Sovereign of the Ashes

The scenery on the lowest level of Purgatory was far more pleasant than the first.

Though demons thrived on bloodshed and destruction, they were not mindless monsters driven solely by carnage.

They had their own sense of aesthetics, and on this deepest level of Hell, Sein saw numerous castles, each bearing the distinct architectural style of the demons.

Curiously, these structures bore a striking resemblance to those of Faeloria. It appeared that the culture of Faeloria had indeed left its mark, even on these foreign demons.

Beyond the castles, Sein observed many blood-colored lakes scattered across the landscape.

Their surfaces rippled with an eerie glow, resembling vast pools of blood.

He lingered for a moment, taking in the unsettling sight, before shifting his attention elsewhere.

The Abyssal Gut, constructed by the demon clan, proved remarkably efficient—nearly rivaling teleportation arrays in convenience.

Traversing from the first level of Purgatory to the third had taken him almost no time at all.

Led by a group of demons, Sein finally arrived before a towering, scarlet-hued mountain range that radiated an aura of supremacy.

It was the Demon Peaks.

Many of its peaks soared impossibly high, vanishing into swirling crimson clouds. Even with his keen eyesight, Sein struggled to glimpse their summits.

Legend held that the Demon Peaks were the first stronghold seized by Levon Thorstein, the Bloodwar Monarch, when he led his clan in their escape to this world.

Sein’s destination, Bloodwar Hall, stood atop the highest peak of this mountain.

Aside from the Blood Monarch, countless demon kings also resided among the Demon Peaks. Only the kings were permitted to tread these slopes.

The vast majority of the crimson castles Sein had passed earlier actually belonged to Rank Three or demigod-level demon lords instead.

For someone of Sein’s standing, securing an audience with Thorstein was an almost insurmountable challenge.

If not for the Razorclaw King’s escort, his pureblooded demon bloodline, and the extraplanar intelligence he carried, the demons would never have granted him such deference.

With every step deeper into the Demon Peaks, bone-chilling malice seeped into Sein’s body, seeping into his very core.

It was not the first time he had felt this suffocating evil—he had sensed its presence the moment he entered Purgatory.

But here, beneath the mountains’ looming shadows, it became suffocating.

“Spider Queen, what is going on here?” Sein asked Lorthisra through the Silver Spider Ring.

Exploring the unknown was instinctive for mages.

Yet, this strange, vicious coldness clawed at his mind, stirring a deep, primal urge to destroy everything in front of him.

It reminded him of when he had first obtained his demon bloodline.

Only after undergoing purification experiments had he managed to strip these undesirable traits from the demon bloodline, severing its negative influence over his mind.

But now, stepping onto Demon Peaks, the very power he had once purged threatened to resurface.

If not for his ironclad willpower, he feared he might have already lost control.

“Have you ever wondered why demons always say, ‘Infernal Purgatory, endless blood wars’?”

Lorthisra’s voice slithered through the link, dripping with amusement.

“The very laws of this place mold the demons, making them bloodthirsty. Every battle hones them, sharpens them—that’s how their armies achieve such terrifying discipline and strength.”

She let out a soft, knowing chuckle before continuing.

“The remnants of the demon clan in this world are quite resourceful. Not only did they create the Abyssal Gut, but they also managed to craft a weaker version of Hell’s Heart. No wonder Faeloria’s laws reject them outright. Even if they had no intention of breaking away from this world, they could never truly belong here.”

“Hell’s Heart?” Sein frowned at yet another unfamiliar term.

He considered pressing her for an explanation but quickly dismissed the idea. The concept was likely too complex to condense into a simple answer, and Lorthisra hardly seemed inclined to elaborate.

After half a day’s journey, Sein finally reached the summit of the highest mountain among the Demon Peaks.

The sheer magnificence of the blood-red palaces that greeted him shook him to his core.

Yet, he noticed that the architecture was unlike anything he had seen in Faeloria.

Instead, these structures bore a striking resemblance to the buildings the demons had constructed, as recorded in Sky City’s archives.

It seemed the Bloodwar Monarch was rather old-fashioned.

Before long, Sein was led toward Bloodwar Hall.

The demons who had escorted him were not permitted beyond this point.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and entered the empty vast hall alone.

Remembering his role as the Magus World’s representative, Sein reverted to his human form.

At a height of two meters, he was hardly small by human standards. Yet here, within Bloodwar Hall, he was utterly dwarfed.

Its sheer vastness eclipsed any palace Sein had ever stepped foot in.

The eight massive, round pillars at its center alone towered hundreds of meters high.

The walls were adorned with intricate, savage reliefs that sprawled across the hall, each one telling a story—a chronicle of battle.

As Sein’s gaze roamed across them, he discerned not only demons of various species but also winged beings soaring through the sky, their wings numbering anywhere from one to four pairs.

These birdmen... They were probably Angels of the Radiant Celestials, beings Sein had read about in Sky City’s archives.

Yet, in the demons’ artistic style, these angels appeared grotesque and monstrous, stripped of their divine grace.

Sein found himself mesmerized, unable to tear his gaze away from the reliefs.

Just as he sank deeper into their eerie allure, a low, muffled grunt reverberated through the vast hall.

Instinctively, he turned toward the source of the sound and realized that a demon monarch had appeared upon the bloody throne at some point.

The oppressive might radiating from this being was leagues beyond that of the Razorclaw King.

His very presence was incomparable to any ordinary Fourth or Rank Five existence.

Sein felt as if he were gazing up at a lofty mountain.

Then, in a surge of elemental fluctuations, nearly a dozen powerful demons materialized behind the throne.

Among them was a perfectly built female demon, positioned closest to the right side of the throne.

Then, at last, the figure upon the throne spoke.

“So, you are the being from the Astral Realm? And you have knowledge of our clan?”

This demon monarch spoke flawless Abyssan, his mastery of the language far surpassing Sein’s own.

As his words echoed through the hall, the very walls seemed to tremble and the vast chamber rumbled like distant thunder.

This being was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful entities Sein had ever encountered.

Among all the beings he had come across, only Tourmaline’s eldest brother, the Maned Tyrant, radiated such overwhelming strength.

Even Grandmaster Feylis had never projected such raw, oppressive power.

Of course, Sein considered, perhaps he had only ever witnessed Feylis’s gentler side—never her full, unfathomable fury.