Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 829: Half A Year

Chapter 829: Half A Year

Half a year later....

It had been an extremely difficult period—dark, grueling, and seemingly endless.

For Sein and the other Magus World mages on the battlefield, death had never felt so close.

Four months ago, a violent upheaval shook the eastern skies of Sandstorm World.

The turbulence and shockwaves from an explosion there had spread far and wide.

Sein, a seasoned war mage, had only felt something similar twice before—once on the Viridian Venom Flame World battlefield and once in the Thunderfall World War.

Such devastating celestial phenomena had only occurred during the destruction of a Rank Four mecha or the fall of the King of Garths.

While the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s lower-ranking mages and enslaved creatures remained oblivious to the cause, Sein learned the truth through his connections to the Rank Three grand mages of the divine tower.

The white-feathered pelican—one of the Rank Four magic beast kings who had come to aid the battlefield in Wild Gorilla World—had fallen!

The white-feathered pelican was a majestic bird with a wingspan spanning hundreds of meters.

Sein had first met it long ago at the outskirts of Sage’s Forest in the Marmett Union Alliance when he was just a Rank One mage.

That meeting had also been his first encounter with Black Oblivion.

The white-feathered pelican had been a steadfast companion to Black Oblivion and his band of magic beast kings.

Black Oblivion had brought his allies to the Wild Gorilla World seeking riches and fortune.

Wealth they had gained, but none of them had foreseen the tragedy that would follow.

The death of the white-feathered pelican came at the hands of a formidable Gorilla God who wielded the power of thunder.

For two months, the eastern skies of Sandstorm World had been consumed by a relentless storm of thunder and lightning.

The devastating battle culminated in the loss of the pelican and a fortress base.

Along with the white-feathered pelican, hundreds of thousands of magic beasts and many mages from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring who had been stationed at the fortress perished in the fight.

The losses were heavier than the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring had endured during the initial assault by the Dwarf Bullets in Wild Gorilla World.

The fall of the white-feathered pelican, a Rank Four magic beast king, was indeed an unspeakable tragedy.

After the destruction of the fortress base guarded by the pelican, the forces in another smaller fortress base were forced to retreat.

Led by Fenrir and Hephaes, they headed toward the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s main base.

The fall of the white-feathered pelican proved just how powerful the Wild Gorilla Army that had invaded Sandstorm World truly was.

However, its sacrifice also bought valuable time for the two-headed wolf and centaur god defending the other fortress base.

Three months later, Fenrir and Hephaes finally arrived at the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s main fortress base with the remnants of their forces, joining Sein and the other Magus World legions, who had been trapped there for months.

Although Sein had not seen Fenrir or Hephaes for some time, he was certain that the two-headed wolf and the centaur god had endured significant hardships in their battles against the Gorilla Gods.

Since the war began, the clashes between Rank Four and higher creatures had been raging with barely a moment of reprieve.

He had not seen Lorianne for half a year either.

For beings of Rank Four and above, wars lasting half a year, or even several years, were common.

The defeat of the white-feathered pelican stemmed partly from being surrounded and partly from the immense power gap between it and its opponent.

Despite the pelican’s unparalleled flying abilities, its opponent was a peak Rank Five Gorilla God with explosive speed and immense devastating power.

The destruction of this Rank Four bird and the fortress base it guarded sounded the death knell for the Magus World Army in the Sandstorm World.

Yet the losses did not end there.

The other two main fortress bases in Sandstorm World had also suffered devastating blows over the past six months.

The battered legions that Fenrir and Hephaes led back to the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s main base numbered fewer than three hundred thousand.

To put that into perspective, Fenrir had originally commanded over half a million magic beasts, and Hephaes had brought an army of two million centaurs to Wild Gorilla World, intent on reaping profits!

Not all of these forces had perished. Many of the magic beasts and centaurs were likely scattered or stranded across Sandstorm World.

Though the Wild Gorilla Army attacked with relentless fervor, their forces were not infinite.

The tenacious resistance of the Magus World Army had inflicted heavy casualties on the Wild Gorillas as well.

Sein had noticed a significant shift in the enemy’s forces over the past month.

The Wild Gorilla Army were increasingly interspersed with subgorillas.

These subgorilla units were not part of the elite forces led by the Wild Gorilla Gods.

Instead, they were cannon fodder, hastily assembled from Sandstorm World itself and neighboring planes.

The Wild Gorilla Clan had ruled this star domain for over a hundred thousand years.

After such an extended period of dominance, the Wild Gorilla Clan’s power had become deeply ingrained in the hearts and minds of those who lived under their shadow.

Their influence was unparalleled, far surpassing that of the Magus Civilization, which had only recently invaded this star domain.

Moreover, the subgorillas shared the Wild Gorilla Clan’s bloodline to a certain extent.

Given this, it was no surprise that they would align themselves with the Wild Gorillas, making it easy for them to assemble vast cannon fodder armies.

The only saving grace for the Magus World Army was that Sandstorm World’s native subgorilla population, especially the adult males, had been largely sold off as slaves over the past two years by the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring, Black Oblivion and the magic beast kings.

If those subgorillas had still been around, they might have already risen against the Magus World forces.

***

Inside the dim, oppressive corridor of the main fortress base, Sein leaned against the cold wall, attempting to meditate despite the heavy metallic scent of blood that lingered in the air.

Fierce battles raged both inside and outside the main fortress base.

A deep meditation state was impossible amidst the chaos, so Sein forced himself into shallow meditation, seizing this opportunity to restore his focus and mana levels.

For more than half a year, the battles had been relentless—a grueling test not just of physical endurance and survival but also of mental fortitude and spiritual resilience.

During this time, Sein had not conducted a single experiment, yet he could feel that his focus and physical constitution improving significantly under the constant pressure.

He would not have minded enduring such high-pressure conditions if it simply meant raising his strength.

However, the grim reality was that the conflict was not only physically and mentally exhausting for him but had also pushed everyone within the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s main fortress base to the brink of collapse.

None of them were made of steel. Even Rank Four or higher beings needed moments to catch their breath, let alone lower-ranking creatures.

If a strong peak Rank Two mage like Sein was barely holding on, the situation for ordinary Rank One mages and enslaved cannon fodder was unimaginably worse.

The main fortress base had transformed into a gruesome battlefield, littered with a sea of bloody corpses.

The bodies of countless enslaved creatures and magic beasts lay buried there.

Of course, the Wild Gorilla soldiers and subgorilla cannon fodder also suffered heavy losses.

Sein did not bother finding out how many had died or been injured. He barely had the energy to care for himself, let alone anyone else.