Chapter 2088: Overlord’s Eye

Julius and the Reverse Winged Lion King had not immediately advanced to Rank Four.

Even with Sein’s strength as a peak Rank Five mage, all he could really do was give them one more chance.

If Sein truly possessed the ability to mass-produce Rank Four beings, he would not have needed to worry so much about Selina, Eileen, and Sev as their soul flames neared their end.

That said, Julius and the Reverse Winged Lion King did possess certain advantages that Selina and the others lacked.

Julius had embarked on the path of a knight, while the Reverse Winged Lion King had produced many offspring over the years. In some respects, these conditions gave the pair slightly better odds.

Furthermore, the success rate of knights advancing in rank was inherently higher than that of mages at the same level.

This could already be seen from the ratio of law-wielding knights to mages throughout Magus World.

“Great-Grandfather and the Reverse Winged Lion King’s breakthroughs could take anywhere from one to several decades. It’s not unusual for some knights and mages to spend one or even two hundred years attempting to reach Rank Four,” Sein said.

He glanced down at the sprawling estate beneath them.

“House Grantt really did choose a good location back then. There’s a decent planar node directly beneath the estate. No wonder the pyro elemental energy around here is so active.”

Sein turned to Leena beside him. “Should we wait or head back to the Divine Tower of Ashes first?”

Dressed in her usual black magical robe, Leena hovered quietly beside him, her gaze also fixed on the rock garden below.

The cold wind swept past, causing her robes to flutter.

“What do you think?” Leena asked in return.

Over the past two years, while Sein had been carrying out bloodline modification experiments on Julius and the Reverse Winged Lion King, Leena had been an enormous help.

Though, to be more precise, much of that help had actually come from Mikaeli.

The hag had lived for tens of thousands of years and possessed a wealth of experience in bloodline experimentation and life modification.

There was no telling how many innocent humans, weaker knights, and low-ranking mages in Blackhaven had once fallen victim to her experiments.

Sein continued staring at the rock garden below for a while before finally letting out a sigh.

“We should head back for now. It won’t be too late to return once we hear some news from here.”

“Sounds good.” Leena nodded.

The two did not linger at House Grantt any longer. Perhaps Sein simply did not want to remain there and endure the wait.

If Julius and the Reverse Winged Lion King ultimately failed, all Sein could do was sigh.

He had already done everything within his power.

From this point onward, whether Julius and Samson could overcome that final hurdle would depend largely on themselves.

“Let’s go.”

Casting one last glance at the estate below, Sein took the lead and flew toward the Divine Tower of Ashes.

Leena followed closely behind him.

Sev, however, remained behind.

It had built a nest atop the rock garden and intended to wait there until the Reverse Winged Lion King emerged from its breakthrough attempt.

That way, if anything happened at House Grantt, Sev could contact Sein immediately.

***

Upon returning to the Divine Tower of Ashes, Sein quickly immersed himself once more in his experiments.

The research into the profound principles of the pyro element and body tempering, which he had previously discussed with Grandmaster Feylis in Primeval Wilds Plane, could only truly be carried out after his return to Magus World.

Recently, Sein had also spared no expense in acquiring vast quantities of high-grade materials from the Magus Alliance, the Capiche Business Alliance, and the Arriba Interstellar Chamber of Commerce.

He even maintained a stable means of contacting the demon clan.

Before leaving Divine Descendants World, Sethem, the Rank Six demon king, had given Sein a black horn, allowing him to contact the ruthless Quatar Star Pirates whenever necessary.

***

“Did you know that Sanchez, that skeletal dragon, has also advanced to Rank Four? I summoned it twice on the Grand Apocalypse World battlefield when I was fighting alongside your grandmaster and the others. That guy now commands a skeletal dragon legion of considerable size,” Leena said during a break from her experiments, sharing some of the interesting stuff she had found out over the years.

“A legion of skeletal dragons, huh? That’s pretty impressive.” Sein nodded.

The strength of dragon-type creatures was well known throughout the countless planes of the Astral Realm.

Even after death, dragons that had transformed into undead creatures were still undoubtedly among the elites of the undead species.

Sanchez was not a vassal of Sein or the Verdant Flame Faction. Strictly speaking, he was now a skeletal dragon lord of Undead World.

As a native of one of the Magus Alliance’s major member planes, Sanchez ultimately answered to the Undead Monarch, an overlord-level powerhouse.

Within the Magus Alliance, Undead World was primarily affiliated with the Marmett Union Alliance.

“When the opportunity arises, we should work with that skeletal dragon a few more times,” Sein said.

“Eugene too. The God of Half-Beastmen from Beastmen World is another old friend of ours,” he added.

Leena nodded. Having delved deeply into the laws of death over the years, she had always been rather curious about Undead World.[1]

That large-sized alliance plane was home to an unknown number of ancient undead beings.

Some were so ancient that even after the Clash of Civilizations erupted, they had yet to awaken from their slumber.[2]

In addition to the top-tier resources Sein had ordered from various sources, a steady stream of deliveries had continued arriving at the Divine Tower of Ashes in recent years.

Taking advantage of a brief lull after returning to Magus World, Sein decided to sort through and catalog the various artifacts and experimental materials he had accumulated over the years.

While he had been away from Magus World, Azelia and the others would periodically inspect and maintain many of these materials on his behalf.

It was while going through his collection that Sein unexpectedly came across something unusual.

“What is this...?”

In the collection room at the very bottom of the Divine Tower of Ashes, Sein stared at an eyeball before him with a puzzled expression.

This was the deepest level of his collection room, a place even Sein himself rarely visited.

Apart from Azelia, who would occasionally come down to clean, Tourmaline used to visit from time to time as well.

She would often find a quiet corner among Sein’s collection and simply fall asleep there.

At Sein’s summons, Azelia quickly arrived.

When Sein asked her about the eyeball, the fox maiden paused for quite some time, carefully searching through her memories.

“Ah yes, Tourmaline left this here,” she finally said. “She also said it was a surprise for you.”

Azelia sounded quite certain.

It was indeed a surprise... more like a shock!

Based on Sein’s research into Venerable Tianyang’s blood crystal and Overgod Marduk’s secondary divine relics, there was little doubt that the eyeball before him was part of an overlord’s remains!

“It’s an overlord’s eye? Or perhaps some kind of secondary eye?” Sein murmured, furrowing his brow slightly as he examined it.

Although he had yet to study it thoroughly, Sein could already sense that this eyeball was different from the other overlord-grade materials he had obtained before.

More importantly, it seemed to contain something related to an area Sein had always been interested in, yet had never truly explored...!

The sudden appearance of an overlord’s eye alone was already enough to leave Sein pleasantly surprised.

Yet good news seemed to arrive one after another.

Almost at the same time, Sev sent a message back to the Divine Tower of Ashes.

Julius and the Reverse Winged Lion King had both successfully advanced to Rank Four!

Only seven years had passed since the two entered seclusion and began their final attempt at breaking through Rank Four!

Author’s Notes:

1. Leena primarily wielded pyro, umbra and necromantic laws. ☜

2. It was not because they refused to answer the summons of the Magus Alliance or the Undead Monarch. Some had simply slept for far too long that their soul flames had gradually faded until almost nothing remained. Even the undead could eventually die. ☜