Sovereign of the Ashes

Not long after the God of Craft burst free from the dusty ruins, Yuri emerged as well, still inside her battered but intact Burning Flame Unit, much to Sein’s relief.

He had warned her ahead of time, but seeing his subordinate make it out alive still lifted a heavy weight from his chest.

That said, while Yuri had escaped, none of the support mechas she had deployed during the battle made it out with her.

Those auxiliary units were all that remained of Sein’s stock since arriving in Faeloria.

Originally custom-built in Sky City, they were nearly impossible to replicate with the resources available here.

Even with Sein’s growing knowledge of mecha crafting and upgrades, Faeloria lacked the materials needed to rebuild them.

His only option was to wait until he returned to the Magus World.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A chain of explosions echoed behind them as Yuri’s sacrificial mechas made their final stand to hold off the pursuer.

And it was not just her. Even the God of Craft had been forced to abandon his giant golem, too.

Before Sein could issue another urgent retreat order, a new wave of terrifying energy rays erupted from within the crystal barrier.

This time, however, they did not come from Sein or the God of Craft, but from Furey, the God of Smithing.

Gondrath might have always looked down on him, but as an intermediate deity, Furey was leaps ahead of Gondrath when it came to the art of forging.

Where Gondrath shone in youth, innovation, and a relentless drive to learn, Furey had something more: time, depth, and generations of accumulated knowledge.

That much was obvious from the divine artifacts he had brought to the battlefield.

The latest wave of energy rays had been fired from a hive-shaped divine artifact now hovering before him.

Back in Faeloria’s ancient past, many extraplanar species—some hailing from technological planes—had been absorbed into this world.

Due to Faeloria’s unique environment, these physically weaker lifeforms from technological civilizations eventually went extinct.

Unable to escape or adapt, they perished—just like many other rare and forgotten races throughout the world’s long history.

As an old intermediate god, Furey had explored and excavated countless ancient ruins using the vast resources of the Wings of Nature.

Some of those ruins were ancient temples. Others had belonged to unique prehistoric species.

The hive-type artifact in front of him was a result of those studies, reverse-engineered from ancient remnants and refined with Furey’s own forging expertise.

Including the cubic crystal from earlier, Furey had now brought out four divine artifacts, and each one was clearly a cut above anything Gondrath possessed!

The dense energy rays from the hive-shaped divine artifact punched countless holes through the wooden giant golem’s body, unleashing a wide-area bombardment on Sein and the others outside the crystal barrier.

The Magus World mage legions had always prided themselves on tactics like this. It was ironic that Sein now found himself on the receiving end, thanks to a foreign god.

Roughly two-thirds of the energy rays were aimed at Gondrath, who had already fled.

The remaining third were headed straight for Sein.

In interplanar wars, coverage strikes like this were a nightmare for low-tier forces.

It was usually a double-edged sword—only mildly effective against elites or powerhouses, but devastating to lower-ranked forces, friend and foe alike.

A single beam on its own might not be much, but when concentrated, they could become a devastating attack.

Sein did not have the time or the luxury to worry about what was happening to the God of Craft in the distance.

Right now, being in the path of one-third of that barrage was more than enough to deal with.

He quickly cast a scarlet elemental shield.

In the chaos of the bombardment, he could only protect the three nearest to him—Flynn, Audria, and Ronaldo.

The others were too far away and beyond his reach.

The bombardment lasted nearly two full minutes.

If not for Sein’s unnaturally high constitution—and the timely intervention of the demigod-level plant giant—he probably would not have made it out alive.

Under the force of Furey’s energy beam onslaught, Mysirral City was pushed even closer to total ruin.

Even the surrounding areas had been reduced to scorched lands.

They always said the gods loved the world. But after what Furey did today, Sein couldn’t see even a trace of love in his actions.

Flynn, Audria, and Ronaldo were barely standing. Of the three, Ronaldo had taken the worst of it—one of his legs had been blown clean off.

The barrier Sein had thrown up in haste was not enough to block the full brunt of the strike for all of them.

Blood and bits of organs spilled from Ronaldo’s mouth.

In that crucial moment, the idiot had reacted faster than the others. With his powerful body, he had shielded Flynn and Audria behind him.

Now, Ronaldo was barely hanging onto life. Even his once-vibrant inner fire had shriveled to a dim flicker.

Ronaldo coughed up two clots of blood and spoke weakly to Sein.

“Pops... I think I’m gonna die here...”

He was using that old nickname he gave Sein again.

Sein let it slide, knowing this could be the last time Ronaldo would ever say it.

“Shut up. You’re not dying. Not even if I do!” Sein snapped, still in his true Flame Demon form, scolding the stupid kid before him.

Flynn and Audria were not in much better shape either, but there was no time to treat their injuries.

Sein quickly loaded all three of them into the spatial living storage device, then called out to Yuri, “Move—we’re heading south!”

Yuri’s mecha was barely holding together at this point.

The fact that it had not exploded yet was a testament to Sky City’s craftsmanship.

Of course, it also helped that the God of Smithing had gone easy on her because he wanted to capture Yuri alive and study the mecha she was piloting.

The two shot south, streaking across the sky like twin beams of light.

Sein had sensed a chaotic energy field coming from that direction.

Furey was an intermediate deity. Even if he and the God of Craft split up and ran in opposite directions, it still might not be enough to shake him off.

In that case, diving into the edge of another chaotic battlefield was their best shot at cover.

Not long after Sein and Yuri vanished from sight, Furey stepped out from the smoking ruins, emerging through the gap in the crystal barrier.

In his hands, he held two of Yuri’s mecha units, now reduced to metal scraps. Each one had combat power equivalent to a Rank Two creature.

Despite their condition, Furey studied them with interest.

Meanwhile, Gondrath’s wooden giant golem lay crushed under his feet like trash.

Furey turned his gaze in the direction Sein and Gondrath had fled.

His expression darkened.