God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The world was swallowed whole by an eclipse of black fire.

Hell descended, inviting the screeching Devils and {Zombies} alike into its warmth.

The black star in the sky tore open. With chaos riding in its tailcoats, the black flames that surged from its core dyed the world like boiling pitch, incinerating everything.

Urging his rotting steed forward, Obegrin held on for dear life.

They rode, untill they had outrun the tsunami of black fire.

When he looked back, Obegrin shuddered.

"By the Devil gods..."

He grimaced. Looking down, he noticed his left leg had been scorched by some of the black flames.

He had been so stuck in the awe, he had failed to realize it, completely numbed to the pain of having his leg burnt off.

With a since, he tried putting the black flames out with a stomp, but it didn't go anywhere.

Frowning, he poured his mana into it to cut off its energy supply. But it only seemed to feed the flames even more. Biting through the pain, the Devil raised its head.

An entire chunk of the city was gone.

It resembled the site of a meteor crash.

The black flames locked the ground wickedly, scorching and scourging it of everything.

Patches of black glass glistened all over, reflecting the crimson moonlight.

"A human. With the power to do all this."

Obegrin shook his head. Both his {Bone Serpent} and {Acid Crane} had been destroyed, locked to ash by the black fire.

Together with the {Bone Giant} he had made using the corpse of Arnach, he was down to only four summons left.

To make matters worse, his entire force of {Zombies} and lower Devils had been wiped out.

He roared in rage, "Damn it!"

The undead pegasus neighed as it scratched its hooves into the ground.

Obegrin sighed and looked up,

"These humans... Are troublesome nuisances."

By now, the black flame eating at his flesh had finally died away and his wounds were grafting and healing, albeit slowly.

Climbing onto his steed, Obegrin took off into the air, headed straight for the Devil Tower.

***

Collapsing into the sand, Cain heaved heavily.

He had managed to escape at the last second, barely saving the hairs on his ass from being singed off.

Although he was the master of the black flames, the stubborn black fire would definitely not hesitate to consume him until there was nothing left.

Luckily for him, he had gotten off with just a little burn.

Breaking out into a coughing fit, his eyes widened when he felt a soft hand rubbing against his back.

"It's okay. You're all better now."

He looked up.

With a gentle smile on her face, Mira slowly patted him on the back like he was a child.

Although it felt a bit strange, that simple act seemed to work wonders. Slowly, the pain in his chest died away.

He let out a tired sigh,

"Thanks."

Then he collapsed to the floor.

He was there. Within that old building he has drawn another anchor in, not on Gwendolyn.

"You came alone." Julio said grimly as he walked over.

Cain wanted to say something, but Mira cut him off.

"Julio, now's not a good time for—"

Julio rolled his eyes and snorted,

"Come on. I'm not some Devil."

He reached his hand out towards Cain, a sad smile on his face,

"Just tell me he went out with a bang."

Cain paused for a moment. Then he nodded with a small smile,

"He did."

He paused for a moment then added,

"He also told me to tell you to stop being a coward."

Julio's expression fell,

"That old bastard! Annoying me even when he's a corpse!"

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Julio exhaled sharply.

"So, where are we?" He asked Cain.

Cain looked around,

"Originally, this was part of Sandsea, but Sandsea is gone. So I guess you could call this No Man's Land."

Julio raised a brow, "I see. That means we are finally safe, right?"

Cain scanned the hall. The amount of people that were able to survive for into the bottom floor hall. The excess were spilled over the the railing of the top floor, looking down at him with eyes filled with curious gratitude.

Cain sighed, "We can talk later."

He pulled out a huge slab of meat from his inventory as he stood up,

"We won't be able to do anything until we regain some energy."

Mira nodded, "I'll get things ready."

***

Although it had eaten deep into the bottom of his food rations, Cain didn't feel very hesitant in parting with his food. There was snow point in keeping it all if people were going to starve to death anyways.

"Currently, this is where we are." Cain said as he pointed at a spot on the map laid on the ground.

Mira nodded,

"If this is where Valestorm is, it will take about a week of walking at the speed the normal people walk at to reach it."

Cain sighed grimly,

"And that's assuming nothing attacks on the say, which is unlikely."

Mira raised a brow,

"Attack?"

Cain explained, "Sandsea used to be home to hundreds of different aether beast species summoned by Balangol's power. Although the sands are gone the beasts chose to remain."

"Sort of like the Nightmare District back then, Mira." Julio said with a pale face.

Mira's complexion changed as well.

It was Cain's turn to raise a brow,

"The Nightmare District?"

A chilly wind blew through the open doors leading into the hall. A small patch of crimson light leaked into the building through the open doors, dying the floor red.

"A patch of ruins that cinated Aether Beasts summoned by Mljorra's power as well within the Dome of Sands. Stepping into that place was the difference between life and death."

Cain shook his head,

"Is that so. Well, if we combine the crimson moonlight with potential attacks, trying to make the journey in foot is suicide."

He paused for a moment then added,

"Although staying here is risky too."

Julio chuckled weakly,

"Danger chases indeed. There's no where else to run."

Cain stood slowly,

"No. I just need some time to recover. However, chances are someone's notices us— no. I can guarantee it. All we have to do is sit tight and wait for them or wait until I recover. Any one that comes first."

Mira nodded slowly,

"Alright. There's no rush. We've already come this far."

She gave him a sincere bow,

"Thank you, once again."

Cain shook his head,

"Don't thank me. Just make sure not to make any noise. We don't want anything noticing up. I don't have the power today esl with anything troublesome right now."

Although he had lost the potential fighting force, all hope wasn't lost just yet.

All the fighters were dead, but the Craftsmen and Blacksmith were still alive.

In fact, most of them had physical capabilities closer to that of normal humans so they had gone with the crowd to save their asses.

Frankly, Cain couldn't have been happier.

The warriors with the blessings of Mljorra had been fierce and powerful. That was why a thousand of them had been able to withstand a Devil surge for so long.

It erked and hurt him to lose them all, but such losses couldn't be avoided.

'No, it could have.'

If he had the strength to annihilate hosts of Devils with a single breath, then perhaps such a tragedy could have been avoided.

Perhaps.

Julio collapsed into the ground beside him with a grunt,

"I've been thinking about this, but I think your skills and spells are completely off the scales."

Cain raised a brow, "You of all people is saying that?"

Julio shrugged, "All my abilities are good for is hiding and running away. You on the other hand, you killed Arnach with a single blow. How the hell is that not unfair?!"

Mira's eyes narrowed.

She glanced at Cain, a strange glow burning in her eyes as those had come to a realization.

A determined look appeared on her face.

Cain glared at Julio then cleared his throat,

"Let's put that behind us. Now, into more serious business."

He turned to Mira,

"I need weapons. And armor. And bullets. Lots and lots of bullets."

Mira rucked her hair behind her ears, a serious look on her face,

"It can be done, but we will need a steady stream of materials."

Cain waved, "That will be arranged. All I want to know is how many, and how fast."

"It could take about a say to give you a thousand spears and swords, armor for a thousand people, and close to ten thousand rounds of ammunition, both firearms and normal archery arrows. That's all we can manage at the moment with a steady stream of materials."

Cain's eyes widened.

Seeing his shock, Julio remarked proudly,

"It is an artifact called {Mljorra's Forge} that allows her to speed up the manufacturing process of all weapons, equipment, accessories and artillery. Quite frankly, it's still a mystery to me."

Cain shook his head, "No, that's not it. I also have somilike that. The {Draconic Blast Furnace}.

Mira's eyes widened. Then she bent head, her eyes swimming as though running through calculations and choices in he mind.

"If that is true, we can double— no. We can triple our production speed."

Cain nodded with a slight grin,

"Then let's get started, shall we?"