God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The mutant had activated two of its most powerful skills at once, {Bloodlust}, and {Blood Berserk}.

{Blood Berserk} was a skill similar to Cain's {Golden Blood}, in the sense that it provided a qualitative boost to its physical stats. Its already disgustingly powerful stats had increased even more.

{Bloodlust} was an aura skill that suppressed the power of its opponents. It used blood elemental mana to slow down the flow of blood of its enemy, causing the enemy to be weakened and sluggish.

{You are under the effects of bloodlust}.

{All physical stats decreased by 20℅}.

It was a very powerful skill, and it affected almost everyone, including Cain. He could feel his physical stats drop drastically. He looked all around him, and to his surprise, he noticed that the only one who wasn't affected by the skill was Evangeline.

However, she who had had a nonchalant attitude to the fight now wore a serious expression. She pulled out a set of beautiful steel daggers that had devilish red inscriptions on them. From the looks of it, she was finally going to join the fight.

ROAR!

The others were blown back by the effects of its aura. They could feel a sense of dread enveloping them, as they hadn't expected the opponent to be so tough. They hadn't completely given up on attacking though.

To have survived this long, they all had to have a certain level of grit, as well as a generous portion of craziness in them. They were affected by the aura, but that didn't stop them from attacking.

"Elemental Snipe: Lightning Storm!"

"Wind blade arte: Whirlwind."

"Scorching Spear: Tornado of Flames."

They all attacked with their most powerful skills, all of them managing to deal varying levels of damage to the beast, but...

It wasn't enough...

With a swipe of its claw, death approached Manny and Blaze who were attacking the beast from the front.

"Crimson Cross!"

David made it in time to block the attack, a crimson shield appearing to block the attack, but the force behind it was too much for him to bear.

David, as well as Manny and Blaze, were blasted away by the remaining power. Although they weren't injured, they were disoriented by the shock, especially David who had to bear the full brunt of the attack.

'Seems like it's done playing around, huh?'

The beast let out a roar of unbridled rage. Cain had mutilated its hand, causing it to lose all reasoning. All it saw was red, the power of blood completely affecting its mind. All it wanted to do was devour the creature that had caused it so much pain.

Everyone, including Cain, could understand the severity of the situation now.

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'It looks like my initial guess was wrong. However, it doesn't matter.'

The opponent before him was strong, but before his blade, it was still going to fall.

Inhale...

Exhale...

Cain took deep breaths, then activated one of his skills...

"Fear."

{Fear} (passive): Release a malevolent aura akin to a devil, inflicting fear onto your opponent. Decreases opponent movement and attack speed by 5%.

The eye on the hilt of the {Devil's Broken Claw} had previously been closed, opened. I that instant, everyone, including Cain and the supercharged mutant sensed a deep feeling of fear wash over them. It was like totally different from the effects of {Bloodlust}.

If {Bloodlust} was like a volcanic eruption, then the effects of {Fear} would be equivalent to drowning. They would both take your life, but one would do so slower and more painfully.

A dark aura burst out from the sword, enveloping the area around Cain and the mutant. The aura felt damp and cold, similar to the aura the devils gave off. It stuck to the blade like tongues of black fire, reducing the illumination around him.

'Interesting...'

The two auras clashed, fighting to see who would come out superior. Cain had activated the skill simply because of the advantage it would provide for him. He concluded that even if he activated {Golden Blood}, the monster would still be more powerful than him.

Hence, he needed all the power he could get.

The mutant had a brief moment of pause, but it was surrounded by its aura. Plus, the effects of {Fear} were weak, for the time being...

Before the mutant decided to attack, Cain activated his strongest skill.

"Golden Blood."

Cain let out a grunt as thick veins of gold began appearing on his skin. His eyes turned a pale red, and a golden aura exploded around him.

As expected, the mutant got on all fours. With a single push, it burst forward like a flash of red.

Before a second could its conclusion, its outstretched claws were already above Cain's head. The full brunt of its aura came crashing down on his head like a tidal wave. Activating {Burst Step}, Cain shifted to the side, completely avoiding the attack.

The ground he had been standing on previously shattered under the full-powered strike of the mutant.

Once again, the clash between metal and bone began...

Although Cain had {Golden Severance}, the skill wasn't without its flaws. He needed time to charge it up and deal the blow without the mutant avoiding it. If he failed to kill the mutant with the skill, he would have to wait a full minute before he would be able to use it again.

If he did that, he would be walking on thin ice, as the monster was stronger and faster than him even with his {Golden Blood}. He was able to fight evenly with it because of how good he was with the blade.

He moved it like it was an extension of his body, pairing strikes he knew he couldn't bear the force of, and dealing swift, but nasty counters. Coupled with his high control and perception, he was able to maintain an advantage.

However, he wasn't perfect. He could also make a mistake that would cost him dearly. A single strike from the beast would lead to him suffering a crippling injury. He'd be put out of the fight if he wasn't killed outright.

Another option was to use his {Metal Creation} skill to increase his defense, but he wasn't a defensive fighter at heart. The way he learned to fight was to use all means available, even at the expense of his own life, to deal the most amount of damage, as quickly as possible to the enemy.

'I have to find a way to disable this thing, even if it's just for a moment.'

Cain used the flat of his blade to smack the paw of the mutant away while dodging its opened mouth that attempted to take a bite off his head.

"Metal Creation: Fetters of Iron."

Claims of metal appeared out of thin air, binding the limbs of the mutant. However, this wasn't even able to stop the beast for half a second. The metal chains were shattered to pieces by the beast without any pause.

"..."

'This skill is pretty useless!'

To Cain, his {Metal Creation} skill was currently the weakest in his arsenal. If it wasn't paired with {Metal Manipulation}, it would only be sufficient to take care of low leveled trash.

But he recognized its potential. If he could find more ways to be creative with the skill, it might turn into something as or even more frightening than his {Golden Blood} skill. But for now, it was the weakest skill he possessed. But it certainly wasn't useless.

In fact, it was the basis for his most powerful attack skill, {Golden Severance}.

Cain and the mutant exchanged blows back and forth for a while before it finally hit him. Not just the clawed paw of the mutant, but how he could finally beat the thing.

RIP!

Cain was sent flying, blood spilling from the side of his mouth. He had made an error when trying to dodge, because he had been distracted by his thoughts, earning him a nasty cut across his chest and torso.

He got off with a lighter injury because he was able to respond on time and offset most of the damage. The clothes he was wearing quickly soaked up the blood, and his face turned a bit pale. He did a flip in the air to avoid any follow-up attack and was able to land steadily on his feet.

"Cain!"

"Boss!"

Susan and Vincent cried out his name. They looked morbid at the sight of him being attacked. The look of worry on the face of Susan was as real as it could get.

"It's alright."

That was why they were both shocked to see that he still had a smile on his face. He didn't even have the expression of someone that had almost been split into two. The grin on his face told them only one thing.

'This bastard is... EXCITED!"

The mutant was building up power, getting ready to deal the final blow to its prey. But Cain had other plans...

"Hey, guys! Why am I the only one fighting, huh?!"

'This is the reason why I joined this group.'

"Am I the only one who can hold his weapon, huh?!"

He had joined the group not to risk his life for them, or to protect them.

No...

He joined them because he needed strong comrades. He realized that individual strength can only take one so far. Personal power was important, but the future was still uncertain. He needed as much power as he could get.

He didn't need useless teammates. What he needed were those who could fight,

Those who could fight for their survival.

For their interests...

Those who were weak-willed, he didn't want anything to do with...

The others stared, shell-shocked by his words.

"Who you calling a pussy, huh?!"

Manny walked forward, a huge shit eating grin on his face as he drew his swords, the aura of the wind element surrounding his body.

"I can lift my sword, I can fight!"

"Yeah, Boss! Don't count me out on the fun!"

Vincent tapped the barrel of his gun, the engravings lighting up with a magical light.

"I can fight as well. For my honor, I must live to protect those who can't." Blaze said as he tightened his grip on his spear. Bright flames exploded from the body of the weapon, painting his features in a heroic light.

"Don't count me out yet. I can still fight as well." Susan said, a look of resolution flashing across her face.

"The great I will hold onto my weapon even onto my dying breath." With a wave of his staff, Steve conjured the elemental mana in the environment.

"Hmmm."

Hunter narrowed his eyes at Cain, but that didn't stop him from getting into an attacking stance. Dan did the same as his friend and quickly turned into a giant of ice.

Evangeline said nothing dashing straight at the beast.

'It seems like I made the right choice.'

Cain nodded his head in satisfaction.

"Now, its time to end this."