Sovereign of the Ashes

One hundred and fifty years later...

By now, nearly two hundred years had passed since Sein first descended upon Faeloria.

As expected, the scale of this Avatar Crisis far exceeded any in the past.

Despite lasting nearly two centuries, the turmoil showed no signs of subsiding. If anything, it had only just reached its climax.

During these years of relentless training in the depths of Purgatory, Sein’s focus, mana, and constitution levels had all surpassed 50,000 points.

If he activated his special transformation state, his stats would increase even further.

However, this was nearing his limit.

Nearly two hundred years of exploring the truths had allowed him to exhaust nearly every avenue of research available to him.

Knowledge would not appear out of thin air, and new research directions required far more than just a slap on the head to take shape.

Sein needed external sources to learn from and expand his understanding.

Unfortunately, Purgatory was a closed-off realm.

Even though he had traveled extensively across its three levels in the past fifty years, expanding his horizons and refining his insights, he had inevitably hit a bottleneck.

There was no mentor here to guide him and no fellow mages to exchange theories with.

If he remained alone in isolation for much longer, he feared he would go mad.

Moreover, Faeloria followed the path of faith, meaning the Purgatory demons could offer him very little assistance in this area.

Flynn and the younger generation of growing mages could seek Sein’s guidance when they faced difficulties.

But when Sein encountered something beyond his understanding... who could he turn to?

Unwilling to waste away in stagnation, he knew he could no longer remain in Purgatory.

Blindly exploring in pursuit of truth without direction or efficiency was something he had always rejected.

While Purgatory had nothing left to offer him, Faeloria did.

As Sein delved deeper into his research on the power of laws, his desire to acquire a pyro elemental divine relic only grew stronger. He needed to study it firsthand.

There were many god-level demons in Purgatory who wielded partial control over pyro elemental laws, but there was nothing he could do to obtain their knowledge.

Not even the Succubus Queen could force them into compliance on Sein’s behalf.

Demon kings were already the ruling class of Purgatory.

Not even her father, the Bloodwar Monarch, would normally force his will upon these demon kings.

Sein was only a Rank Three creature, and the fact that the Succubus Queen could persuade demigod-level demon lords to cooperate in his experimental research was already the limit of her influence.

Regarding Sein’s proposal to travel to the Prime Materia Plane for exploration, Anastasia did not object.

In fact, as if she had already anticipated his decision, she had made extensive preparations for him in advance.

Anastasia tossed a red booklet to Sein as she spoke.

“This contains information on the deities near Purgatory that we have gathered. I’d advise you not to stray too far from Purgatory—it won’t do you much good.”

The booklet was crafted from some kind of crystal, and beyond recording information, it even contained images.

Inside, it detailed the various deities from different factions who had descended upon the main continent in their avatar forms.

Most were lesser deities, categorized as wielders of weak or lesser power. Only a small handful were intermediate deities.

Even with Sein’s near-demigod abilities, his trump cards, and support units, he still lacked the qualifications to take on an intermediate deity.

No matter how much a Rank Five deity was suppressed by the world’s laws, it was still a Rank Five creature.

For example, even if Sein and Yuri combined their strength and gave it their all, they might still be no match for the Succubus Queen in her avatar form.

Not to mention, every intermediate deity was accompanied by numerous Epic and Legendary-level believers.

For now, lesser deities were Sein’s most viable targets.

Unlike his previous god-hunting experience, where he had the Spider Queen’s clone as the primary attacker, this time, he had to face without relying on the Purgatory demons like the Succubus Queen for support.

Slaying Rank Four or higher deities with the body of a mere mortal?

Such an absurd feat was only possible in Faeloria.

Over the years, several low-ranking creatures had succeeded, and there were even rumors of Legendary beings vanishing into thin air after stealing divine relics.

If these native Faelorians could do it... then why couldn’t Sein, who was far stronger than them?

Besides, he was not entirely alone.

Whether it was Yuri, who had reached Rank Three, or Flynn and the others, who had grown into Legendary Beings, they were all valuable allies to Sein.

Even the younger ones raised under Flynn’s guidance had begun to show promise. Over the past century, a handful had even managed to reach Rank One.

Beyond his support, Sein possessed another trump card—one that even the Purgatory demons were unaware of.

As his mentor, Lorianne had taught and aided him more than words could express.

Sein still carried a pack of Viridescent Seeds with him...

Setting aside the Rank One and Rank Two plant seeds, he counted five Rank Three seeds in his possession.

Among them was a single demigod-level Viridescent Seed, which Sein had saved up until now.

This was his biggest trump card—his greatest weapon in securing windfall opportunities in Faeloria.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he stared at the pack of seeds.

“Master Lorianne, you’re the best!”

***

Beyond the red crystal booklet he had received from the Succubus Queen, Sein had also gathered intelligence from Flynn and the others on many of the deities residing on the main continent—information that had been sourced from the Godslayers’ networks.

Over the years, the Godslayers had grown more aggressive, though their sporadic victories were often overshadowed by repeated losses.

The temples and churches despised them, and in response, intensified their efforts to eradicate them completely.

Meanwhile, as Flynn and other members of the Godslayers continued to thrive in Purgatory, the organization began sending their families into the realm for safety whenever they ventured out on the hunt.

Once numbering just over a hundred, the members of the Godslayers in Purgatory had now swelled to over two thousand—and the numbers continued to rise steadily.

In Purgatory, Flynn and the others had founded two academies—the Power Academy and the Arcanist Academy.

Under Sein’s suggestion, the Power Academy gradually expanded into three specialized institutions: the Warrior Academy, the Ranger Academy, and the Archer Academy.

Influenced by Purgatory’s crimson-hued environment and their occasional self-reference as “Magi”, the Arcanists who had resided in Purgatory for long periods eventually earned a new title: “Red Magi”.

What the rise of these academies and the emergence of the Arcanist profession meant for Faeloria remained uncertain.

But one thing was clear... A torch known as “Truth” had been ignited, and its flames were slowly spreading through the darkness of ignorance in this world.

Sometimes, all it took was a single spark to set the entire world ablaze.