Sovereign of the Ashes
Chapter 1107: Speculation

Chapter 1107: Speculation

The eerie magic tower, steeped in the stench of death and decay, was the Tower Master of Bone’s personal den.

It did not seem to be his black tower—more like one of his secret hideouts.

Sein watched calmly as the Tower Master of Bone stood in the center of the hall, practically glowing with excitement and greed.

In his hands were the two divine relics that had once belonged to Sein.

While black mages in Blackhaven could launch interplanar wars, they were never as efficient—or as prioritized—as the divine towers.

Despite having built his name over thousands of years, the Tower Master of Bone had never once initiated an interplanar war.

That made these two Rank Four divine relics the first real prizes he had ever obtained.

No wonder he looked so thrilled.

Right now, Sein was locked in place by a massive white bone claw.

The claw's sharp tips pierced deep into his muscles, and molten-hot blood seeped down its pale surface, staining it red.

Nearby, Leena was also restrained by another bone claw.

There was still a clear difference between a demigod-level mage and a true Rank Four or higher being.

Just because Sein had slain deities before in Faeloria did not mean he had truly reached a point where he could look down on them.

At this stage, he was still a long way from becoming one himself. That was why he had ended up captured.

Of course, the Tower Master of Bone had not walked away unscathed either.

Sein’s Penetrating Eye spell had left a fist-sized, bleeding hole in the man’s body beneath his gray robes.

The tower master had likely modified his body to some extent, which was why Sein’s attack had not caused serious damage.

Then again, maybe the tower master was just too busy drooling over his new gains to care about the pain.

“You wield bone law, don’t you? A variant of necromantic law,” Sein suddenly asked as if he were not currently bound.

The Tower Master let out a low chuckle, running his thumb over the divine relics. “Sharp little thing, aren’t you?”

Since the rise of the Magus Civilization, elemental magic had expanded and flourished. As magic diversified, it made sense that the higher laws would grow more complex and mysterious.

For Sein to identify the law he wielded so quickly showed a level of perception and insight far beyond most demigod-level black mages.

“I’ve run into creatures above Rank Four with laws similar to yours in another world. You’re all equally annoying,” Sein said with a cold sneer.

He paused, then added with a smirk, “You’re weaker, though.”

He was clearly talking about the Bone Lord of Faeloria—an intermediate deity and Rank Five being who was undeniably in a league far above the Tower Master of Bone.

Sein’s taunt made the tower master’s fingers twitch with irritation.

A bone-white whip snapped through the air, striking across Sein’s cheek and drawing blood.

Dark, corrupt energy seeped from the wound. The death element in it caused the skin around the gash to necrotize almost instantly.

“You’re really different than those who don’t temper their bodies.” The Tower Master of Bone chuckled coldly. “This lash could split open a demigod-level mage’s skull. All it left on you was a scar.”

He was no clueless low-ranking black mage. He could tell Sein’s resilience was not from some demon warlock bloodline—it was the product of rigorous body tempering experiments, a path only very few mages would choose.

Body tempering had always been a knight’s thing in the Magus World. Hardly any mages bothered with it.

In Blackhaven, even fewer did. Most black mages here preferred body modification instead.

The Tower Master of Bone, for instance, had completely replaced his skeleton with one reforged with corpse energy, giving him exceptional durability and a rapid rate of recovery.

In truth, Sein’s Penetrating Eye spell had not dealt nearly as much damage as it appeared.

Weak constitutions had always been one of the biggest shortcomings among Magus World mages.

With that kind of vulnerability, high-ranking spellcasters were not going to sit back and do nothing about it.

The elemental body technique, typically mastered by Rank Two and above mages, was one of the earliest ways to enhance a mage’s survivability and resilience.

By Rank Four, methods became far more advanced—the Tower Master of Bone’s “Skeleton Replacement” technique was just one of many ways mages began fortifying their bodies and extending their vitality.

Sein’s Verdant Flame Body Tempering technique was another brilliant example, and there were many more out there.

Honestly, the creativity of mages in the Magus World went far beyond what most beings from other worlds could imagine.

After lashing Sein a few more times and leaving fresh wounds on him, the Tower Master of Bone raised something else in his hand.

“Now tell me. How do I access this space conch?” he demanded.

“I can sense you’re hiding more good stuff in here,” he said with a crooked grin, holding up the space conch Tourmaline had given to Sein.

That conch was anything but ordinary. Even for a Rank Four being like the Tower Master of Bone, opening it was not easy due to a strange spatial power sealing it.

Aside from the conch, the Tower Master of Bone had also confiscated Sein’s Demon Mask and magic rod.

The only things left untouched were Sein’s magic robe and his Silver Spider Ring.

That was not because the Rank Four black mage suddenly felt merciful—those items were protected by a special power that even someone at his rank struggled to remove them from Sein.

At one point, he had considered just cutting off Sein’s finger to take the extraordinary spider ring, but in the end, he held back.

Despite being a demigod-level mage, Sein’s equipment and wealth were enough to tempt even a Rank Four, or maybe a Rank Five mage. This alone hinted at a background far from ordinary.

More importantly, Sein’s steady composure throughout had started to make the tower master uneasy.

He was beginning to wonder if this younger mage might be the apprentice of a Rank Six black mage.

But that did not quite add up either.

The Rank Six black mages in Blackhaven were all well-known.

The Tower Master of Bone had never met any of them personally, but he had grown up hearing about them.

As far as he could recall, none of them were Demon Warlocks who specialized in body tempering.

He had tried probing for Sein’s identity earlier, but Sein had stayed tight-lipped the entire time.