God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

First, there was stillness...

He could sense nothing, therefore, he was nothing. He had merged with the nothingness around him.

However, that was merely an illusion, as in the next second, Cain was assaulted by intense bloodlust that made him weak in the knees, and killing intent vast enough to drown out an ocean.

His eyes snapped open.

An incredibly loud roar broke through the wind a loud piercing screech followed that, and a second later, there was an explosion that threw him right off Ruby's back.

His face paled. He turned around to check the condition of the rest. Despite being thrown off Ruby's back as well, they didn't seem injured, just frazzled.

Unfortunately for him, they weren't given any more time to recover.

That was because there was chaos all around. The thick scent of blood rose to the sky above like an offering to some dark Deity.

Shrill screams, yells, cries, shrieks, roars and groans of rage, despair, excitement and horror filled the air.

The world shook again and again as all the creatures within this world engaged in primal combat.

"We have to get out of here. Now!" Cain said grimly.

They were lucky to have been one of the last to enter into the tower, which had put them at the edge of this mad battle.

The closer towards the center, the more terrible and furious the battle was, with portions of the ground exploding and turning into dust clouds. All sorts of otherworldly beings and beasts soared into the skies to fight as well, their blood spilling like crimson rain.

It was absolute madness.

With no time to hesitate, Cain activated a spell.

'Summon: Soul Deity of Darkness.'

An illusory image of a terrifying dark entity appeared right above his head, and a veil descended, draping over him, Evangeline, Susan, Jenny, and Roselle as he sent Ruby back into the {Beastmaster's Subspace}. With his ability to manipulate the range the spell covered, they very well could sneak away.

They quickly began making their way away from battlefield.

The world inside the tower was... peculiar to say the least.

Where they had ended up was a rather desolate world.

The atmosphere was suffused primarily with darkness elemental mana, although surprisingly, there was not a lot of darkness.

Instead, everything seemed rather bleak and soulless.

Then, there was the terrain...

In the distance, he could see giant mountains that rose into the sky, such that clouds formed at their base.

He couldn't even comprehend it. If the mountains were so huge, then just how enormous was this world within the tower.

"Cain, look..." Evangeline said cautiously, her voice almost a whisper.

Cain frowned and turned his attention to where she pointed.

To his surprise, he realized that there were a few groups following their example. Thousands of bodies began running away from the battle in all directions. Instead of trying to meet the second criteria, they would rather ride the storm out and try to survive for the duration of the trial.

No, that was not right...

Upon further inspection, he realized that was not exactly the case.

'They aren't running because they want to. They are running because they have no choice.'

"Shit!" Cain exclaimed.

The titanic creatures that made the sky their battlefield were either of the godly grade or higher. As he was not a stranger to Celestial presence, he believed there could be one or two Celestial grade beings amongst them as well. He couldn't be too sure though.

Either way, for some reason, these creatures had decided not to fight amongst themselves for now.

Instead, they would clear the trash below out first. To Cain, this was perhaps the worst possible scenario that could play out.

He believed he was strong. However, he didn't think he was capable of defeating actual Celestial grade Tier 2 beings.

Indeed, he had defeated the avatar of Balangol. However, a Balangol-possessed Kaelin was comparable to a Tier 2 half-god, maybe godly grade at best, despite being Tier 3. As impressive as that was, there was no way he could stand against beings with the such terrifying presence, it was as though they had been born of primordial chaos and power itself.

They dove down from the gloomy skies, bringing with them death and damnation.

Cain absorbed even more of the darkness elemental mana from the air, deepening their stealth.

They raised their speed quickly. Since they had a head start, they had the advantage of seeking out prime hiding grounds.

Cain thought to himself;

Where could they hide?

The area of this desolate world they were in was barren, and besides the towering mountains in the distance, there wasn't much of anything, just a few small hills and husks of dried out plant-life.

There was a white sun that hid behind the cloudy sky, but its light was dampened greatly by the time it reached the ground.

Still, it was better than perpetual darkness. The wind was chilly, but not cold enough to cause discomfort, and the soil beneath his feet was black and lumpy.

'What to do, what to do...'

In the end, he could come up with nothing.

He turned to Evangeline,

"You have to use {Shadow World}."

She nodded, "The flunctuations in mana might drawn in some unwanted attention, but I guess that can't be helped."

Then she closed her eyes and began chanting.

Whilst waiting for her to complete the spell, Cain looked behind him. The site of the first battle had been completely obliterated. There was an obscene amount of blood and dead bodies left behind.

Despite that, the culprits had yet to have their fill, still chasing those they deemed as prey.

Cain made quick calculations and realized that the maximum possible number of people that could complete the second criteria was no more than several hundred, perhaps even less...

If each of them were able to kill a thousand each, they would be the only ones left.

However, that was certainly not how it would play out in reality. Instead a creature that had extinguished ten lives could be killed. However, its killer would only receive a single soul. Hence, the initial ten souls would be wasted away. It was a grim realization...

Where would those souls go?

Cain had no idea. And he didn't want to know either. All he wanted to do was escape from this situation and think for a moment.

"It's ready." Evangeline muttered.

The shadows around her seemed to come to life for a moment.

She turned to Cain. He stared into her eyes, realizing that their usually crimson hue had disappeared, replaced with the thick darkness of shadows.

"Hold on."

Cain suddenly felt the ground beneath him give way as he was pulled into his own shadow.

The grey, gloomy world disappeared, and was replaced with a world teeming with murky shadows.

Evangeline breathed a sigh of relief,

"We are safe for now."

Despite having been here before, Cain couldn't help but feel amazed by it.

He glanced at Evangeline. Even if she might not have created the skill, it was still rather impressive for her to have acquired it either way.

'Who knows what other skills and abilities she has.'

Jenny dropped to the ground and let out a tired sigh,

"I thought it would be over for a second there."

Roselle nodded, then turned to inspect the shadowy world,

"Still, this is impressive. How long will it last?"

Evangeline shrugged then frowned,

"In normal cases, I can keep it open for a few hours. But this world if suffused with the element of darkness, which erodes shadows. I'd say a few hours at best before we are forced out of here."

Cain placed his hand on his chin and sighed,

"It might be stretching it, but I think an hour should be enough to hide out the storm and make more preparations. For now, let's go over what we know..."

Susan suddenly hummed, drawing the attention to herself.

"From what I can tell, I'd say there are three classes that have been summoned to this tower."

Cain raised a brow,

"Three classes?"

Susan nodded,

"It might sound silly, but I believe that to be the case. Don't you think trial is a bit silly and unreasonable?"

Cain frowned, not sure what she meant."

Susan's brows furrowed as she continued,

"Think about it. A trial should be reasonable, that is all participants should be on roughly the same stage."

Evangeline chimed in,

"What you are saying does make sense. However, there is no reason to assume this trial should conform to such logic. You should know by now that the very last thing you should utilize in a world of magic is logical reasoning."

Susan pursed her lips,

"In that case, there is no reason why the second criteria should exist."

Evangeline wanted to say something, but stopped. Her eyes widened, and her slightly parted lips closed.

"You... are right."

Jenny nodded, a wry smile on her face,

"If that was the case, then the second criteria would lose its meaning because the winners would have already been decided before hand."

Cain's eyes widened,

"That means there's something the Arbitrator did not tell us..."

Cain was rather impressed. He knew Susan to be a smart, intelligent person, but he hadn't expected her to see right through their situatio before even he could.

'Have I been underestimating her subconsciously lately?'

Susan nodded at his words, her face grim,

"There can only be two possibilities; either there is a fourth criteria the Arbitrator kept a secret for some reason, or..."

Cain completed the statement,

"We interpreted the second criteria incorrectly."