God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Carrying Cain on her back, Ruby gently poked at him through their mental connection...

'Master... Master...'

'I'm here...' Cain who was supposedly unconscious answered her call almost immediately.

'You are awake already?!' Ruby asked in shock.

'Hahaha... Why do you seem surprised?' Cain answered through their mental connection.

'That doesn't matter! You should be getting some rest!' Ruby reprimanded him.

'Relax... My mind is fine. It is my body that is exhausted.'

Even though he was extremely exhausted physically, his mind was as calm as a crystal-clear lake. The mana flowing through his body and into his mind greatly rejuvenated his spirits. Not only that, but the tremendous rush of power was just finally starting to hit him.

***

Name: {Cain Lenosi}

Level: 45.

Strength: 700.

Agility: 772.

Stamina: 209/483.

Vitality: 421.

Defense: 462.

Control: 44.6.

Perception: 46.8.

HP: 3,050/19,700.

MP: 10,000/26,800.

Magic: 926.

Ki: 13,274.

Spirit: 584.

Resistance: Poison- 80%. Fire- 30%

Skills: Golden Body, Mana Blade, Lightening Edge, 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, Abyssal Dragon Blade Mastery Tier 1, Abyssal Crimson Slash.

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, Devil Hunter.

Free attribute points: 43.

System points 100,709.

{Inventory}. {Shop}.

***

In just a single week, he had his stats go from two-digit to high three-digit figures. The same sky that appeared seven days ago was still the same sky he was looking at, and yet...

He had just slain an otherworldly nightmarish creature. Something he never thought he would be capable of in his wildest dreams.

'So what's next, Master...' Ruby walked through the empty no man's land with steady yet quick steps while tracing down the rest of the group with her beastly sense of smell.

'Now, we find a way to lick our wounds as fast as possible.' Cain had already begun to create a more solid plan in his head. He realized that with every passing second, he was losing more time. Time he could spend doing more productive things...

He didn't have a very solid goal to work towards, but he knew that would change very soon...

He had already overcome the initial stages of his trial, but he was about to face the next level, which meant, a new and more powerful devil as well...

'Once we are done licking our wounds, we March straight to the ventral area... It's just a straight line through this part of the forest, although I doubt that now that the entire planet has gone through great terraforming.' Cain said to himself.

'And how do we lick our wounds? We have run out of blood and meat.' Ruby asked curiously. As the simplistic beast that she was, to Ruby, the best way to heal from injuries was by consuming other mutants and foes.

Since Susan and David were following behind, Cain still didn't want to give away that he was already conscious as he didn't want to make them worry about him. He wasn't interested in receiving any pity...

'We will have to think of another method of course...' Cain responded with a chuckle while pulling up a new page on his system display.

***

INGREDIENTS.

1 liter of pure elemental water.

Valerian...

Hernia...

Blood bismuth lily...

One blood elemental mana shard...

One mana stone...

Procedures: It must be made in a sterile metal container over an exactly 300°C magical flame. Nothing more, nothing less.

One batch can produce 100 vials of Health potion.

***

'According to the system, this is the process of the creation of a batch of HP potions alongside the ingredient needed. Blood elemental mana hardware is fairly easy to come across. Elemental water can be created fairly easily as long as we can find someone with the right skills...'

'For the rest, I have no idea what they are or how to find them...' Cain thought.

{Replying to host: Valerian, Hernia, and Blood Bismuth Lily are all plant-based medicinal treasures. Amanda stone is a special gem that can only be created in environments with high mana density...}

{Blood Bismuth lilies are a special type of plant-based fruit created mostly by the devil race. This is because the fruit needs a copious amount of blood and life energy to be productive, which is a very predominant facet left behind in the wake of devils...}

A picture of the weird devil fruit was shown below the description. Cain recognized it as the odd provisions on the {Appendages} of the {Broodmother}. He had thought previously that they were most likely going to be poisonous, but apparently, he had been mistaken.

'Is there a way to harvest them?' Since the {Appendages} were the only devils left of the entire devil army, Cain was happy they were the only devils that hadn't been destroyed during the battle.

{Replying to host: All magical herbs associated with magic have unique techniques and methods of harvest. It would do the host good to consult more medicine-related literature...}

'Hmm... The [Records of Akasha].' Cain immediately understood what the system was referring to.

Since he had yet to heal up, Cain chose to put his research on hold until he had recovered. Unknowingly, he had so much trust in Ruby, as well as Susan and David, he was able to fall asleep voluntarily around them without having any worries or reassuring himself. He had already become more trusting without

even realizing it.

Slowly, he let the sweet embrace of sleep fall over him as he faded off and drifted away into dreamland...

***

"Let's head back..."

Stan had been sitting on a rock for a while before he stood to his abruptly.

"But what about the devils?!" Maya, who stood beside him acting like a PA was the first to burst out in a panic.

"I agree..." Sue stood with her eyes staring into the distant forest with a complex gaze.

'What kind of battle was that?!' Sue had an incredulous expression on her face as she pondered over what she had just seen.

Although they were far from the battle sight, they were still able to see what was going on due to how big the {Flame Devil} was and how loud and animated the battle was.

The huge red and black scar left across the sky was still visible even after so many seconds had gone by, leaving Sue amazed and star-eyed.

"The battle has ended... If we lost, let's go face our deaths... If we won, then let's go help the others out..." Stan said as he began moving back into the forest, his blade hanging from his shoulder.

Sue quickly followed him with light and airy steps that contained an unusual spring to them.

The rest of the people including Maya hurriedly followed after.

"You seem oddly excited..." Stan gazed at Sue with an inquisitive stare.

"I want to know who did that..." Sue said, the excitement in her voice very obvious.

"Hehe... I think it is most likely going to be Cain." Stan said with a teasing smile on his face.

"Hmph! He doesn't have the common sense to execute such a beautiful technique. It was probably Sister Jenny." Sue said with a confident smirk on her face.

"We'll see..." Stan responded by increasing his speed to match the top speed of the people in the group.

***

Settling down almost a kilometer away from the edges of the battlefield, the rest of the team sat down and began recovering their power.

Apart from Hunter who now looked like a furry war god, every other person was now conscious and recovering.

In that entire stretch of forest from Cain and Forza's battleground to the gymnasium, the only things that still resembled living beings were the eerie-looking {Appendages}. However, unlike when they were still connected to the {Broodmother}, they were completely stationary. Their previously bright green leafy sheen had been lost, but they had been mostly preserved nonetheless...

Scattered across the empty no man's land were exactly twenty-two {Appendages}. And on each {Appendage}, were more than a dozen Blood Bismuth Lilies.

The Blood Bismuth Lilies were first produced as odd protrusions that resembled tumors on the bark of the {Appendages}. They gradually took on a more vibrant color after the {Appendages} absorbed more and more blood and flesh.

"What do you think they are for?" Vincent asked Steve who stared intensely at the huge towering structure that looked even bigger when it stood individually in a wasteland.

"They are essential in the creation of HP regen potions," Steve said.

"Ho? That's new..." Vincent had an incredulous expression on his face as he strode towards the {Appendage} with the intention of getting one of them for himself.

"Stop, you Idiot!" Steve smacked him across the back of his head with his better hand.

"Eh?! What was that for?!"

Steve let out a harrumph and a snort before replying, "These herbs require a unique harvesting procedure that can only be found in the necessary and accurate literature."

"If you try pulling it out, you'll damage it."

"Tch!" Listening to Steve's words, Vincent had a sullen expression as he stood back to the side.

"So what do we do now..."

"For now, nothing. Let's wait here for a while and see what we can do once everyone gathers here." Steve said.

Steve narrowed his eyes as he continued quietly, "In case you haven't noticed, we can no longer purchase HP and MP potions from the system anymore. The drop rates of these things have also turned abysmal. Even after killing over 10,000 devils, we only managed to gather a little bit over 100. These aren't good odds...

We are all injured now, yet we can't recover properly because of these things..." Steve had a worried expression that was a bit unusual from his normal jovial and suspicious expression.

"But what can we do if we don't have the means necessary for getting the materials needed ready?"

"Hehe... Just because we don't doesn't mean others don't... Remember, there is nothing impossible with mana involved as a factor." Steve had a mysterious smile on his face as he tore his eyes from the {Appendage} and directed his gaze to the distance.

Walking in from the darkness, was the pitch-black bear, Ruby, and on her back, was Cain who was still unconscious. Beside the huge bear was Susan who looked down on Cain as they walked, checking his body for injuries. Meanwhile, David limped on the right side of the bear with his good hand on his armless stump.

Despite their injuries and exhaustion, they still emanated a faint dangerous aura.

They all stood in silence as they watched Cain and the others approach.

"Is he alright?" Jenny who had been so worried, she had been silent for a while said.

"He doesn't have any obvious injuries, but his body was under a lot of stress and strain, so he's exhausted," Susan said with a bland tone.

"Is that so..." Jenny responded in an even blender tone as the two girls stared each other down. There was an invincible tension between the two that was obvious to everyone, but was broken by a loud yell that came from the distance.

"WE ARE BACK!" Stan yelled at the group as he trudged forward with pride and relief in his steps. Sue followed soon after, then Maya and the rest of the people in the group.

In a few seconds, the two groups had converged together to form an even bigger group, almost thirty people strong...