God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

{You have killed the Phantasma, J'orntz... }

{+80 to Strength...}

{+80 to Agility...}

{+150 to Magic...}

{+100 to Spirit...}

{Level Up!}

{Level Up!}

{Level Up!}

{Level Up!}

{+80,000 System Points}.

{Your understanding of the soul has increased greatly...}

{You have absorbed the Devil Essense of the Soul Devil, J'orntz...}

{Devil Essense}: Grants the ability to greatly level up a single skill or spell.

{You have gained a new weapon, Devil's Broken Claw...}

***

{Devil's Broken Claw}: (epic)

Strength: 40.

Agility: 30.

Control: 0.2.

Defense: -6.

Weight: 35.

Durability: 100/100.

Skills: Fear, Bloodthirsty.

{Fear} (passive): Release a malevolent aura akin to a devil, inflicting fear onto your opponent. Decreases opponent movement and attack speed by 5%.

{Bloodthirsty} (passive): Consume the blood and flesh of fallen enemies to increase the power of the Devil's broken claw. For every 100 enemies slain and absorbed, the attack points increase by 1%, but the weight increases by 10kg. Effectiveness of {Fear} also increases by 0.1%.

***

Name: {Cain Lenosi}

Level: 45.

Strength: 450.

Agility: 522.

Stamina: 209/233.

Vitality: 171.

Defense: 212.

Control: 19.6.

Perception: 21.8.

HP: 3,050/17,200.

MP: 10,000/24,300.

Magic: 676.

Ki: 1,024.

Spirit: 334.

Resistance: Poison- 80%. Fire- 30%

Skills: Golden Blood, Mana Blade, Lightening Edge, Blade Mastery Lvl. 2, Burst Step, Metal Creation Lvl.2, Golden Severance, Metal Manipulation, *Fear, *Bloodthirsty, Blood Regeneration, Azure Burst, Mana Heart, Seal, Hollow Judgement, Devil's eyes: Eye of Clairvoyance, Elemental Body.

Spells: Art of Fire: First form, Flame Orbs, Air Whip, Dark Cloak, Blue Lightning, Blink, Golden Halo.

Titles: Champion of Ashur (locked), Sorcerer's Mind, Blessed by Mana, Pioneer.

Free attribute points: 43.

System points 100,709.

{Inventory}. {Shop}.

***

Cain stared at his status screen with a blank expression.

He realized instantly that he was now at a crossroad...

A crossroad that would determine his fate, as well as the fates of everyone else he was with...

'Seems like I still have a bit of luck with me...' His expression morphed into a bitter smile when he looked through all his gains. Although he had exerted his body and mind a lot during the fight, he had also gained a lot of power correspondingly.

Despite all these, he didn't look happy as he opened his eyes a bit and gazed at the {Flame Devil} that stood like a pillar in the distance.

The main abilities of the {Flame Devil} remained the same, but its stats had increased a lot. To be more exact, it had doubled...

***

{Flame Devil} level 50 (Half-god).

Strength: 2,000.

Agility: 1,600.

Defense: 500.

Magic: 1,000.

HP: 210,000/210,000.

MP: 50,000/50,000.

Skills: Flame Hell, Flaming Sword, Burn, Blade Mastery lvl 4.

***

It didn't have a lot of skills, but every one of them was on the level of world-ending apocalyptic.

'How the hell am I supposed to face something with such ridiculous stats?! I was barely able to fight that {Phantasma} and that took more than half of my life!'

Cain's eyebrows twitched violently as he looked through his status screen and inventory for something to fight against the {Flame Devil} with.

His more powerful skills and spells were all on cooldown. The weaker spells wouldn'Steven be able to put a scratch on the {Flame Devil}. Barring all odds, he was as good as dead with the way he currently was.

And to make matters worse, he was currently still recovering his HP, MP, and stamina from the fight with J'orntz. So he was currently in pretty bad shape.

'What do I do?' Cain could feel the tension in his bones and tendons as he tried to come up with a way to defeat the {Flame Devil} but came up empty-handed...

'At the end of the day, against power of this level, the only thing that can beat it is an even stronger power...'

Since Susan was shielding him from the heat and flames the battle was producing, he didn't need to worry about protecting himself.

"You seem worried..." Susan said out of the blue to Cain.

Cain looked up to stare at the beautiful and charming ex-class monitor of his. Beads of sweat had gathered on her forehead, and she was covered in cuts and bruises. But that didn't stop her beauty from radiating like the warm illumination of the sun.

"I'm just sorting a few things out..." Cain said dismissively before shutting his eyes once again.

"How do you plan on beating the {Flame Devil}?" She asked in her mellow voice.

Cain was silent for a while, "I don't know yet."

"I see..." Susan said before returning her focus to the barrier she had erected.

There was silence for a while before it was broken by Susan.

She began, "The light element is very mysterious..."

"What are you saying?" Cain asked perplexed but was ignored by Susan who continued to speak without answering,

"Its purpose ranges from providing sacred healing with its warmth to casting down divine punishment with its scalding heat. From providing a pure illumination that reveals what cannot be seen, to creating a blinding light to throw enemies into confusion..." The way she spoke was like the whistling of the wind through a cavern. Like the sound of a running river as the sun set on a beautiful world...

It induced a calm Cain had never felt before, causing him to forget all his thoughts and focus on her voice. However, his focus was more on the content of her words than anything else.

"Because of one of these traits, the element of light can reveal to one what cannot, or rather should not be seen... Doing this comes at a price, but that is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things."

"Doing what?" Csin asked, confusion written all over his face.

"Seeing the future, of course..." Susan said with a smile that was beautiful, yet filled with a gloaming aura.

"Seeing the future? That is impossible. The basic laws or mana state things like the direct manipulation of time are impossible for mortal beings like us. What are you saying?" Cain said with a frown.

In the [Records of Akasha], one of the most fundamental laws written within was that unless a being had the power of a celestial being, that is a being that had been granted the power to manipulate the fundamental laws of reality by the Nomad, it was impossible to even touch upon such laws...

Laws such as the laws of life, death, time, and so forth weren't within the domain of mortals, especially humans.

All his words incited from Susan was a chuckle...

"The laws of this universe are not as rigid as you think. However, it is best if you get to witness it for yourself." Saying this, Susan leaned down towards Cain and touched his forehead.

The gentle aroma of Jasmine filled Cain's nose as Sysan began to chant,

"Unholy light, Illuminate that which should not be seen..."

"Light Manipulation: Fifth order, Illumination of Time."

Cain felt his mind quake as he was instantly knocked unconscious.

Susan's face turned as pale as a sheet of paper. She spat out a mouthful of blood before her complexion had a bit more color.

"I've done what I can... The rest is up to you." She said as she wiped the blood from her lips.

Meanwhile...

Cain had fallen through his mind once again. The same spiraling sensation came over his soul as he was dragged into his mind by that mysterious force.

Once again, he came across the gigantic form of the Golden Dragon, Ashur...

"You are back so soon?" Ashur said amusedly. although Cain was unable to see its facial expressions, he could only believe that an amused grin was currently on the face of the golden dragon.

"I have no idea why I'm here..." Cain grumbled as he plopped down to the ground.

"Ho? I see..."

"Apparently, I'm supposed to be seeing the future right now... All I'm seeing is a gigantic golden lizard..." Cain had his hands beneath him as all sorts of thoughts ran through his mind.

The giant golden dragon let out a hearty laugh before speaking in a mysterious voice, "Well, what if I showed you something more interesting than the future?"

"And what do you mean by that?" Cain asked with a raised brow.

There was a huge change in the space ahead as the giant golden dragon disappeared and was replaced with a much smaller humanoid version.

Cain had seen this version of the golden drawing before, but he was still completely amazed by the level of physical prowess the golden dragon possessed.

The huge humanoid figure sat on the ground directly before him. This was the first time Cain had been so close to Ashur, so he expected himself to feel a little bit nervous or intimidated, but shockingly enough, he didn't feel even a single bit of emotional fluctuations. For some odd reason, he was able to know how handsome Ashur's facial features were, but he couldn't register them in his mind.

Should he take his eyes off his face for even a second, he would completely forget how Ashur looked facially.

"I understand a bit of your current dilemma, so no need to explain anything. Let me ask you a question..."

In a booming voice, Ashur said something he didn't fully understand,

"What do you think power is?"

"Where is this coming from, and what does this have to do with my current circumstance?" Cain asked inquisitively.

"Just answer the question..."

"Cain: "..."

Seeing that the golden dragon wasn't going to answer him, Cain decided to answer the question to the best of his ability and understanding.

"Power is the strength, effectiveness, or efficiency behind the execution of techniques, skills, or spells, I guess?" Since power had many definitions depending on the context, Cain decided to give Ashur the one he thought was closest to what he meant by the word...

"You are right... That is exactly what power is." Ashur said with a smile.

He continued when he saw Cain looking at him with burning curiosity...

"Power, or to be more precise, the energy driving the effectiveness and efficiency of every move you make, I a big determiner of the outcome of every battle."

"Right now, you are about to face a creature that although not powerful by cosmic standards, is many times more powerful than you. This is due to the difference in power..."

Cain had a fascinated look on his face as he mentally processed Ashur's words...

"Mana, Ki, even elemental mana, are all forms of power. The devils rely on devil essence-corrupted mana to fuel their skills and spells. Spawn devils use regular mana, so they aren't as powerful as true devils."

"Devil essence is one of the most powerful forms of power in the known universe and only a few others are comparable. To defeat this devil, you must rely on an equally, if not more powerful energy source."

The words of Ashur seemed to resonate greatly with Cain as his mind was suddenly opened...

"You don't mean?"

A smile appeared on Ashur's face as he spoke in a clear loud voice that sent tremors through Cain's soul,

"That is right... I am talking about Ki."