After the negotiations concluded, the representatives from both sides departed one after another.

Before leaving with the Magus Civilization’s delegation, Sein turned to glance at Bond once more.

Bond, seemingly sensing his gaze, also looked in Sein’s direction before boarding the warship he and the others had arrived on.

This marked the first official meeting between the Magus Civilization and the Gallant Federation against the backdrop of the Clash of Civilizations.

Although the talks deliberately avoided any discussion of the war’s direction and focused solely on information exchange, the presence of overlord-tier entities and the marshal standing behind both sides ensured that this encounter would leave an indelible mark on the history of the Clash of Civilizations.

As one of the negotiators, Sein’s name would inevitably be recorded in this historical moment.

***

Upon returning to the Magus Civilization’s main base in the subspace, Sein and Potsdam, along with several other mages, reported back to Feylis.

Leonardo, the Rank Six mage, was also present.

After listening to Potsdam’s report, Feylis remarked with calm foresight, “The Gallant Federation is likely preparing to withdraw its forces from the nearby star domain battlefronts.”

Leonardo, meanwhile, was absorbed in examining the Black Merlot Civilization’s biotechnology that Sein and the others had brought back.

Admittedly, the technical document devised by the Gallant Federation appeared quite plausible.

At least on the surface, it showed no obvious flaws and was even intriguing enough to invite deeper study.

Even so, neither Feylis nor Leonardo intended to devote themselves to researching the Black Merlot Civilization’s biotechnology in the middle of a war.

The information would most likely be handed over to the Magus Civilization’s high command. For now, the war took priority.

As expected, after hearing Potsdam’s report, Feylis specifically reminded Sein that he should return and begin preparing for combat as soon as possible.

The Magus Civilization would never allow the Gallant Federation’s legions to withdraw so easily.

They had to at least make Marshal Rommel pay a heavy price before he left this subspace and abandoned the surrounding, strategically insignificant star-domain battlefields.

After bidding farewell to his grandmaster and the others, Sein returned to the Ashen Fortress and immediately began mobilizing his forces for the coming battle.

Upon hearing the news, Lorianne sent Sein a batch of potions for his use. In addition, the vast majority of mages from the Divine Tower of Ashes were granted priority access to potions brewed by the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s dendromancers.

At this point, the number of war mages registered with the Divine Tower of Ashes had already surpassed twelve thousand.

That was no small figure. Some divine towers took ten or even twenty thousand years of development just to reach a similar scale.

More importantly, the Divine Tower of Ashes was still expanding at an astonishing rate.

So long as Sein did not perish unexpectedly, Marie estimated that once the current subspace war and the surrounding conflicts concluded, the total number of war mages under the Divine Tower of Ashes might exceed twenty thousand.

Not long after Sein returned to Ashen Fortress, new war directives from Feylis arrived.

Sein truly had no time to rest. He had only just completed a negotiation mission, yet he was already being summoned to lead his legion back to the frontlines.

As he prepared to move out, a minor incident unfolded elsewhere.

Bond and his team had brought back technological intelligence related to the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization, obtained from the Magus Civilization.

Marshal Rommel immediately ordered that the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization technology data, along with the relics they had uncovered in scattered ruins, be transported back to the federation’s star domain.

When someone reported to Marshal Rommel that a Magus World mage present at the negotiations had attempted to recruit both him and Bond, the federal marshal burst out laughing on the spot.

He seemed completely unconcerned about his own position or any potential political attacks from rival factions.

Hearing the name of the Rank Five agent Bond once again etched it into Marshal Rommel’s memory.

“Bond is a capable young man,” Marshal Rommel declared. “Assign him to my fleet for operational duties.”

***

Upon returning to the frontlines, Sein formally took command of the Divine Tower of Ashes Army. Rather than joining the battles raging around the Steel Ruins, he instead directed his forces toward a vast stretch of endless yellow sands.

This subspace was immense, covering an area comparable to that of a large-sized world. Although Sein had traversed much of it before, the region he now occupied was entirely unfamiliar to him.

His current position lay roughly due south of the Steel Ruins.

Yet at the very edge of his vision, the outline of the Steel Ruins had completely disappeared. All that remained was an endless sea of yellow sand.

The fierce clashes between Magus Civilization legions and Gallant Federation forces across this desolate expanse were driven by the relatively abundant inert crystal veins buried beneath the boundless sands.

Within the Magus Civilization’s territory, it could take decades before they even discovered a new inert crystal vein.

Yet in this subspace, and across certain planes within the surrounding star domain, new veins were uncovered from time to time.

Sein, who possessed better knowledge of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization, understood that these inert crystal veins had actually formed over countless millennia from the energy produced by the civilization’s Infinite Energy Devices.

In other words, each inert crystal vein had most likely once served as an energy storage facility for the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization.

The richness of a vein was directly tied to the original scale and energy purity of that storage facility.

Thinking of this, Sein could not help recalling the Infinite Energy Device’s replica in the basement of the Grandlight Tech Center.

Although most of the device’s law energy had already been absorbed by Sein’s Magic Cube, the replica itself remained buried deep beneath the skyscraper.

Sein had once surveyed that area. It had long since been ravaged beyond recognition by the rampage of overlord-tier forces from both sides.

The technological achievements of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization had ultimately and tragically vanished into the dust of history and endless ruins.

Meanwhile, the Gallant Federation’s fierce clashes with the Magus Civilization in this region clearly showed that they had discovered the inert crystal veins here and had begun urgent mining operations.

Was the federation interested in these inert crystals as well?

Even so, their interest was clearly nowhere near as strong as that of the Magus World.

Otherwise, Marshal Rommel would not have wanted to leave this war zone.

“Notify Darian, Orric, and the others. We’ll launch probing attacks from both flanks first. This time, I intend to devour every last Gallant Federation unit on this battlefield,” Sein commanded through his crystal ball.

Feylis had shown great consideration for her grand apprentice. The allied forces flanking Sein’s army were none other than the Shadowbat Civilization Legion led by Darian and the Aquarian Legion commanded by Orric.

Between these two legions alone, the number of law-wielding beings involved in the battle approached ten, while total troop strength exceeded seven million.

With such backing, it was no wonder Sein had the confidence to declare that he would devour every Gallant Federation legion in sight.