God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Obegrin stared down coldly on the carnage being wrought upon the humans.

They died by the dozen, mercilessly cut down by his horde.

He had responded so quickly because he had received information that Arnach had been killed in battle.

When he arrived at the scene, he had discovered the trodden corpse of the enormous {Greater Flame Devil}, courtesy of the {Turtle Golems}.

However, a quick investigation brought to light that what had killed him was not the {Turtle Golems}, but a rather devastating slashing attack.

Once his suspicions were confirmed, he wasted no time and gathered the forces he good.

His goal was to hunt down the humans responsible. And while he was at it, he would spearhead bringing the Dome of Fire down.

His devilish eyes turned into slits as he scanned the chaos.

The humans had mounted a fierce resistance in front of the last remaining building that had yet to be devoured by flames and destruction.

Perhaps this was something unique to only humans; the ability to burn and fight to the very end, fueled only by desperation.

Obegrin shook his head.

In the end, strength was obsolete.

Although the humans were defending to the best of their abilities, they couldn't stand up against devilish might.

Suddenly, Obegrin frowned.

Down there at the center of the human resistance, a bright flame burned.

The flame swallowed Devil and undead alike, turning them into ash and molten bones.

He instantly understood.

Stretching his arms to the side, something bizarre happened.

The Devil began to chant. And as it did, a bone spear began to materialize in its grasp. The bone spear was covered in black pulsating veins.

The rotting steed below him let out a tenebrous neigh. A moment later, it dove towards the ground.

Right into torrent of flames..

BANG!

Bone clashed against magic steel.

Staring right into the eyes of the Devil through his visor, a mad grin stretched across Legarde's face,

"You bastards are so ugly. You smell like shit too!"

Obegrin stretched his other hand forward.

An enormous magic pistol materialized a moment later.

A loud bang resounded as a bullet emptied from the chamber.

The world seemed to slow down as Legarde's eyes widened.

With a furious roar, he swung his spear.

A rain of sparks hit the ground moments later as the tip of his spear struck the bullet, cutting it in half.

Without wasting any momentum, the crimson flame general jabbed forward twice in a single stroke Obegrin parried both in quick succession.

The two warriors danced in a furious melee.

Legarde's spear was heavy and devastating. Obegrin's spear was insidious and full of poison.

The Devil was an absolute monster, wielding his one handed spear and a magic gun that shot magically enhanced bullets in quick succession.

The two separated for a moment.

The rotting steed trotted through the sky like it was ground. On its back, Obegrin chanted the profane words of an incantation.

The power of a {Corpse Sky Rider} lay mostly in its ability to utilize its undead legion in combat.

Raising his open palm into the crimson heavens, Obegrin completely his chant,

"Come."

The heavens split open.

From a dark gash that appeared in the sky, a creature of bines slowly slithered forth.

It was an enormous bone serpent.

Its body was enormous; just as titanic as the terrifying worm creature swimming in the earth down under.

The bone serpent let out a screech that pierced the world. Its abyssal maw stretched open as it spat out a fog of dark green bile.

It was maddening.

It was unholy.

Faced with such an abomination, the stalwart figure of Legarde stood like an unyielding mountain.

He smashed the butt of his spear into the ground. Flames ignited all around him, stretching like billowing waters.

It was as though he was telling the horrifying creature and its devilish master to do their worst.

Obegrin obliged.

The bone serpent shot down, bringing with it dark poison and death.

The flames surrounded the crimson armor suddenly shrank until it rose just barely an inch above the enchanted metal's surface.

Smashing a foot into the ground, the crimson flame general shot into the sky like a missile.

A split moment later, he swung his spear, smashing it into the nose of the undead abomination.

Following that was a huge explosion that sent a few on the ground below flat on their faces. Humans and Devils alike.

Obegrin frowned,

"Not bad for a human."

The bone serpent shrieked as it fell to the ground, its thick rotting skull split down the middle.

Standing in the air a few meters away from Obegrin, Legarde's let out a derisive snort,

"That was unimpressive. You expect to defeat me with a snake? Preposterous!"

Obegrin was silent for a moment,

"You are the one giving Arnach a hard time..."

Legarde chuckled darkly,

"Perhaps. But it doesn't matter anymore. The bastard is dead now, isn't he?"

Obegrin's eyes narrowed,

"And you know who killed him, don't you?"

Legarde laughed madly,

"I do. And?"

"Hand him over." Obegrin declared coldly.

"If you want anything from me, you are going to have to take it, Devil. I can't just hand him over for free, now can I?"

"You are making your death muchore painful than it has to be." Obegrin said deliberately slowly.

"For a race of death and damnation, you all love to talk a lot, don't you? Come and have a taste of fire instead, bastard."

"Gladly."

The bone serpent had not been completely struck down. Its eyes glowed a deep, ghostly green as it let out another shriek. The gash in its skull leaked out the same dark green miasma it continuously spat out.

It charged right at Legarde again.

Faced with a two-pronged assault, Legarde remained unmoved.

With a haughty snort, he swung his spear, parrying Obegrin's spear away. Then he shot into the sky, leading the battle away from those on the ground.

Obegrin gave chase, shooting at the crimson warrior's unguarded back.

A few bullets struck the crimson armor but failed to penetrate it.

Obegrin clicked his tongue.

He gripped his spear tighter and straddled the undead mount to keep his balance.

Then he threw the spear.

The air compressed in on itself before violently exploding. The spear shot into the sky with speeds that could put a shooting star to shame, headed right for the crimson warrior's back.

Swinging his spear with a grunt, Legarde knocked it out of the sky. Summoning the spear back into his hands, Obegrin threw it immediately after.

Again, Legarde smashed it away.

Finally, Legarde stopped as the distance between the two kept rapidly shrinking.

'This seems good enough.'

He glanced down.

They were now in the dark skies, far away from the humans and devils down below. Even the other Sky Devils didn't fly this high.

Brandishing his spear skillfully, Legarde sucked in a deep breath.

A moment later, a conflagration that could consume the world enveloped him.

"Bow your head before the king of flames, Devil!" He declared coldly.

Obegrin sneered coldly.

A terrible chill enveloped his spear as he charged forward, the bone serpent in tow.

A moment later, they clashed.

Tilting his head, Obegrin narrowly escaped being skewered right through. His eyes widened as an explosion of fire burst forth from the human's spear.

He managed to summon a magic shield just in time to avoid being blown up.

Stretching his hand forward, Legarde summoned dozens of flaming spears that shot at the Devil and its undead creatures.

The bone serpent shrugged the flames off and slammed into him. Smashing his spear against the undead creature's head again, he grunted as several bullets smashed into his armor again.

He clicked his tongue,

'How annoying.'

His muscles bulging under the enhanced steel, he pushed with his all his strength. The bone serpent shrieked as it tumbled towards the ground.

Then he shot at the Devil, brandishing his spear furiously.

In a battle such as this one, there was no time to form complex thoughts. Battle devolved into a clash of instincts and wills.

Steel and bone struck. Magic and bullets were fired willfully and at random, all with the intent and purpose to cause as much harm as possible.

Devils were creatures of battle.

Their bodies were strong, and their minds were insidious.

Try as he might, despite possessing an extraordinary amount of mana as well as magicAl and physical might, Legarde could not overpower the adversary before him.

The cursed thing's bullets seems to have eyes, hitting the same stop on his armor every time. To make matters worse, a dark chill spread form the bullets, dampening the effect of his flame magic.

Andy time he retaliated, his attacks would be blocked by well timed shields and the counter attacks were sure to be vicious.

Even worse, battling the persistent bone snake proved to be just as troublesome, if not more.

Forgetting the fleshy might of the rotting creature, no matter how many times he struck and broke its rotting bones, the dark green miasma made sure the thing didn't die, continuously healing all damage.

He huffed as he deflected another bullet.

'How annoying.'

And even worse yet...

Their battle had just begun.