Sovereign of the Ashes
Chapter 1146: The End of the War

Chapter 1146: The End of the War

The war in Bouldrak World, which dragged on for another four years after the beastmen legions joined, finally came to an end.

The Rank Five Bouldrak King had fallen.

Although Eugene was not the only one responsible for bringing it down, he had proved himself.

He had earned a rightful place in Beastmen World for himself and for the half-beastmen.

Alongside the Bouldrak King, two other Rank Five Phantom Crows and a Rank Four Bouldrak also perished.

Those Rank Five Phantom Crows were considered an unexpected windfall of the war.

Another major prize was the vast army of Phantom Crows they wiped out.

These Phantom Crows, known for their addiction to blood and souls, had a soul essence deep within their brains.

Some of these essences were no bigger than a grain of wheat, but according to Magus World mages, their purity surpassed that of soul essences harvested from undead creatures, and their properties were quite unique as well.

In the final stages of the war, many beastmen and half-beastmen eagerly hunted the Phantom Crows for these valuable resources.

Unfortunately, with their rough and short-sighted ways, they gave little thought to sustainability.

In the end, the Phantom Crows in Bouldrak World were nearly wiped out.

Only a handful remained, hiding deep in forests or underground caverns.

Given how different Bouldrak World’s natural laws were from those of Phantom Crow World, it was unclear whether they could even survive or reproduce here.

As for Bouldrak World’s fourth-generation guardian, it finally stopped resisting so fiercely.

Or rather, it finally accepted reality.

The new guardian this time was a native creature of flesh and blood that looked like a crab.

Perhaps because it was not a geo elemental being, this guardian proved far less stubborn than its three predecessors.

Under its command, the countless lesser creatures of Bouldrak World gradually laid down their arms.

It was a good outcome, both for them and for Beastmen World.

After all, much of what they called “resistance” had only sent them to needless deaths.

All the Rank Four and above creatures of Bouldrak World were eventually wiped out, except for one—the Obsidian Crystal Giant.

Originally, this Rank Four geo elemental giant with a formidable constitution should not have escaped death.

Among the several beast gods who had arrived in Bouldrak World was a bearfolk god with a unique law power—a variant of geo elemental law known as the Tremor Law.

When it came to raw killing power against the Obsidian Crystal Giant, that bearfolk god was even deadlier than Reksha, who fought wielding his massive twin broadaxes.

But in the end, it was Reksha—the one who had clashed most fiercely with the Obsidian Crystal Giant throughout the interplanar war—who stepped in to spare its life.

It was both an act of personal sympathy and a calculated move aligned with the policy direction of the Magus Alliance and the God of Beastmen.

“Since Beastmen World and the Magus Alliance plan to look for more allies in the star domain around Bouldrak World later, I think it’s better to let this guy live. That way, we can show the Magus Alliance’s sincerity and generosity,” Reksha remarked as he gently stroked the giant bear named Ursa beside him.

True to his roots as a shaman priest, Reksha had a way with words that could sway the beastmen around him.

The reason Beastmen World lagged behind Elven World was not just because Kampas was weaker than Aeluna, the elven overlord.

The truth was that beastmen, as a race, were simply less sharp and less intellectually inclined than elves.

Most beastmen thrived on brute strength, and only a rare few relied on their brains.

Take someone like the Jackal God, for example.

He was cunning, sly, and constantly wheeling and dealing in the beastman slave trade—but Beastmen World needed someone like him.

The honest, straightforward Rank Four and above beast gods were not going to keep the entire Beastmen World fed.

The Jackal God could not manage it either, but at least he could keep most of Beastmen World’s powerful elites well-fed and thriving.

Even the God of Beastmen’s treasury was managed by him.

In some ways, his role was more critical than any of the few Rank Six beast gods in Beastmen World!

That was the reality and the difference between them.

And reality, more often than not, was just that absurd.

Reksha’s connections in Beastmen World ran much deeper than Eugene’s.

No one really knew how or where he had learned of the policy direction of the Magus Alliance and the God of Beastmen.

In the end, the Obsidian Crystal Giant was spared.

If it could stay on its best behavior, there might still be a place for it on Bouldrak Plane.

Maybe Eugene, who was now one of the rulers of Bouldrak World, might even agree to rename this low-level plane the “Obsidian Crystal Plane”.

And if the native creatures became more respectful and contributed enough in the future, it was not unthinkable that the Obsidian Crystal Giant might one day lead the plane into joining the Magus Alliance.

Many allied planes had started out that way.

Compared to conquest by force, this kind of voluntary integration proved far more lasting and thorough.

The Magus World mages had tested and confirmed this approach time and time again.

***

In the last few years of the war, Sein rarely threw himself into battle. Instead, he devoted almost all his time to experimental research.

On Bouldrak Plane, a demigod-level mage was not exactly a game-changer—and honestly, it hardly mattered if there was one less demigod on the frontlines.

Besides, Eugene was not about to leave him out of his share of the spoils.

In some ways, it was thanks to Sein that Tourmaline had ended up joining the battlefield at all.

The God of Half-Beastmen was unlikely to treat Sein poorly, especially since, in just those last few years, the half-beastmen had brought in an astonishing variety of Bouldrak World treasures from every corner.

With the entire half-beastman race mobilized, the collection of rare materials was far more efficient than Sein running around on his own during an interplanar war.

Lately, Sein’s main research focus had been a black-feathered wing that Tourmaline had gifted him.

It had been torn from a Rank Five Phantom Crow, covered in strange markings, and still smoldering with an eerie pitch-black flame.

Sein and Leena had been studying the flame for quite a while, and they were gradually unraveling some of its secrets.

Originally, Tourmaline had wanted to give Sein the entire fallen Rank Five Phantom Crow as a gift.

But Sein had turned it down, asking only for the Phantom Crow’s innate flame for research.

The divine relics in Sein’s possession had all been earned through his own skill and cunning.

If he accepted Tourmaline’s gifts just like that, what would that make him?

He refused to be the kind of mage who relied on handouts from his friends.

The Rank Five Phantom Crow was highly valuable, so in the end, Tourmaline happily tucked it away in her own stash.

It was around then that Sein realized Tourmaline’s shell also functioned as a pretty impressive storage space.

It was basically a giant portable vault.

Watching how easily Tourmaline stowed away the huge Phantom Crow, Sein figured there must be quite a lot of room in there.