Sovereign of the Ashes

Representing the Magus Alliance on a mission to Phantom Crow World was a lucrative opportunity, but it was also dangerous and unpredictable.

The Phantom Crow World was far from the Magus Civilization, well outside its sphere of influence.

The creatures living in that star domain had never even heard of Magus World before.

The Rank Six Phantom Crow King was an exception, considering it had once been struck from afar by the God of Beastmen, an overlord of the Magus Alliance.

That blow had forced it to flee back to its home star domain in panic.

Of course, the Phantom Crow King had figured out later who had hit it.

There were two reasons why the Magus Alliance decided to send an envoy to Phantom Crow World this time.

On one hand, it wanted to recruit this moderately powerful, medium-sized world civilization into the Magus Alliance.

On the other hand, it was sending a message to Submerged Wave World.

Their Rank Six creature, the Sea Emperor Shark, still had not given the Magus Civilization a clear answer.

With the 25th Magus Alliance Conference fast approaching, the Magus Civilization had grown tired of waiting.

If Sein returned successfully from his mission to Phantom Crow World, the Magus Civilization would give Submerged Wave World two or three more years to decide.

If the Sea Emperor Shark remained indecisive, the Magus Civilization would send a large army to wipe out its star domain.

And to show its might and warn off troublemakers, that force might well be led by an overlord of the Magus Civilization.

"What if I cannot reach an agreement in Phantom Crow World? From what I know, it's not exactly a peaceful plane. On top of that, the Rank Six Phantom Crow King even got slapped by the God of Beastmen before. What if it takes revenge on me?" Sein asked, unable to hide his dismay.

"Don't worry. If you die, the Magus Alliance will make sure the entire Phantom Crow Star Domain goes down with you!" Mayne said, clapping Sein on the shoulder.

The Rank Four knight was clearly joking, but Sein still did not feel like taking on this mission.

Unfortunately, an assignment from the Magus Alliance was not something he could simply refuse.

"By the way, I heard you got beaten up by Bernice last time?" Sein asked, glancing sideways at Mayne.

The smile on Mayne's face froze.

In terms of strength, Mayne was not weaker than Bernice.

In truth, if it had been a straight-up duel, Mayne, who had more trump cards and treasures, would likely have had the upper hand.

But he had not expected Bernice to suddenly attack without warning!

What caught Mayne off guard was that although Bernice was a mage, her close combat skills and passive evolution were no weaker than his as a knight.

Since Bernice had attacked so suddenly, it was no surprise that Mayne found himself in a bad spot.

Mayne was not the type to hold a grudge, so going after Bernice to redeem himself was out of the question.

More importantly, he had no desire to hurt a lady.

And if it came to that, he would not just be up against Bernice—he would have to deal with Berecca too.

Fighting on the home turf of a Rank Four knight and mage meant Mayne was sure to come out on the losing end.

Blessed by the power of law from the planar node, Rank Four and above powerhouses gained extra law-based boosts when fighting near their divine towers or knightly orders.

The story of Mayne's humiliation at the Divine Tower of Floating Flame had already made the rounds in certain circles of Magus World.

Those who knew him personally were laughing themselves silly over it.

Meanwhile, Bernice had gained quite a bit of fame from the incident.

When people found out that Bernice's senior was Gregory, the knights and mages who knew Gregory just nodded knowingly.

Birds of a feather flock together—and Bernice's way of doing things was a lot like Gregory's.

Maybe it was just something in the character of those from the Verdant Flame Faction.

Once the jokes were done, it was time to get down to business.

When Sein asked if this was Klopp's idea,

Mayne nodded solemnly. "Once this diplomatic mission is done, there might be another task waiting for you."

"Don't worry, high risk means high reward. Plenty of people would kill for this chance," he assured.

A pawn ought to have a pawn's mindset.

Just as Sein had the power to decide the fate of Rank Three beings and below during the war, his own fate was shaped by the overlord-level powerhouses of the alliance.

The benefits of securing an alliance with a medium-sized world civilization really were worth the risk.

"Oh, and when you head to Phantom Crow World, leave that dragon turtle behind. If you die, that's one thing. But if something happens to her, my grandfather will be in trouble," Mayne said.

Sein rolled his eyes at that.

***

Sein left Magus World quietly without telling anyone.

He simply told Marie that he would be away for a while to take care of some business.

Before leaving, he set strict body tempering regimens and diet plans for Natalya, Reina, and the others.

He also sent some dragon blood he had recently obtained to House Grantt.

Together with the demonic potions he had given Julius earlier, that should be enough to keep House Grantt's development on track for the next few years without needing much of Sein's attention.

Tourmaline was still resting, so Sein chose not to disturb her.

Lately, between building a new home, traveling to Eternal Sand World, and spending so much time playing around with Lou and Sev, Tourmaline had to be exhausted.

Given her nature, what she saw as a short nap could easily last decades, or even centuries.

By the time she woke up, Sein might already be back.

For this trip to Phantom Crow World, the only companion Sein brought along was Sandy.

That was because Sein's new magic artifact, the White Sand Fan, might come in handy.

He had even left behind Yuri, who had followed him through countless battles and journeys to foreign planes.

Only when she truly mastered the control of that silver mecha would she be able to offer real help to Sein at his current level.

Outside the Magus World, a uniquely shaped space fortress was already docked at its dedicated starport.

This fortress was a special model that Sein had never seen before.

It was jet black, shaped like a boat shuttle[1], and only about a third the size of a standard space fortress.

But despite being smaller, this special model cost four to five times as much as a standard fortress.

Since Sein was representing the Magus Alliance on this diplomatic mission, the space fortress was provided to him free of charge for temporary use.

Alongside Sein were about a thousand and five hundred knights and mages who were part of the diplomatic mission to Phantom Crow World.

Some were responsible for operating and maintaining the fortress, while others would handle certain parts of the negotiations once they reached their destination.

But Sein was the only Rank Four or higher being on board.

When Sein set off with the fortress, the only one to see him off was Mayne.

It was not much of a send-off, since Mayne was also about to leave for another star domain under the alliance's control on a mission of his own.

Rank Four knights like him were usually very busy. At least, Mayne was not one of those second-generation heirs living off their parents' legacy.

Because of mission confidentiality, Mayne did not share much about it.

He only mentioned that he would be traveling to the Sanoras Star Domain and the Titan Star Domain.

1. Translator's Note: The boat shuttle here referred to the tool used in weaving. ☜