Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 1866: Mission

As the person in charge of the Western Archipelago and Lady Bev’s most trusted aide, Klopp had excellent composure and emotional control.

He showed no trace of emotion in front of Feylis and the others. After asking about the casualties in the Mordora Star Domain, he smoothly shifted to another topic.

“I believe you have a grand apprentice named Sein, correct?”

“I assigned him a covert mission some time ago, and he handled it well. I have another task for him now—something involving diplomatic outreach to other civilizations. He should be able to manage it,” he said.

“I remember he already has experience in this area and has helped secure several allies for the Magus Civilization.”

For a Rank Five mage to be remembered by a Knight Overlord was no small honor.

On the civilizational battlefield, even Rank Six powerhouses often depended on the backing of overlord-level beings just to stay alive.

Klopp’s question caused a trace of awkwardness to flicker across Feylis’ face.

“Sein... went missing not long ago, during the war. Baxia’s daughter, Tourmaline, is missing as well,” she replied.

“We have tried to track him using spatial magic, and even requested assistance from the Divine Tower of Ashes back in Magus World. But wherever they ended up is likely far too distant. We haven’t received any response so far.”

In truth, Feylis had another suspicion—Sein might already be dead.

Space-time turbulence was not something easily survived. Even she would not be confident walking away from it unscathed.

At the time, Sein’s group had been chased down and cornered by a Rank Six vizier and two Rank Six creatures.

Feylis did not feel optimistic about her grand apprentice’s chances of survival.

Still, she had not voiced that thought to anyone, as she needed to consider Lorianne’s feelings.

Grief had left her apprentice noticeably more worn down lately.

Sein was her only apprentice, and over the past few thousand years, they had grown closer than ever.

Ever since Lorianne left her mentor and seniors behind to settle in the Viridescent Land and establish her own divine tower, Sein had become her only real source of emotional support outside of her research.

Back when Sein moved away from the Viridescent Land, Lorianne had not been this sad, because she knew he was alive and well.

But now, with Sein’s fate unknown—and the very real chance that he had already perished—she was devastated.

She might never get over her apprentice’s death.

On the civilizational battlefield, death was nothing unusual.

Even overlord-level beings could not escape it, let alone Rank Four and Rank Five combatants.

As for the lower ranks, the dead already numbered in the billions, even trillions.

Feylis was deeply saddened by Sein’s disappearance as well, but she kept it under control far better than Lorianne.

After hearing her report, Klopp let out a quiet sigh.

“What a pity. He was a young man with great talent and potential. I’ll assign the task to someone else then. Bring Kruiz to me.”

***

Vermi Star Domain was a small-to-medium-sized region filled with numerous small and microplanes.

After renaming the Aribbean Star Pirates to the Ashen Star Pirates, Sein and his group continued their journey toward this star domain.

Fermera had already been returned to Sein’s Magic Cube to recover.

Although Sein had plenty of mechanical and alchemical materials on hand, he had not stocked up on large quantities of metal ores.

After all, what kind of mage walked into battle hauling around piles of metal for no reason?

Rebuilding Fermera’s body might not require especially rare alloys. Even mid-grade metals would do. With his Ashen Flame, Sein could refine them further into high-quality metallic essence.

Still, buying those materials in bulk would require him to head to a more developed place, like the Vermi Star Domain.

Sein and Tourmaline had also been taking time to recover along the way.

Tourmaline had a rather unique method. Sein jokingly called it the “Resting Turtle Technique”.

She would simply turn into her dragon turtle form and go to sleep.

Strangely enough, her recovery speed with this technique even outpaced Sein’s method of using potions and meditation!

Some advantages were just unfair.

Of course, Tourmaline had not taken on her full-sized form.

The Ashen Star Pirates were still a small crew, and even after Sein took over, they had not carried out any large-scale operations.

The ship itself was only five to six hundred meters wide—much smaller than the Magus Civilization’s war airships.

Down on the lower deck, Tourmaline had shrunk her dragon turtle form to about a hundred meters in size.

And she really could sleep. Her mental resilience was something else entirely.

Stranded in an unfamiliar star domain, with no idea where home was or even which direction to head, she could still eat and sleep without a care in the world...

Sein, who had been tense and anxious at first, found himself gradually relaxing under her influence.

Aribbean and the other space pirates, who depended on Sein for survival, finally dared to breathe again.

With nothing urgent to handle, Sein spent his time dissecting and studying a few native lifeforms he came across.

They were only Rank One or Two creatures, nothing remarkable at first glance, yet their unique traits still intrigued him.

Working helped calm him down. For the pirates, though, it was a different story.

In their world, strength ruled everything. The strong preyed on the weak—it was as simple as that.

Sein saw no reason to treat them any differently either. To him, they were little more than expendable tools.

A few of the more terrified pirates eventually tried to slip away.

They did not get far.

Before they could even leave the ship, Sein’s Faceless Mask locked onto them.

Two elemental rays cut through the air and ended their lives instantly, demonstrating Sein’s precise control over his elemental power.

Sensing the growing fear and unrest among the rest of the crew, Sein released his demonic aura and said coldly, “Quiet down. All of you. If you wake Tourmaline, I’ll throw every last one of you into the reactor as fuel.”

The creatures of this star domain had likely never seen a demon before, but both Sein’s appearance and presence were still enough to terrify them into silence.

Down on the lower deck, Tourmaline lay curled up as she slept. A small bubble formed at her nose, while her head was tucked deeper into her shell.

Strangely, the bubble did not burst.

Aribbean, Sein’s most eager subordinate, carefully approached and reported, “Your Divinity, we are nearing the Vermi Star Domain. We only need to pass through the space-time fluctuation zone ahead.”

“Oh?” Sein responded, lifting his gaze toward the front of the ship.