Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 197: The Battlefield of the Initiates

“Did they adapt their strategy to counter me so swiftly?” Sein mused.

“It appears the initiates from the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder are more coordinated and reactive than those from the Divine Tower of Shadow. And there are more of them here...” he murmured, observing from above the densely populated medium-sized resource points in the distance.

For five consecutive days, he had not been able to make any progress in the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s southern territory.

Now, it appeared his only option was to head north or west.

His formidable skills had single-handedly wrought significant changes across both the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s southern territory and the entire Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory.

In recent regional academy wars, Sein stood out as the sole initiate to achieve a level of prominence comparable to that of Martinez in the previous one.

His lone presence was capable of influencing the entire war’s trajectory!

Deciding against aimlessly roaming the vicinity, Sein glanced toward the west and set off.

His crystal ball indicated a higher concentration of initiates in the western part of the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s territory.

To Sein, the larger the gathering of initiates, the greater the risk, but also, the more opportunities it presented.

***

The Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s western territory, bordering the Divine Tower of Land Academy’s territory, was characterized by rolling hills.

This landscape was ideal for a solitary traveler like Sein, offering ample opportunities to accumulate substantial point values.

True to expectations, upon reaching the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s western territory, Sein’s score, which had been stagnant for a while, began to surge once again.

Nearly half a year into the regional academy war, Sein’s individual score was swiftly nearing the 100,000 mark.

His current tally stood at 93,462 points. He wondered about the scores of other top initiates, particularly the one in second place.

Based on previous years’ results, even if Sein ceased all activity and waited out the remaining two years of the war, his score would likely remain high enough to place him in the top ten.

Initially, Sein had only aimed for a top twenty ranking.

“The higher the score and ranking, the better the rewards,” he mused.

“Even if I’m eliminated and my points are halved, I should still have enough to make it into the top twenty. There’s no reason to stop now. The benefits of continuing to hunt far outweigh the risks,” Sein reasoned.

He had long braced for the possibility of being forced out of the trial space.

Constant exposure to risk, he knew, could eventually lead to mishaps.

Despite his extreme caution and avoidance of prolonged battles, unexpected events could still occur.

Moreover, Sein was not the only formidable initiate among the five divine towers.

Neither Wallace nor Cyrus, who escaped him, were to be underestimated.

Even if they were slightly less powerful than Sein, defeating them in direct combat was no simple feat.

As Sein traversed the region from east to west, gathering points along the way, he gradually approached the frontline where the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder and Divine Tower of Land Academy were engaged.

Sein's disruptive forays and the resulting commotion in the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s territory over the past two months had significant consequences. The already outmatched Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder was forced into a defensive position against the initiates of the Divine Tower of Land Academy.

Presently, the main battlefield lay in the heart of the western front of the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s territory.

The Divine Tower of Land Academy seemed intent on rectifying past humiliations.

The toll on the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder was heavy—over a thousand casualties, as well as the loss of one large, several medium and small resource points.

It was evident that large-scale academy conflicts, involving hundreds to tens of thousands of initiates, were the true battlegrounds where innumerable lives and point values could be lost.

In contrast, Sein’s individual onslaught across one and a half of the Divine Tower of Shadow and Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s territories had resulted in far fewer casualties, totaling only several hundred.

This number paled in comparison to the losses experienced during just two months of conflict between the two academies.

However, comparisons were not so straightforward.

Sein had earned half of the points from each of his many targets, who were primarily intermediate and senior initiates.

In the conflict between the two academies, the clash involved thousands or possibly even tens of thousands of initiates, with mostly intermediate and junior initiates participating.

Points from fallen or escaped initiates were shared among all combatants on the battlefield, unlike Sein’s solo accruals.

This explained the rapid growth of Sein’s points, significantly outpacing the initiate in second place.

Arriving at the battleground between the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder and Divine Tower of Land Academy, Sein was struck by the vastness of the war scene.

Despite his experience with life-and-death situations and a hardened resolve, the sight of thousands, even tens of thousands of initiates in battle was overwhelming.

It was a stark contrast compared to the magic spells Sein had unleashed alone on his past battlefields.

The collective power of thousands of initiates, even casting a basic spell like Minor Fireball, created a sky-blanketing inferno incomparable to Sein’s individual efforts.

In such a war, the insignificance of a single individual and the overwhelming force of a group became vividly apparent.

Having never been part of a secular nation’s war, Sein could only imagine how this compared to the border conflicts led by Earl Grantt against the Zephyr Kingdom and the Ohrque Empire.

The conflict was immense, on a scale even larger than the academy wars, involving hundreds of thousands of combatants.

Yet, considering the limited number of spellcasters and the varied combat abilities of the soldiers, the dynamics were likely different from the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War, where the sky was a maelstrom of diverse magic elements.

Across the battlefield, the aftermath of spells was evident, with the ground marked by conspicuous craters.

For Sein, a magic initiate more accustomed to the solitude of the laboratory, this vast and chaotic scene was initially jarring.

Quickly recovering from his initial shock, Sein adapted to the chaos.

This disorderly environment, with its backdrop of various elemental magic spells, provided him the perfect camouflage.

Utilizing his invisibility cloak, Sein moved stealthily across the battlefield, silently amassing points.

With most initiates focused on long-range spellcasting, they remained oblivious to the lethal presence among them.

On the battlefield, Sein refrained from using the Solar Eye spell.

Its conspicuous nature was ill-suited for the mayhem. Instead, he opted for less flashy but effective spells like Pyro Blade and Scorching Ray, adeptly picking off targets.

For initiates adept in stealth and close-quarters combat like Sein, they were nightmares to any divine tower initiates.

Initially striking from behind the lines of the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder, Sein’s first victims were their initiates.

As the initiates of the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder were steadily pushed back due to the aggressive onslaught from the Divine Tower of Land Academy, coupled with Sein’s relentless ambushes, Sein eventually shifted his focus and directed his magic rod toward the initiates from the Divine Tower of Land Academy.

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