Sovereign of the Ashes

This time, the one who appeared in the skies above the battlefield was an old acquaintance of Sein—Anastasia Karerina, the Succubus Queen.

However, she had not come alone.

The tear in space behind her revealed a blood-red landscape, with demon armies surging within it.

Flanking the Succubus Queen were more than a dozen demon kings—each powerful enough to qualify as a deity.

Yet none of them were in command.

Their true leader sat high on a bloody throne—Levon Thorstein, the Bloodwar Monarch.

The Blood Throne was a high-grade divine artifact that could be considered a world-class treasure.

It was this throne that had allowed Thorstein to rip open space itself and bring his demon kings straight to the Battlefield of Gods.

Of course, the Bloodwar Monarch’s strength was no less formidable.

As divine light parted like a curtain on the other side of the sky, one of the Justice Theocracy’s greater deities emerged.

The God of Radiance had not come alone either.

Surrounding him were at least a dozen more Justice League deities, arriving in response to the chaos the Dark Alliance had stirred up in the San Jose Kingdom.

Their arrival brought a glimmer of hope to the weary defenders—deities like the God of Courage, who had been barely holding the line.

At the same time, the demons’ arrival signaled a new and imminent threat, especially with someone like Levon Thorstein, one of the most formidable beings in the world, leading them.

Although the God of Radiance was a Rank Six deity, he still could not match Thorstein.

Within the Justice League, only the God of Justice could truly stand as his equal.

With so many deities and demons gathered, the Battlefield of Gods in San Jose had become the epicenter of the entire Avatar Crisis, far surpassing any other region in Faeloria.

And with the Bloodwar Monarch himself stepping into the fray... could this be a sign that the demons were finally ready to break free of Purgatory?

Was the greatest disaster of this cycle of the Avatar Crisis about to begin?

The sheer pressure in the air was enough to keep everyone frozen in place. No one dared make a sudden move.

Sein the only who actually felt relieved.

The Bloodwar Monarch was even stronger than Eluvira, the Goddess of Magic.

The fact that she had spoken so calmly with him earlier was likely due to the presence and threat of the Purgatory demons behind him.

Glancing up at the Succubus Queen hovering in the sky, Sein gave her an awkward wave, then turned back to Eluvira and said, “I’d rather not end up as someone’s experiment, but if it’s an academic exchange, I’d be happy to collaborate.”

Then he added, “Preferably somewhere in Purgatory.”

Eluvira raised an eyebrow at that.

She did not answer right away. Instead, she went quiet, as if weighing something in her mind.

***

On the Battlefield of Gods below, chaos began to settle after the two new factions made their entrance.

The three intermediate deities of the Dark Alliance were the first to pull back.

With the God of Radiance now on the scene and backed by a full entourage, continuing the fight would do them no good.

The demons in the sky did not jump into battle right away either.

Both sides were clearly exercising restraint.

“What are you standing around for? Get over here,” the Succubus Queen called down to Sein.

Sein glanced at Eluvira, the Goddess of Magic, beside him, then slowly began his ascent toward the sky.

To be fair, a battlefield with over a dozen deities present was not exactly the kind of situation most would ever find themselves in.

His movement, combined with the suffocating pressure from the demons’ presence, drew the eyes of several deities his way.

At that moment, Sein’s body felt stiff as stone.

In his current weakened state, it would only take a flick of a finger from any one of the Justice League deities to finish him off.

Before he could even take two full steps, Eluvira caught up to him from behind and casually handed over the corpse of the Goddess of Waters, along with her divine relic.

Without so much as a glance back, she turned and walked away from the battlefield.

“I accept your offer. I’ll come find you again soon,” she said through a voice transmission as her figure began to dissolve, fading into the air.

As a powerful deity unaffiliated with Faeloria’s major factions, Eluvira was strong, but she had no desire to get caught up in the mess of divine politics.

Even though things looked calm for the moment, it was clear that the Purgatory demons and the Justice League deities were only one wrong move away from all-out war.

During the Avatar Crisis, Eluvira’s powers were suppressed too. Staying any longer would have just meant unnecessary trouble.

So, without hesitation, she left.

None of the deities or demons present tried to stop her.

Provoking a greater deity without cause was not exactly a wise move.

Besides, the conflict on this battlefield had nothing to do with the Goddess of Magic.

Unfortunately, Sein’s escape did not go as smoothly—he was personally intercepted by the God of Radiance.

A divine power cage dropped from the sky to trap him, as the imposing greater deity declared, “The Justice League will not let a blasphemer walk free!”

But before the divine prison could close, a scarlet blade shot from Thorstein’s direction, destroying it with ease.

Even an old ship had a few nails left.[1]

Back when the demons were forced to retreat from the battlefields of Hell and drift through the Astral Realm, they eventually made their way to this rich, vibrant plane.

Levon Thorstein, the Bloodwar Monarch, brought more than just his Blood Throne with him. He wielded another weapon—a massive, blood-colored blade known as the Blood Sword.

This strange blade could drain the strength and life force of others, gradually evolving until it became a world-class secret treasure.

No one knew exactly how many powerful beings had bled into its steel.

Regardless, it was with these treasures and Thorstein’s own power that the Purgatory demons managed to carve out a foothold in Faeloria, even while facing constant rejection from both rival deities and the planar will.

Levon Thorstein had also personally slain a greater deity to get there.

The Bloodwar Monarch remained silent, choosing to answer the God of Radiance with action instead.

To Thorstein, the God of Radiance was not even worth speaking to. The only one he acknowledged was the God of Justice.

But the God of Justice was still in seclusion, pursuing a higher realm of existence. No one knew when he would return.

“Heh... so you do want to fight,” the Succubus Queen said with a smirk. “Perfect. I haven’t had a proper battle since becoming a demon queen.”

She raised her hand.

“Do it!” she commanded.

The space around the Blood Throne split wide open, and from it, waves of demons surged forth like a tidal flood.

They charged straight toward the battlefield below, where the weakened God of Courage and his allies were barely holding on.

At the same time, under the Succubus Queen’s command, the demon kings launched themselves forward, rushing to meet the Justice League gods gathered behind the God of Radiance.

Demons were never known for diplomacy.

Since the God of Radiance had thrown the first punch, the Purgatory demons were more than happy to entertain him.

1. “Even an old ship had a few nails left”, or more precisely, “even an old ship had three pounds of nails left” is a saying that implies that even something worn down or past its prime still holds value, just like a rotting ship might still offer salvageable nails. ☜