God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain wiped the sweat off his brows.

In the darkness of the worn hall, a subtle light diffused into the air.

This light came from the giant magic circle engraved into the cold, hard ground with the Devil Blood.

It was ominous, as traces of Devil Essence was ingrained within the blood of the Devils besides abundant mana.

Thos Devil Essence was released into the air when Devil Blood was used to create the magic circle. This made the surrounding darkness seem even more prevalent and evil.

Normally, this level of Devil Essence would be absolutely lethal to a regular human. Although it wouldn't turn them into a Devil Corrupted, it would be for the better if humans didn't even interact with Devil Essence even a bit.

Cain frowned as he stared down,

"It isn't even a tenth of the way complete."

He had been at this for two days straight, but he had come across various issues that halted his progress.

Not only had he underestimated the suppression of the Dome of Sands, he had also over estimated himself.

When it came down to things that involved Spatial Manipulation, distance was always an important determining factor of how much mana would be consumed during the creation of the magic circle.

This was because all spatial magic required a link from a new point in space to another. It doesn't matter how flexible this link was, as long as it exists.

The problem with this, was that the other end of the link he wanted to create was somewhere far away. Too far away, in fact.

Cain's frown deepened,

'But that doesn't make sense. For one, I created a link between the Western Island and the ship even when there was a greater distance between them compared to now. It doesn't make sense at all...'

Cain sighed, then closed his eyes.

'One of the Spatial Gate creation requirements is to extend my perception. Without my perception reaching the desired location, creating the tether would be far more difficult if not impossible.'

Compared to skills like {Spatial Jump} that relied more on a loosely created, arbitrary tether, the {Spatial Gate} required utmost precision. If he wasn't careful, he could very well end up at the bottom of the ocean.

He sighed.

The problem, was it was impossible to spread his perception outside the Dome.

'Will I be forced to create theagic circle outside the Dome?'

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He scratched his head.

For now, what he had to focus on, was completing at least half of the magic circle soon.

Cain got up from the ground and stopped pouring his mana into the magic circle. The light stopped pouring out of the runes, and the mysticism in the air slowly vanished.

Putting his Brush and the other things away, Cain slowly walked out of the massive hall.

He stretched his body, causing his joints to make crackling noises. Staying in one place for two days had taken its toll.

With a thought, he activated {Spatial Jump}, appearing right in his room. Stepping out the room, he casually walked out of the building.

Over the last two days, nothing much had happened in the Dome. The place still reeked of human waste, death, and fear.

He tried his best not to look too long. To these people, he was just like the many Hunters and Soldiers. They kept them safe, but they didn't care about their life and death.

Cain shook his head and continued his walk until he arrived at the entrance of the military base.

It didn't really look like a military base from the outside. It was a large compound where the top of a very large tent could be seen at its center. The gates were made from whatever they could find to surround the premises; wood, metal, even sacks of sand and rocks.

The tent at the center was made from treated Duskkin leather. There were numerous tents surrounding this building made from the same or similar material.

On his way in, he attracted a lot of stared. He wasn't dressed like most people here, and his face was not a familiar one despite having been here for a while now.

But the thoughts of others were not his concern. Right now, he had a goal to accomplish today.

Just as he caught sight of the first tent, he saw a family face exit through the flaps.

Khan stared at Cain blankly for a moment before a smile spread across his face,

"Oh, you are here..."

Cain nodded, "Yeah. I've come to see the General."

Khan nodded curtly, "He's a bit busy now, so you'll have to wait a bit. How about I lead you to Boulder first?"

Cain shrugged, "Lead the way. I have a bit of time to burn today."

They walked through the camp for some time, passing many tents by, before they finally stopped before a normal looking one.

Stepping through the flaps, Cain was greeted with an absolutely underwhelming sight.

Besides a bed, desk, a single wooden chair a bedside wardrobe, there was nothing else in the tent.

Cain stared down at the sweaty man on the ground doing pushups with a blank face.

Bouldees muscles didn't seem that impressive when he donned on his armor. Here, he wore only a pair of dark grey pants, so Cain could see his defined physique properly.

It was impressive...

With the {Eye of General Observation}, he could roughly gauge Boulder's stats.

Most of his physical stats were roughly on the same level as Vincent or Li. It was very impressive.

What was really impressive about him, was his exceptional control and perception. Cain had gotten to experience it first hand as well. The way he was able to control the trajectory of his arrows even when they had left the bowstring was nothing short of incredible. Even with the arrows travelling at high speeds, he was still able to do this. His perception was anything but ordinary.

Boulder let out a sigh. Stopping his exercise session, he reached out his hand for the towel laying on his bed.

"Cain... You're here."

Cain fought back the urge to chuckle. Instead, he could only smile wryly.

Khan sighed, "Of course he is. Anyways, the General is busy right now, so we have to entertain him for a while."

Boulder nodded, "You can have a seat on the bed or the chair. Sorry, but I don't have better means to accommodate you."

Cain shook his head, "You don't need to worry about that."

Boulder nodded, "Then, if you don't mind."

Cain sat on the chair while Khan joined Boulder on the bed.

There was a brief moment of awkward silence...

'This is just like hanging out with your friends. Is that what this is?!'

Cain sighed inwardly.

Boulder was the first to break the awkward silence...

"So, what do you want to discuss with the General?"

'Straight to the point, ey...'

Cain cleared his throat, "I want to get my friends."

Boulder fell silent then scratched his head,

"That... might be possible."

When he had awoken in this place, he had been informed that most of his friends were safe. However, all of them had been transported to the other side of the Dome. Even if the range of {Eye of Clairvoyance} was extended ten times over, he wouldn't be able to know if this was true.

He had gotten to see Hunter though, but even then, he had been roughed up properly...

Many things about their situation didn't make much sense. If he got to meet the others, he would be able to make sense of a lot of things he still had doubts over.

Cain frowned, "Might?"

Boulder nodded, "You'll have to convince the Champion and his Pilgrims. This matter is beyond the General, although he might be able to help you out with something."

Cain hummed, "I see..."

He had been under the belief that General Arltzwalt had wanted to take his ship. However, with every day that passed, he was beginning to believe that might have been a trick.

Since that day, the General hadn't mentioned it ever again. If he really wanted it, then Cain doubted he would have offered him the degree of freedom he was enjoying right now.

'Perhaps it was just a facade, a false intent he is using to buy time. But for what?'

What was he trying to do? Deceive his own men? Or perhaps there was something deeper going on that he couldn't quite see yet?

Whatever it was, Cain was determined to find out.

Khan closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened it, he turned to Cain,

"The General said he's ready to see you."

Cain nodded then stood up. Giving Boulder a brief nod, both him and Khan moved to step outside the tent.

"Wait." Boulder called out from behind.

Cain turned around, "What is it?"

Boulder calmly threw on a shirt, "Let's go together..."

Cain shrugged, "Suit yourself, I guess..."

He had no problem with Boulder coming along. In fact, he would rather.he come along.

They moved through the camp until they arrived dead center. Cain had been here before, but the tent looked as unfamiliar as ever. It was bigger than all the tents surrounding it, but it still looked the same.

Cain's heart and mind were like calm lakes as he stepped through the flaps of the tent to face the clawed monster seated within.

This was how he felt when he was about to enter battle. But this battle wasn't going to be a physical one, at least he hoped so.

It was going to be a battle of information...