could simulate the different environments and conditions initiates might face on foreign planes.

The academy war soon got underway.

At first, Sein and the other tower masters watched with interest. But after a while, they lost interest.

The fights were just too trivial for people at their level.

No wonder tower masters rarely attended these academy wars in person—it was usually left to the deans.

Still, Sein had no intention of leaving early. After watching a few promising candidates from his academy, he started a casual conversation with the tower masters of Lava Volcano and Crimson Golden Dragon.

The Tower Master of Hosta was also chatting with the tower masters of Moon Tide and Flowlight Waterfall.

Their topics ranged from the development of their towers to the challenges of recent experiments.

Honestly, this gathering of six tower masters felt more like an academic salon.

But before Sein could exchange much more with the others, a group of uninvited guests suddenly appeared above the trial secret realm.

They had come for him.

1. Translator's Note: Cercis is actually redbuds with pinkish-red flowers. ☜