Chapter 2083: Meeting the Phantom Crow King Again

On the way back to Magus World, Sein first dropped Lorianne off at her logistics base near the front lines.

Since Lorianne still had several years of unused leave remaining, returning to duty ahead of schedule simply meant that the rest of her leave would be carried over to her next rest period.

Lorianne told Sein that once she had accumulated a longer stretch of leave, she would return to Magus World.

***

After bidding farewell to his mentor, Sein continued on his journey home.

Since Reina and Sia each had their own space fortress, three space fortresses were returning to Magus World together this time.

Sein had previously conceived several experiments involving the integration of multiple space fortresses.

However, three fortresses were clearly not enough to achieve what he had envisioned.

More importantly, mechanically transforming space fortresses carried considerable risks.

If such an experiment went wrong, the consequences could be severe, as shown by the two successive waves of God of Black Mist followers that had been wiped out inside the planetary-class fortress back then.

For that reason, Sein intended to wait until he returned to Magus World before making any long-term arrangements, including establishing a different kind of contract with the mages stationed aboard the fortresses.

Sein certainly did not want the Magus Civilization holding him accountable one day if a war or experimental accident resulted in massive casualties among those mages.

Master Dark Flame, who had once been taken away for investigation, was warning enough.

Still, if Sein wished to pursue greater power and explore the most advanced mysteries of mechanical art, these experiments would eventually have to be carried out.

No matter how high the cost, Sein was prepared to pay it, even if that meant offering exceptionally generous divine tower salaries and enormous death gratuities.

According to his current calculations, the large-scale fortress fusion and robotic transformation experiments he envisioned would require at least seven space fortresses.

And if he wanted to achieve the degree of perfection he had in mind... he would need ten!

***

The beautiful Magus World was drawing ever closer.

After passing through several star domains still embroiled in war, as well as others already firmly occupied by the Magus Civilization, Sein eventually reached the Burning Sanoras Star Domain on the outskirts of Magus World’s home star domain.

It was there that he unexpectedly encountered an old friend.

The Rank Six Phantom Crow King happened to be passing through the region.

For the two of them to cross paths like this in the vast Astral Realm could only be called a remarkable coincidence.

Countless Phantom Crows filled the surrounding void, forming a dark swarm around their king as they flew deeper into the starry expanse.

Sein was the first to notice it.

The Faceless Mask had already detected the Phantom Crow King from afar, prompting Sein to call out.

The Phantom Crow King, however, merely saw three space fortresses approaching from the opposite direction and did not realise that Sein was among them.

After all, most of Magus World’s space fortresses looked extremely similar from the outside, especially the standard models.

Sein’s Ashen Fortress was a modified space fortress, but after so many years apart, the Phantom Crow King naturally failed to recognise it at first glance.

It was only when Sein flew out of the fortress that the confusion in the Phantom Crow King’s eyes quickly turned to delight.

“Ah, Master Sein! It’s been ages!” The Phantom Crow King flapped its wings and flew forward to greet him.

Vast swathes of ghostly flames billowed out from between its wings.

After so many years apart, the Phantom Crow King had clearly grown much stronger.

The war between the Magus Civilization and the Gallant Federation had claimed trillions upon trillions of lives.

With vast amounts of soul energy lingering across countless battlefields, the Phantom Crow King and its race had entered a period of unprecedented growth.

There was practically food everywhere. Abundant soul energy was theirs for the taking.

For the Phantom Crows, this brutal war had unexpectedly ushered in something of a golden age.

Because of this, the Phantom Crow King had always held Sein in particularly high regard for recommending it to join the Magus Alliance in the first place.

By now, the Phantom Crow King had already reached the late stage of Rank Six.

One could only imagine how much it had benefited from this war.

In recent years, the law-wielding Phantom Crows had also achieved breakthroughs one after another.

Amidst the fierce Clash of Civilizations, the number of law-wielding beings in most planes was steadily declining.

Yet the Phantom Crow World had not only endured the losses brought about by the war, but somehow continued growing stronger in spite of them.

That alone was enough to show just how well the Phantom Crows could adapt to the conditions of this battlefield!

The only thing that had soured the Phantom Crow King’s mood recently was an incident involving a Rank Six Immortal Realm ghost cultivator who had tried to take it as a mount.

Naturally, the Phantom Crow King responded by giving the man a hard kick.

Its formidable Claw of Death had already become one of its signature moves over the years.

Unfortunately, the other party happened to be a Great Luo Golden Immortal[1], and their conflict risked causing trouble for the cooperation between the Magus Civilization and the Immortal Realm.

As a result, the Phantom Crow King had spent the past few decades reassigned to the rear, carrying out escort missions and helping suppress traitorous planes.

After listening to his complaints, Sein thought for a moment before saying, “It’s true that our Magus Civilization and the Immortal Realm are currently enjoying a rather close period of cooperation, but sacrificing your interests just to preserve that relationship is out of the question. After all, the Magus Civilization and the Immortal Realm are equal partners.”

“And judging by the final decision, your interests weren’t really harmed. They merely asked you to lie low for a while. Plenty of alliance deities would love to receive such safe and easy assignments, but they don’t even get the chance,” Sein reassured it.

“Of course I know the Magus Civilization is on my side,” the Phantom Crow King cawed, then suddenly stretched out its Claw of Death.

“But that ghost cultivator still gets on my nerves! I’d really like to kick him one more time!” it screeched.

Sein’s gaze fell on the Phantom Crow King’s sharp claw. Perhaps because he had recently been thinking about how to craft the Ashen Scepter, the first thought that crossed his mind was just how valuable that claw would be if he cut it off and used it as a material.

Unfortunately, its attribute did not seem particularly compatible with Sein.

The Phantom Crow King suddenly felt an inexplicable chill run through its claw. It quickly retracted it and glanced around suspiciously.

Meanwhile, the swarm of Phantom Crows surrounding it echoed their king’s complaints, cawing loudly as they hurled curses at the presumptuous Immortal Realm cultivator.

With such a huge flock screeching around Sein, he soon felt a faint headache coming on.

Still, something the Phantom Crow King had mentioned earlier caught his attention.

“Are you still carrying out missions to purge traitorous planes?” Sein asked curiously.

“Yes. Not long ago, I wiped out a low-level world and two microplanes, all under orders from the Magus Civilization. Not a single living creature was left in those worlds!” the Phantom Crow King replied with two loud caws.

Wisps of grey soul energy continued seeping from the nostrils above its sharp beak.

At present, the Magus Civilization held a decisive advantage in its war against the Gallant Federation.

The Gallant Federation was steadily being forced back across the front lines.

Yet under such circumstances, some planes of the Magus Alliance had actually chosen to betray the Magus Civilization and defect to the Gallant Federation.

Whether this was because Gallant Federation agents had done an excellent job of subverting them, or simply because there was no reasoning with some damned fools, Sein could not say.

Since those alliance planes were so determined to go down with the Gallant Federation, then so be it!

Of course, there was another possibility... Against the backdrop of such an enormous Clash of Civilizations, Magus World might indeed have pushed some alliance planes too hard.

Perhaps that pressure had eventually driven them into making such foolish decisions.

Sein was rather curious about the Phantom Crow King’s recent experiences and the missions it had been carrying out, so the two continued chatting for a while.

During their conversation, Sein suddenly remembered that he still had a large stockpile of soul crystals he had obtained from the Insectoids.

In this regard, the Insectoids were almost the complete opposite of the Phantom Crows.

They pursued flesh and material energy above all else and had little interest in resources such as soul crystals. The Phantom Crows, however, were naturally drawn to soul energy.

Since Sein and the Phantom Crow King shared a long-standing friendship, the two simply settled a substantial soul crystal trade on the spot.

The Phantom Crow King had never expected that a chance encounter with Sein would end with it securing such a substantial deal on the spot.

After settling the trade, it cawed happily to itself, convinced that Sein truly was its good luck charm, especially since Sein had made it clear that this would not be their last transaction.

Once he obtained more soul crystals in the future, he would contact the Phantom Crow King again.

Aside from paying Sein the agreed price, the Phantom Crow King also rummaged through the depths of its wings and pulled out several additional gifts.

“These are some things I picked up from those planes. Nothing particularly valuable, but please don’t refuse them, Sein. Oh, right. Would you be interested in this?”

As it spoke, the Phantom Crow King cautiously glanced around the surrounding starry void.

Then, to Sein’s surprise, it pulled out a corpse...

And not just any corpse, but that of a Rank Four Heavenly Immortal from the Immortal Realm!

“That’s...” Sein murmured in surprise.

The Phantom Crow King cawed. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I didn’t kill this guy. I found him lying around on a chaotic battlefield I passed through.”

A sly glint flashed through its tiny eyes. “Picking up a corpse nobody wanted shouldn’t violate the rules of the Magus Alliance, right?”

Sein stared at the corpse of the Rank Four Heavenly Immortal for a moment.

“It definitely doesn’t,” he replied without hesitation.

The next moment, Sein swept the corpse into his spatial storage equipment.

He had long been curious about beings from the Immortal Realm.

Although he had previously purchased several Immortal Realm specimens in the Valthwain Star Domain, the complete corpse of a Heavenly Immortal was not something one could simply buy with money.

After spending so many years within the Magus Civilization, the Phantom Crow King had already developed a fairly good understanding of the nature and preferences of its powerhouses.

Seeing Sein accept the gift without hesitation, it happily cawed twice as clusters of ghostly flames surged around its body.

“It would be best if you didn’t let too many people know about this corpse. As for those soul crystals I mentioned, come find me again next time. As long as I have them on hand, I’ll give you as many as you want.”

Sein told it via mental focus.

“I understand.” The Phantom Crow King nodded.

1. Translator’s recap: Great Luo Golden Immortal = Rank Six. ☜