God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"That's the last of them." Mira muttered as she turned towards Julio.

Nursing a terribly deep wound on his shoulder, Julio laughed dryly,

"That's good, isn't it? Now, all that's left is the others fighting down there, right Cain?"

He turned towards Cain.

His eyes widened,

"Damn..."

Mira frowned and glanced at Cain as well. Her expression changed.

Cain's face was as pale as a ghost's. His eyes were sunken and he leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.

Mira rushed to his side,

"Mana overuse..."

She grimaced as she pulled out a few mana shards from her inventory,

"Will these be enough?"

Cain slowly shook his head,

"No, it's fine. I will recover soon enough."

He quickly pulled a mana core out of his inventory and crushed it, absorbing the mana into his body. That way, he could dampen the side effects of over using his mana, depleting it completely.

The cold sweats breaking out all over his body gradually died down as his breathing relaxed.

However, his complexion didn't get any better.

He pursed his lips and turned to Mira,

"Those guys down there are already dead, aren't they?"

Mira went silent.

Julio grimaced, "Hey, what are you saying, Cain?"

Cain sighed as he steadied himself,

"They've been fighting for hours. I have no idea how they've held out for so long."

Mira sighed.

"One of Legarde's skills allows one to consume their vitality for an increased amount of endurance and power. He used it on them."

Cain couldn't help but pause.

Such a skill... was terrifying.

Power gotten at the cost of burning one's self into ash. It was no wonder they were able to hold out against the Devils for so long.

Julio went pale,

"That..."

Cain sighed, "I'm guessing they knew there was no way they were getting out of their alive."

Then he paused, "I have recovered enough mana for one last jump. You both, get in there."

Julio grimaced,

"What about Legarde? He's still fighting that Devil."

Cain smiled wryly,

"If he has such a skill, don't you think he would also use it on himself?"

Julio grit his teeth,

"Damn it!"

"Either way, both of you, get into the room quickly. The sooner this is done, the quicker all this can end."

Mira nodded grimly,

"Then, what about you?"

He hesitated for a moment,

"There's still something for me to do here."

Mira was silent for a moment.

Then she nodded,

"Julio... Let's go."

"But..." Julio tried to argue, but was quickly shut down.

"Let's not make this harder than it has to be."

Seeing the uncharacteristically cold expression on Mira's face, Julio sighed and nodded,

"Alright."

Cain patted his shoulders,

"You've done all you can."

Julio's expression was dark as he walked into the room and stepped onto the spatial anchor magic circle. Just before closing the door, Mira paused and turned to him,

"Can you... tell him goodbye for us?"

Cain smiled and nodded,

"Sure."

Flashing a sad smile, Mira bowed lightly then closed the door.

With a sigh, Cain placed his hand on the smaller magic circle on the door.

Mana surged out of him in waves. His face turned even paler.

Stifling a groan, he concentrated and focused his will to keep the spatial tether stable. Not only did it consume more mana, it also tore at his spirit.

Luckily, {Spirit Weaver} was an incredible passive skill to have, healing all damage his spirit was sustaining.

Blood dripped down his nose as he fought against the overwhelming sensation to pass out.

Luckily, that didn't happen.

Moment later, he collapsed to the ground, his hands and face as pale as freshly washed sheets.

His eyes widened as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Leaning against the doorframe with a groan, heavy breaths escaped from his lightly parted lips.

The door to the room suddenly fell off its hinges, revealing the interior of the room.

The floor had caved in as well, meaning the entire room was now destroyed. Replacing the room was a splattering of depe black tears and gashes in the fabrics of space, each one sharp enough to tear him into shreds.

Staring at this, Cain couldn't help but chuckle darkly.

The lethality of spatial magic could not be underestimated at all.

He remembered the first time he died...

With a chuckle, he pulled another mana core out of his inventory then crushed it in his fist.

His ears perked up.

There were no more sounds coming from the outside.

'The fighting must have stopped.'

The realization of what that meant settled on his heart like a tonne of dark ice.

He sighed again.

Wiping the blood off his lips, he stood up slowly.

Slowly, he walked down the hallway.

Turning down the corner, he came face to face with a gushing tide of Devils washing through the building on search of the humans that had entered.

The bloodlust from the battle had yet to die out, because the moment they caught sight of him, they rushed forward like a host of locust.

Cain's eyes were filled with a grim darkness.

He summoned the {Hands of Midas} from his inventory.

The magic handguns themed with energy, pulsing with the light of mana.

Although his mana was depleted, he had more than enough energy in his arms to hack through this tide of darkness and enough bullets in. His inventory to shatter their exoskeletal armor like it was glass.

His eyes shrunken into pin drops, he growled,

"Come, you damned abominations!"

A {Hunter Devil} at the front of the tide shrieked as it sprinted through the long hallway in a second.

The guns in his hands came to life, spitting metal fire. The Devil's head and chest exploded into bits instantly.

The rest charged forward with wild abandon.

'Smartest my ass! These things are freaking mindless!'

In a way, the reckless, near suicidal way of battle the Devils employed was a rather insidious tactic. That was why the Devils were a plague that scourged all of existence. No matter how powerful a nation or species was, and no matter how many of them were killed, it would all seem pointless after just a little time had passed.

Unable to take the structural damage, the huge building had already begun to collapse.

Despite the rumbling, Cain didn't seem to care at all.

With a furious expression on his face, he shot and hacked through the Devils, leaving a puddle of black, viscous blood, torn organs and scattered corpses.

A dance of death filled the crumbling building.

Every injury, every blade that stabbed into his flesh, and every fang that tried to crush his bones made it all feel even more real.

The feeling of warm blood splattering on his face.

The dying shrieks, the insidious roars and cackled as they swarmed him.

His eyes turned red.

He shot bullet after bullet.

When a magazine emptied, he swiftly reloaded and continued firing.

Then when all his bullets were finally depleted, he summoned two golden daggers made of concentrated metallic mana. He couldn't make use of the {Lonely Dragon} Warblade since the weapon was just too large to swing indoors.

A Devil lunged at his neck. Instead, it but his arm and pulled back. The sinews of his flesh were ripped. Hot, red blood spewed out of his arm but he barely even flinched.

With his other arm, he stabbed the Devil in the eye then slit its throat, ending its life.

As his torn muscles reattached themselves, he was already moving again.

Smashing his foot into the chest of the corpse, he knocked the ones behind it over.

Expending a bit of mana, he summoned a golden chain.

A metallic, golden light glinted off the chain.

Two of the Devils that had been knocked down jumped right on the walls, scaling it like gravity didn't exist.

They shot towards him from both sides.

Grabbing one by the neck with his chain, he twisted his body, throwing the Devil behind him and smashing it against the crumbling wall.

Cain growled as he pulled, tightening the chain.

The Devil gagged as its neon green eyes glowed in terror. It scratched and struggled, pulling at the chains all for naught.

The other Devil slashed him repeatedly across the chest. Blood flowed like a fountain from the wounds, but again, he didn't flinch.

His muscles bulged as he pulled hard one last time.

With a sickening crack, the Devil's neck broke. Still, Cain wasn't satisfied. He pulled even harder.

The sound of exoskeleton groaning under the stress before snapping was even more terrifying.

It its dying moments, the Devil, for perhaps the first time in all its existence, felt fear.

The Devil that had been scratching him across the chest took a step back, its glowing eyes filled with fear,

"What are you..."

Bathed in blood, both his and otherwise, every breath he took was heavy.

Pain came from every part of his body.

But it also kept him lucid.

"I'm the bastard that is good to hunt ever single one of you to extinction!"