God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The skies were perpetually grey all over the world. The thick pearly blankets made sure the world remained in its constant state of gloom and doom.

A faint hint of blood and ash could be perceived with every inhale, and it wasn't uncommon to hear the shrieks, cries, groans or grunts of creatures ripping one another apart...

"Damn... There never is a good day in hell, is there?" Major Arltzwalt, the person who had ordered the decimation of City Z, could be seen standing upon a very tall outpost overseeing a great wilderness of sand and dead plants. He had a large sniper on his back and two strange pistols hanging on his waists.

Right beside him was a woman dressed in a tank top and military shorts...

"There's only so much that can change in such a small time, right? Compared to global warming, these disasters truly are the end of the world..." The lady said with an air of uninvolvement as she lit a cigarette and placed it between her lips. Her eyes glowed with the peculiar sheen of magic as she glared into the distant wilderness as well.

She had sun kissed skin, a red headband holding her hair back, and an eye patch over her left eye. On her hips were pistols, while she had a huge military style blade hanging on her back.

"Haha... I'm sure its going to come soon. I can feel it." Arltzwalt said with a small chuckle, still gazing into the distance.

"How can you be so sure?" The lady asked.

With an eerie smile unsuited for his heavily bearded and toned face, he said, "The gods told me..."

"The gods?"

The smile seemed to widen, "Yes, the gods... Very soon, they will all come out and establish their places in our world so we can finally join the cosmic order."

The Lady, stared deeply at him for a while before tore her gaze away from him,

"Sure..."

Turning her attention back to the wilderness, she pointed into the distance, "We have a hunter, straight ahead..." She said suddenly.

Understanding her signal, the major pulled the sniper that looked like could be used to take submarines down.

Switching his sights on, he zoned in on the creature approaching...

***

{Hunter} Level 20. (elite)

Strength: 200

Agility: 250

Defense: 25

HP: 4000/4000

MP: 500/500

Skills: Combustible acid spit.

***

The creature was a devil of lower intelligence, used usually to scout and hunt for prey to drag back to the broodmothers.

Without even twitching, he pulled the trigger. Magic circles within the gun began to spin. A 12cm long bullet was produced. It spun within the chamber so fast, the bullet was red hot by the time it flew out of the muzzle.

BANG!

The body of the {Silent Hunter} that was more than 500m away was instantly blown to pieces.

"Easy pickings... Not enough to even grant some exp..." Arltzwalt said as he swung the sniper back into place.

"Their visits are becoming more frequent, but their numbers are fewer everytime. What do you think they are planning?" Lucia, the woman scanning the wilderness alongside Arltzwalt asked.

"From the size of that nest over there, it can't be anything good..." The major said, pointing a finger at a gigantic devil breeding nest that was almost as tall as a mountain.

"Ha... Was it really a good choice to blow up City Z? Not only did we kill off any possible survivors, we also couldn't get all the devils down there."

"Things aren't so easy, Lucia. Even I take orders from the higher-ups. Don't know what goes through those bastards minds, but whatever it is, I bet it isn't good. Now that money ain't shit, they are probably looking for more ways to monopolize everything."

"You mean?"

"Exactly... It's world domination all over again. Hahaha!" The major said with a laugh as he pointed his sniper into the distance and fired a shot again, blowing another devil that was trying to sneak closer to the outpost into oblivion.

Putting her hand on her chin, Lucia stared at the tall dark spire that surprisingly didn't resemble the ghastly disgusting devil nests she was familiar with.

"But..." Arltzwalt said as he continued shooting more and more devils down as they appeared.

"Just because they are trying to doesn't mean they can. We've decended back into the Barbaric and Plundering eras. He with the longest blade gets the best shit. I got a report a few days ago." His tone immediately turned serious,

"The Kolaris Continent is the only one we actually have a grasp on, and even at that, we've barely managed to establish five strongholds. We've been met with significant resistance in every other place."

"Resistance?" Lucia raised a brow.

"Hehehe... You do not understand the dreams and aspirations of man..."

"They are fools..." She replied with a snort.

"Maybe, but they currently have the power to fight the organization and keep them on their toes. As for the other continents, we have no contact with them anymore. It's like we are being isolated by a barrier that is making communication impossible. The scariest part? Send out scouting parties and you get a boat full of bloody bones for your efforts.

Those damned bastards know well to conserve their resources."

"Ha... All that doesn't matter let's just deal with-"

"Get ready... There's a wave incoming!"

The sudden spike in the volume and seriousness of Arltzwalt made Lucia respond quickly.

"How many?"

"A lot... Scratch that... We might be looking at the whole freaking nest. Call everyone. I mean everyone... Tell Khan and Boulder to remain behind to keep order, but everyone else should get their asses down here, or all die.

I'll hold them off!" The Major held his gigantic sniper with one hand as he fired bolt after bolt into the gradually increasing sea of black.

"Yes Sir!"

With a brief salute, Lucia jumped off the outpost and dashed toward a settlement nearby that was covered on all side with thick metal walls.

***

Meanwhile, At the site of Rollo and Hunter's battle...

Rollo and Hunter stood facing one another, each with varying degrees of injuries. Hunter had a huge hole in his stomach, while Rollo had several deep gashes all over his body, some going as deep as three inches.

On the bridge not too far away from them, the battle between the Followers of the Blood god and the group of Blaze, Manny, Stan and Li was still as fierce as ever, with neither one of them willing to go down as they threw everything they had at their opponent.

Shock blazed within their hearts as they launched powerful spells and activated even more powerful skills. At this point, no one could care about being careful not to kill. In fact, some were actively trying to kill their opponents at all costs.

"I've had it with you, Parasite!" Blaze who had been tied down by the female assassin couldn't hold it any more.

He was filled with so many cuts, he looked like he was completely clad in red just like the Followers of the Blood god. Despite that, the fury in his eyes made it look like he wasn't even wounded.

On the other hand, his opponent was in just as bad a shape. She clutch onto a single dagger, while her other hand dangled to the side like as of it was broken. The mask covering her face had been broken to reveal a feminine face with a slightly above average beauty. However, her eyes were incredibly dark and filled with malice and bad intentions.

"Idiot..." She responded with a snort. However, she didn't attack immediately. Instead, she took a step back, fear dwelling within her eyes. She had dealt so much damage to Blaze, yet he was still standing.

Although she could deal damage faster that him, each of his blows was like a truck. As an assassin, she was extremely fast, so she was supposed to be able to evade his attacks easily. But things couldn't be so easy for her.

Although not as fast as she was, Blaze had a high agility stat, and could keep up with her, despite being a bit slower. He also had an unbending determination that gave her a headache.

"I'll cut you down..." She said raspily.

Her eyes took on a red glow as she began to approach Blaze, looking for the best angle to attack from.

"Ha... Time out..." Suddenly, Blaze sat onto the Ice bridge.

"What?" The assassin approaching couldn't help but pause. How many people would ask for a time out in a life or death battle.

"Can't we just talk this out?" Blaze said I'm the most serious tone of voice he could muster.

"Honestly, this fight is becoming a real pain. We've been going at this for like what... Three hours?! Let's just stop this."

The assassin was silent as she stared at Blaze, wondering what was going through the idiot's head.

From her expression, Blaze was able to see he wasn't getting through.

'Sigh... Sorry, but I tried. No more holding back...'

"In that case, I guess there is nothing to talk about..." Blaze said as he rose back to his feet.

"It took you that long to realize?" She said as she pointed her dagger at him.

"Shut the hell up! And prepare to take the full brunt of my power!" Blaze let of an angry shout as he exploded with power.

"Get lost!"

BOOM!

He had been holding back because he didn't want to take anyone's life, or permanently damage the Oce bridge since his main attack power source was flame elemental magic.

Now, he didn't care...

He just wanted the fight over...

As fast as possible...

'His power just increased!'

Before she could even react, Blaze's glowing eyes stared straight into hers. With a grunt, the shaft of his spear smacked into her midsection.

The sound of ribs breaking could send chills running down one's spine as he brought the spear down on her curling body, driving her into the hard ice, knocking her out cold.

"Hmph!" Dusting his hands, Blaze returned his spear to his inventory.

"Let's go..."

Suddenly, the thick voice of Rollo echoed across the battlefield.

"Oi, oi... Where do you think you are going? You'll have to leave some answers behind if you want to go anywhere." Blaze yelled angrily.

He looked all around and realized that the entire army of red was slowly pulling away. Making an attempt to grab at the opponent he had just defeated, he was shocked to see she had dissapeared completely.

Manny, Stan and Li all stood staring at the receding army.

"Hunter, what's going on? I thought you were holding that bastard down?!" Blaze yelled at Hunter who had transformed back to a humanoid form.

"Change of plans... Leave them. Let's getting going. Fast!" Hunter said, a dark look on his face.

"Change of plans? What change of plans?" Li asked, looking confused.

"I just got info from Steve. We need to hurry..." Hunter said. Immediately, he burst forward with extreme speed...