God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Wiping the sweat off his face, Cain let out a satisfied sigh.

"It's done. It is finally done!"

His eyes gleamed with excitement.

There was a giant magic circle engraved into the solid ground beneath him.

Having spent days on this, the satisfaction that came from completing the Magic circle was much more than he had expected.

'Building the different branches to connect with the nexus was not as tricky as connecting this anchor to Gwendolyn. I thought I'd run mad.'

He let out a groan as he fell onto his back.

Magic circles were incredibly complicated. Creating the magic circle involved calculating coordinates, measuring the right amount of mana that would be used at the nodes so as not to put strain on the runes that make up the magic circle.

It was hard work and mental labor. He had almost failed a few times, as a single mistake could result in the entire thing not working, or worse, blowing up in his face, or even worse than that, teleporting him into the center of the earth.

He didn't like any of those options, so he had no choice but to succeed.

And succeed he did. The subtle glow coming from the floor was a testament to that.

Cain grinned. All he needed to do next was to give the magic circle some fuel and it would be ready for use.

He reached into his inventory with his mind.

A soft radiance danced between his fingers, and a handful of mana shards appeared in his hands.

A frown appeared on his face,

'This might not be enough.'

While the distance separating them from Gwendolyn was a lot, it wasn't the greatest issue he faced here.

His greatest hindrance, was the dome covering the domain of Balangol.

Perhaps it was due to the will of the Celestial, but it was difficult for foreign power to penetrate through the barrier's influence.

Fortunately for him, Cain had a bit of experience with spatial magic. Not only that, he had also learned from the best of the best. Azazel's notes had been a good help.

Plus, the knowledge he had gained from the [Record of Akasha I] was something that served as a great foundation for whatever future knowledge he acquired.

Still, this didn't mean all was good and dandy.

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The energy in the mana shards was a lot, but it was too little for what he needed. The sharper the blade, the easier it was to cut with.

In this case, the blade in question was their energy source.

Cain shook his head, then dismissed the mana shards.

He had a better option in mind.

He pulled three glowing orbs from his inventory once again.

Almost immediately, the density of mana in the air fluctuated greatly.

"The power of a mana core..."

Mana shards and Mana cores were much of the same thing, only that mana cores only appeared in creature's of higher Tiers.

For Tierless and Tier 1 creatures, Grade 9 mana shards come from Normal creatures, Grade 8 from Elites, Grade 7 Special, Grade 6 Deadly, Grade 5 to 2 for legendary, and Grade 1 for Celestial.

When a creature reaches Tier 2, their bodies and mind evolve, and they become capable of condensing more mana in their bodies to form mana cores.

At this stage, they become far greater threats. Creatures like the {Azure Water Calamity} possessed mana cores. The amount of devastation such creatures could wreak was absolutely unprecedented.

The purity as well as amount of the Mana condensed in the mana shards are the basis by which they are graded by the system.

Cain sighed to himself, 'Getting my hands on these things caused a pretty penny. Hopefully, it will be worth it.'

Each mana core has been purchased from the special system store. He could purchase rarer items there quite easily. But, they also cost an arm and a leg. Getting these three mana cores has hurt him, but it was nothing he couldn't manage.

He still had enough system points to get a few more too.

Still, it didn't make it hurt any less.

'With the power stored in these mana cores, I'll be able to break through the restriction easily.'

Cain's heart thumped hard in his chest. He walked to the center of the magic circle and placed a single mana core at the center.

His gleeful expression immediately turned somber.

If he wasn't careful, at the crucial stage, all his efforts would amount to nothing in the end.

The energy in the mana core was far more pure, a lot denser, and was over all just better than that contained within even a Grade 1 mana shard.

He had to carefully guide the mana in so as not to damage the magic circle.

A few moments after he dropped the mana core at the Nexus of the magic circle, a drastic change occurred.

The soft glowing light that radiated out of the magic circle shut off.

Instead, all the magical light was radiated out of the Nexus, where the mana core was being kept.

From there, the light bled out into the rest of the magic circle.

The runes closest to the Nexus began lighting up one by one.

'Perfect. Slow and steady...'

Cain breathed gently, too afraid to do anything that could hinder the process.

The mana continued to bleed into the rest of the magic circle slowly, guided by Cain's will.

With each rune that lit up, the surrounding space seemed to tremble.

Magic is an art meant for bending concepts and breaking laws that the world operates by. By calling upon such mystical power, the surrounding reality would be forced to react to it.

Alas, reality was a tool at the end of the day, created to relay information. It could be bend, reshaped, and manipulated, just like what Cain was trying to do right now.

And it was working.

As more and more of the magic circle continued to light up, the space above it continued to tremble.

A small tear appeared in the air. Once it appeared, the expansion was instantaneous.

It ballooned in size, immediately reaching for the ceiling of the building's ground floor.

Cain recoiled backwards, his face pale. He pushed his will forward even more, trying his best to keep the tear stable until the rest of the magic circle was completed.

A throbbing pain materialized in his head. It was the equivalent of trying to hold two trains together with a piece of string.

It felt impossible, but he managed to do it, always at the edge of failure, but never falling over.

Straining his mind like this was sure to have adverse effects later, but there was nothing he could lose at this point. The worst that could happen, which was death, had already happened a couple times already, so he had nothing to fear at the very least.

Cain kept his mind steady, like an immovable wall, until the light had reached every nook and cranny og the magic circle.

The flunctuations surrounding the rear in space gradually died down, and the magical energy surrounding it settled into a rhythm.

The spatial tear, had become an anchor...

A tired smile appeared on Cain's face as he wiped the beads of sweat that had appeared on his forehead.

He fell to his back, staring up at the ceiling in exhaustion.

He activated the Water Enchantment of {Burning Spirit}. That way, he could recover him mana quicker.

Once he recovered a bit, he stood to his feet.

Dismissing his regular clothes, he put in his armor.

The design of the {Heart of Scourge} was rather strange. It was almost like a second skin to him. While it did grant him considerable defense, it was geared more to allowing his ease of movement, rather than increasing his defense dramatically.

He would have loved to have extremely defensive equipment, but he also like this as well. Besides,it was the only piece of armor he currently had, so it would have to do.

He would be making his appearance to the rest of his company for the first time in a while. He had to appear powerful and intimidating after all...

With those thoughts in mind, Cain stepped through the portal, disappearing from within the Dome of Sands.

***

The first thing Cain noticed when he came to was the sound of incessant clanging.

It filled up the entire space.

Cain winced. Spending most of the last few days in abject silence,bThe influx of so many loud sounds gave him an immediate migraine.

"What the hell?!"

He had appeared within his room on Gwendolyn.

The room was quite large, so he had kept the {Draconic Blast Furnace} within it. He had also given Haru and his other handy helpers access to the forge before he left on his crusade into City Z.

"Hey, hey! Tell Richie to get me some more Black Topaz ore from the storeroom!" Haru yelled out as he stepped out of the forge.

His face was covered in soot, and sweat lined almost every part of his now blackened and tanned body. His muscles seemed to have become a bit more defined since Cain last saw him.

"Eh?! But we've used up most of the Black Topaz already, Boss!"

Haru waved his hand dismissively, "That doesn't matter. We need to boost productivity by at least twenty percent before the week runs out."

The other handy forge helper sighed,

"You really do plan to work us all to death, don't you."

Haru nodded enthusiastically,

"Yes! Now get the damned Black Topaz!"

The man left, leaving Haru and whoever else was with him inside the forge.

"Honestly, these lazy bastards. Always complaining..."

He turned around, only to see Cain standing behind him with a blank expression on his face.

His eyes gradually widened, and a split second later, he screamed at the top of his lungs,

"G-ghost!"