Sovereign of the Ashes-Chapter 1071: God of Smithing

The cause of the conflict between the intermediate deity and the lesser deity was actually pretty straightforward.

The world was constantly moving forward.

Old, rigid, outdated ways inevitably got left behind while the fresh and innovative rose to define a new era.

The ancient Faelorian deities, once the creators of a glorious age, were fading away one by one. If that could happen to them, it could happen to anyone.

Since the two deities wielded similar divine abilities, tension between them was inevitable.

Gondrath might be younger and less experienced than Furey, but he had something the older god lacked—youth and innovation.

Since his rise to fame around thirty thousand years ago, Gondrath—a lesser god of the Justice League—had steadily built a reputation throughout Faeloria.

Many younger gods began turning to him for divine artifacts.

He charged less, and his creations were better suited to the tastes and needs of the new generation.

Over time, even some intermediate deities started taking notice.

Furey, on the other hand, always charged a steep price.

With over a hundred thousand years of prestige behind him, it was practically impossible for him to take on commissions that were simple or low-tier.

To be fair, Furey’s craftsmanship still far exceeded Gondrath’s.

But eventually, someone started a rumor, saying that Gondrath would eventually surpass Furey and become the strongest God of Smithing in all of Faeloria.

No one knew who started it, but the rumor spread like wildfire. Many deities began to echo the sentiment, especially the lesser gods who could not afford Furey’s work anyway. They were more than happy to throw their support behind Gondrath.

And in the heat of all that praise, Gondrath started to believe it himself.

He even made a few offhanded remarks after seeing one of Furey’s divine artifacts from ten thousand years ago, saying that under the same conditions, he could have done better.

Maybe he was young and arrogant. Maybe he was just confident. Either way, those words—meant to be private—ended up reaching Furey’s ears.

That was when the bad blood began.

The real spark that ignited their feud came about 17,000 years ago, when the God of Wind Elementals asked Furey to forge a divine artifact.

As an intermediate deity and one of the Elemental God’s offspring, the God of Wind Elementals held a special place in the Wings of Nature.

Unfortunately, Furey was in seclusion at the time, busy crafting another artifact for someone else, and ended up missing the opportunity.

When the God of Wind Elementals could not get what it needed from Furey, Gondrath approached it and offered his services.

Elemental gods were not ones for subtle politics, and with relations between the Justice League and the Wings of Nature growing friendlier over the years, the God of Wind Elementals did not see a problem.

He accepted Gondrath’s proposal and even handed over some rare materials for the job.

The grayish-white scepter Gondrath used during his battle with Sein was actually the same artifact he had started forging for the God of Wind Elementals back then. It was only half-finished at best.

At the time, the God of Wind Elementals had been oblivious to the quiet rivalry between Gondrath and Furey—but others in the Wings of Nature did. Someone eventually clued it in.

Once the God of Wind Elementals understood the backstory, it immediately canceled the commission with Gondrath, even though the artifact was already halfway done.

In the end, all the rare materials it had given Gondrath were treated as a loss and written off as a penalty.

That incident might have ended there, but it became the seed of a lasting grudge between Furey and Gondrath.

During the last Avatar Crisis, Furey had targeted Gondrath a few times—never openly, but through indirect means like subtly pulling strings behind the scenes.

At its core, their conflict was a clash of pride and recognition.

Gondrath was young and did not know his place. Furey, older and well-established, could not help but feel threatened by the newcomer’s rising momentum and wanted to eliminate competition.

Since the end of the last Avatar Crisis, tensions between them had only escalated.

Gondrath might have been weaker, but he had the full backing of the Justice League, the most powerful faction in Faeloria. freewebnoveℓ.com

That alone made it hard for Furey to make a move against him directly.

Besides, the Wings of Nature had always prided itself on being “neutral”.

If word ever got out that Furey had gone after Gondrath, his reputation would take a serious hit, and the entire Wings of Nature would exert pressure on him.

But this round of the Avatar Crisis was different—even intermediate deities had been knocked off their altars.

Given the long-standing resentment between them, Furey did not hesitate long before striking at Gondrath.

Up until now, Sein’s intel had not pointed to any clear rival targeting the God of Craft. But now, the truth was out—this intermediate deity was his main rival.

Still, the God of Smithing had done an excellent job staying under the radar. Aside from Gondrath’s vague suspicions, no one had picked up on anything.

Even this time, in Mysirral City, Furey had waited until the city was in ruins and most nearby creatures had already fled before making his move.

And when he struck, he turned the whole tide of the battle!

Furey’s caution and tactical awareness were impressive.

After landing that critical hit on Gondrath, he did not rush in to finish the job.

Instead, he tossed a cubic crystal into the sky.

It was shaped like a three-by-three grid, and as it spun and twisted, a curtain of divine light spread out in all directions.

To Sein, it looked strangely familiar—very much like the funnel-shaped divine artifact the Spider Queen had used years ago and the weaker spherical version he had crafted himself.

Apparently, shielding and masking artifacts were not exclusive to Magus World alchemists. Faelorian deities had figured it out, too.

Frankly, from what Sein observed, the masking effect of this cube might even be superior to that of Lorthisra’s funnel.

The key difference was that Lorthisra’s harvested blood essence, while Furey’s was purely a masking device.

As the light spread across the sky, it quickly blanketed the area in its glow.

Sein had personally witnessed the death of the God of Brute Force, and now he knew exactly what it felt like to be the prey inside someone else’s hunting ground.

“We’ll have to team up, or we’re both dead!” Gondrath told Sein, transmitting his voice through divine consciousness while still cursing at the sky.

Sein did not respond, but the way he pointed his magic rod at Furey and ordered Yuri back into combat made his stance perfectly clear.