God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain had a deep frown on his face,

"Hey... Old man! What the hell is this?!"

This all white space stretched out into infinity in all directions. Suddenly finding himself trapped here with Lord Crimson the only person in sight, it was only normal for him to be unsettled.

"Relax, Cain. This is a spell related specifically for this reason. This is a high-density artificial sub-space. Here, you can fight to your heart's content without having to worry about damaging anything. Even you too, Richard." Cain heard the old man's voice come from somewhere and everything within this space.

Cain's face was dark, "You bastard!"

Cain understood exactly what this old man was telling him. Fight Lord Crimson, or due trying. He couldn't even escape if he wanted to. It was a setup...

Just thinking about it made him incredibly incensed.

'I was played... Played like a fool.'

"Cain... Trust me. I won't leave you to die." The old man's voice rang out again. But Cain wasn't listened this time. Because all his attention was trained solely on Lord Crimson.

He could feel waves upon waves of malicious aura pouring off him.

'Crap!'

"You bastard! So this was your plan all along?!" Lord Crimson's sinister voice came in like a flood.

Cain frowned, "What?"

"You fools! You were only a gear in the old bastard's plans. His true motives aren't an attack on the temples, or even on the city itself."

A deep flame iginted on the surface of the crimson armor...

"You plan... to assassinate the Sliver King."

Cain was taken aback. His mind raced as he began to think. This was the old man's true goal? Nothing he had told him had indicated any of this.

The old man's calm, seasoned voice came flooding back,

"Richard. When you learn of the true nature of this world... The lies, the bodies it has been built on... You'll understand someday."

"STOP SCREWING WITH ME!"

BOOM!

Cain was forced to take a few steps back as a deluge of power poured out of Lord Crimson.

'This is bad... This is really bad.'

Cain heard the old man's voice work it's way into his ears,

"Cain. You have to take care of Gabriel. Keep him occupied for as long as you can. I promise you. I have not betrayed you. The Celestials can really descend from the alters.

But the Silver King is just as dangerous as whatever will descend from those alters."

Cain's face was cold, "You didn't lie to me, but you did decieve me. What makes me sure you aren't doing that right now?"

The old man sighed, "It doesn't matter. Either way, you have to work with me. When Gabriel is like this, he'll do anything. Anything includes killing you and breaking away from his spatial prison."

Cain's face squeezed up. That was the truth. Right now, there was no backing out. It was either fiht or die. He could tell Lord Crimson was not going to be willing to listen to reason at this point.

Lord Crislmson snorted as he took a step forward. The flames surrounding his body exploded as his physical capabilities shot through the roof.

Cain sighed, 'There is no chance for hesitation.'

He stared at the blade in his hands,

'Conviction, huh...' Perhaps he would finally realize what his was today.

"Golden Wyrm: Asura."

The combination of a perfect body and energy, and a devilish physique. A form that gave him a tremendously powerful body that could handle the dangerously flowing energies in his body.

A shocking amount of power flooded his body and soul quickly became oversaturated with this power, and it began to seep out of his body, almost beyond his control. It coated his body like a thick exoskeleton, guided by the power of the metal enchantment of {Burning Spirit}.

There was no part of him that wasn't improved. Defense, stamina, speed, strength... Everything!

Two horns sprouted from his temple as his body mutated under the influence of this power. His body was covered in hardy scales, and a strange looking tail emerged from his backside, improving this bodily control.

Lord Crimson seemed taken aback a little,

"A transformation ability? No... I can sense... The power of Devils!"

Even the old man, who was watching from the outside was surprised. He knew Cain was human. There were humans who possessed transformative abilities. However, most of them made use of just Ki, Mana.

Cain on the other hand made use of both Ki and Mana, as well as the more invasive and dark Devil Essence.

'Only a proper Devil like Saladin can possess such control as well. Hmm...'

With the existence of Devils, there was sure to be the existence of Devil Thralls. Beings that had fallen under toe consuming power of Devil Essence. These creatures lost their will once the concentration of Devil Essence in the became too much for their psyche to bear.

Thanks to the influence of the Celestials that had brought this world to heel, the effects of the corruption of Devil Essence was greatly restricted.

However, every once in a while, there was bound to be that unlucky fellow that fell into the abyss, probably due to unintended corruption, or deliberate defilement due to the desire for power.

Staring at Cain, Lord Crimson couldn't tell which one was it. He also couldn't tell if Cain was a Devil Thrall. He didn't act like a mindless zombie, which was the usual characteristic of Devil Thralls.

He could also tell that apart from the ability to control Devil Essence with such great proficiency, Cain was entirely human.

So how?

How was this possible?

Well, it didn't matter in the end. It still wasn't going to be enough. Although the show Cain just put on was shocking and magnificent, it was inconsequential.

Lord Crimson pointed his blade at Cain,

"I thought we could have been friends. You are indeed powerful. Powerful enough to hold your own against an old guard. However, you've fallen from grace and have succumbed to the corruption of the Devils. Not only that, you are heavily involved in the plot to assassinate her Royal Highness. For that, the only judgement I can proclaim for you is death."

Cain didn't say a word instead, he summoned a giant orb of rotating flames. The orb continued to grow in size and luminous intensity until it looked like a miniature star.

Lord Crimson pointed his right hand at Cain. A pillar of scalding, red hot flames was belched out of his palm. Cain threw the orb of flames at the approaching pillar, pressing his arms forward.

The moment both flame attacks clashed, the false reality around them trembled. However, this was just the beginning...

"You want to see conviction?!"

Cain's eyes gleamed as an intense amount of mana boiled out of him...

Hundreds of magic circles blossomed around him as more {Flame Orbs} were created, each as powerful as the first one he made. He sent them forth in a barrage towards Lord Crimson.

As his mouth was chanting the spells to created these {Flame Orbs}, his hands were not idle as he formed hand seals, preparing another spell.

Lord Crimson snorted as he began chanting as well. Both men were not just martial artists. They were also masters of attack magic and spellcraft.

"Blood Spears."

Magic circles appeared all around him, revolving as they spat out {Blood Spears} at the {Flame Orbs} Cain had flung at him. At the same time, he was already crafting another spell.

Both men finished their spells at the same time,

"Heavenly Blue Lightning!"

"Sword of Obliteration!"

A giant mailgic circle appeared behind both of them as a gigant holt of lightning and an enormous sword of light clashed.

The mana flow patterns around them became unstable as even the sub-space began to tremble and crack.

Cain and Lord Crimson were fling backwards, both suffering various degrees of damage. However, in just a few seconds, whatever damaged they suffered disappeared.

'Magic won't work, huh... His armor is resistant.' Cain frowned.

'That Devil Essence is damping the intensity of mana.' Lord Crimson frowned behind his helmet.

They were both forced to make a decision. As such, Cain quickly grabbed the guns hanging at his waisted. Meanwhile, Lord Crimson rocketed forward in an attempt to close the distance.

Azure flames burned beneath Cain's feet as he retreated backwards faster than the eye could follow. At the same time, golden bullets came flying at Lord Crimson like hail.

In response, Lord Crimson deftly dodged. If he was unable to, he swung the short blades he had pulled outz shearing the bullets in two...

Seeing Cain keen on making distance between themz Lord Crimson's eyes flashed with bright light as his energy roared to life.

Before Cain could register what happened, he felt the cold fingers of death wrap around his neck as the gleam of a blade approached.

'There it is...'

Right now, with the boost he got from Asura, Cain could compete evenly with Lord Crimson in most things. Apart from speed...

In battle, speed was one of the most important factors to consider. Making use of a strange technique, Lord Crimson was capable of moving from zero to beyond hypersonic in the blink of an eye, making even {Azure Burst} seem like child's play.

Cain knew this would happen...

And so, as someone who loved his life dearly, he had obviously looked for a method to deal with this.

He could recognize the energy Lord Crimson used. It was Ki. Ki allowed a living being to harness the vital energy of the world, giving them all sorts of superhuman abilities.

The Ki technique he used was entirely different from what Lord Crimson used. However, they were both similar in that they could be used to boost physical prowess.

What Lord Crimson was using his Ki to do was quite similar to what he did with {Ki Fire}. The main difference, was that his energy was compressed and he had far more control over it than Cain, despite Cain's Ki being of better quality.

So what had he done?

Cain's eyes gleamed as a thick red glow enveloped his body. It was different to the flames of {Ki Fire}. It was far more concentrated, and seemed more like a film of light rather than flames.

Just as Lord Crimson's blade was about to claim his life, he disappeared from sight..a.