Sovereign of the Ashes
Chapter 1116: Barrenness

Chapter 1116: Barrenness

The moment Sein stepped out of the teleportation array, he was greeted by a vast, pale gray wasteland stretching endlessly in every direction.

This was the Du’Nahl Great Wasteland—the largest barren region in the Beastmen World.

This world was home to hundreds of beastman nations, each worshipping either the same or different beast gods.

In terms of raw resources, the Du’Nahl Great Wasteland was far poorer than the fertile Karemdor Steppe, but it was the most authentic representation of Beastmen World’s environment and cultural makeup.

More than seventy percent of the plane was barren, like the Du’Nahl Great Wasteland. The rest was fertile, like the Karemdor Steppe.

Sein had come here to experience the truest side of Beastmen World.

Despite being classified as a large-sized plane, Beastmen World faced food shortages year after year. The fact that millions of beastmen were starved to death annually was nothing short of bizarre for a plane of this size and age.

Moreover, Beastmen World was known throughout the Magus Alliance as the largest source of enslaved creatures.

Beautiful beastwomen were sold across nearly every major plane under the alliance, while the strong beastman warriors were seen as ideal fighters.

This was a large-sized plane that remained stuck in a more primitive, ignorant stage of development.

That said, the strength of the Beastmen World was beyond question.

Upon arriving, Sein and his group were greeted not only by a handful of knights from the Order of Mayne but also by dozens of towering beastman warriors.

These warriors were built like mountains—on average, two to three times larger than human knights from the Magus World.

Of course, that was compared to the knights’ natural form, not after activating their bloodline transformations at Rank Two or higher.

It seemed the Order of Mayne was thriving in Beastmen World.

The dozens of beastmen stationed around the array were all bearfolk—a more well-known tribe on this plane.

Beastmen World suffered from a severe shortage of iron, let alone the kind of magic equipment common in the Magus World.

Yet these bearfolk were clad in heavy copper armor, each wielding massive, wheel axes that gave off a faint elemental glow.

Their gear bore a resemblance to Magus World magic equipment, though it was nowhere near as refined or luxurious as what the knights stationed at the teleportation array wore.

Even so, if these weapons and armor were seen in any other beastman nation, they would still be more than enough to make everyone green with envy.

Several of the Magus World knights stepped forward to welcome Sein and his group as they emerged from the teleportation array, while the beastmen warriors remained at their posts, standing guard with stoic discipline.

The Order of Mayne’s strategy of befriending the various beast gods across the Beastmen World had allowed them to integrate well into this large-sized plane.

The bearfolk stationed here were just the tip of the iceberg.

In past interplanar wars led by the Order of Mayne, they had commanded a beastmen legion of over half a million strong.

It was composed entirely of frontline fighters: rhinofolk, bearfolk, lionfolk, tigerfolk, leopardfolk, elephantfolk...

The sheer combat power of that force was staggering!

Even an equal-sized demon legion would struggle to hold its ground against a direct charge from such a force.

The stationed knights from the Order of Mayne had clearly received word in advance, and their attitude toward Sein and his companions was one of visible respect.

They had even prepared a sizable stack of Beastmen World’s gold coins for exchange and wished the group an enjoyable stay in the plane.

Of course, the exchange rate between beastman currency and magicoins was laughably poor.

The Beastmen World’s economic system was a mess. Currency values varied wildly between beastman nations.

If this had been a world like Faeloria, Sein would have understood—after all, it was a chaotic realm torn between clashing divine factions and feuding deities.

However, Beastmen World was supposed to be unified.

Their strongest deity, Kampas, known as the “God of Beastmen” and the “God of War”, was an overlord and the sole will of the plane.

Yet the disorganized nature of Beastmen World made it clear that Kampas was definitely not skilled at governing.

In contrast, Sein had heard from Master Lorianne that the Elven World was well-managed and flourishing under the rule of its supreme deity.

Both Kampas and the God of Elves were overlords, but the latter always had a much stronger voice within the Magus Alliance, precisely because of their superior governance.

Here in Beastmen World, mundane gold coins were mostly used by the lower class. Knowing that, Sein exchanged only a modest amount, just enough for basic travel needs.

Beastmen warriors or shaman priests of Rank One and above preferred to operate using magicoins.

According to the knights from the Order of Mayne, magicoin’s value in Beastmen World was roughly on par with that in a medium-sized plane within the Magus Alliance.

This reflected not only the poor economic state of Beastmen World, but also the universal trust placed in magicoins.

After exchanging farewells with the knights stationed here, Sein finally set out, ready to begin his exploration of this world.

***

Kameron Kingdom was a small beastman nation with a population of only about three million, tucked away in the southern part of the Du’Nahl Great Wasteland.

In Sein’s memories, the beastmen he had met before were all tall and powerful creatures.

But after stepping into this plane and seeing the reality of its lower classes firsthand, he realized that was not quite the case.

Every world had its lower class. Every ecosystem had those who exploited and those who were exploited.

Beastmen World certainly had its fair share of strong warriors, but the majority of its population belonged to the weaker beastmen.

A plane could not possibly be made up entirely of warriors.

Take Kameron Kingdom, for example. While the king was rumored to be a bearfolk, most of the kingdom’s population consisted of ratfolk, rabbitfolk, and minkfolk.

In fact, the state of Kameron Kingdom was a fairly accurate reflection of Beastmen World as a whole.

According to a census taken more than twenty thousand years ago, the ratfolk ranked first in population among all beastman races, and that had not changed for tens of millennia.

The average ratfolk stood less than half a meter tall.

An average adult man from the Magus World could probably kick several of them to death without much effort.

Their frail bodies made it almost impossible for these weaker races, including ratfolk, to stand on equal ground with the larger beastmen.

And yet, ironically, they were the ones with the highest reproductive rate.

Take the ratfolk again as an example, it was not uncommon for them to give birth to several or even a dozen offspring at once.

With their fertility, they could reproduce four to six times a year.

Naturally, the most direct consequence of such exaggerated reproduction was constant food shortages.

Beastmen World had always been plagued by famine and poverty. It was not the strong races that suffered the most; it was the weaker ones, like the ratfolk.

As Sein looked out over the land, he saw dozens of ratfolk tilling the dry, barren soil with great effort, despite their swollen bellies.

They were not pregnant; these were adult males.

Their stomachs were bloated from drinking too much water.

In Kameron Kingdom, a river ran along one-third of the territory, so water was never in short supply.

Food, however, was.