Sovereign of the Ashes

The recent actions of the sea gods, particularly the three greater sea gods leading a direct confrontation against other deities along the coastline, had become the biggest news across Faeloria.

Another major talking point in all this chaos was the controversy surrounding the private life of Tidas, the God of Waves.

As one of Faeloria’s most renowned greater deities, who had ascended to godhood for many years, Tidas’ private affairs had shocked many, especially the rumor that his harem included ordinary sea beasts.

Tidas might be powerful, but the exposure of his indulgences with low-level creatures had led many to associate him with terms like “degenerate”, “barbaric”, and “perverse”.

Yet, Tidas himself seemed entirely unfazed by the scandal. He simply continued living his life.

In Faeloria, not even fellow deities dared to insult the God of Waves to his face.

And if no one would mock him openly, why would Tidas care what they whispered behind his back?

After all, with power like his, he inspired both awe and terror wherever he went.

Tidas’s unrestrained lifestyle had long made him an outlier in Faeloria.

The storm he had now stirred would not settle quickly.

The two gods he had slain came from the Justice League and the Dark Alliance, and many of the other deities recently injured by the sea gods had their own backers and powerful connections.

Clashes between pantheons had always been one of Faeloria’s main sources of instability.

In the past, it was the Justice League versus the Dark Alliance. A hundred thousand years ago, it was the Purgatory demons storming the Prime Materia Plane. Now, the Wings of Nature, along with other factions, sought to suppress the demons.

The sea gods were only making the situation on the main continent worse.

As a closed-off world, Faeloria had been marked by factional tension and hostility since the dawn of its earliest civilizations.

The cycle of opposition had never truly been broken.

It was not difficult to figure out what happened to the ancient deities that had long since fallen.

The glory they once built was no less than that of Faeloria’s current factions.

The fact that an Overdeity like Dio emerged from their ranks was proof of just how much they had once achieved.

The clash in the Southern Seas had indeed triggered waves of unrest throughout the rest of Faeloria.

With so many intermediate and even greater deities from multiple factions drawn toward the sea gods, the region had become a hotspot for conflict.

As a result, incidents of god-hunting and fallen deities had been happening more frequently.

From the Justice League, Teem, the God of Guardians, personally traveled to the southern seas to help ease tensions with the sea gods.

Teem was known as the“nice guy” of the Justice League, and his defensive powers were considered the best in all Faeloria.

Even Tidas, the God of Waves, had to show him some respect.

The Dark Alliance sent Morveth, the God of Death, in response.

Of the Dark Alliance’s three greater deities, Morveth was the more reasonable god.

Ravokh, the God of Murder, had too many enemies, and Zorvax, the God of Tyranny, was never one to compromise

In hindsight, Morveth was really the only logical choice to send for peace talks.

This alone showed that, despite constant tension and conflict among Faeloria’s major factions, none of them wanted a full-scale war.

Everyone was holding back.

The fall of the ancient deities had already proven how bad things could get.

If the thousands of deities across Faeloria were ever to engage in an all-out war, the world itself might not survive, and even if it did, the gods certainly would not!

At that point, the best possible outcome would be a long, forced slumber.

Even the mighty greater deities would struggle to make it through something like that.

The Wings of Nature also sent a representative, though not their most powerful Elemental God.

Instead, they dispatched a greater deity—Sylvarun, the God of Wild Nature.

While negotiations in the south between the three greater deities and the three furious sea gods were underway, tensions there finally began to ease.

Meanwhile, in the north, where conflict and unrest continued to escalate, Sein was preparing to set off once again.

***

Since the God of First Light’s death over 180 years ago, the academies established in Purgatory had entered another long period of growth.

In recent years, Faeloria has been rocked by constant unrest—the fall of deities and the chaos of war had given rise to a wave of heroes.

Many of these individuals, shaped by the circumstances of their era, found themselves confused about faith and power.

Some chose the path of hunting gods, believing that slaying a god was the first step to becoming one.

Others came to Purgatory, hoping to find answers here.

Even Sein had not expected the academies he had helped Flynn and the others to build would spark entirely new ways of thinking, injecting fresh ideas into the chaotic, large world known as Faeloria.

More than that, this emerging system of knowledge and power, rooted in native growth rather than divine faith, seemed to align naturally with certain aspects of Faeloria itself.

As a large plane, Faeloria has its own planar will.

However, the long-standing internal conflicts and battles between ancient deities had left her in a severely weakened state.

She had grown so diminished that even the Elemental God, who held the Guardian’s authority, could no longer fully wield that power.

Faeloria’s will was utterly exhausted.

She regarded all life born within her as her children, but watching them constantly fight and turn on one another was wearing her out.

In contrast, the emergence of the self-cultivation system and Flynn’s pioneering Arcanist profession had gained the quiet favor of Faeloria’s will.

If the deities were viruses or necrotic cells constantly eroding her body, then these new professions might just be the white blood cells.

As for Flynn and the others, whether they could truly become the white blood cells of this world remained to be seen.

After all, the deities and the current hierarchy system were long-established systems.

Still, there was no denying that the academies and this budding new system had gotten off to a promising start.

Ironically, it was the Purgatory demons— the most resistant to integrating with Faeloria—who were now helping the ones favored by the planar will.

If one day, this world managed to fully replace the old faith-based system with this new self-cultivation system and Arcanist profession... then perhaps Faeloria really could become a second Magus World.