Chapter 902: Escape
Trapped in flowing magma and seismic forces, Sein and Reina found themselves in a strange state—they were unaware of the passage of time and the development of the war.
The conflict in the surface world did not halt in their absence.
The fall of two native gods had ignited a fierce surge of resistance among Gumo Plane’s legions of native creatures.
For a time, their relentless fighting spirit burned brightly. Yet, such bold defiance was fleeting.
After all, only a few in the Astral Realm were truly fearless in the face of death.
The majority remained ordinary, unremarkable beings.
Once the core strength of the native creature army was decimated, the absence of middle and upper command caused a catastrophic collapse to spread through the ranks of the millions-strong force.
If the Rank Four Goul Groundworm King had not fled the battlefield so early, the native creatures’ morale might not have crumbled so quickly.
Its retreat had caused over half of the Groundworms to abandon the fight, reducing an otherwise formidable army into dust under the relentless onslaught of the Magus Civilization’s forces.
The war on Gumo Plane progressed faster than anyone had anticipated.
Remarkably, it had been only a year since Sein and his group had arrived on this low-level interplanar battlefield.
Of course, the swift victory came at a steep cost for the Divine Tower of Dark Flame.
The number of registered mages killed exceeded the total casualties sustained in the previous decade of wars combined.
Even more devastating was the fact that many of the elite mages who perished had been victims of the “indiscriminate bombardments” from the massive space fortress overhead.
Although the Rank Five tower master had his reasons for deploying such destructive force, the deaths of so many full-fledged mages would inevitably draw scrutiny upon his return to Magus World.
The Magus Civilization would undoubtedly launch an inquiry into Tower Master of Dark Flame’s actions.
Even if he managed to clear his name and avoid accusations of malicious intent, his reputation would be irreparably tarnished.
All bottom-ranking mages in Magus World join the divine towers with the hope of gaining access to knowledge aligned with their interests and securing vital resources provided by the towers.
The process was a mutual selection.
In the fair and balanced environment of Magus World, even ordinary Rank One mages are considered equal to the lofty divine tower masters.
No mage would willingly serve a cold and ruthless divine tower that could abandon them without hesitation.
Fortunately, Dark Flame acted swiftly after escaping the trap, using his mana to erect a massive elemental shield.
This barrier deflected the indiscriminate energy rays raining down from the sky, preventing even greater losses.
Without this intervention, the casualties among mages under the Divine Tower of Dark Flame could have doubled!
The chaotic conflict on Akre Plains persisted for two months after the fall of the two native gods.
Much of this time was spent hunting down the millions of routed troops, particularly the groundworms, renowned for their burrowing skills.
Hunting these creatures, which had dug deep into the ground, proved to be a painstaking task for the Magus Civilization Army.
By the end of this conflict, both the Magus Civilization’s forces and the Gumo Plane’s native legions had experienced a significant drop in morale.
Many mages had lost their will to continue fighting.
In contrast, the more than one hundred thousand knights hired for the campaign remained largely unaffected.
For soldiers, obedience to orders was paramount, and the knights of Magus World upheld this principle with unwavering dedication.
Although some knights sustained injuries from the space fortress’ energy rays, most of them had been stationed at the edge of the battlefield, sparing them from the worst of the bombardment.
Additionally, these knights were not registered with the Divine Tower of Dark Flame, which meant they harbored no sense of betrayal or disillusionment.
When it came to war, the knights of Magus World often displayed better mental fortitude than mages.
This dynamic underscored both the strengths and weaknesses of the knights and mages in Magus World.
Over the years, the complementary nature of these two groups had made them increasingly dependent on each other in interplanar wars.
***
After being “missing” for nearly three months, Sein and Reina finally returned to the surface through a cooled crater.
Dim Star, the magic robe Sein had taken so much pride in, was now beyond repair.
Crafted over two centuries ago using rare and precious materials, it was a masterpiece. Even if Sein could gather the resources for repairs, the complexity and effort involved made restoration impractical.
Rather than waste time mending the old, Sein decided it was better to craft a new magic robe entirely.
Along with the ruined robe, Sein also lost the temporary divine tower badge he had worn.
It was not until he and Reina returned to the main fortress base to report their survival that the Divine Tower of Dark Flame officially removed them from the missing list and issued them new badges.
Despite being a seasoned Rank Two mage, the massive number of mission points recorded in his new badge still left him momentarily stunned.
Judging by the sheer number of points he had accrued, Sein suspected that even some demigod-level mages had not earned as much.
If converted to magicoins, this low-level interplanar war had brought Sein a minimum of twenty thousand magicoins.
This figure did not even account for the rare material specimens he had collected along the way.
To put it into perspective, over a century ago, after the Wild Gorilla World War, Sein had only managed to earn a little over thirty thousand magicoins.
At that time, most of his profits came from the Sandstorm World War.
Now, in just over a year on the Gumo Plane battlefield, he had already earned twenty thousand magicoins.
Even Lorianne would have been impressed by his pace of accumulating wealth.
Perhaps sensing Sein’s astonishment, the young Rank One mage at the fortress command center explained respectfully while handing over Sein’s new badge, “Your mission points were personally approved by the tower master himself.”
“The tower master also mentioned that he would like to meet with you after the war concludes,” he added.
Despite still being a Rank Two mage, Sein exuded an aura and energy fluctuations akin to those of a Rank Three grand mage.
Even his tattered robe failed to diminish the intensity of his sharp eyes and commanding presence.
Upon returning to the surface, Sein learned of the tower master’s decisive actions during the war—including those that indirectly caused the crisis he faced underground.
Yet, Sein held no resentment for those decisions. Deep down, he believed the tower master had made the right call at the time.
If he had been in the tower master’s position, Sein knew he would have ordered the space fortress to fire as well.
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In many ways, he realized, he and the tower master shared a similar perspective.