God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Having just gotten back from such a treacherous journey, it was time for them to split up.

Extending his hand, Boulder offered Cain a handshake which he took graciously.

"I'll be giving the General a report. Hopefully, we can get you on his good side soon."

Cain chuckled dryly, "That doesn't seem like a bad idea."

Boulder gave him a small smile,

"It doesn't indeed. There's a lot to unpack. We lost quite a number, but we managed to complete the mission, so I wouldn't say it was a failure."

Khan nodded with a smile, "Hopefully, we can have you accompany us on future missions."

Lucia snorted, "I don't care. You were helpful just a bit."

Cain shook his head then turned around with a smile,

"Tell the General I'll come find him later. For now, I'll go get some rest."

Of course, Cain wasn't going to get some rest.

Instead, he was about to use the Devil blood he had gathered to draw a giant magic circle that would serve as a connection between the {Spatial Gate} on Gwendolyn, and the Dome of Sands.

Once the tether was placed and a connection was established, it wouldn't be impossible for him to consume this place from the inside out, making it his own; a proper landing base for reclaiming lost land, or something like that...

He walked towards the familiar building. On his way, there were numerous people standing, sitting and lying on the road without any protection from the elements besides the shadows cast by the tall buildings.

Staying in the buildings was a privilege. Now that Boulder and the others had returned with a fresh batch of food, perhaps things wouldn't be as bad now.

Perhaps they wanted to die quickly, because the chilling cold that was present outside was very efficient when it came to claiming lives.

Either way, there were plenty people that chose to stay on the side of the road. Cain stared at their hollow eyes and gaunt cheekbones. Most of them had white, pasty skin, and they looked ready to collapse at any moment.

There weren't many children around either. Most of them were dead, as a young human didn't have what it took to survive for a long time in this era of magic and death.

Cain didn't think he had seen a single child since the beginning of the apocalypse. And if he had, they were probably long dead already if they weren't blessed by the system.

It was a sad reality, but it was reality nonetheless...

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As he walked towards the building, numerous hungry eyes followed him. These people had little to no idea who he was. However, their eyes followed him, as they hoped perhaps he would have enough mercy to throw them at least a piece of dried meat.

Although he would have loved to do something like that, Cain knew that wouldn't be a good thing to do.

For one, amy movements he made now were closely monitored. He had to think about all his actions carefully before he even considered them.

If he gave a single one of these people food, it would lead to a large domino effect that would turn into a literal nightmare. He didn't have enough food to feed them all, so until then, he couldn't afford to be kind.

At least for now...

He planned on making sure every single one of them lived, so for now, he just had to act as quickly as possible.

Once he got into his room, Cain dismissed his armor and changed into a fresh set of clothes.

Then, very quickly, he activated {Spatial Jump}. His body tore through the fabric of space-time to appear a few kilometers away in an abandoned building, the same one he had purged of the {Blister Rats}.

The building was still in terrible shape, but it was far better than when he first came.

The terrible musty odor of the {Blister Rats} was gone, and was replaced with the scent of desolation and a chilling cold that wouldn't allow most to smell anything.

Upon stepping through the entrance, Cain decided to take stock of his loot before proceeding with anything.

'So a few liters of the Devil Blood. That's definitely going to be enough. I think...'

He placed a finger on his chin,

'Then, there's the mana shards as well.'

Since he hadn't killed a lot of Devils in the last excursion, he hadn't acquired a large amount of mana shards, which was one of his regrets about the mission.

'Speaking of missions, I can't forget there's other things I have to do.'

Like rescuing the rest of the gang and so on. Although he was confident they wouldn't die anytime soon, he also knew he couldn't put it off any longer.

'I'll definitely be making a trip to see the General once I'm done with all this.'

Taking in a deep breath, Cain got to work.

As always, the most important part of creating a magic circle was drawing the Nexus.

However, before he could start all that, he had to make adequate preparations.

He pulled the containers filled with Devils blood out of his inventory.

'It doesn't seem very different from human blood. Perhaps a bit darker?'

Shaking his head, Cain continued...

Now that he had the blood, all he needed was to make a Brush to apply it.

Once that was done, he could proceed.

With the blood ready, he could finally pull out the mana shards.

While the blood embellished magic circle was to serve as a conduit for the mana to flow through freely, the mana shards were to act as amplifiers, further boosting the overall capabilities of the tether.

If he wanted to beat the Dome of Sands suppression, it was best if he didn't pull any stops.

Sitting at the center of the empty hall with the Brush; what one would call a magical instrument, in his hand, Cain quickly got to work...

***

In a secluded part of the Army base...

Boulder stared at General Arltzwalt, his face completely cold and unchanging.

General Arltzwalt calmly pulled the fat cigar out of his mouth and blew out a mouthful of smoke...

He let out a sigh, "I'm down to my last pack. This stuff isn't even going to last me a full month."

Boulder remained silent.

The General shook his head dejectedly, then threw his gaze at Boulder,

"So... What you are saying is that he's strong, unreasonably so... Is that right?"

Boulder nodded, "Yes, sir. The way he was able to defeat so many of the Blood Moon Sect Assassins by himself, the strange phenomenon that happened back then, its to the point where it makes no sense."

General Arltzwalt scratched his white beard,

"Well that's not good to hear, is it..."

Boulder frowned, "I don't believe its necessarily a bad thing. If we can get him on our side, then-"

Arltzwalt put a hand up, stopping Boulder from saying anything else. He took another drag from his cigar and blew another puff of cold smoke.

"Don't be stupid, Boulder. I know the look of an ambitious man when I see one. He's probably already scheming something as we speak."

Boulder sighed, "Well, just so you know, besides the Champion and yourself, I don't there's any other being under the influence of Balangol that can take him on. I personally don't think I can."

Arltzwalt guffawed, "Who said anything about fighting him?"

Boulder raised a brow, "You still plan on negotiating with him?"

Arltzwalt grinned, his eyes shifting cunningly,

"Negotiating? Sure. I guess you could call it that. Well, it's more like killing two birds with one stone."

Boulder fell silent for a moment, his eyes dropping to the floor. It was obvious he was taking a moment to think about the General's words. A moment passed silently before he finally looked up,

"You plan on pitting the two against each other?"

Arltzwalt chuckled then shook his head,

"The short answer? Yes. The long answer? Not quite."

Despite looking like a burly bear-like all muscle with no brain, General Arltzwalt had not been a military commander for nothing.

While he hadn't seen any wars in his entire life, he had dreamed, for most of it, to see it one day. As such, he had made sure he was prepared for when that time came.

And that time was now.

He stared at Boulder deeply. His eyes were filled with an archaic fire, something that was absent in the eyes of those that were young and inexperienced...

"I plan on throwing this entire place into chaos. The main objective, is not to just kill the champion, but to also permanently weakling Balangol's influence here."

Arltzwalt tapped the butt of his cigar on the table as he stared into empty space,

"Boulder, a god is like a star in the sky. You can see its light, but you cannot interact with it unless you have the means to break free of the planet's hold."

He then chuckled, "On the other hand, a dead god, a dead Celestial, is more like a point on a graph. A mere reference point."

Boulder was silent. There was nothing he could say...

There were different types of madmen, but the truly frightening ones were those who could think straight and formulate devious plots while keeping a leveled head despite their insanity.

Arltzwalt clenched his fist,

"The Celestials might be powerful, but they are not almighty. As long as we can find a way to make its power our own, we don't need it anymore."

The gods were dead...

The time for humans to take their fate into their own hands had begun...