God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain gently opened his eyes.

"Are you awake?" A voice came from the other end of the room.

Seated on the chair behind the only desk in the room, Ignis glanced over at him with a frown and a concerned look in her eyes.

Cain smiled, then stretched as he slowly pulled his hand away from the archway to the {Gate of Stars}.

Ignis pursed her lips,

"How was it? Did you meet any soil destroying nightmares?"

Cain chuckled,

"Unfortunately, no. It was... oddly peaceful."

Ignis smiled softly,

"Peaceful huh... That seems to be lacking here these days."

Cain sighed.

Looking out the small window, he couldn't help but think about those words.

"I can't help but feel like a dark storm is approaching." Ignis said, her tone low and dark.

Cain nodded,

"It certainly is."

They both fell silent.

Eventually, Ignis asked,

"Do you think you can win?"

Cain turned to glance at her. Feeling the seriousness in her gaze, he couldn't bring himself to laugh it off.

"No, I don't."

Ignis raised her brows, shocked by the honesty.

"Don't you have a little faith at the very least?"

Cain smiled grimly,

"Faith is definitely good, but it can be a bit deceptive. Like a poisonous illusion."

He sighed.

The sound of the dark waves hitting the hull of the ship stirred his thoughts,

"You should know this, but Devils grow even more powerful, at an increased rate with time. Meanwhile, from what I have heard, the rate of our growth slows down drastically. We can't possibly hope to compete with that, can we?"

Ignis' expression was grim,

"Most of the worlds invaded by the Devils suffer from this exact problem. They just can't keep up. Humans, beasts, and all forms and manners of creatures. None can compare to the power of corruption."

"In the end, another world is lost."

Cain shrugged, "I wouldn't go that as far as to say all hope is lost though."

Ignis frowned, "But you just said you don't think you can win."

Cain gave her a sly smirk, then shrugged,

"What I'm trying to say is it doesn't matter what I think, does it? What will be, will be..."

Ignis rolled her eyes and huffed,

"Honestly, I can't believe I ended up tied to an insane person..."

Resting her chin on her hand, she glanced at him,

"So? Do you need me for anything else?"

Cain thought about it then nodded,

"Actually, I do."

Her brows arched,

"And what would that be?"

Cain looked around the room.

Although it wasn't opulent, it was fairly comfortable. The bed wasn't rock hard, and it even had pillows.

There was close to no light seeping in through the window, so it was saturated with a dark ambience that just called for one to fall onto the bed and never rise up.

"Sleep with me."

Ignis shot up from her seat,

"W-what are you saying?!"

Cain rolled his eyes.

Walking up close to her, he stooped down until their eyes met.

Ignis felt her heart beating out of chest.

Although she wasn't human, her species were rather humanoid, down to the having similar organs, although with a few differences.

Well, more than a few differences...

But it was all roughly the same.

And interspecies breeding was nothing new to hear about.

'B-but still!'

Cain stared into the eyes of the dark-faced {Cherufe Spawn},

'She's definitely having interesting thoughts right now.'

Unfortunately, he had to bring her back to reality,

"Relax. I'm not going to try anything funny."

He smiled, "You look worn out. How about having a nap with me?"

Ignis blinked,

"What? That's awfully considerate of you. Almost too considerate."

"I'm not that horrible, am I?"

Ignis took a step back, her face skill a shade darker from the rest of her skin,

"A-anyway, it doesn't matter. Sleeping in the same bed can't be appropriate can it? Besides, you already have—"

Cain grabbed her by arm. With a flick of his wrist, Ignis realized she was already laying in the bed.

Her knees had gone weak.

"I'm sure it will be fine. Alright, let's get some sleep."

With a creaking sound, Cain climbed onto the bed as well. The room was spacious, but the bed, besides being comfortable, was also very huge and could fit three people easily.

Since things like mattresses could catch on fire quite easily, finding good bedding from what was let over was rather hard to find.

Most of the stores that sold those times of things were part of the first places destroyed as they were in places with a large number of human activity.

Silence...

Although the need for sleep wasn't as pressing as the in the past, sleeping still made one fare better, and could even improve stamina, Ki, and mana regeneration.

Ignis let out a soft sigh.

It was true that she was a bit tired.

These days, it was hard to get some sleep.

With the constant threat of destruction always looming nearby, the need to grow personal strength was always there.

Kill, accumulate power, rinse and repeat.

Most of her days were a perpetual cycle of blood and slaughter, recovery, and then a do over.

The same thing over and over.

It was necessary but exhausting.

And it was easy to get lost in this cycle.

A cycle of creation and destruction.

"Are you sleeping yet?"

Just as her eyelids began feeling heavy, Ignis heard Cain call out.

She frowned, but answered,

"No, not yet."

There was a pause.

Since there the bed was big enough, there was decent space between the two of them, but somehow, she could still feel his heart.

As a creature born from flames,.she was very sensitive to temperature.

She sighed deeply.

"You asked if I think we can win."

There was another brief pause.

"To tell you the truth, I tried to run from answering so I didn't give you a clear answer. The truth is I don't know."

Ignis turned and stared at Cain.

His chest rose and fell lightly as he spoke, his face slightly illuminated from the streaks of silver moonlight seeping in through the window.

"Most of the time, I'm not quite sure what will happen. But somehow it always works out anyway."

Ignis chuckled,

"What's this I hear? Sounds like you are being optimistic. I thought faith was poison?"

Cain clicked his tongue,

"Well, when you put it like that..."

He smiled softly.

Ignis stared at the smile, her mind going blank for a moment.

Cain turned.

Their eyes met.

"I guess you could say I like the taste of this poison. It's a bit sweet."

Then he turned away,

"Alright, that's enough talk. Goodnight."

Ignis turned away as well, feeling the heat rising to her face.

'Damn it! Damn it all!' The realization gripping her heart viciously.

After some time, the heat died down and her exhaustion returned, this time even greater.

Her eyes were as heavy as lead.

Then they closed.

***

Her mind stirred.

The feeling of returning to the world was underwhelming at first.

But then, as the life filled her body, she couldn't have felt better.

The exhaustion was slowly washed away, replaced with a satisfying warmth straight from her bones to the flames flowing through her veins.

She had no idea for how long she had slept, but regardless, the rest was worth it.

Stretching her lithe body, it was a shame no soul was around to witness such a magnificent sight.

Rubbing her eyes to clear the lingering tiredness, she looked around.

Cain was still sprawled out on the bed, his dark hair scattered all around behind him. His chest heaved gently and his lashes fluttered ever so slightly, like the wings of a butterfly.

Ignis felt her cheeks heating up once again, almost forcing her to look away.

But for some reason, she didn't.

Her eyes became hazy.

"If you keep staring at me, I really will wake up."

Ignis paused then sighed as she turned her head away,

"I wasn't staring."

"Liar."

Cain sat up.

The rest had done wonders on him.

He felt like a new being, born from the carcass of whatever he was before.

Stretching, he let out a groan as his bones rearranged themselves.

Then he let out a sigh. Turning to Ignis, he couldn't help but grin,

"So? How do you feel now?"

Ignis hesitation for a moment before replying in a low voice,

"Good."

Cain shrugged, "Right? I feel like I can wrestle a god."

He stood up, doing a few more stretches.

Then he turned back,

"I'm hungry."

A few moments later, Cain sat on the empty deck over a small magic circle with a consistent yet not too powerful flame jutting out.

He frowned as he watched a huge piece of mutant beast meat cook over it.

"You know... I've gotten a bit tired of eating this all the time."

Ignis glanced at him, then snorted,

"That just shows how spoiled you are. In the wild, there is nothing to eat but the spoils of battle. The flesh of the vanquished. Unless of course, you are willing to go foraging."

Cain grimaced, then clicked his tongue,

A few seconds later, a wonderful aroma rose into his nose.

Despite what he had just said, he began salivating. The aroma was truly divine. Even better, the meat of most mutant creatures didn't need any seasoning to taste so good.

Which was truly wonderful as acquiring seasoning at the moment was a bit difficult.

Cain felt the wind pick up speed.

He let out a satisfied smile.

His good mood had returned.