Despite Sein’s instructions, Marie had the most success with recruiting talents from Master Chakra’s Divine Tower of Dark Wind.

This was likely why Sein had assigned her to target the Divine Tower of Dark Wind in the first place.

Marie treated this task from Sein as a matter of utmost importance.

After all, when assessing the long-term development potential of a divine tower, the number of registered full-fledged mages within it was one of the most critical indicators.

This outcome also reflected Marie’s professional competence.

Among the Divine Tower of Dark Wind’s mages left behind on the frontlines, most were war mages—precisely the type the Divine Tower of Ashes currently lacked the most.

By contrast, academic mages were not in short supply at the Divine Tower of Ashes.

Even if a temporary shortage did arise, hiring a group of instructors from the public academies in the Alveroth Empire, with which the Divine Tower of Ashes maintained cooperative ties, would easily resolve the issue.

Marie’s achievements were not limited to poaching over two thousand full-fledged mages from the Divine Tower of Dark Wind. She also succeeded in bringing over Master Chakra’s demigod-level apprentice, along with their initiates, to the Divine Tower of Ashes.

The Divine Tower of Ashes was no longer the fledgling organization it once had been.

Among its registered members alone, it now boasted fifty-six grand mages of Rank Three or higher, including three who had reached the demigod level.

These three demigod-level mages were Facher, Master Chakra’s apprentice; Pekerman, the vice dean of the Divine Tower of Ashes; and Mussor, who had joined only recently.

Mussor was the demigod-level mage who had performed exceptionally well during the exploration of this subspace secret realm.

Sein had sent Marie to attempt to recruit him, and to her surprise, Mussor agreed almost immediately and joined the Divine Tower of Ashes without hesitation.

Among these three demigod-level mages, Mussor was the one in whom Sein placed the highest expectations.

Everything about him suggested that this young talent possessed the potential to break through to Rank Four.

The newly joined Facher was equally promising. Although Master Chakra had descendants within the Magus World, the foundation he had built over many years for the Divine Tower of Dark Wind could also be inherited by his apprentices.

Master Chakra, resilient even in old age, had amassed considerable wealth over the years. Backed by the inheritance of a wealthy Rank Four mage, his most accomplished apprentice, Facher, had a strong chance of reaching even greater heights.

Pekerman was pretty impressive in his own right too. When he first joined the Divine Tower of Ashes, he had been only a Rank Three mechanic. Now, he had already attained demigod status.

Originally, Pekerman had no intention of staying long at the Divine Tower of Ashes. The contract he signed with the tower was only a short-term agreement.

However, Pekerman changed his mind after receiving guidance from Sein, particularly after hearing Sein’s insights into the profound principles of mechanics.

The other two demigod-level mages assumed the roles of vice deans at the Divine Tower of Ashes Academy.

They were not necessarily required to assist Marie with the day-to-day affairs of the divine tower, but having three demigod-level mages presiding over it undeniably elevated its prestige.

It also reinforced the impression that the Divine Tower of Ashes was a venerable institution with deep foundations.

The peculiar odor Marie had mentioned to Sein half a month earlier within the fortress was none other than the lingering stench of decay. It was genuinely detrimental to her efforts to recruit new hedge mages to the Divine Tower of Ashes.

Master Chakra’s Divine Tower of Dark Wind alone had boasted more than twenty thousand registered war mages under its banner, yet Marie had only managed to recruit a small number of them.

In truth, many mages were taking a wait-and-see approach, including those from other divine towers whose tower masters had fallen on the battlefield.

Marie believed that a clean, bright divine tower, brimming with power, energy, and growth potential, held the greatest appeal for these low-ranking hedge mages.

Yet the Ashen Fortress’ recent aura of decay and filth had only hindered her recruitment efforts.

Sein, who was unbothered by the changes within and around the fortress at the time, had dismissed Marie’s concerns.

In his view, the most crucial factor in attracting hedge mages lay in a divine tower’s inherent strength.

A powerful divine tower would draw people naturally.

It was not merely about the benefits offered by a divine tower, but also the sense of security it could provide on a planar battlefield.

A powerless divine tower would struggle to attract mages who had already weathered the Clash of Civilizations, no matter how polished its image.

If Sein’s Divine Tower of Ashes were weak, then how many divine towers on this subspace battlefield could truly claim to be powerful?!

Since slaying a Rank Six Grand Apocalypse World creature, Sein had become a household name across this subspace battlefield.

In truth, he had been famous long before that.

One major source of his reputation was the world-class secret treasure in his possession: the Faceless Mask.

Sein had participated in the Clash of Civilizations for years and fought countless battles.

The Faceless Mask, once deliberately concealed by Sein, was now widely known among the Magus Civilization powerhouses. Even lower-ranking knights and mages had heard of it.

Being associated with such a formidable and promising Rank Five mage gave these lower-ranking mages a greater sense of assurance.

Sein paid little attention to the negative energy the God of Decay had brought to the Ashen Fortress, including the rumors of “bad luck”.

He did not feel unlucky recently.

Moreover, befriending a Rank Six alliance deity was hardly a disadvantage. If anything, it was something worth boasting about.

Those lower-ranking mages likely knew nothing of the exclusion and cold shoulder the God of Decay faced within the Magus Alliance.

A lofty Rank Six being, like the God of Decay, was an existence beyond their comprehension, let alone for anyone below Rank Three.

Besides, Tower Master Sein’s long-term relationship with such a being also perfectly demonstrated the Divine Tower of Ashes’s connections and strength.

On top of that, after Sein had recently withdrawn from the battlefield, he informed Marie that the Divine Tower of Ashes would establish long-term cooperative relations with Decaying Plane and its vassal planes.

This meant that when registered mages of the Divine Tower of Ashes traveled to the medium-sized star domain where the Decaying Plane was located, they would enjoy benefits such as discounted teleportation fees and subsidies for specialty materials sourced from the region.

Marie could only roll her eyes at Tower Master Sein’s reasoning.

She could not argue with him, especially since his point was not without merit.

The number of newly registered mages joining the Divine Tower of Ashes had indeed shown no sign of stopping.

The total number of war mages under Sein’s command was finally approaching ten thousand.

In fact, during the Clash of Civilizations, the number of registered war mages had begun to rise exponentially.

Among the divine towers of Magus World, the Divine Tower of Ashes had become something of a peculiar anomaly.

However, the issue of the decaying aura permeating the fortress played out very differently with his mentor than with Marie.

Before Sein could utter a word, Lorianne cut straight to the point. “Look around you. What have you turned a perfectly good space fortress into?”

“I’ll brew some purifying potions for you later. Spray them throughout the fortress. It should help,” she said, scrunching up her nose and covering her mouth.

“You can’t neglect everything else just because you’re focused on combat and your daily experiments. Don’t get complacent over your achievements in this Clash of Civilizations. You still have a long way to go,” she continued nagging.

There was no way Sein could talk back to his mentor. In the end, he could only respond weakly, “Yes, ma’am.”