Sovereign of the Ashes

“Any way you can break through this crystal barrier?” Sein asked Gondrath as they continued fleeing south.

Gondrath’s attack power did not quite match Sein’s, but as a native Faelorian deity, he knew more about Furey, so Sein wanted to hear his suggestion.

“That cubic crystal must be his more recent creation... probably crafted within the last ten thousand years. I’ve never heard of it before,” Gondrath replied. “As for how to break it... I’ll just have to give it a shot.”

From a distance, Gondrath extended the right arm of his giant golem.

A massive burst of flame shot from his hand, accompanied by a violent surge of aero elemental energy and a powerful wave of repulsive force.

It was clear Gondrath had unleashed the combined might of three divine artifacts in his possession.

The sheer impact shook the crystal barrier, leaving a faint, invisible crack at the center of the blast.

This divine artifact, crafted by the God of Smithing, was primarily designed for concealment. While it had some confinement capabilities, it was not completely unshakable.

Given enough time, Sein and Gondrath could definitely break through it.

Unfortunately, Furey likely would not give them that time.

The moment Sein saw the crack, his eyes lit up.

He sent a voice transmission to Gondrath. “My attack power’s stronger. You go stall Furey, I’ll break this barrier.”

“Shit!” Gondrath cursed under his breath.

Still, despite the grumble, he turned back to face Furey.

Now fused with the giant golem, Gondrath was clearly the bigger target. Besides, Furey’s main focus was on him.

As for Sein, Furey only needed to injure him before handing him over to the Elemental God.

Gondrath was not so lucky; Furey was out to kill him.

Under the crushing pressure of death, Gondrath had no choice but to grit his teeth and hold on.

The cubic crystal artifact’s domain was not very large, and soon, Sein reached the southernmost edge.

There, he could vaguely sense the direction where the demigod-level Viridescent Seed was buried.

After quickly activating the Viridescent Seed, Sein flew toward the tiny crack Gondrath had just opened.

In just a short time, the crack had mostly repaired itself. Clearly, this barrier had some kind of auto-repair function, slowly reinforcing itself over time.

Given the situation, Sein had no time to analyze what the barrier was made of.

Solving problems with truth and insight could sometimes take one farther with less effort, but with danger looming, there was no time for that.

He had to act fast, even if it meant resorting to brute force.

“With the combined power of three divine artifacts, the God of Craft only managed to leave a tiny crack. Looks like I’ll have to use that trick to open a gap big enough to squeeze through...” Sein mumbled as he reached the crystal barrier.

Without hesitation, he drove his magic rod straight into the narrow crack.

Then, without missing a beat, he tore the lumen-attribute divine relic from the center of his Demon Mask and pressed it against the pyro-attribute divine relic embedded in the head of his magic rod.

The rod itself was already a top-tier artifact—Sein had poured effort and countless resources into crafting it.

Still, cramming two divine relics onto it destabilized it, causing it to tremble, especially since he had not modified it to accept the lumen-attribute divine relic.

This was pure desperation, a last-ditch shot at survival.

Fortunately, the magic rod held together. Made from the branch of the Verdant Wilderness God—a Rank Four creature, it was tough enough to endure the strain.

At its tip, halos of fire and light flickered and overlapped.

Sein was finally ready to unleash the ultimate truth that only the Magus World’s demigod-level mages could grasp—a forbidden spell!

Forbidden spells were the exclusive domain of demigod-level mages and above.

Only those who had touched the power of laws were qualified to learn and wield them.

Casting one was no simple task.

Even Rank Four mages like Master Lorianne needed preparation time and a stockpile of special magic spices just to pull it off.

The forbidden spell Sein was preparing was not the kind with a massive range that could wipe out legions or even millions.

It was a single-target spell.

His goal was not to kill or even injure—it was simply to break the crystal barrier in front of him. That alone made it a lot easier.

Still, it was his first time attempting a forbidden spell, and his theoretical understanding of them was far from complete.

Honestly, calling it a “forbidden spell” might have been a stretch. It was more like an enhanced version of his Penetrating Eye spell.

As he channeled power into the lumen and pyro-attribute divine relics, Sein fused in his own grasp of their respective laws. Then, with practiced hands, he began casting—sprinkling his prepared spices and chanting a complex incantation under his breath.

Half of these “magic spices” were made of powdered bones and blood from the God of First Light and the God of Fire Crickets. The rest came from rare and potent ingredients Sein had collected over the years in Purgatory.

When used in the right ratios, these materials could greatly boost a spell’s elemental strength and even cut down casting time.

While Sein focused on completing the forbidden spell, the battle between Gondrath and Furey had already hit a fever pitch.

Even with several divine artifacts at his disposal, Gondrath was clearly outmatched.

Furey, meanwhile, had only wielded his divine artifact pickaxe and a massive hammer this entire time.

Even counting the cubic crystal divine artifact floating above, he had revealed just three divine artifacts in total.

For an intermediate deity with a divine smithing ability like his, that was not even close to his full arsenal.

On the other hand, Gondrath revealed yet another divine artifact, despite already having shown a ruby ring, a wrench, a grayish-white scepter, his Concealment Boots, and Twilight Robe.

This was presumably the last divine artifact he had left—an unassuming stone slab, similar to the one in Sein’s silver spider ring.

Yet its function was anything but ordinary. It distorted the trajectory of Furey’s attacks.

Whether it was a swing from his pickaxe or a blow from his hammer, each strike veered off course, throwing off Furey’s rhythm and forcing him into close-quarters combat.

Hovering mid-air, Furey crossed his arms and sneered at the God of Craft’s resilience. His tone dripped with scorn and superiority.

“Craft all the divine artifacts you want, but if the quality’s not there, it’s worthless!”

He glanced at the slab. “That thing... It’s an imitation of the Tablet of Fate, isn’t it? I’ve seen the real one—or at least a fragment of it—and yours looks more like a child’s toy.”

The contempt in Furey’s voice made Gondrath’s face flush with rage.

Both of them shared similar divine abilities, and that had long fueled their rivalry.

But now, being mocked outright and having his creation dismissed as a worthless knockoff felt like a brutal slap to the face.

It was the most cutting insult Gondrath had ever received in the one domain he took the most pride in.

It struck deep, nearly driving him mad with fury.

Before he could retaliate, a violent, terrifying surge of elemental energy erupted from Sein’s direction!

Red and white beams of elemental light twisted and surged outward, engulfing everything in their glow.