Sovereign of the Ashes

Sein wavered under the Succubus Queen’s counsel, torn between ambition and caution.

After a moment of silence, he lifted his gaze and declared, “I still want to try.”

Anyone who had not experienced Sein’s rapid progress over the past four centuries could never truly grasp the exhilaration of immersing oneself so deeply in the mysteries of truth.

Ever since obtaining the God of First Light and the God of Fire Crickets’ remains and divine relics, each of his experiments had advanced with remarkable speed.

Had he stayed in the Magus World, he could never have reached such heights in so short a time.

Demigod—that was once an unthinkable title to Sein.

Sein was eleven hundred years old this year.

If he could maintain his current pace, he might very well approach the peak of the demigod realm by the time the Avatar Crisis ended—perhaps even setting the stage for a breakthrough into Rank Four.

Even if he chose to do nothing and simply rest on his laurels, he would still likely reach mid- to late-stage demigod status within a few centuries.

Yet his passion for unraveling deeper truths and his desire for knowledge stirred a restless energy within him, defying his usual composure.

Yes, absolute calm did not exist in this world.

In the Magus World, mages were commonly viewed as disciplined and rational, yet many extraplanar beings also referred to them as “lunatics”.

The constant dance between madness and reason was the hallmark of Magus World mages—an inherent contradiction that defined them.

Sein knew that taking on Gondrath, the God of Craft, would be no simple task. He would need a meticulously planned strategy and the Succubus Queen’s assistance.

He also had to wait for the Dark Alliance deities to make their first move so he could exploit the chaos to his advantage.

It was a daunting plan, rife with peril. Yet, instead of fear, Sein felt a spark of excitement.

Perhaps it was a lingering effect of his prolonged stay in Purgatory, where the demons’ influence might have rubbed off on him.

In any case, great risk promised great reward.

Having formulated a rough plan and prepared himself for the challenges ahead, Sein steeled himself.

“This will be the last time I do something like this. Afterward, I’ll just wait for the Avatar Crisis to end!”

***

Sein was not certain whether the presence of the Goddess of Luck deep within Purgatory had played any role, but his fortune did seem to take a turn for the better.

At last, an opportunity presented itself, delivered by the sea gods.

Traditionally one of the more low-profile pantheons in Faeloria, the sea gods had suddenly acted openly in this Avatar Crisis.

Tidas, the God of Waves and a greater deity, openly launched an offensive within his own territory, slaying two deities who trespassed in his waters and grievously wounding several others, including intermediate deities.

Most of the sea gods had established their divine nations atop or within the southern oceans of Faeloria.

In addition to Tidas, two other greater deities of the oceanic pantheon—Hrimthor, the God of Glaciers, and Saphirine, the Goddess of Oceans—also emerged from their slumber, sharply condemning other Faelorian deities for overstepping their bounds.

Historically, the sea gods—much like the Wings of Nature—suffered the highest number of fallen deities in each Avatar Crisis.

Their loose organizational structure made coordination difficult, and their large, diverse membership made them easy targets for the Godslayers and other pantheons.

In this current Avatar Crisis, the most brutal battles were rumored to be taking place in the southern seas.

A subsequent investigation by the Purgatory demons shed light on why Tidas suddenly awakened and unleashed violent ocean tides across his territory.

The two lesser deities he struck down—one from the Dark Alliance and one from the Justice League—had been bitter enemies for more than thirty thousand years.

Rather than dampening their longstanding feud, the Avatar Crisis had only fueled it.

While clashing in their avatars, they strayed into the sea gods’ territory.

Aware of the risk, they chose an uninhabited stretch of ocean to continue their fight.

The fierce battle awakened numerous sea beasts lurking in the ocean’s depths, drawing them into a conflict they never wanted to be part of.

The avatar of a lesser deity could unleash power far beyond anything the God of First Light and the God of Fire Crickets demonstrated in their final moments.

Among the awakened sea beasts was an immense, Rank Three giant speckled eel that somehow possessed divinity.

Typically, only creatures who had grasped the power of laws were capable of condensing their own divinity, which served as a precursor to forming divine relics.

In some cases, children of the gods might directly inherit divinity from their divine parents.

Many of the sea deities originated as lowly, sentient sea life that gradually ascended to godhood over millennia of evolution.

This, in turn, gave rise to an abundance of divinity-bearing beasts, and this was precisely why the Godslayers and other rival pantheons sometimes ventured to the depths of the ocean to test their luck.

Even if they failed to strike down a deity, slaying a sea beast could still yield worthwhile gains.

Had this giant speckled eel merely been the descendant of a lesser deity or an intermediate deity, it would not have been much of an issue.

After all, dispatching two lesser deities was not necessarily an easy feat for an intermediate deity either, but that did not mean they could get away without consequences.

Judging by the low intelligence shown by the speckled giant eel, it was highly probable that the creature was merely the descendant of a lesser deity.

Therefore, when this speckled giant eel rushed out from the deep sea, the two gods from opposing camps—originally hostile to each other—tacitly chose to join forces temporarily to finish off this Epic Being first, splitting the spoils between them.

Battles between lesser gods of similar strength typically took considerable time before a clear winner emerged.

The two gods had been enemies for so long that they were already deeply familiar with each other’s abilities, which was precisely why they temporarily set aside their differences to claim the immediate benefits first.

Who would have expected that this low intelligence Rank Three sea beast, emerging from the depths out of the blue, was the direct heir of Tidas, a greater deity!

The death of his son instantly enraged Tidas, who had originally been residing within his divine nation.

Ignoring the ongoing Avatar Crisis, this greater deity immediately mobilized his supreme divine power to personally annihilate the two unfortunate gods who had intruded into his territory.

With Tidas taking action, Hrimthor—the God of Glaciers—and Saphirine—the Goddess of Oceans—also emerged from their respective divine nations.

The two unfortunate lesser Faelorian gods eliminated by Tidas were not the only ones fighting and causing chaos within the ocean’s borders.

However, the appearance of two more greater deities served as a clear warning, urging the other gods to swiftly withdraw from the sea.

The Avatar Crisis had not only ignited massive chaos and upheaval on the main continent but also significant damage to the oceanic environment.