Sovereign of the Ashes

The crimson three-level Purgatory appeared in Sein’s view.

It was one of the defining features of Faeloria’s far west—a place that seemed like an entirely different world, forcefully merged with the Prime Materia Plane.

From the blood-colored sky to the scorched land, everything about this place just felt like an unnatural presence in Faeloria.

Sein felt a pang of unease as he drew closer to the Purgatory’s borders.

After all, demons were notorious for their aggression and insatiable thirst for slaughter.

No matter how he looked at it, the crimson realm looming ahead was the very embodiment of “evil” and “foreboding”.

It was no wonder the creatures of Faeloria instinctively rejected Purgatory.

This evil land was no place for ordinary beings.

Yet Sein had no choice. With an army in pursuit, Purgatory was his only refuge.

“I hope the demons can withstand the pressure...” Sein murmured to himself.

Perhaps his silent plea had been answered.

As he neared the Purgatory’s borders and glimpsed the forces within, his entire body tensed instinctively.

These demons were more than capable of holding off Sein’s pursuers. They had formed an organized battle formation, waiting silently for their enemies to charge in!

The demons had warred against the Faelorians for millennia.

They had long since mastered the art of conflict, refining their strategies to exploit every possible advantage.

For tens of thousands of years, they had rarely ventured beyond Purgatory, but not because they could not.

Rather, they had simply chosen not to.

To leave Purgatory was to march to their deaths. While demons were bloodthirsty, that did not mean they were suicidal.

Within Purgatory’s borders, they wielded the full force of their domain and every law worked in their favor.

But for the Order Legion of Faeloria, the moment they stepped into Purgatory, their strength would suffer, even if only slightly.

In war, even the smallest shift in power could tip the scales, determining the course of battle, and the final cost in blood.

As the Justice League’s army drew closer, many demons teetered on the edge of madness and exhilaration.

To them, there was no greater pleasure than feasting on the tender flesh of Faelorian creatures.

Even the agonized screams of their prey were a form of supreme enjoyment.

The true climax of battles was, of course, the moment when warm blood splattered across their faces.

As the Faelorian legions advanced, the demons’ nostrils flared with anticipation, their bodies emitting a sulfurous stench.

Some of the younger, more inexperienced demons could no longer contain themselves.

Overcome by bloodlust, they broke formation, rushing past Purgatory’s borders in a frenzy.

From a distance, it almost seemed as though they had come out to greet Sein.

Yet the majority of the demons held their ground, kept in check by their lords.

Still, the way they tightened their grip on their battle axes and chainswords betrayed their rising frenzy.

Sein’s gaze swept over the battlefield, but he could not see the end of the demonic horde.

There were at least a million of them.

Yet behind him, the Justice League’s forces were even more numerous than the demons.

To be frank, Sein had made himself known to all of Faeloria this time.

Every deity and Epic-level powerhouse had committed his face to memory.

Had it not been for the Avatar Crisis, which had severely weakened these deities, he would have been captured long ago, even with the Spider Queen’s assistance.

The moment Sein passed through the blood-colored barrier of Purgatory, his body lurched. A wave of dry, oppressive heat engulfed him.

The change made it clear that he was now under the influence of Purgatory’s laws.

This place was, in essence, a divine nation created by the Purgatory demons themselves.

Just like any being entering another’s divine domain, Sein immediately felt its suppressive effects—similar to that of most planes within the Astral Realm.

At first glance, Faeloria seemed to have only one Prime Materia Plane.

But in reality, if one counted the divine nations constructed by the deities in the sky, Faeloria was akin to a world with countless vassal planes.

Take this three-layered Purgatory as an example—each level rivaled the size of an entire low-level plane.

The deepest level—the third level—was so vast that it could almost be compared to a medium-sized plane.

***

In the Magus World...

Nergal, standing beside his daughter as they observed the situation at Purgatory, smacked his lips before letting out a chuckle.

“Now that’s the demon clan for you. Looks like after these guys fled to that large world, they took advantage of the plane’s unique properties, combined them with the power of their own domains, and built a special space to sustain themselves.”

His eyes gleamed with curiosity as he continued, “They even seem to have devised a weakened version of the Abyssal Gut?”

“Hah! That’s something our Magus Civilization strictly forbid them from doing. No one wants to deal with that so-called Heart of Hell.”

How Nergal managed to deduce so much from just a single projection was beyond comprehension.

Even the core structure of both the Abyssal Gut and Purgatory had been laid bare before his eyes.

Such was the wisdom of a Rank Eight being.

Yet, Nergal’s interest in the demons went no further.

In the end, they were nothing more than defeated stragglers who had fled to Faeloria.

Even their strongest member barely reached peak Rank Six—hardly worthy of his attention.

Seing that Sein had finally crossed Purgatory’s borders, Nergal withdrew his power, turning away without a second glance.

“The rest is up to you now. You have no way to interact with that world in its closed state, but I left a trace of my power in that stone slab. Through it, you’ll be able to establish contact with those demons. How much of an advantage you can secure in that world will depend on your capability.”

With those final words, Nergal vanished completely.

As a strict father, he had never offered Lorthisra any substantial assistance.

Whatever Lorthisra achieved would be the result of her own effort.

Unless she faced mortal danger or became the target of a higher-level being, Nergal would not interfere.

In fact, Lorthisra rarely even saw the old man.

”After the destruction of Hell, part of the demons fled into Magus Civilization’s territory. They were later integrated into the Quatar Star Pirates under the Magus Civilization’s command. So, some of them actually escaped to Faeloria...?”

Lorthisra’s gaze lingered on the screen, watching Sein. A thoughtful murmur escaped her lips.

“Perhaps... I can use that to my advantage.”

Within the Magus Civilization, most demons survived by following Nergal, becoming the main forces of the Quatar Star Pirates.

However, some had joined the Arriba Interstellar Chamber of Commerce, while others roamed independently through the Astral Realm.

The last demon Sein had researched had been an escort for the Arriba Chamber of Commerce.

If that old man can command a cadre of demons, maybe I can subjugate the demons of Faeloria too!

There were over two hundred Rank Four demons in Faeloria’s Chaos camp—an immense potential force.

But before any of that could happen, Lorthisra needed to establish contact with their leadership.

The problem was that neither her main body nor her divine clone could descend to Faeloria right now.

This meant she needed a representative, and Sein—already in Faeloria—was the perfect candidate.