Sovereign of the Ashes

Phantom Crow World was a dictatorship plane where the Phantom Crow King's word was law; there was no real need for it to consult the other Phantom Crows.

The fact that the Phantom Crow King even asked this question showed it was caught in a real dilemma.

It dared not outright refuse and risk provoking the Magus Civilization, but it also felt unsure about what the future might hold if it agreed to join the Magus Alliance.

The feeling of having one's fate in someone else's hands was truly unbearable!

The Phantom Crow King even started to regret ever getting involved in the Bouldrak World War in the first place.

If it had stayed out of that war, it probably would never have crossed paths with the Magus Civilization or ended up in this mess.

Sometimes, ignorance was bliss.

Faced with the Phantom Crow King's question, the other Phantom Crows exchanged glances.

The Rank Four female Phantom Crow was dazzled by the benefits laid out in the law contract for joining the Magus Alliance.

The other two Rank Four Phantom Crows seemed to feel the same way.

Only the Rank Five Phantom Crow furrowed its brow, just like the Phantom Crow King.

This Rank Five Phantom Crow was very old, even older than the Phantom Crow King.

Its combat strength had declined in recent years, so much so that it could barely hold its own against some of the younger, stronger Rank Four Phantom Crows.

But what it lacked in power, it made up for in experience and wisdom far beyond the shallow understanding of most Phantom Crows.

And this Rank Five elder had indeed offered the Phantom Crow King a rather useful suggestion...

***

When they met the Phantom Crow King again, two months had already passed since Sein and his group first arrived in Phantom Crow World.

The Phantom Crow King and the other creatures had actually made their decisions fairly quickly.

Being able to reach a decision in just a month was far more appealing than the indecisive Submerged Wave World.

As for the law contract presented by the Magus Civilization, the Phantom Crow King raised objections and requested changes to many of the minor clauses.

In fact, these demands from the Phantom Crow World's representative were a good sign—it showed the crows were willing to negotiate.

Sein took a look at the disputed points. None of them were particularly important, and the changes the Phantom Crow King asked for had a high chance of getting approved by the Magus Alliance.

But what caught Sein off guard was an additional request from the Phantom Crow King.

The Phantom Crow King asked for the release of the two Rank Five Phantom Crows that had been "captured" by the Magus Alliance.

There were indeed two Rank Five Phantom Crows that had fallen into the hands of Magus World.

During the Bouldrak Plane War, one of them had even had its wing gifted to Sein by Tourmaline.

The pyro elemental power of that wing had been a huge help to Sein's research on the Ashen Flame at the time.

But that Rank Five Phantom Crow was already long dead, and its remains were still with Tourmaline.

As for the other Rank Five Phantom Crow that entered Bouldrak World, Sein did not know its exact fate, but it was likely dead too.

Faced with the Phantom Crow King's sudden demand, Sein paused for a moment before saying that he would have to contact Magus World about it.

Rank Five creatures were nothing special to the Magus Civilization, but in Phantom Crow World, there were only three Rank Five Phantom Crows in total—and two of them had ended up in the hands of Magus World.

It seemed like the Phantom Crow King would not really dare to join the Magus Alliance without getting them back.

If it could actually recover those two Rank Five Phantom Crows, it would serve as proof of the Magus Civilization's sincerity.

That would assure the Phantom Crow King more than the two million cubic units of soul crystals.

The space fortress Sein was aboard could communicate directly with Magus World, and Sein himself also had a special way of contacting Mayne.

Without keeping the Phantom Crow King waiting too long, the massive machine known as the Magus Alliance quickly sprang into action once Sein managed to contact Magus World.

Of the two Rank Five Phantom Crows, one was definitely dead.

Sein could try to gather the remains and return them to the Phantom Crow King.

As for the other Rank Five gray-feathered Phantom Crow, the investigation surprisingly revealed that it was still alive!

"It's an extremely cunning creature. We had even declared it dead, but it turns out it was only playing dead. These Phantom Crows have the ability to temporarily extinguish, or at least weaken, their own soul flame," a Rank Five mage from Magus World explained over the communication channel.

"A mage from the Alveroth Empire had already claimed this weakened creature, but since the Phantom Crow King has made this request, we shall grant it," he added.

Mayne was still away from the Magus World due to his ongoing mission, and Sein had not been able to get in touch with him.

"The ability to temporarily extinguish and weaken their own soul flame?!" Sein echoed in surprise.

He had a few Phantom Crow specimens on hand, but it had never occurred to him that the Phantom Crows had such a unique ability that could even fool most Rank Four or stronger beings.

The Rank Five mage on the other end of the line seemed to know quite a bit. He chuckled and said, "That one fused the last bit of its soul flame into one of its fallen feathers. If no one cleaned up the battlefield thoroughly, it could have slipped away."

"Too bad that was Beastmen World's war. Those beastmen don't let any valuable spoils go to waste—not even a single feather from a Rank Five creature."

The Rank Five mage's chuckle made Sein smirk too.

It seemed that gray-feathered Phantom Crow really did have terrible luck.

At the same time, the abilities of this Rank Five Phantom Crow reminded Sein of another kind of creature known as the phoenix.

Phoenixes were powerful beings on par with dragons, although there were not many of them in the Magus Civilization.

Sein had heard that there was an allied plane where many phoenixes lived.

The "rebirth" ability of phoenixes seemed similar in concept to what this Rank Five Phantom Crow had displayed, but they were completely different creatures.

The body of the Rank Five gray-feathered Phantom Crow had already entered the auction process, and its soul had been purchased by someone else.

However, this message from the Phantom Crow Star Domain gave this unlucky survivor a second chance at life.

To prove the sincerity of Magus World, this Rank Five Phantom Crow was ultimately sent back across space.

It even arrived faster than Sein had!

A flash of pitch-black wormhole light appeared, and the gray-feathered Phantom Crow immediately threw itself before the Phantom Crow King.

"...I'm finally back!"

The Rank Five creature cawed and wept openly, overcome with sheer relief and excitement.

The Phantom Crow King awkwardly used its wings to steady the sobbing creature before it.

At that moment, the gray-feathered Phantom Crow's aura was extremely weak. Its badly injured soul had only just been returned to its body, and its current strength probably did not even match that of a Rank Four creature.

No one could say for sure what this poor creature had endured during its time in the terrifying Magus Civilization.