Sovereign of the Ashes

The battle at the God of First Light’s estate lasted a total of two days.

Sein had determined this duration in advance and marked it as the optimal timeframe for the confrontation.

Any longer, and the battle would have entered a zone of unpredictable risks.

Five days was the upper limit of Sein’s original plan.

If he failed to defeat his opponent within that time, retreat would be the only option.

Fortunately, the battle concluded before reaching that threshold.

In fact, the actual duration was two and a half days.

By the time the morning sun reappeared on the horizon, the God of First Light—battered, burned, and bloodied—was already struggling to draw strength from its rays.

The fiery rain had turned the surrounding area into a sea of flames.

Amidst the roaring blaze and strange gray fire, the air was thick with death and decay.

At the center of the battlefield stood Sein, flames still dancing across his body.

Beyond the enhancements from the Demon Mask and his mana-burning secret technique, it was the Ashen Flame that truly brought the God of First Light down.

Before mastering the Purgatory Flame, Sein had already elevated his Ashen Flame to an exceptional level.

Verdant Flame, Dark Flame, and Pale Flame were each formidable in their own right.

On top of those were rare and unique elemental fires like the Everburning Violet Flame and the Decomposing Azure Flame, which he had gathered during his travels.

However, the Ashen Flame was not merely a fusion of these flames. Its creation was deeply tied to the path Sein had taken in tempering his body.

Other Pyromancers in the Magus World, even those who had collected numerous types of flames, could not wield them as freely as Sein could.

That was because he had used them in his body-tempering experiments long before attempting to absorb them.

His body had adapted to these flames first, giving him the foundation to wield the fused flame with ease.

Of course, numerous elemental mysteries also came into play.

In essence, the Ashen Flame was a new kind of elemental fire—Sein’s original creation.

If he were to establish a faction someday like Grandmaster Feylis, the power of ashes would become its core mystery—just as the Verdant Flame was to the Verdant Flame Faction.

At this stage, Sein’s mastery of the Ashen Flame still could not compare to the heights reached by Master Gregory, let alone Grandmaster Feylis.

Even so, the potential for growth was immense.

No core mystery was perfected overnight. Reaching its peak required more than relentless effort—it demanded a measure of luck and the support of other branches of knowledge.

Yet even now, this unique power showed remarkable promise.

The fall of the God of First Light was the clearest evidence of that.

With his body still engulfed in elemental fire, Sein at that moment looked more like a demon than any actual demon.

The strange gray flames radiated an ominous aura, and their various peculiar pyro elemental traits prevented the God of First Light’s divine body from healing, steadily corroding what remained of his vitality.

Yet, the God of First Light was not completely dead.

Lying on the scorched ground like a charred husk, missing an arm, his chest still rose and fell faintly. His only remaining eye—on the right side—remained fixed on Sein.

Sein, still in his elemental body, was in no better condition.

Even so, the outcome was clear: he had won.

“It’s over...” Sein murmured.

Instead of retrieving his magic rod, lost somewhere in the chaos, he reached beneath his arm and drew a massive hammer.

Though his Alchemy Hammer was typically used for crafting and magic experiments, it could deliver devastating blows in battle.

In Sein’s hands, this blunt weapon was more than enough to dismember the weakened god.

With one swing, Sein severed the God of First Light’s head.

A few more blows followed, splitting the divine body into four pieces.

Though a mage, Sein’s presence and movements at that moment were more like those of a demon or a ruthless brawler.

Perhaps it was the influence of Natalya and Reina, rubbing off on him over time—or perhaps it was sheer exhaustion from overexertion that made it difficult for him to control his strength precisely.

Either way, when the final blow landed, the divine relic once nestled in the God of First Light’s chest cavity was flung out, loosened by the sheer force of the impact.

It was diamond-shaped, glowing with a soft pale golden light.

Judging by its appearance and quality, this beautiful relic was superior to the one offered by the God of Brute Force.

In truth, the God of First Light’s death was an unfortunate twist of fate.

If not for the Avatar Crisis, Sein would never have dared to provoke a Rank Four being at his current life level.

Yet, the inescapable suppression of divine laws had forcibly reduced the God of First Light from a true Rank Four to a demigod.

His downfall was also due, in part, to ignorance.

He had no understanding of Sein’s trump cards or the unique properties of the Ashen Flame.

Sein, on the other hand, had thoroughly studied the God of First Light, along with several other intended targets, long before this battle began.

No victory happenned by coincidence. Multiple factors had come together to allow Sein to slay this god.

After quickly gathering the remains of the fallen god, Sein turned his gaze toward the detached divine relic.

Whether by chance or fate, the pale golden, diamond-shaped relic had landed directly in front of a Rank One being after flying through the air.

He was one of the Godslayers Sein had brought from the Purgatory.

If Sein was not mistaken, the boy’s name was Arnold, a junior brought along by Ronaldo.

At this point, Ronaldo and the others were in no better condition than Sein.

The plant giants they had summoned were almost entirely wiped out. Ronaldo and his two other peers had all sustained serious injuries.

Of the low-ranking members they had brought with them, only two were still alive and one of them was Arnold.

The lower half of Arnold’s body appeared to have been cleaved by a powerful weapon.

Lacking the monstrous regenerative ability of a Rank Two creature, and without an elemental body like Sein’s, he was almost certainly crippled for life.

Yet even the searing pain in his ruined body could not suppress the wild joy surging through him.

He clutched the glowing relic in his hand tightly, trembling with fervor.

“Give me the divine relic. It’s not yours,” Sein said to the boy.

With his current capabilities, Sein could always restore the boy’s body later through a limb modification experiment. A full recovery was entirely possible.

But from the look of things, the boy did not seem to care.

The temptation to become a god was overwhelming. He could forget about everything—family, friendship, love... none of that mattered now.

The desire to possess the divine relic gave this mere Rank One creature the courage to disobey Sein’s command.

His black pupils even radiated a flicker of hostility toward him.

“Arnold, don’t do anything stupid! Hand over the divine relic to Master Sein—now!” Ronaldo shouted, his voice raw with urgency. He was straddling the neck of the slain white dragon, his body covered in its blood.

If not for his injuries making movement difficult, he would have rushed over and snatched the relic from Arnold’s hands himself.

Audria lay unconscious, unaware of what was unfolding.

From another corner of the battlefield, Flynn propped up his weakened body and silently raised his rod, aiming its tip at Arnold.

In the middle of all that tension, Arnold did something no one expected.

He swallowed the divine relic!