God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The silence was solemn and stretched as far as the Evernight sky did...

The crackling of flames brought Cain back to reality.

He quickly remembered where he was and why.

He glanced down at his body.

He was covered in bandages from head to toe.

The battle with Inixth had felt his vitality extremely low. Because of that, his healing factor had failed to kick in, leaving him with terrible wounds all over his body.

He chuckled bitterly to himself.

'At least I'm still alive.'

The Devil he had fought, on the other hand, had not been so lucky.

In the end, he had managed to kill the Devil, albeit at the very steep cost of almost losing his own life.

***

{Congratulations to Host... You have slain the Chaos Reaper Imp, Inixth}.

{+50,000 Free Attribute Points}.

***

He had not received any special rewards this time.

Instead, he had received a numbing amount of free attribute points. He had chosen to pour a majority of them into strength, agility and magic immediately.

The battle with Inixth had been eye-opening.

Thanks to it, he had also evolved his sword technique. He could thank the Devil for that at the very least, having pushed his back to a corner, he had been left with no option but to grow.

He sighed.

The silent mourning continued.

Suppressed cries and sniffles came from the side.

He glanced over.

Steve stood in front of Leah, Roselle, Kai and Lin Lin, his head dropped with a difficult expression on his face.

He said nothing, he didn't move too.

He just stood there while the girls cried or tried to hold back their tears.

Sisi had died during the battle.

He didn't have much of an impression of her, only that she was a gentle soul, and had been with the beast girls from the beginning.

He also remembered she was the only one that had been able to resist Stingè's mental enchantment all that time ago.

Now, she laid a few meters away from them, alongside the other thousands of corpses they had managed to salvage.

It was sad, but eye-opening.

None of them were face from the bitter, cold hands of death.

In a battle as terrible as this, no one was above death. It was the rule and the law...

The flames licked the corpses, the scent of burning flesh rising to the sky alongside a dark smoke.

They had to burn the corpses to prevent any of the dead to return as Zombies influenced by the devilish miasma.

He turned to the side when he heard footsteps.

Steve had returned to the side.

The orange flames were reflected in the depths of his eyes.

"I messed up. I should have been more attentive. I own up to it." Steve said calmly.

Cain raised a brow then shrugged,

"It doesn't matter. What's done is done. There isn't anything we can do about it, I guess."

Steve pursed his lips,

"That might be true, but I still feel like shit."

Cain sighed and turned. Seeing Roselle weeping hard, he shook his head,

"No. You did your best. I think we all did."

They remained silent for some time, a dark melancholy settling between them.

Hearing footsteps approaching from behind him, Cain didn't bother turning back.

"I just spoke to Lukas. Things aren't going well over there." Cain heard Hunter's voice before he saw him.

He turned slightly,

"How bad did he say it is?"

"Very bad. It will be best to send help as soon as possible." Hunter said casually.

Cain nodded,

"Tell Floki and Luke to return and head over as soon as possible. We'll hold things down here."

Hunter raised a brow,

"Are you sure?"

He paused then glanced around,

"If so many people leave, we'll lose this place in less than a day."

Cain shook his head and turned to Steve,

"How bad are our losses?"

Steve scratched his head,

"We lost a fair bit above five thousand, but the Devils lost more than twenty thousand, and even more Zombies."

Cain raised a brow,

"That much?" He couldn't help but be surprised.

Steven chuckled mirthfully,

"Well, most of their casualties came from the stunt you and Sue pulled off. That was beyond impressed, I'd say."

Cain smiled wryly, but didn't respond.

"It might look like a lot, but they can afford losses of that magnitude. We on the other hand, can't. If we keep losing people, we won't last through the week."

Cain rubbed his chin,

"Still, I think that end is still more important."

He paused for a moment then added,

"We'll think of something. For now, let everyone get some rest."

***

It truly was impossible to tell when the night ended and the day begun in this world of perpetual darkness.

People slept when they were tired, ate when they were hungry, and drank when they felt thirst.

A lot of tents made from duskkin hide had been set up a distance away from the mouth of the chasms and the land bridge.

Cain was happy to get his own private tent.

Although it was a bit cold, it was a quiet.

Exactly what he needed.

Quiet to think.

He lay there in the silence for a moment, his mind completely occupied.

Suddenly, the flap of his tent rose and fell.

He raised a brow and looked over.

He felt his heartrate spike.

Was it an assassin sent to take him out when he was down?

Or maybe a Devil with skills that could make it invincible?

Very quickly, his question was answered.

Standing over him was Roselle, her eyes and nose still a bit red from having cried so much.

Cain was surprised. He hadn't expected to see her at all.

He sat up.

They both were still in silence for a moment, neither knowing what to say.

Eventually, Cain chuckled nervously,

"You want to have a seat?"

Roselle's checks flushed red and she nodded.

The tents were only spacious enough for one person. Two people in here made it feel a bit stuffy.

Still, Cain didn't mind.

Roselle sat down beside him.

Another long silence stretched out between them.

"How are you feeling?" Roselle suddenly asked.

Cain looked down at his beaten body and chuckled,

"I'll live."

He paused for a moment then turned to her,

"What about you?"

She opened her mouth to say something, but the words were unable to come out.

Cain sighed internally.

'I shouldn't have said that.'

It was all too fresh. Talking about it could have an adverse effect.

But he couldn't change the subject.

"It feels surreal, you know..." Roselle said softly.

Cain fell silent.

"You know, its been months since I've seen my parents. I think they are most likely dead by now. But despite knowing that, I didn't feel sad. My father remarried after my mother died so I haven't felt particularly close to my family for a long time..."

She paused for a moment, then turned to look at him.

Out of all those touched by the Divine power of the Beast God, Pluto, she was the only one to have inherited very little beastly features. So much so, he didn't know exactly the nature of her beastly traits.

All he did know, was that she had indeed turned into something not wholly human.

Seeing her stare at him with those strange, but beautiful eyes, Cain felt a flame burn within him.

His face paled.

"So why... Why does it feel so painful? Will I die just like this? Will you die and leave me too?!"

Tiny crystal droplets slid down the side of her face.

Cain froze, the flame in his loins cooling down.

He sighed and grabbed her shoulders.

Roselle's eyes widened as she stared right into his eyes.

Cain pursed his lips.

He still had no idea what to say.

"I'm not very good with things like this. But..."

He took a second to gather his thoughts,

"But I can assure you one thing. She wouldn't want you to be sad."

He thought back to his own life before the apocalypse.

It had been bleak and dull. He wouldn't have minded if it had ended early too.

But once color appeared in his life, the good and the bad, the dark and the light... They all began to possess their own unique hue, so much so, he was able to appreciate it all in equal measure.

If he was given the chance, he would rather not return to such a life.

But at the same time, seeing color hurt just as much as it was euphoric.

A rather strange complexity.

He was forced to confront parts of him he didn't know existed.

He was forced to face his thoughts and character head on.

And most importantly, he was forced to face death.

In more ways than none.

So he had a bit of experience with it...

And he knew the dead, especially someone as kind-hearted as Sisi, wouldn't want her friends to mourn over her too much.

"Are you sure?" Roselle asked in a trembling voice, her body fragile and soft.

Cain smiled softly,

"Of course I'm sure."

Even if that was not the case, even if Sisi was not resigned with her death, they could do nothing about it. The dead were not privileged enough to have regrets. It was a right reserved only for the living...

At least that was what he thought.

Of course, Roselle didn't have to know this...

Suddenly, Cain's eyes widened when he felt something soft press against his lips.