Sovereign of the Ashes

This was a special secret realm tucked away in subspace, hidden by distorted light.

If not for Sein's time in Faeloria, where he had studied the divine nations established by the gods, he might not have even noticed the subtle spatial fluctuations before him.

The distortion effect could blind the perception of most creatures, but not Elementalist with deeper knowledge of the lumen elemental magic like Sein.

When Sein pulled Leena into this secret realm, she did not even realize it at first; she had sensed nothing unusual beforehand.

"This legacy secret realm was specially prepared for certain individuals," Sein explained to her.

The landscape before them was no longer the familiar scenery of the trial zone, but a white passageway that seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance.

No one knew where the passage led, but with the intense lumen energy blazing around it, one thing was clear—this was no ordinary path.

In their decades spent in the Knight Continent's trial zone, Sein and Leena had already discovered three secret realms, each one bringing them great rewards.

In one of those realms, Sein had even obtained a strange black flame. To this day, he still had not fully unraveled its true nature.

But the pull he felt toward this secret realm was different. He could not quite explain it, but it was stronger than anything he had felt before

Gripping Leena's hand, Sein led her forward toward the end of the white passageway.

***

When the white light finally faded, what lay before them was a fiery red molten landscape.

It seemed the master of this secret realm had not only achieved profound mastery over the lumen element but had also reached an extraordinary height in the pyro element—a level few others could ever hope to attain.

Despite being a subspace, the heat here surpassed that of even a normal pyro elemental plane.

The moment they arrived, Sein instinctively activated his demon transformation.

Only demons attuned to molten lava and sulfur could fully adapt to an environment this extreme.

Beside him, Leena activated her elemental body as well.

But unlike an ordinary pyro elemental body, Leena's was something far more unique.

She had clearly grasped the profound mystery of her faction's Cinderbone Flame. From a distance, her true form looked like a swirling mass of black flames.

Behind her, a pair of dark gray flame wings unfurled.

Birds of a feather, indeed. Both Sein and Leena looked downright menacing when they were battle-ready.

Rumble!

Amidst the deafening noise, Sein could vaguely sense that the entire subspace was slowly shrinking.

As a result, the pressure and temperature inside climbed rapidly.

From the depths of the lava, a Flame Python nearly a thousand meters long rose with a furious hiss.

The pressure radiating from it surpassed that of an ordinary demigod.

Sein could not help but wonder—what kind of secret realm would place such a terrifying creature as its guardian?

The Flame Python appeared to be an elemental creature with a degree of intelligence.

The moment it spotted the two intruders, it let out a piercing screech and lunged straight at them.

The shrinking of the subspace only heightened the pressure on the Flame Python, pushing it into an even more frenzied state.

As the python barreled toward them, Sein had no choice but to meet it head-on.

Its strength far exceeded that of the demigod-level geo elementals he had fought back in Bouldrak World.

Among Sein's past opponents, this creature was nearly on par with the weaker gods of Faeloria.

Sein himself was not in immediate danger, but for Leena, joining a battle of this level was pushing it.

That was exactly why, here in the lava space, Sein decided against summoning Yuri or Azelia for backup.

Instead, it was Leena who called forth her own undead chimera beast.

The five-headed Phantom Crow Chimera let out a pained shriek as it emerged into the scorching heat.

Black gas rose and evaporated from its body under the intense temperature.

Facing the overwhelming pressure radiating from the Flame Python, the Phantom Crow Chimera looked pitifully weak.

"Focus on protecting yourself. I'll figure out how we're supposed to clear this secret realm," Sein told Leena before charging straight toward the Flame Python.

Normally, clearing a secret realm like this meant defeating its guardian beast.

But this Flame Python was clearly no ordinary foe, and with the secret realm continuing to shrink, time was running out.

With Sein's abilities, he might be able to bring down the Flame Python, but even he could not guarantee he could win before the subspace collapsed completely.

This was a special secret realm, one far beyond the capabilities of ordinary Rank Three grand mages to clear.

Even slightly weaker demigod-level mages would probably not stand a chance here.

One wrong move could mean death.

Up until now, Sein had not found a way out of this secret realm.

Did he really have to defeat this Flame Python to escape?

The battle between Sein and the Flame Python erupted quickly.

The massive Flame Python was incredibly resilient—and more importantly, it was extremely resistant to fire.

Most of Sein's regular spells barely scratched it.

Only the Penetrating Eye spell and powerful magic infused with the Ashen Flame could deal any real damage.

But even those minor injuries only made the Flame Python more frenzied and enraged.

At one point, its fangs tore straight through Sein's magic robe, punching three holes in it.

Sein's robe was woven from Lorthisra's divine spider silk and had self-repairing properties. The fact that the Flame Python could damage it at all proved just how powerful it was.

As the fight escalated, Leena ignored Sein's warning to stay back. She took to the air and joined in.

Unfortunately, her Cinderbone Flame had much less impact than Sein's spells, and her chimera beast was torn apart and swallowed in seconds.

While the Flame Python was still devouring the Phantom Crow Chimera, Leena caught sight of something strange.

Deep in the creature's throat, she spotted a strange energy node.

Maybe that was the key to clearing this secret realm!

After all, the Knight Continent's secret realms were meant to test challengers from the Magus World, not send them to their deaths.

It was hard to imagine that the former powerhouses of the Magus World would design secret realms with no chance of survival.

"I also noticed something else. Aside from the energy node in the python's throat, there's a vortex node deep below this molten space," Sein called out.

"You head for the vortex. I'll handle this python!" he instructed, tightening his grip on his magic rod.