Sovereign of the Ashes - Chapter 345: Travel Route

I became a staff officer of an empire whose defeat was certain.The only way to escape from the empire with an 8-year mandatory service was through dishonorable discharge.But then…“You can be glad, Lieutenant. Thanks to your accurate instinct, our military could prevent damage in advance.”The more I struggled to be discharged, the higher my performance evaluation became.

Anton is a great-grandfather. He is living quite a happy life, despite his advanced age and declining health… until a group of cultivator bandits moves into the area. The nearby guardians of the area, the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, are unable to track them down as they continue to ravage nearby towns. During one desperate winter Anton is out on a hunt when his family- his entire village- is killed or taken as slaves by the bandits. He lacks the strength to fight them, and he wasn’t even present for their arrival to die with his loved ones. At the pit of his despair, he wonders if he ever had any chance to change things. What could he even do? He cannot even pull his best bow, and his eyesight is failing. If he had been a cultivator… perhaps there might have been a chance, but he was decades- perhaps even most of his life- too late.Participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge (2022)Notes on cultivation levels:There are five general stages of cultivation, though the fifth is extremely rare. Each cultivation style might have their own name for the stages.1. Body Tempering2. Spirit Building/ occasionally System Creation (Ninety-Nine Stars)3. Constellation Formation (Ninety-Nine Stars)4. Life Transformation/Galaxy Construction (Ninety-Nine Stars)5. Ascension

She possessed a villainess who is known and hated for her evil acts in an unpopular novel. But because of her personality, it was extremely difficult for her to play the villainess role. But not for long…

“I’ll fix your dress according to your taste this instant!”

“My request.”

“O-Of course! As per your request, there’s only one piece available in the whole Empire.”

People around me listen to me well even if I just frown and sit still. Since I don’t have to live in difficulty, I decided to just comfortably live on as a villainess.

“Father. Is it necessary for you to solve formulas in this slow and inefficient way?”

I thought it would be good to be a rich villainess, so I used all my knowledge.

“Why don’t you give me the honor of escorting the Princess?”

I have had enough of dealing with my father, so why did an unexpected character suddenly appear? What if this person disrupts my plan?

James, a brilliant mechanical engineer and passionate history enthusiast, loses his life in a tragic house fire—only to find himself in a mysterious world as the ruler of an island nation. Armed with his modern knowledge and unwavering ambition, James embarks on a bold mission to industrialize his kingdom and build an empire on which the sun never sets.