Sovereign of the Ashes

“Sein, go ahead and leave first,” Tourmaline said to the mage standing behind her before stepping onto the battlefield.

With a Rank Five Phantom Crow now entering the fray, this was clearly no place for a mere demigod like Sein to linger.

Sein had thought he was growing rapidly, but in this moment, he was reminded just how powerless he still was.

Still, he had no intention of staying too far from Tourmaline.

With that Rank Five Phantom Crow leading an entire legion, nowhere was completely safe on the Bouldrak Plane battlefield.

Even if he tried to run, Sein’s flight speed was not enough to outrun the Phantom Crows.

Aside from the Rank Five Phantom Crow, the skies swarmed with countless others at the demigod level.

Though he did not withdraw from the battlefield completely, Sein left Tourmaline’s turtle shell, knowing that staying any longer would only hinder her.

He trusted her strength and the power of the world-class gear she had, but that did not stop him from worrying.

He flew toward a nearby hillock, once a defensive position for the Bouldrak Plane’s geo elemental creatures.

Now, it was held by about twenty thousand half-beastmen, who were doing their best to use the rugged terrain to their advantage.

The craggy wall and complex underground caverns offered some cover from the Phantom Crows circling overhead.

From this elevated vantage point, Sein could not only watch Tourmaline’s fight but also observe a distant battlefield where another Rank Four clash was unfolding.

Unlike Tourmaline’s opponent, who hesitated upon arrival, the other battlefield had erupted into chaos the instant the two sides clashed.

Senarius, the Rank Four God of Forest, had already been wounded in the earlier fight.

Now, facing a Rank Five Phantom Crow backed by a murder of minions, he was quickly struck down—slammed from the sky like a blazing green meteor.

His dendro elemental law was a poor match against the Phantom Crows’ umbra elemental and necromantic energies.

Even with the trump card gifted to him by his parents, dendro power was a symbol of life, and against these overwhelming opponents, Senarius had been gravely injured almost instantly.

At this point, it was no longer a clash between Rank Four and Rank Five beings.

The Phantom Crow named Gray Feather was overpowering him. On the ground, Senarius could do little more than barely hold his defenses.

His fall accelerated the collapse of the half-beastman legions on this front.

It was not due to a lack of willpower, nor had their faith wavered.

When the difference in strength became this vast, no amount of determination could turn the tide.

Like their spiritual leader, Eugene, they had given everything they had!

This devastating shift in Bouldrak World was a tragedy born of imbalance.

Eugene, too, noticed the ominous change in the skies. The arrival of the Phantom Crow Army darkened his already weary face, and a flicker of despair crossed his features.

Even one Bouldrak King had been more than enough to push them to the edge. And now, two Rank Five Phantom Crows had joined the fray.

Worse still, the voice echoing from the pitch-black vortex made it clear that an even stronger being was watching, waiting to descend.

Eugene could not count on the great God of Beastmen, Kampas, to arrive in time.

In truth, over ninety percent of the beast gods in the entire Beastmen World were not particularly fond of Eugene.

Those who hated him were probably hoping he would die here today!

“Evil creatures invading Bouldrak World—do you really think you can defeat us? Perish your foolish thoughts!” the Bouldrak King roared as his massive, dark brown fists rained down on Eugene once more.

Bones cracked audibly.

Eugene’s body hunched forward slightly—something had definitely broken inside of him.

But the pain did not make him lower his head.

Instead, tears welled in his eyes—tears of rage, grief, and the unbearable injustice his people had endured.

“No! The half-beastmen will never fall! Even if we lose today, we will still greet a brighter tomorrow!” Eugene roared at the sky, his voice fiercer than even the Bouldrak King’s.

He slowly straightened his hunched frame. Then, without hesitation, he drove his right hand into his own chest.

By forcefully activating the divine heart within him, he awakened a new surge of power.

This was the boundless strength of the half-beastman race.

Eugene, who loved his people with all his soul, could feel their faith in him and their yearning for freedom!

Eugene howled like a beast.

In that moment, this Rank Four being, who had stared death in the face and endured countless agonies, finally touched the edge of a new realm.

“You are the God of Half-Beastmen, The embodiment of strength and wisdom...

Under your leadership, the half-beastmen shall reclaim their freedom. With your guidance, they will forge a lasting peace...

Your indomitable will shall stand as a monument through the ages, Valor and devotion shall be the creed by which we live...

The half-beastmen shall raise your divine nation high, Together, we shall build a wonderful home...”

Across the battlefield, countless half-beastmen raised their voices in heartfelt chants.

Even though many had fallen, even as the breath of life slowly left their bodies, there was still light in their eyes.

And it was not just the millions of half-beastman troops in Bouldrak World singing for Eugene—far away, throughout Beastmen World, the same was happening.

In No Man’s Land, in scattered villages and shadowed corners of the world, whether warrior or slave—as long as they yearned for freedom, as long as they believed in Eugene and prayed for his ascension, something stirred deep within their souls.

In Eugene’s moment of greatest need, hundreds of millions of half-beastmen extended their hands to the sky.

White, shimmering specks of light appeared in their palms. They traveled through space and time, converging before Eugene.

Then, from Eugene’s own body, an even more brilliant white light burst forth.

In that moment, Eugene’s life level finally surged beyond Rank Five!

In the system of divine faith, deities and their believers were mutually dependent on each other.

The strange, mystical properties of faith power had always been a topic of curiosity, even among the Magus World mages.

Though the Magus Civilization had never followed the path of divine faith, their records spoke of many world civilizations that had produced gods through the power of faith.

Some of those civilizations had risen to the ranks of top-tier powers—some even surpassing the Magus Civilization as it stood today!

And now, as billions of half-beastmen channeled their faith across vast distances, no one could fully explain how such power had manifested before Eugene.

Not even Rank Six or Rank Five Magus World mages could make sense of it.

But one thing was certain: Eugene had ascended to godhood, right in the middle of battle!

This miraculous ascension was unlike anything the Beastmen World had ever seen.

Faced with the sudden surge of divine power, the Bouldrak King snarled in frustration.

“How is this possible?!”

But Eugene was not the only one still fighting hard.

On the battlefield where Tourmaline and Senarius fought, the skies burst into radiant light of dazzling hues, each representing a rare and potent law.

Aside from Tourmaline, who was clad in her world-class secret treasure, the Drunken Panda Immortal, Mangius, delivered a shocking display of power of his own.

The once-gray panda had split into three—one red, one blue, and one yellow.

And each of them radiated Rank Four strength!

It was a mysterious technique Mangius had learned from a mysterious old man during his travels through the Immortal Realm.