God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain walked into the tent. Stepping through the flaps, he came stared straight at the person seated on the other side of a wide circular table.

General Arltzwalt was as intimidating as every.

A huge bayonet sniper was laying upright behind him. The large blade attached to the weapon of death was a far greater mental suppression than Cain had thought. Although he has a very scary arsenal of weapons, none of them were as frightening. It appeared similar to the weapons the rest of the people here wield, and yet different at the same time.

The General himself was seated languidly, leaning back on his chair with a fat ciar on his mouth. Although Cain had questions about where he would have found something so exotic in these times, he decided to keep his mouth shut.

Instead, he, Khan, and Boulder walked forward until they stood at the other end of the table.

Cain looked around.

From the looks of things, Cain could see that a meeting had gone on not too long ago. This was probably what the General had been busy with.

The General remained unresponsive for a minute.

Just when Cain could feel his impatience boiling over, the frown on his face making him a bit sore, the General finally responded.

He blinked rapidly as his eyes finally seemed to have some life in them,

"What?! Since when have you all been standing there?!"

Boulder cleared his throat, "We just arrived now, actually..."

'Liar! Damn liar!' Cain cursed in his mind.

Khan nodded, "Cain is back. He said he would like to have a word."

Arltzwalt cleared his throat as he finally stared at Cain,

"Ah... Cain, my boy. How was the outing with Boulder? I heard some good things about you!"

Although the General looked very intimidating, his manner of speech could force one into relaxation, automatically not viewing his as a threat after a few words were exchanged.

These were the types of people Cain was cautious about the most. They had a poisonous, witty mind, but a calming and unassuming tongue. These two things were a lethal combination.

Cain smiled, "The outing was... eye-opening to say the least."

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The General nodded, stroking his beard,

"Eye-opening, huh... What about it did you find eye-opening? The Devils? The Aether Creatures? Or perhaps was it the Blood Moon Assassins?"

Cain shrugged, "All three, I guess? Back in the school, there were no {Sky Devils} around."

General Arltzwalt nodded, "Devils come in all shapes and sizes. Compared to other places on the continent, there might as well be a hundred more different types of Devils we are yet to see."

Cain was already getting tired of the small talk. It was time to move forward.

He cleared his throat, "In any case, I could say I learned a lot. But that's not why I'm here today."

Because of the thickness of his beard, it was difficult to discern the changes in the expression on the old man. A large bushy brow was raised regardless,

"Well, I can guess at your intentions. Before anything, I'd like to apologize to you."

Cain frowned, "For what?"

The General chuckled, "For treating your friend poorly. Although he was being difficult, I believe my men took things too far."

Cain smiled, although there was a hint of dark malice laced behind it,

"That? Well I do agree, but it's all behind us, isn't it? I'm willing to keep it there so long as you are willing to help me."

Arltzwalt hummed, "Help you? With what?"

Cain leaned forward, gently tapping the table with his index finger,

"I got to learn that this place is quite huge recently. Apparently, this place I'm being kept in just one of two settlements of humans within the Dome of Sands. The second settlement is wherey friends are being kept. Is that right?"

General Arltzwalt was silent for a moment, the nodded,

"That is indeed correct. After he heard we had an influx of visitors, the Champion of Balangol requested their presence in his courtroom."

Cain narrowed his eyes,

"If that is the case, then why didn't you hand myself and Hunter over immediately as well?"

The General's eyes narrowed as he stared at Cain.

There were many inconsistencies in the story he was being told. Since he had been unconscious, or rather, dead, for some time, there was no way for him to know the full story besides from word of mouth.

If what the General was telling him was the truth, then they all were supposed to be delivered to the Champion, himself and Hunter included. That fact they weren't, meant there was something he wasn't being told.

What he was trying to do, was bait the General into telling him the full story. As long as he got it out of him, he would be able to understand his circumstances better.

After a few seconds of silence, the General spoke,

"Well, what if he didn't know?"

Cain frowned, "What do you mean?"

The General sighed. Picking his half-burnt cigar up, he rolled it in his hand. A flame lit on the top of his index finger which he brought to the burnt end of the cigar, lighting it up again.

Bringing it to his lips, he took a deep drag, sucking the smoke into his lungs. After a moment, he exhaled, letting out a cloud of the neuroactive smoke.

He stared at Cain deeply,

"I'll give it to you straight, Cain..."

His gaze turned a bit distant,

"You see this place? The reason humans are still here, alive and breathing, is thanks to me and my men. Without us, picking up the remnants of civilization to create this place, there would be nothing."

He sighed, "When I found the remnants of that Celestial, I thought I was creating a solid foundation for the rest of humanity. A place we could build our revival upon. The Devils had just experienced a major setback thanks to my bombardment and the Aether Rifts weren't opened up too."

He brought the cigar to his lips again and took a deep puff. When he spoke again, his voice was weary and dark, quite unlike his usual lighthearted tone,

"As you can see, I was wrong. As it turned out, I didn't have the right amount of Divinity within me to be considered his Champion."

Cain frowned deeper, 'Divinity again, huh...'

General Arltzwalt dusted the ashes off his armor he continued,

"That Champion of his can only be described with one word. Tyrant, a smart one, but a tyrant nonetheless. No one can undermine his authority here because he represents the god. Offending him is paramount to offending Balangol."

Cain was silent. Although this wasn't what he wanted to hear, it was useful information. As such, he remained silent, waiting for his to finish,

"You should have realized this by now, but we are in exile here. Look around you. There is no need for soldiers here, besides going outside the Dome to fight, of course. But that is suicidal."

Arltzwalt took another drag,

"The reason I told you I needed your ship is because I needed to give a reason to keep you here. Your friend, Hunter, on the other hand, was not so lucky. Although I managed to hide his existence for some time, I couldn't do so anymore."

Cain sighed. It was just as he had expected.

"You have rats in your camp, it would seem."

The General snapped his fingers, "You are right on the money. This is why I like smart people."

He killed the light on his cigar and put it away again,

"Yes, it is as you say. The Champion and his Pilgrims have moles embedded everywhere. I have to be cautious with the way I act, or you all might have to admire my head from a flag post from now on. There's only so many people I can trust."

Cain closed his eyes to think for a moment.

Everything he had heard so far could be a lie. There was no reason for him to believe these words as the truth.

However, there was also no reason for them to lie to him. At least as far as he could tell.

If they were lying to him, it would serve them no purpose besides causing him a lot of trouble.

If that was the case, then there could only be one reason why Arltzwalt was doing all this.

For some reason, he could see the grin behind the old man's beard,

"My actions might be on scrutiny, but you aren't being monitored as vigilantly, Cain. I have a genuine reason to keep you here, Cain, so the Champion won't outright try to take you out of my hands. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Cain nodded, "You need my help."

The General nodded, "Indeed. I need your help to take this place back. If you help me, I can help you get your friends back, with little effort. You have my word."

'So this is what he's after. Mercenary work, huh...'

Since he wasn't as monitored, he also had much more freedom to act. He wasn't considered as a threat yet.

Cain sighed, "Where are they being kept?"

"The Settlement of humans that surround the Temple of Sand and Death is called Valestorm. That is where you friends are being kept."

'So this is where the treachery begins...'

The General was about to lay all his cards bare.

He slapped his hands onto the table calmly, pushing his huge body to rise from his chair. This was the first time Cain had seen the General stand to his full height.

He was rather intimidating...

"Help me kill the Champion and his Pilgrims, and you will have what you came for and more. What do you say?"