Sovereign of the Ashes-Chapter 1035: Demon Mask

Of course, the Succubus Queen had not bestowed such a generous gift upon Sein without any motives.

Sure enough, after that, she would come to Sein’s castle whenever she was bored.

At first, Sein humored her, entertaining her with polite conversation and even flattered her.

But as time went on, her visits became increasingly frequent, to the point where they began disrupting his experiments.

Sein eventually shut himself in his laboratory, but the Succubus Queen continued roaming the castle as if it were her own home.

Though Sein no longer had the time to entertain her, there were still two people and one undead being in his castle who could do so in his stead.

Yuri and Azelia had served Sein for hundreds of years.

Anastasia could still pry pieces of knowledge about the Astral Realm from them, even if the information she obtained was limited.

With Sein’s explicit instructions, and given that even the girls only possessed surface-level knowledge of the Magus Civilization, he had no concerns about the Succubus Queen uncovering anything he wished to keep hidden.

Besides, Sein’s current strategic alliance with the Purgatory demons meant Anastasia had no reason to be hostile toward him.

Despite being born into power and influence, Anastasia bore burdens of her own.

While most of the other Purgatory demon kings had, at some point, either gone out of Purgatory or crossed paths with Faelorian deities, Anastasia had never once set foot outside.

Her doting father’s overwhelming protectiveness had kept her confined.

After all, the Succubi were not known for their combat prowess, and with Anastasia’s status as a Purgatory Princess, stepping into the Prime Materia Plane would be an invitation to disaster.

No matter which faction of Faelorian deities managed to capture or subdue her, it would spell trouble for the Purgatory demons.

As Purgatory’s strongest being, the Bloodwar Monarch had only two true weaknesses.

One was the future of the Purgatory demons.

The other was his daughter.

If Anastasia were ever taken hostage, it would be no different than losing half of his limbs.

Her isolation from the Prime Materia Plane meant that her only source of outside knowledge was what she could glean from other demon kings or secret allies with connections to Purgatory.

This unusual circumstance even led to Lou, the half-undead girl, occasionally finding herself engaged in conversation with the Succubus Queen.

As Sein’s experiments on Lou progressed, her intelligence and memory steadily improved.

However, she remained clingy, always calling him “Big Brother” and attempting to break into his laboratory on multiple occasions. She would only fall asleep when she was next to him.

Lou’s knowledge of the world was limited, but she would sometimes reminisce about picnics in the forest or canyons with her brother.

These seemingly trivial stories made the Succubus Queen’s eyes sparkle as her longing for the outside world deepened.

Of course, one should not mistake her for being naive.

With a lifespan spanning tens of thousands of years and a Rank Five life level, her mind and intentions were far sharper than she let on.

Gifting Sein two pureblooded Succubi as maids was anything but a simple return favor.

Their true purpose was to spy on Sein and relay intelligence back to their mistress.

Beyond that, Anastasia’s conversational skills were nothing short of masterful.

Even Sein, who prided himself on his sharp mind, found himself inadvertently revealing more than he intended during their exchanges.

As for Yuri and Azelia, in just two short months, the Succubus Queen had managed to pry out nearly every detail of their centuries of life experience—despite Sein’s warning beforehand!

It was not that the two had loose lips, rather, Anastasia was too skillful in extracting information, and she likely employed more than mere words to do so.

Sein’s growing reluctance to speak with the Succubus Queen was not just due to her persistence—it was also because of her dangerous level of skill and manipulation.

“They say that Succubi are the masters of seduction and bewitchment. This Succubus Queen is undoubtedly among the best. If she were to unleash her full power, even with my focus and willpower, I fear she’d still break my mind and I’d be reduced to nothing more than her puppet.”

Sein mused silently, standing before an experimental table.

Letting out a soft sigh, he lowered his scalpel, its blade glinting as it descended toward the terrified Rank Two Succubus lying on the table.

Since these two Rank Two Succubi had been gifted to him by Anastasia, that meant he had the right to do whatever he pleased with them.

Sein had long heard of the infamous bewitchment abilities possessed by the Succubi.

Now, with two test subjects delivered right to his doorstep, it would be a waste not to experiment on them.

Of course, he would not kill them. He would simply, and very kindly, have them “cooperate” in some “small experiments”.

“Hmm... The tails of Succubi seem to contain a type of unique energy particle. Let’s see what kind of mystery lies within...” Sein murmured, his fingers gliding lightly along the Succubus’s tail on the experimental table.

Consumed by his fervor for unveiling the truth, his excitement surged.

Moments later, a peculiar murmur echoed through the laboratory—the unmistakable sound of a Succubus unleashing her abilities.

Meanwhile, in the castle’s lounge, the Succubus Queen sat in quiet contemplation, leisurely savoring a cup of tea brewed from tea leaves Sein brought from the Magus World.

Hearing the sound from Sein’s laboratory, she briefly lifted her gaze, her scarlet eyes flickering toward the source of the disturbance.

Then, just as quickly, she lowered her head and resumed sipping her tea.

Unlike Sein, who favored fruit juices, Anastasia seemed to prefer tea.

The one she was drinking now was a gift Sein had received from Keith, the former dean of the Divine Tower of Dark Flame, upon his departure.

***

The life of experimental research was both fulfilling and exhilarating.

Immersed in Purgatory, Sein had once again lost track of time.

After tireless, in-depth research, he had finally achieved breakthroughs in the fields of sonido magic and bewitchment.

“Bewitchment”—that was the name Sein had given to the truth he had just unraveled.

For the Succubi to have earned their notable reputation among demons, their abilities were naturally far from weak.

In Sein’s opinion, there were even certain similarities between bewitchment and sonido magic.

When Succubi activated their abilities, they often employed euphonious tones to enhance their effects.

For Sein, all this newly acquired knowledge became an essential part of his foundation as a mage.

After all, knowledge was the source of power for Magus World mages.

During this period, Sein did not neglect his alchemy either.

Combining his alchemical skills with his newly acquired knowledge, he made himself a new magic artifact—a mask.

Its design closely resembled the Solar Eye Mask he had once worn during his initiate days.

For now, Sein named it the “Demon Mask”, as many of its abilities were derived from the demons.

Sonic feedback was sometimes more direct and efficient than focus-based detection, allowing the mask to greatly enhance the wearer’s perception range.

Additionally, sound waves carried significant offensive potential, so this mask could launch and amplify sonido magic.

Beyond that, the Demon Mask carried a trace of the Succubus’ natural aura and could mask aura to a certain extent.

Examining his creation with the keen eye of an alchemist, Sein felt deeply satisfied with his latest achievement.