Sovereign of the Ashes

While Sein was in Steel City, Thor also tried to find a factory to help improve hisThunderer.

Unfortunately, he was told that his "golden‑type" space fortress was already one of the highest‑end models, so there was not much room for improvement.

Even with a full upgrade, the changes would only be superficial and hardly worth the effort, especially since Thor would have to pay exorbitant modification fees.

The mechanics of the Capiche Business Alliance were more than willing to "milk" Thor for every coin he had.

Most of the convincing to drop the idea came from Sein.

Thor might seem wealthy, but he was by no means foolish.

After weighing his options, he accepted Sein's advice.

This, in turn, strengthened his relationship with Sein.

After another spending spree at the Capiche Business Alliance, Sein's available funds dwindled to just over two million, even after Aurelia had sent him another sum of money.

His financial situation left him eager to launch another interplanar war.

Unlike Thor, who craved war and the thrill of battle, Sein was not bloodthirsty.

He only enjoyed exploring the truth, and in his spare time, he preferred relaxing with his family.

That was his ideal life.

Unfortunately, exploring the truth required money.

***

After spending some time in Steel City and wrapping up all his affairs, Sein was finally ready to set off for the venue of the Magus Alliance Conference.

Before departing, he remembered to say goodbye to Lorianne, only to find she was no longer in Magus World and had likely departed early.

Thor was also heading to the 25th Magus Alliance Conference, and at his friendly invitation, Sein managed to hitch a ride on Thor's spacecraft.

Thor's vessel was docked at a starport outside Magus World.

Unlike Sein and his mentor, who had to dock their fortresses at public starports, the Titan gods were rich enough to custom‑build their own exclusive starport.

It was yet another sign of the harmonious relationship between Titan World and Magus World.

Sein had never heard of any other allied plane with its own starport outside Magus World.

According to Thor, the Titan Star Domain also had many large starports built specifically for docking the Titan gods' vessels, which were not limited to space fortresses produced by the Magus Civilization.

Within the Magus Alliance, two major world civilizations were known for their exceptional war platforms.

One was the Burning Sanoras Civilization, whose royal war platforms were highly favored by many Titan gods for their cost‑effectiveness.

The other was the Norman Federation, famous for its technologically advanced warships. However, the Titan gods rarely ordered from them and showed little interest in their high‑tech designs.

Thor's recently purchased Thunderer was now docked in this vast starport.

Seeing the variety of space fortresses docked there, Sein once again viewed Titan World in a new light.

"I heard public starports charge docking fees. You can dock your space fortress here next time, if you want. We have plenty of empty spots anyway," Thor offered.

He was an extremely generous Rank Five Titan god to those who had earned his friendship.

With only a few Titan Gods docking outside the Magus World, many spots here remained empty, just as Thor had said.

"Oh, I can't possibly..." Sein said hesitantly.

***

The Howling Stone Demiplane had always been the venue for every Magus Alliance Conference.

For tens of thousands of years, it had hosted one conference after another, and by now, the Howling Stone Demiplane had long transcended the status of an ordinary demiplane.

This was a world with extraordinary gravity, roughly seven times that of Magus World.

However, those who attended the Magus Alliance Conference were mostly Rank Four or higher beings. Even representatives from the smaller allied planes were all Rank Three at minimum.

A mere seven times gravity was nothing to them.

The high gravity existed primarily to prevent the Howling Stone Demiplane from collapsing under the presence of so many powerful lifeforms.

In fact, before each Magus Alliance Conference, the Magus Civilization specifically reinforced the Howling Stone World.

Its capacity was now sufficient to accommodate even dozens of overlord‑level powerhouses, so long as they did not start fighting there.

Of course, with the Magus Civilization's prestige and authority, no one had dared to start a fight at the conference venue.

When Sein finally arrived at the Howling Stone Demiplane, he was among the later arrivals.

Located near the edge of the Magus Civilization's main star domain, the Howling Stone Demiplane was as vast as a typical medium‑sized world but it gave off an air of desolation and stillness.

After all, once every ten thousand years, countless powerful lifeforms gathered here, making it impossible for an ecosystem to take root.

Even so, the constant presence of such power had caused the Howling Stone World to develop some extremely unique laws.

Upon his arrival, Sein could not help but look around a little longer at the world dominated by shades of black. He even collected several pieces of Howling Stones, a local specialty.

Though bleak and desolate, the atmosphere here was currently anything but quiet.

Tens of thousands of powerful beings from across the Magus Civilization and the Magus Alliance had gathered. Even before the conference officially began, small trading markets were already springing up.

Sein had underestimated the strength of the Magus Civilization.

No—more accurately, he had underestimated the strength of the Magus Alliance.

There were currently around ten thousand divine towers in Magus World.

Considering that some Rank Four and above mages had never built divine towers, the total number of Rank Four and above spellcasters should fall somewhere between ten and twenty thousand.

The ratio of mages to knights in the Magus World was roughly one to three, which meant there were about sixty thousand knights of Rank Four or higher.

Even counting sea races, demihumans, magic beasts, and other native groups, the number of Rank Four or higher beings in the Magus World likely did not exceed a hundred thousand.

Yet the number of deities alone gathered from outside the Howling Stone Demiplane was no less than a hundred thousand.

And that was before the Magus Alliance Conference had even fully convened; many foreign gods would arrive later.

The combined power of the Magus Alliance was nearly on par with, perhaps even greater than, Magus World itself!

Yet despite all that power, the Magus Alliance still remained firmly under the control of the Magus Civilization.

Sein could not help but marvel at the strategic brilliance of the Magus Civilization.