Sovereign of the Ashes

The melee in the southern part of the San Jose Kingdom lasted over a week in total.

The Bloodwar Monarch clearly did not want to launch a full-scale war against the Justice League just yet.

It looked more like he was trying to send a message—the Purgatory demons might have kept a low profile in recent years, rarely stepping out to stir up trouble, but the demon clan was still not a force Faeloria could afford to provoke.

As the melee dragged on, it stopped being just a one-sided show by the demons. Even the Dark Alliance, who had initially left, returned and jumped into the fray at the last minute.

Of course, it was not the God of Storms or others like him; they were not qualified to join a battle of this scale.

The one who showed up was one of the Dark Alliance’s triumvirate—Zorvax, the God of Tyranny.

Zorvax was known for his terrible temper and was second only to the Dark Lady in terms of strength.

Being called the “God of Tyranny” was no empty title—he had made quite a name for himself in Faeloria.

What surprised many gods, though, was that despite his foul temper, Zorvax had actually achieved a lot when it came to leadership and governance.

Back when the Dark Lady disappeared, the God of Death went into hiding, and the God of Murder vanished without a trace, it was Zorvax who stepped up. He held the reins and kept the Dark Alliance in order.

Because of him, the Dark Alliance avoided getting steamrolled completely by the Justice League.

When Zorvax entered the battlefield, the God of Suffering was seen behind him.

It turned out that Halvren had not just run off when things looked bad; he had gone to fetch his backup.

Zorvax’s arrival immediately brought the chaos among the deities to a halt.

No one wanted to see Faeloria descend into even deeper chaos, and no one wanted it to spiral completely out of control.

After Halvren killed the Goddess of Music and the God of Glyphs, all the major factions began pulling back.

In the end, it was clear the Justice League had taken the biggest hit in this battle.

Alongside the weak deities who had already fallen, the Goddess of Joy was left gravely wounded.

Without much of a choice, she ended up joining her old flame and defecting to the Chaotic camp.

“The God of Justice and we, the Justice League, will make you pay for this!” the God of Radiance shouted in fury as the melee drew to a close.

The Bloodwar Monarch gave no reply. He simply steered the Blood Throne and led his demon army through space, heading straight back to Purgatory.

If Thorstein could be rattled so easily, he would not be worthy of the “Bloodwar Monarch” title.

The demons were not afraid of the Justice League’s retaliation. They would be waiting in Purgatory.

Meanwhile, the God of Tyranny was focused on the white, diamond-shaped divine relic in his hand.

It had once belonged to Damaris, the God of Glyphs.

Damaris had once mocked Zorvax in one of his own creations, and many deities knew about it.

Now, with Damaris’ relic in Zorvax’s grip, it was a clear message that strength still reigned supreme in this world.

Closing his hand around the relic, Zorvax chuckled to himself, then turned and left the battlefield with the God of Suffering, the God of Storms, and the others at his side.

***

Though the melee in the San Jose Kingdom had ended, the aftershocks continued to ripple across Faeloria.

Following the sudden assault by the demons and Dark Alliance in the Justice League’s territory, the league hit back hard.

Hundreds of Justice League deities, rallied by the God of Radiance and others, assembled at Purgatory’s border with massive legions of believers.

Even though the Avatar Crisis made it tough for many deities to unleash their full power, the sheer size of their armies was more than enough to shake the world.

Over the next two centuries or so, battles between the Purgatory demons and creatures of the Prime Materia Plane grew more intense and frequent than ever before.

The borderlands of Purgatory were stained darker than ever with the blood of war.

The Dark Alliance did not escape unscathed either. The Justice League brought the fight to them, too.

As the largest faction on the Prime Materia Plane, the Justice League held strong throughout the Avatar Crisis, even though the God of Justice remained in seclusion.

They launched powerful counterattacks, wiping out more than a dozen nations aligned with the Dark Alliance.

The Dark Alliance struck back, destroying several nations under the Justice League’s rule, but they were always a step behind when it came to coordination and large-scale mobilization.

Many deities lost their territories, and more than a few perished.

For a time, smoke blanketed the main continent, and the people suffered dearly in the chaos.

Sensing danger amidst the fierce clashes and constant skirmishes between Faeloria’s major factions, the outer sea dragons quietly began withdrawing right after looting the City of Wealth.

These winged lizards were cunning creatures, through and through.

When times were good, they flocked in. When trouble abounded, they slipped away faster than anyone else.

After returning to Purgatory, Sein remained completely unaware of the situation on the main continent—he was already buried deep in experimental research once again.

With the insights gained from the Battle of Gods and the heap of divine relics and artifacts he had acquired, Sein now faced a different kind of problem: figuring out which line of research to pursue first.

The gains he made in this world had far surpassed his expectations.

Still just a demigod, Sein had amassed a fortune that would shock even the Magus World mages of Rank Four and above.

In terms of divine relics alone, he held those of the God of Brute Force, the God of First Light, the God of Fire Crickets, the God of Craft, the Goddess of Waters, and the Goddess of Music.

Including the Verdant Wilderness God’s relic fragment he had picked up early on, that brought his total to seven divine relics.

Of course, not all of them technically belonged to him.

The God of Brute Force’s relic actually belonged to the Spider Queen—Sein was just holding onto it for now.

The Goddess of Waters’ relic had been unexpectedly handed over by Eluvira, and the Goddess of Music’s relic had been a gift from the Succubus Queen.

Beyond the relics, the value of the deity-level corpses he had collected was immeasurable.

Especially the God of Craft—Sein had not expected that guy to be so incredibly loaded.

Along with the divine artifacts Gondrath had used in battle, Sein also uncovered a trove of rare materials inside the god’s personal storage device.

Among them were even three divine artifact prototypes!

“What a ridiculous fortune!” Sein exclaimed.