Sovereign of the Ashes

If the sky collapsed, the tall ones would bear the weight—this saying applied not only to Magus World but also to Faeloria.

Just as Sein had never concerned himself with, nor fully understood, the looming war between the Magus Civilization and the Gallant Federation, the native deities of Faeloria had their own distant, untouchable matters.

Sein simply had no grasp of the strategic conflicts of civilizations—and frankly, he had no need to.

Likewise, for the Faelorian deities, the Overdeity or the so-called “God of Gods” realm was far beyond their reach.

Only a handful of deities, such as the God of Justice and the Dark Lady, stood on the cusp of breaking through to that realm.

In Faeloria, Dio was nothing short of a “Mythical” existence.

In fact, he was the greatest witness to Faeloria’s history—and the very turning point of its fate.

Even the God of Justice, who had lived for more than two hundred thousand years, was still considered a “new god” in comparison.

For many deities, Dio’s name was synonymous with mystery and power.

No one knew where he had gone, but if Faeloria were ever to face an overwhelming invasion from a force far beyond their ability to resist, then surely—as Faeloria’s guardian deity—he would appear in time.

Beings of that level possessed unfathomable awareness.

Who knew what Dio was capable of? Perhaps... he had already foreseen Faeloria’s impending crisis.

As a peak Rank Six deity, the God of Justice was not the type to sit back and wait for salvation.

Turning to the God of Oak and the God of Radiance, he commanded, “You two—help me contact the Elemental God and the Dark Lady. I am going to activate the Tablets of Fate... and initiate the Avatar Crisis ahead of schedule!”

His words caught the two deities off guard.

The Tablets of Fate were the most mysterious and powerful divine artifacts in all of Faeloria.

Rumored to have been left behind by Dio himself, there were said to be four pieces—three of which were safeguarded by the strongest deities: the God of Justice, the Dark Lady, and the Elemental God.

The fourth and final tablet had recently surfaced...

And, according to the Goddess of Luck’s prophecy, it had fallen into the hands of that mere Epic Being.

The power contained within the Tablets of Fate was so immense and enigmatic that even the strongest deities struggled to comprehend it.

The laws it governed—space-time and fate—were simply too rare and advanced for most of the Faelorian deities to comprehend.

Even Tyvera could only wield the power of “luck”, not “fate” or the even rarer “space-time” laws.

The God of Justice and the others had determined that the Tablets of Fate were functioning divine artifacts that Dio had created.

The Avatar Crisis, a cataclysmic event that occurred once every ten thousand years, was in fact a pre-programmed phenomenon embedded within the Tablets of Fate by Dio before his departure.

Although the God of Justice and the others had never fully refined the Tablets of Fate, they were still able to channel their power and exert a degree of influence over them.

More than one hundred thousand years ago, the Bloodwar Monarch, Levon Thorstein, had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the God of Justice and the Elemental God, who had wielded the fearsome might of the Tablets of Fate.

The Avatar Crisis, triggered by the Tablets of Fate, was a phenomenon unique to Faeloria—a large-scale alteration of fundamental laws, shaped by Faeloria’s unique laws and the current state of the plane.

During the Avatar Crisis, Faeloria’s crystal barrier would thicken even more, rendering the plane more sealed than ever.

At that time, even greater deities and supreme deities, residing in their divine nations, would find it impossible to directly interfere with the Prime Materia Plane, let alone break through the barrier from outside to force their way in.

The difficulty of entry would increase exponentially!

During this crisis, the only deities allowed to act within the Prime Materia Plane would be those who had been cast down from their altars by the Tablets of Fate—forced to descend in their avatars.

For this reason, the scale of divine casualties during an Avatar Crisis remained within manageable limits.

If greater deities and supreme deities were able to act freely, then what chance would the deities forced down to the mortal world as avatars even have?

The upheaval during the Avatar Crisis that occurred one hundred thousand years ago had been caused by the God of Justice and the Elemental God exerting their influence over the Tablets of Fate.

But this time, with the Dark Lady’s involvement, the scale of the crisis would far surpass anything witnessed before.

More than that, the God of Justice did not plan to activate just three Tablets of Fate—but four, including the one in Sein’s possession!

He sought to uncover the true identity of the forces attempting to invade Faeloria through the heretical being that had infiltrated the Prime Materia Plane.

After all, Sein and the Spider Queen were not the only ones capable of extracting knowledge about Faeloria from the minds of native deities, such as the God of Brute Force.

The native Faelorian deities could just as easily extract the answers they sought from Sein’s soul and memories.

If all four Tablets of Fate were activated simultaneously... even greater deities might be cast down from their altars, let alone intermediate deities.

After all, the Avatar Crisis was not simply an event—it was a phenomenon of law.

Unless one possessed the power to transcend both Dio and Faeloria’s laws, all deities—without exception—would be bound by its effects.

From the God of Justice’s actions and orders, it was evident just how much pressure the Rank Eight black mage, Nergal, had placed upon him.

After the God of Oak and the God of Radiance departed to carry out their tasks, the God of Justice intended to summon the Goddess of Luck once more.

He had hoped to use her divination to pinpoint Sein’s exact location, and ideally, to brand him with divine power, ensuring that he could be tracked.

However, when he turned back, the Goddess of Luck was nowhere in sight.

“Huh? Where is the Goddess of Luck?”

The God of Justice frowned, scanning his surroundings in confusion.

At some point—while he had been busy issuing commands—the Goddess of Luck had slipped away.

Her sudden departure was hardly surprising. Losing nearly half of her life force in an instant was a devastating loss—one beyond words.

This was, without a doubt, the “unluckiest” event she had ever experienced since ascending to godhood.

She would have never suffered this misfortune had she not come to the Justice Theocracy in the first place.

For a Rank Five god like her, one who wielded the power of luck and divination, to flee so abruptly—it could only mean that she had glimpsed a future she wanted no part of.

As a goddess bearing the very name “Luck”, she would naturally choose the path most favorable to her survival, just as she always had.

The God of Justice had no way of knowing where she had gone.

For deities who could peer into the future, they were also adept at concealing themselves.

Likewise, Morvanya, the Goddess of Doom, had not only survived but thrived, despite being surrounded by countless enemies—some of them greater deities.

With the Dark Lady’s protection and her own mastery of concealment, she remained elusive, making it nearly impossible for other deities to act against her.

The Goddess of Luck’s quiet departure made the God of Justice frown slightly.

Yet, despite the pressure of an unknown, formidable enemy, another emotion stirred within him—a reckless ambition and a burning impulse to challenge those of a higher realm.

No one knew that just moments ago when Nergal had wounded the God of Justice, that same attack had also broken the very shackles that had bound him for countless years.

This supreme deity had been trapped at Peak Rank Six for what seemed like eons!

And in that moment, through Nergal’s crushing might, he had finally felt it—the true power of an Overgod and Overlord of the Astral Realm!

And now, the God of Justice could sense it...

He was getting closer and closer to that realm!