God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain scratched his head,

"What's this about now? Where is this coming from?"

Lucia shook her head slowly,

"I just wanted to know."

Her eyes were a bit dark, "Everyone here, regardless of what we are now, were something else in the past, completely different for some."

Cain sighed. Truly, was now the best time to be thinking about such things?

The past was meant to stay in the past. Nothing good ever came from digging up the past besides old, musty feelings and regrets.

Although, Cain couldn't say the same, as there was not much he could regret.

Seeing Lucia's insisted eyes, he wanted so badly to refuse. But instead,

He sighed, "I was a student, not popular by any means, just ordinary, going through life, I guess..."

Lucia narrowed her eyes "You? Are you lying to me?"

Cain rolled his eyes, "What do you mean by that?"

Lucia chuckled then shook her head,

"I'm just surprised. You don't seem like the type to be all low-key and mysterious."

Cain snorted, "What's that supposed to mean? I'm plenty mysterious, aren't I?"

Lucia snorted, "Sure, sure..."

Cain shook his head then turned to her,

"What about you? What were you before the world went to shit?"

Lucia smiled, "I was in the Defense Academy. Me, Khan and Boulder go a long way back, actually. Most of our buddies from the Defense Academy are dead though. We are all that's left."

Cain could see the sadness enveloping her, like the shroud of moonlight covered this dark land.

'I need to leave this place soon. This moonlight keeps distracting me!'

Shaking his head, Cain spoke softly,

"Well, I had someone close to me die not too long ago."

Cain's thoughts drifted to David. He smiled softly,

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"We weren't that close, but we were close enough for his death to sting a little bit."

Lucia fell silent for a moment,

"What did him in?"

Cain's smile turned a bit dark,

"A manical bastard I've fortunately put to rest at sea. Doesn't even have a gravestone..."

Lucia nodded, her expression a bit complicated.

Cain shrugged, "This is the path I've chosen to go down on. It's kill or be killed. Not much choice left."

Cain's demeanor seems to go through a metamorphosis as he spoke,

"It may not seem like it, but I did go through a difficult time, accepting other humans dying at my own hands. At first, before the reality of it all sank in back then, I would say I was a bit naive. All of it was fresh and exciting; a whole new world. A place where I could finally spread my wings, despite the bloodshed."

"A place where I could reborn anew, leaving that old, boring, uneventful, dark life behind me. It was a door, an escape route. The unfortunate part of this story, is that once I stepped through the door, there was no way out. Now that I'm trapped in here, I can say wholeheartedly, this isn't what I expected at all."

Cain chuckled, "It's much better and worse at the same time."

He clenched his fists,

"Because I have all this strength, I have an equal amount of responsibility to bear. The price for wearing the crown is having a heavy ass sword hang above your head by a thread. Quite exhausting..."

Once he was done with his tirade, Cain leaned back and closed his eyes.

Who knew he would have needed an outlet to vent.

He was far more stressed than he let on. Still, he wasn't going to stop. Instead, the words he had just spoken without thinking about, were like a push onto the path he needed to thresd. No hesitating...

This was what he needed the most.

A shift in perspective...

He needd to accept more responsibility and start treating things more seriously. He couldn't afford to do things halfheartedly now that there were lives on the line. There had always been lives on the line, but it had never set in how much so until now.

A life, just as it was fragile, was also very valuable, practically priceless.

Losing them in this place meant throwing away an already scarce resource.

Lucia seemed a bit taken aback.

A smile slowly spread on her face, "Is that so..."

Then she nodded, "Alright, I'm feeling better!"

Cain chuckled, "Was this whole tall meant yo just make you feel better? I thought we were bonding?"

Lucia rolled her eyes with a slight smirk,

"In your dreams.wait tool you grow a few more hairs on your chin before all that."

Cain chuckled, but said nothing more.

Now that there was an established relationship between the both of them, he only wished things would be better going forward in terms of their communication.

They all rested for a few hours, with Cain, Boulder, Khan, and Boulder rotating the shifts.

Eventually, when they were all rested up, Boulder had them all stand up and head out of the building.

It would take them at least a couple of days to get back. Once he did, Cain had already decided on the best way to draw up the magic circles. Not only that, but with the new magic he had discovered on the road, he had no doubts it would be something extraordinary.

But first, they had to conquer the death trap, which was the path back home.

***

Once they crossed the border, the first Devils they spotted, were the {Sentinel Drones}.

Floating around like lifeless orbs of darkness, the Sentinels were the eyes of the main hive, as well as weaves in net. If you touched even a single one of them, the entire nest would be on your neck in a split second.

As always, getting past the Sentinels was the hardest part. Sneaking about wasn't very convenient, but they had no other choice. It was do this, die, or use that strange teleportation effect. Which wouldn't have the same influence if he used {Spatial Jump}.

He would be able to cross a great distance, but but enough. It was a few days journey at least...

It only took Cain a few minutes to notice something odd.

He turned to Boulder and spoke in a whisper,

"They seem extra cautious. What's happening?"

Boulder shrugged, "It's probably thanks to that stunt you pulled."

Cain chuckled nervously, "But that was so many days ago, right?"

Khan shook his head, "Devils are known for how thorough they are. If they haven't found us, they won't stop looking."

Cain sighed. With the Devils actively looking for them, making their way back would be far more difficult than expected.

Cain turned back to Khan, "Stealth spells will work, right?"

Khan nodded, then sighed,

"Yeah, but only from the Sentinels, and that's of we are extra careful. Sticking to the shadows should do the truck, but note that we won't be safe from the other Devils that way."

Cain massaged his temples. With so many factors to consider, they were a single mistake away from getting noticed.

'No, it's too risky. I can control my actions, but should just a single person be noticed, it's on all of us.'

Cain frowned then signalled to Boulder,

"Can you guys wait for a moment? Let me thing of something."

Boulder raised a brow, "You have another idea?"

Cain nodded, "Yeah, but I don't know if it will work yet. I need to prepare a few things."

Boulder stared at him deeply for a few seconds, then nodded,

"Alright. What do you have in mind..."

Cain grinned, "Basically..."

He pointed at himself,

"I plan to use myself as a diversion..."

Boulder immediately shook his head,

"Sorry, that's out of the question. A part of my duties this mission was to make sure you came back alive."

Cain shook his hands, "No, not like that. Well, it's better if I show you."

With all of them watching him curiously, Cain got to work.

The new form of sorcery he had discovered, was not actually new. Instead, it was a form of Blood Magic, which was a Heretical magic in most parts of the realms.

Using such magic was known to be unpredictable, according to the system, but as long as he had good control over it, he should be fine for the time being.

The first thing he did was make a small cut in his index finger. The blood flowd out of the cut and was suspended in the air. Closing his eyes, he used the blood to etch a few runes into the air. This runes shimmered and undulated several times before he finally began constructing the mana circle to give the spell shape.

It took him a few minutes, but he was finally done.

The Nexus of the magic circle pulled in mana from its surroundings.

A coating of what seemed to be lustrous steel began to form, created from this gradual attraction of metal elemental mana.

Until eventually, much to everyone's shock, a steel effigy of a human was created. It's likeness and proportions were incredibly human, of course without any of the facial features and foner details.

Cain wiped the sweat of his brows with a grin,

"This should work..."

With just a thought, the Steel Effigy, or more accurately, the {Iron Flesh Puppet} moved.

At first, its movements were stiff and mechanical, but after some time, its limbs began moving fine.

Everyone recoiled backwards in fear and shock.

"What the hell is this?!"

"Is this true sorcerery?! Is it a monster?! Can we kill it?!"

"Cain, whatever this is, get rid of it now!"

Cain shrugged as he patted the shoulder of the {Iron Flesh Puppet},

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you... The new Us!"