God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The landscape had truly changed.

What had once been the coast of a bustling City had been reduced to a barren wasteland crawling with all kinds of abhorrent abominable Beasts that hungered for human flesh and blood.

Scanning the terrain casually from behind the scope of his rifle, Vincent tried to get comfortable. Unfortunately, the pointy rocks stabbing into his flesh were doing him no good.

He was currently positioned at the peak of a large arm of black rock that resembled a solidified wave of magma.

Here, he was positioned at the most optimal point for sniping, as the peak overlooked the entrance to the den of mutant creatures Cain had decided to raid.

He muttered,

"Really, I think we should leave them alone. They aren't disturbing anyone right now, right?"

He scrunched his nose up,

"Beside, why do we have to hunt these little buggers specifically? Can't we just go somewhere else?"

Cain's voice echoed in his mind,

"This dennis the closest to where Gwendolyn is docked. I heard from Ignis and Hunter that these things are also quite aggressive and they attack any thing in sight. They might become a problem in the future of we don't wipe them out now."

Vincent silently grumbled but didn't refute Cain's claims.

He paused for a moment before asking,

"So how are we going to about this clean up? If you know so much, then you must be aware of the nature of these things as well."

Standing just below the hanging pillar of black stone Vincent had taken camp upon, Cain narrowed his eyes, then shrugged,

"Close quarters combat will be a pain. So we'll engage them from afar."

Vincent's displeased voice came in,

"Those buggers are fast. They'll close this distance and start biting on our asses in the blink of an eye."

Cain went silent.

Vincent was right. The {Blood Skyrays} were strange creatures that thrived on both land and water.

Presumably a magical evolution of some sea creature, but Cain couldn't really tell. What he did know, however,news that these things were very nasty to deal with.

His frown deepened,

There were many reasons for this, but the most important one, was the deadly blood toxins they released along their path of flight.

He recalled Steve's words;

"The toxin contains magical components that react violently with the chemicals that make up the blood. The moment even a single bit of it enters your bloodstream, you'll turn into a balloon and pop!"

Painting such a gruesome picture in his mind, Cain made sure to be extra careful.

Since these things also had a Tier 1 pack head, it made hunting them even more dangerous.

Combining that with their intense speed, there was little reason to provoke them, not to even mention hunting them.

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However, Cain had already thought of a few ways to go about this.

One was making sure they couldn't get close enough to deal damage, and the other was killing them from a great distance.

But the first was easier said than done.

"Alright, enough talking..." Cain said.

In front of them, a few dozen meters away, was the entrance to a cove lying along a stretch of rocky terrain.

There were no other mutant creatures in the area because most had been killed and eaten by the {Blood Skyrays}. The ones that had survived were the ones that fled before it was too late.

As such, these terrifying creatures had established themselves as the local hegemons in at least a twenty kilometer radius. This cove was just a single nest...

The shrill whistling sound rang out across, piercing the Cain's ears.

He frowned a bit, but otherwise didn't react.

The entrance to the cove was suddenly bustling with activity as several shadows shot out.

***

{Blood Skyray}: Level 179 (Deadly, Tier 1)

Strength: 50,000.

Agility: 140,000.

Defense: 3,500.

HP: 400,000/400,000.

MP: 700,000/700,000.

Skills: Blood Terror Toxin, Acid Blood Shot, Blood Ignite, Aquaerobics, Wave Sensor.

***

'Just as terrible as they said.' Although he wasn't surprised, Cain still felt it. Creatures like this that used to be so rare to encounter were now a dime a dozen.

Slowly, this would be the status quo of the world. If humans couldn't keep up with the frightening rate of the world's evolution, they would be swept behind, falling to their own voices, or the jaws of these terrible beasts.

The {Blood Skyrays} were not pretty creatures. They were rather terrifying to behold.

They resembled giant manta rays with a ten meter long string attached to their rear. They didn't have any eyes as far as Cain could see. Instead, they had three pairs of tentacles sprouting out from both sides of their flat bodies.

The bodies themselves were a deep shade of black and red, like the color of congealed blood. As the moved through the air faster than the eye could perceive, their tentacles trailed, behind, leaving an almost colourless gas. If not for his outstanding eyesight, he didn't think he would be able to spot it.

Cain muttered to himself, "On a grotesque scale, I'd rate these beauties a solid six. How terrifying..."

The current swarm numbered at least a couple dozen.

Vincent's voice filtered through his mind,

"They seem to be heading towards the ocean, perhaps to find some food for the day."

Cain nodded, "Seems so. Alright, shoot one down."

Vincent was silent for a moment before letting out a sigh.

Them his eyes turned cold and sharp. A swirling storm of runes swam through his eyes before solidifying into the shape of a singular runic symbol.

Vincent's unique Devil Eye...

He slowly adjusted the gun once he found the appropriate target.

He activated {Tracer Shot}, {Calypso}, and {Tidescale} all at once.

BANG!

The world shook for a moment as the bullet that manifestated within the chamber was shot out at the exact same moment. Vincent's face paled as he bore the recoil.

A thin red hot line was traced from him to his target in the blink of an eye.

Because it couldn't see nor hear the bullet coming, the {Blood Skyray} was caught completely unaware.

The bullet pierced through the beast.

There was an explosion as the beast's entire body turned into bloody fragments before falling to the ground in chunks.

Cain's eyes widened, "That..."

Vincent's face was pale, "Goodness..."

Cain turned his head slightly up,

"That was unexpected..."

He had figured the gun would be powerful. However, he didn't expect it to be this powerful.

Cain heard Vincent's strained voice a moment later,

"Damn you, Cain are you trying to kill me with this damn recoil?"

Cain chuckled, "Get over it. They've found us."

The rest of the pack was quick to respond to their kin's passing. Although they were beasts, they were very intelligent ones.

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The moment they pinpointed their location, the entire swarm shot forward with terrible fury.

With a thought, Vincent activated {Hidden}. The finale enchantment attached to tej weapon.

And then, Cain took the change to act swiftly.

A grin appeared on his face. With a thought, a pair of fully loaded guns appeared in his hands.

Without a moment's hesitation, he fired a barrage at the approaching swarm. The {Blood Skyray} at the head of the diving party was hit, but only a few of them managed draw blood. It continued unperturbed, its nightmarish maw stretching open to let out a terrifying shriek.

Taking that as his cue, Cain turned around and sprinted at top speed.

He yell with his mind, "Do it!"

There was another bang, and the {Blood Skyray} at the head exploded into bloody bits.

Tilting his center of gravity, Cain shot off at an angle, circling around the entrance of the cove.

There was another bang, and another Skyray fell.

Cain's plan was to bait the beasts. Once Vincent grabbed their attention, he would use {Hidden} to shrug off their aggro, allowing Cain to pick it up. Then, by kiting within a safe distance, he would keep them within Vincent's sniping range so he could drop them one by one.

A simple, but very effective plan.

Still, Cain was not satisfied by this. The amount of exp from each kill was shared between him and Vincent. But he didn't want to just run around like a headless chicken. Besides, if it was only one person doing the killing, it would take to long.

Was it greed? Maybe it was.

But it wasn't something he could help, nor was it something he wanted to change. After all, it was his greed that drove him to strive for the absolute best.

Although he couldn't use his mana or any of his other energies currently, he still had his mind.

And his mind was his most dangerous weapon.

He ejected the magazines from his guns, then summoned a new pair, only these ones were a bit different.

Previously, a single magazine could contain ag least twelve bullets, but these ones were filled after only six.

They were special bullets, artillery he had prepared for days like this, although he never thought they would come in handy so soon.

As he dashed, he reloaded, then turned to aim.

The {Blood Skyrays} were fast. But he was undoubtedly faster. As such, he could maintain a safe distance from them.

Closing one eye, he took aim and fired.

There was a sound, like a clap of thunder before a lightning strike.

The {Blood Skyray} currently at the head of the pack dove backwards to avoid the sudden shot.

The one behind him though, was not as lucky.

The one inch thick, three inch long bullet broke right through the creature's thick skin before lodging itself into the body.

And then, in the blink of an eye, the beast body shrank in on itself, collapsing into a bloody ball of mangled flesh before shooting towards the ground like a meteor.

As the steaming ball of flesh fell, Cain felt satisfaction,

"Didn't think it would work so well."

Seeing this through his scope, Vincent shivered.

He chuckled, then fired another shot. The sweat on his forehead shot into the air due to the recoil. Despite the damage his bullets dealt, the outcomes not nearly as terrifying as what Cain could do, even with such a small handgun.

He shivered again,

'So scary...'

Cain looked down at his gun and nodded,

"The recoil is intense, but it isn't anything I can't handle."

His grin turned even more sinister,

"In that case..."

The Evernight sky was filled with the symphonic harmony of death for a while...