God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Time didn't wait.

Sucking in a deep breath, Cain's eyes widened and his veins bulged as gripped his blade tightly, ignoring the slick blood.

Then he sprinted forward. His breath was stuck in his chest, giving him no time to breathe.

Inixth raised his scythe again, spinning it once before dragging the edge low. The blade split the stone like fabric.

Cain slid under the sweep, boots skidding.

He let go of {Eidwyrm} mid-slide. It hovered above him for a moment.

His finger twitched. A golden blade shot behind the Devil.

{Nexus Tether} swapped.

He reappeared behind the Devil.

Inixth's eyes widened as his head whipped around.

Behind him was a plethora of floating golden blades.

Waving his hand, the floating weapons shot forward in one seamless motion.

Grabbing one of the swords, Cain shot forward together with the flying swords. The around him crackled and burned

His scythe spinning rapidly, Inixth began knocking the blades out of the air as he retreated.

But Cain was already mid-swing, not giving him any breathing room.

'Those blades don't deal a lot of damage. If I can lure him in, then—'

Before the thought could be completely formed, Inixth watched as the small, thin, star-tipped golden blade in the human's hands was replaced by the much larger, much more devastating {Eidwyrm}.

{Eidwyrm} slammed into the Devil's flank.

The force knocked Inixth off balance. His left leg dragged in the dirt as he stumbled.

Cain pressed.

One-handed, he spun his blade and brought it down.

The Devil blocked it. But not clean enough.

Inixth's scythe caught the strike at a bad angle.

The impact tore the weapon from his hands.

Cain quickly stepped into the Devil's space...

And punched the Devil right across the face.

A sharp crunch.

Exoskeletal fragments scattered across the ground.

Inixth reeled backwards, his legs lifting off the ground as he fell heavily.

As he floated through the air, the {Chaos Reaper Imp} became dazed.

It was as though he couldn't believe he had just been slugged across the face.

Regardless, Cain didn't relent. He cut forward again, the edge of his sword thrumming with power.

The blade cut a red line across the Devil's abdomen, ripping through armor and skin.

With a hiss, Inixth stepped back, its eyes glowing with red hot rage.

He attacked again. A vicious diagonal slash, low to high.

Cain deflected, letting the curve of the scythe ride up his blade, then twisted his wrists and struck.

Steel bit into armor.

Sparks. No blood.

Inixth reeled back, shifting his footing. His next swing came faster, cutting through the air horizontally in a blur.

Cain ducked, kicked forward, and closed the gap. Slammed his elbow into the Devil's chest. Armor cracked. He followed through with a rising cleave, aiming to split the Devil from groin to chin.

Reality seemed to slow down for a moment.

The primal instincts of the Devil kicked in at the last moment and it Blocked.

Just barely...

The scythe groaned as it caught the brunt of {Eidwyrm}'s weight.

Cain had turned into the beast, constantly pressing the advantage and refusing to let up.

'How?!'

He pivoted. Spun on his heel. Drove his sword down from above.

Inixth sidestepped and countered with a rising hook, the back edge of the scythe scraping through enchanted metal.

It tore across Cain's ribs, sending a fountain of blood gushing into the ground.

Cain grunted as he flinched and stumbled back.

Inixth sent a beam of concentrated Devil Essence. The sharp beam of sword energy cut towards him faster than his eyes could follow.

Tilting his body on instinct, he dodged the energy ray. However, Inixth took the chance to close the distance.

Cain felt his world shake as a solid right hook was planted into the side of his face.

'Freaking bastard!'

He pivoted on his heels and used the momentum to twist and slam the hilt of his sword into the Devil's jaw.

Crack.

Inixth's head snapped sideways. Cain stepped in and stabbed.

The Devil turned, just enough. The blade sank deep into his shoulder instead of his throat.

Cain ripped it free.

Black ichor sprayed the ground.

For a moment, just for one moment, Inixth, the {Chaos Reaper Imp} was on the defensive.

The Devil couldn't believe it.

He was meant to be more powerful than any being native to this backwater world.

On the hierarchy of beings of the totem pole of the universe, humans were at the bottom of the barrel, with some considering them to be less than beasts due to their profound weakness and limited potential.

Devils on the other hand, were at the very top of the pole, with potential and power that could rival the gods themselves.

'How?! How is this happening?!' Inixth roared internally.

He had killed this human before. And yet, it had come back from the dead.

At first he had been intrigued, but the battle had suddenly become a close cut one.

Not, every exchange could lead to his death.

Despite the feeling of rage bubbling within, the Devil also felt another emotion.

One it didn't think it had ever felt before.

It was strange, unfamiliar, and alien.

The Devil was unable to hide its grin.

Cain pressed his boots into the cracked stone, rushed him down.

Swing. Swing. Thrust. Flick.

Every angle. Every feint followed by steel. He moved like flowing water despite his heavy weapon.

Erratic and impossible to predict. He was fighting on instinct. The blade in his hand was like a leave, fluttering and thrumming in the wind.

There was and was no rhythm, creating a strange, discordant symphony.

A chaotic malady.

Inixth blocked one, deflected the second, but the third caught him in the leg.

His movement slowed.

Cain slid forward low and cut wide with a brutal cleave towards the Devil's midsection.

Inixth leapt, twisted midair, scythe dragging behind him like a comet tail the entirety of the blade crackled with crimson lightning.

Then it dropped, pointy edge first.

The world exploded violently with chaos.

Cain barely blocked it. The force sent cracks through the earth beneath him.

He groan as several invincible blade sliced into his face, drawing blood.

They broke apart.

Cain's chest heaved. Blood slid from his ribs, and his face, soaking into his armor.

He rolled his shoulder and kept his stance. In this state of heightened focus, it was rather easy to ignore the pain.

But it was still there. As a subtle reminder of ever clash and every error he made.

Inixth, the Devil, bled too. From the shoulder, from his lip, from a narrow slash above his brow. He flashed Cain a bloody grin through his teeth.

"This is more like it," he hissed.

Cain said nothing.

His breathing slowed and his tense nerves relaxed.

The wind tickled the hairs on his skin.

The more they fought, the deeper his understanding of the Devil.

Its style of battle was extremely aggressive and arrogant, placing importance on dominating its opponent with power and speed.

The reason he had lost was because he had been unprepared to face something like that.

He shifted his legs. And then he lunged.

Their blades met again.

A tight exchange— six hits in four seconds.

Then ten.

Then twenty.

They fought across the land bridge like phantoms. Cutting, sliding, countering, blocking. Dust rose in walls around them, kicked up from every step. Blood stained the ground in streaks and pools.

Inixth's scythe caught Cain's thigh— Cain's blade opened the Devil's bicep.

They split.

Cain exhaled slowly. The world opened up to him, revealing everything bare.

His sword dipped just a little. His arm trembled, not from fear of losing his life, but from the strain of overexertion.

Inixth noticed.

The Devil's mind spun as it charged.

A full-body spin. The scythe came arcing around, a blow meant to take Cain's head from his shoulders.

Cain didn't move. Didn't flinch.

At the last possible instant, he dropped down to one knee, his sword held high.

The scythe passed over his head, harmless.

Cain surged upward—blade-first.

The uppercut slash caught the Devil clean in the abdomen.

Steel punched through armor and flesh.

Inixth's breath hitched.

Cain roared—twisted the blade mid-thrust—and ripped it free in a sideways arc.

The Devil staggered back, bleeding hard.

He coughed once.

Cain stood tall.

Sword at his side. Breathing like a furnace. Eyes locked forward.

Inixth dropped to a knee.

Their eyes met.

Cain took one step forward.

Another.

But Inixth surged again, a guttural roar coming from his throat. He springed from the ground in a wild slash. Cain barely parried then took a cut across the shoulder. He responded with a ruthless counter that split Inixth's forearm to the elbow.

The Devil hissed in pain.

The next clash sent both flying backwards from the sheer impact. Cain flipped midair, landed in a crouch, boots skidding. Inixth crashed into a shattered pile of rocks.

Cain gritted his teeth, wiped blood from his mouth. The sword in his hand trembled and his body felt like it was on fire.

But he stood.

And so did Inixth.

All that separated them was the distance between their weapons.

Their breathing heavy, they launched at each other again.

Steel clanged. Stone cracked.

Cain ducked under a high sweep, stepped inside the Devil's guard, and hammered an elbow into his throat.

Inixth stumbled.

Cain brought the sword up, angled at the Devil's chest.

And then he stabbed.