God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain didn't look away.

The Devil didn't either.

Both stood there, across the scorched and frosted land, separated only by distance and death.

The bile-green mist still lingered, like whispering souls.

And yet, there was stillness.

Cain's fingers twitched.

The world had turned eeriely silent, save for the heavy breathing of Ruby behind him.

From the distance, the sound of heavy war cries and stomping feet slowly approached.

On the side of the Devils, the world boiled. They had suffered two heavy casualties back to back, so it was no surprise they were enraged.

Or perhaps annoyed.

Either way, their roars and screeches rose to the heavens. For what it worth, Devils were rather persistent creatures. Their bodies could be killed, but their souls lived forever.

Mad creatures of war, they were.

To them, death was not a frightening thing.

And so, they could fight without inhibitions.

But humans were not the same.

Instinctively, their souls feared death. Their bodies despised pain.

In a battle on equal terms, the odds were stacked against them.

Arrows, spells, and bullets painted the sky in colorful hues.

The first volley had been exchanged.

A human was struck by a spell, exploding into bloody mist instantly.

A beastman was riddled with fist sized bullets, her flesh splattering on the dark stones.

Fear. The fear made the humans push forward even faster, the residual chill in the air eating through their nerves.

A human paused for a moment, drawing back his bowstring with all his might.

The next moment, he let loose.

A blackwood arrow was shot into the air, its head spiraling as it cut through the air.

It traveled in a brilliant arc.

This was possibly the best shot this human archer had ever made in his life. And the best he probably would ever make too.

The arrow descended quickly, its aim true, flying right into the eye of an enormous Devil.

The runic enchantments on the arrow lit up.

A second later, it exploded in a bright flash of blue flames, turning the left side of the Devil's head into a burnt, smoldering hole.

The Devil was dead before it hit the ground.

The carnaged passed by Cain.

From both sides.

He didn't say a word.

Didn't need to.

He didn't move.

The air was thick with burnt ash and rotting frost. And the two armies had not even clashed yet.

The roars had finally reached him.

The army of humans parted around him, rushing forward with boiling, fear-filled battle lust.

It was truly scenic...

Sue and Ruby went ahead as well, claws and fire joining the carnage, leaving him behind.

He stood still, head slightly bowed, eyes fixed forward, his eyes fixed ahead..

The green mist swirled on the other side.

And from it, Greotes floated.

A twisted being. Fuming. Skin cracked and leaking miasma.

"Why didn't you just kill him?!" Greotes spat at Inixth furiously, voice jagged with rage.

Inixith didn't answer him. He didn't even look at him.

His eyes were fixed on Cain.

Then the {Chaos Reaper Imp} took a measured step forward.

"I asked you a question!" Greotes roared, his flames spiking.

Inixth's gaze flicked to him,

"Let me make this clear, Greotes. I don't answer to you. You don't demand answers from me."

"Well, because of you, this damned human had cut out resources down by a tenth. I wonder who's head would end up on a spike because of this." Greotes said with a growl.

Then he sighed,

"Go and handle it now. I don't want to have to kill you myself."

Inixth sneered, "Don't worry. You won't need to."

Greotes stopped speaking as he watched Inixith draw his blade and turn into a shooting star.

He sighed. His clawed fingers began twisting into hand seals.

The bile green mist above him churned and began to move forward.

Cain's eyes narrowed.

He raised a hand.

A rift opened in the sky.

From it, a loud hiss came. Then, the {Argent Amphithere} dropped from the heavens like a lance, streaks of silver light streaming off its wings.

From the shadows beneath him, {Dark Soul} oozed out its shadowy body undulating as if combined with the darkness, making it fuller and much more tenebrous.

He gave them a mental command.

"Join them,"

The creatures, bound to him by flesh and blood, understood.

The sky serpent hissed and dove.

The {Dark Soul} slid forward within the darkness, unseen and filled with a dark hunger.

Once they were gone, Cain stabbed {Eidwyrm} into the ground

And then he waited...

***

Floki was the first to reach the first wave of Devils.

He didn't slow down, instead hiding his head behind his enormous shield.

With a heavy grunt, he felt several thousand tons of force smash into him.

His entire body trembled from the force.

Luckily, he didn't have to bear the weight of the entire Devil Army alone. Thousands of heavy tower shields were already lined up, pushing back against the force of darkness.

With a mad roar, Floki pushed even harder.

His axe cleaved into the first Devils skull and didn't stop moving.

Blood sprayed into the air, freezing into crimson ruby drops mid-flight.

He groaned when a large axe smashed into his shoulder paldrons. It tore right through his armor and bit into his flesh, his blood streaming down.

With a snarl, he shifted his weight and smashed his axe into the Devil's chest, knocking it back.

With another st ile, he sent its head flying.

He wore a dark grimace on his face.

This battle was going to be a long, painful one...

Beside him, Reginald smashed through the Devil ranks like a falling star, swinging his enormous battle hammer wildly. Mana swirled at its end, sending it crashing down, crushing through the exoskeletal armor of a Devil, pureeing its flesh within.

To his side, Luke jumped over the line of tower shields.

He turned into a fast moving phantom, soaring above the Devils.

His blade dragged through the air, carving black lines that hissed and smoked.

The first Devil that lunged at him, reaching its clawed hands and bladed forelimbs at him.

Its natural weapons were so sharp, even the slightest contact with it would sheer through his bones like a hot knife through butter.

Luke's gaze remained calm.

The blade in his hand cut through the air quick.

A fountain of blood blossomed into the air like rose petals.

It lost its head before it could do anything.

He swung again. The second didn't have any time to scream as its face was carved off its head. Even with their strong vitality, there was only so much brutality a creature could endure.

The third managed to block his sword.

Luke frowned.

He glanced down.

This Devil looked different. It was huge and wielding a strange, curved greatsword made from some unknown grey metal.

Its face was hidden behind the vicious visor of its exoskeletal armor.

The Devil exerted force to its sword, sliding his off, aiming for his neck. With a swift kick off the air, Like jumped back and made some distance.

The two of them remained motionless for a moment.

Then they dashed forward.

Winifred hovered behind them all, his fingertips glowing, magic crackling in the air all around him as he cast spells after spell.

Just like Steve, he was a powerful mage, focused more on control spells than destructive ones.

With every breath he uttered, curses and chains bound the Devils before the human army, making it easier to cut them down.

The air was heavy with chaos and slaughter.

Humans and Devils fell in equal measure.

This was just the beginning...

***

Cain and Inixth stood opposite each other, right in the center of the land bridge.

Behind them, the two armies waged a bloody war.

Clad in his silver armor, with an enormous sword resting in the ground before him, Cain was like a divine general.

He stretched his arm and pulled {Eidwyrm} out of the ground.

A blade of death.

Inixth's weapon grew from his palm. A wickedly curved scythe.

To their side, two chasms of dark abyss stretched.

"You... We've met before, haven't we?" Inixth suddenly started.

He watched as the strange human warrior tilted his head,

"If I have seen your ugly face before, I definitely wouldn't forget it."

He paused for a moment,

'Could it be...'

He suddenly remembered, a few Urbus months ago...

Just when he had come back to the City of Zoan, before he could escape the Devil Horde that had chased him down, he had been stabbed and killed by a certain Devil.

He held up his sword,

"No, wait. Maybe we have met before."

Inixith cackled,

"I do not believe there has been a single human to encounter me and live since I was reborn into the lowly world. This is truly perplexing."

Cain sneered,

"Well, count your lucky stars, Devil. I have come back from the Othershore to send you there."