God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Metal clashed against ice as Hunter and Dan smashed their weapons together. Hunter moved with the finesse of a predator toying around his prey, while Dan tried his best to fend the attacks off and sneak in a counterattack or two...

Dan's daggers trailed a straight line toward Hunter's throat to kill...

One of the most vulnerable parts of the human anatomy is the neck, which is the only connection the head has to the body. Dan followed his killer instincts and always aimed at lethal points in an attempt to restrict Hunter's movements.

With one Ice blade held in a reverse grip, Dan twirled around on the spot and transferred the force of his angular momentum into the hand holding the blade. The blade was headed straight at Hunter's throat...

Hunter's eyes were quick, but his body was even quicker to react.

With a smooth movement of his feet, he danced around the tip of Dan's blade and was behind the blade in an instant. However, Dan wasn't one to give up so easily as he twirled his blade around and jammed forward.

Like he had eyes at the back of his head, Hunter ducked over, then immediately threw two successive punches at Dan's solar plexus. Dan's eyes narrowed as he raised his arm with the other ice dagger to guard against the attack.

BANG! BANG!

The first attack smashed the ice blade into pieces completely, while the second made contact with his body, sending a reverberating force that threatened to smash his bones and organs to dust.

Dan moved back three steps while coughing up a lot of blood. He tried to raise his guard back up, but Hunter's speed was extraordinary. Five more fists came crashing on him, while he made a feeble attempt to preserve his life.

He managed to block the first two blows with the newly reformed Ice daggers, but the remaining three smashed into his body, creating large shockwaves propagating to spread and create slight earthquakes.

'Damn it!' Dan made a flip backward to mitigate most of the force behind while throwing the blades in his hands at Hunter at full speed. His head spun as he tried to think of all the ways he could beat Hunter, but every single instance ended up with him without a head.

If there was something Dan was very good at, it was assessing the strength of an opponent. Hunter's strength was as boundless as an ocean, while his strength was like a rocky boat with a few leaks in it. He stood absolutely no chance and he knew it.

Which was why he made the single best choice he could make...

He ran without hesitation...

He spun around on his heels and ran as fast as he could. There was a cold smile on Hunter's face as he applied some strength to his legs. He launched after Hunter while summoning a few Demon wolves.

However, before he could break through the line of trees obscuring his vision, his danger senses tingled like crazy. His pupils enlarged, and all his hair stood on end. Midrun, he stomped his foot on the ground and tried to avoid the incoming attack by rolling to the side.

SWISH!

A torrent of very sharp ice kunai was released from the leaves before Hunter, causing him to sigh in relief. However, he wasn't out of danger as the ice blades stopped mid-air and traced a complicated trajectory toward Hunter who lay on the ground.

A cold light flashed in his eyes as flames burst out of his body.

"Summon Sacrifice: Substitute..."

The flames erupted instantly and Hunter's body was replaced with that of one of the demon wolves he summoned. The wolf was instantly turned into a sieve as the ice blades were extremely sharp, and Hunter had reduced his power to match Dan's so his summons weren't that strong again.

Blood stained the ground, but Hunter was completely unconcerned as he moved with great agility, dodging the continuous ice projectiles that flew at him from all angles.

"I forgot this is your specialty..." Hunter said in his deep, and callous voice.

He got no reply from Dan who just kept attacking from the comfort of the darkness he hid within.

"I can't let you have all the fun, can I?" Hunter said with a smirk. Light flashed within his hands briefly before it was replaced by his short bow. The bow was covered in complex runes that radiated a profound heat,

Hunter quickly pulled back on the bowstring and released an arrow of flames that had formed. This arrow of flames wasn't as destructive as the ones he fired, but they were faster, sharper, and many times as deadly.

There was a yell from within the forest as Dan let out a shout and jumped out. The arrow bore a straight path to the tree where Dan had stood previously.

Dan broke out into a cold sweat as he imagined how dead he would be if he hadn't jumped out of the way...

'This bastard is trying to kill me!'

Dan immediately realized that if he didn't do something drastic, he would end up being killed by Hunter. Hence, to even have a chance at survival, he had to take drastic steps.

Landing on the ground, he turned to stare at Hunter who had a dark grin on his face without moving. He just stared down at him with a condescending look.

Dan's mind spun at a million miles a second as he tried to think of any way he could come out of his current situation with his life intact. By a stroke of luck, his mind strolled off to his list of skills...

"You know, if you don't get serious, you'll die, right?"

The menacing aura around Hunter exploded with viciousness as he pulled back in his bow again. He pulled back in it, and a flame arrow that gave off the smell of death was nocked.

Dan's eyes widened in fear as he stared at the arrow that was pointed at the center of his brows.

'No, I can't let it end like this!' Because of how well Dan knew Hunter, he was sure he wouldn't hesitate to shoot at him in the slightest. His life was truly at the edge of the abyss...

His heartbeat began to slow down as a musty air floated out of his body. His eyes turned glacial cold as his body tensed up to the limit.

'Since my {Frost Giant Armor} is useless I'll just make it useful!' His ice armor was activated in a split second.

However, he was able to control it due to his new skill. The skill, {Ice Craft} was a skill that granted him ultimate control over all constructs of ice as long as he had the mana to back it up.

Activating it, he was able to manipulate the very essence of the skill. He removed all the unwanted parts and replaced them with parts that would maximize his movements while at the same time, increasing the density of the ice that surrounded him.

The ice fog around him thickened, yet didn't expand. Hunter stared at it with an expression filled with wary, but he decided to wait to see what Dan was up to.

The fog cleared up, but Dan was nowhere to be seen. Hunter's pupils dilated rapidly as his heartbeat raced even faster. A growl escaped his throat as he crouched down on all fours and scanned his surroundings.

'How did he disappear,? Is it that he is moving fast, or... Is he invincible?!' Numerous thoughts ran through Hunter's head, but he kept his caution to the maximum.

Suddenly, a rush of cold wind hit him from the side...

'There!' He slashed his claw in the same direction, only to be greeted with empty space. Hunter's eyes opened wide as he felt something sharp break through his skin and attempt to puncture him through his ribs and into his heart.

With a shout, Hunter exploded with flames hot enough to melt through steel in seconds. The force of the explosion was so much, Dan, who had turned invincible was caught in the blast and thrown away. Rage filled Hunter's eyes as with incredible speed, he chased after the airborne Dan and slammed him downwards midflight.

Blood gushed out of Dan's mouth before he was forced to swallow it when Hunter slammed a heel into the back of his head and spine in quick succession, nearly knocking him out.

Dan's battered body fell to the ground like a broken sack of meat. There was blood streaming down the sides of his mouth and face, and he looked battered and exhausted. Despite the heat of the blast, however, his new ice armor wasn't harmed at all.

It was much more battle-oriented than the former one. It was covered in sleek designs and runes that improved his ability to move fast. The most mysterious part of the armor was that it was an icy blue color, and seemed to reflect light oddly, giving Dan an ability that was similar to invincibility. The runes on the body of the armor only seemed to amplify the invincibility.

Hunter walked slowly towards Dan who lay on the ground seemingly unconscious. He touched his side which was now bleeding heavily due to the wound he suffered from Dan. The blood leaking out was incredibly cold, and yet, it didn't freeze over but only served to cause him extra pain.

Hunter let out a sigh as the malevolent aura surrounding him was immediately blown away. Dan on the other hand was fluctuating between the land of the living and the dead as he groaned from the wounds he suffered.

'Is this how I go out?' Dan thought to himself, nearly laughing at the irony. He had killed many people in his lifetime, friends and foes alike.

"I never knew you could do that..." Hunter said to Dan while stooping down beside him.

"Me neither..." Dan said in between gasps.

Hunter rolled his eyes at Dan's sorry state, "What are you being so dramatic about? I barely even touched you..."

Hearing this, Dan, who was in a state between life and death angrily came back to the living as he stared at Hunter in rage.

"What?! You were trying to kill me, you insane bastard!!!"

"Lies..." Hunter turned his head to the side and said.

"If I wanted to kill you, I'd have done things differently. Lucky for you, you really have gotten stronger." Hunter said with a slight smile on his face as he grabbed Dan and pulled him to his feet.

"You..." Dan was rendered speechless by Hunter's shamelessness but decided not to pursue it as because they had known each other for a long time, their familiarity wasn't something standing in only friendship.

They had gone through hell together and had fought one another to kill numerous times, so a single fight was nothing to them.

They stood together, both bleeding, but with slight smiles on their faces as they held hands in a tight handshake full of camaraderie and brotherhood.

Meanwhile, David and Blaze had completely stupified expressions on their faces as they couldn't believe what they had witnessed.

'They... Didn't they just try to kill one another?!'