God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Duskmore...

Once a quiet capital city surrounded with lush grainlands and verdant forests, was now plunged into the fires of war.

Both within the city and around it, the air was thick with smoke and the coppery scent of blood.

Various battle were being fought every minute. The people in the temples were unaware of the destruction taking place in the city...

Jenny heaved heavily as she fought for her breath. Blood streamed down her right hand as she ran down the temple halls.

'Hurry... I have to hurry.'

They had severely underestimated the Templars and Knight Templars. Because of that, she had suffered a terrible injury. However, none of that mattered right now.

Right now, she was headed towards the altar to destroy it. Although Dan had found it, he was being held down by one of the Knight Templars.

So she had made the hasty decision to leave Li and Stan behind to fend for themselves...

As she ran further, her expression turned sour. Running through the hallways, she had come across so many Templars corpses.

She could tell this wasn't Dan's work. The corpses were either broken to pieces, or were killed in a single decisive attack.

From what she had seen, there might have been more than one attacker.

'There is someone else after the altar.'

That was the only explanation she could think of. Still, it didn't matter. She had to destroy the altar no matter what. Whoever it was that was attacking these Templars certainly wasn't on their side.

If their goals alligned, perhaps there would be an opportunity to work together.

Just as Jenny was about to ound a corner, she quickly ducked back into the bend. A split second later, a barrage of enchanted arrows tore through the hallway, peppering the wall on the other side with arrows.

Jenny responded immediately, firing a swarm of magic bullets, each one penetrating through armor, kissing through skin, flesh, and then bone to deliver the final touch of death.

Before their bodies even touched the ground, she was already racing past the still standing corpses.

The sounds of battle reached her ears as she approached the altar room. Her brows furrowed as he increased her speed.

Soon, she came across a huge golden door that had once held firm, radiating power and glory. Nowz it stood in shambles, a huge hole torn through it.

Paying the door no mind, Jenny looked into the altar room. She eyes widened in shock as she watched a terrifying number of Templars throw themselves at a lone figure who shone with blinding light.

"S-susan!"

Everyone knew Susan was mostly a healer. She usually didn't take part in decisive battles, or most battles for the matter. She stayed at the rear lines and offered support.

In reality, everyone had secrets they hid. Cain, Susan, and even Jenny herself...

She watched as Susan drew a giant warbpw into a full moon, sending arrows of concentrated light beams into the crowd, killing a handful of Templars with every shot.

However, most of her efforts were concentrated on a towering figure clothed in Divine armor. This being didn't look to be something from this world.

A giant abberation clothed in Divine armor, each blow threatening to tilt the world. However, all these tremors were exontained within the room, not a single sound leaking out.

Jenny took a moment to inspect her surroundings. Just behind the giant divine being, was a golden altar. And sitting on this altar, was a beating golden heart. The more Jenny looked at it, the more she was filled with dread.

The more Templars died, the more the aura surrounding the heat grew.

'This is bad.' She came to her conclusion quickly. Susan was already taking so much on her own. However, her efforts only server to fuel this strange heart.

'Could it be that whatever Divine being has already been summoned?'

Perhaps that was the case. Once this heart turned into a full being, the end would come. Their trial would be considered failed, and they would lose the opportunity to become first Tier beings. Worst of all,they would all die.

Jenny went through all her options. For now, with the aid of the light guardian, Susan was managing on her own. It would still be a while before she would be in danger of being killed. In other words, she didn't need her help.

'That thing needs to be stopped.'

She could either destroy the altar, or destroy the terrifying being that was being brought to being in this world from whatever place of existence it originally occupied.

Hidden in a secluded corner of the Altar room, Jenny placed the stock of her gun on her shoulder and took aim.

She knew she would only get one chance. Nothing more...

Knowing that, she poured all of her remaining mana into creating the perfect bullet. It took shape within the chamber. A sleek, streamlined bullet packed with high-density explosive mana that would allow the bullet to go from zero, to hypersonic in less than a second. Even someone as fast as Manny, would be unable to dodge.

She took in a deep breath...

And fired.

***

Meanwhile, Evangeline took a step into the shadows and arrived right before the doors that led to the Altar room. Following behind her, was the White Wolf.

Hunter's voice reached out into her mind,

"What are you going to do now? Those door don't look easy to deal with."

Evangeline's face was a mask of indifference,

"These things are just for show. The real fun begins once we get inside."

Hunter fell silent. Evangeline walked up to the doors and placed a hand on them.

"What are you doing?"

Evangeline smirked, "The only thing that makes these doors formidable are the magic circle enchantments on the thing. I'm using my mana to override it. Get back... Things are about to get messy."

Hunter did as he was told and stepped back. Suddenly, the runes and magic circles on the doors began glowing. Then, an explosion...

A huge gaping hole was left in the doors. Evangeline calmly walked in. Hunter was beyond shocked at this point. The only question in his mind was how...

How was she able to do this...

How did she know that their goal was to destroy the altars...

How had she known where the altar room was, and how had she figured out how to break the enchantments so easily...

The moment they stepped into the room, they were greeted with a stifling silence. The décor of the Temple of the Blood Moon was vastly different from that from that of the Temple of Light. The interior of the Temple was dark and gloomy, with very scarce lighting. The only traces of color to be seen, were plain red, and a deep crimson...

The color of blood...

Within this Altar room, there was similarly no colors aside from red. At the center of the altar room, seated on the altar, was a cloud of blood. At the center of this bloody cloud, was a single eye. The second Hunter used the White Wolf's eyes to gaze into the eye of this strange aberration, he felt his mind split open.

It was as though all his thoughts and memories were being revealed to this being... His entire life was being read like a book.

"We have to get out of here!" Hunter yelled, but Evangeline paid him no mind. Instead, she took a step forward,

"What kind of beast did that witch send this time?"

A strange sound came from the blood cloud, "Insignificant mortal. Let your soul be vanquished..."

Evangeline rolled her eyes, "Well, for a small world like this, she shouldn't have sent something big. Hmmm..."

"Do you know no fear, Human?" The blood cloud said.

Evangeline sneered, "Why would I ever fear a little soldier such as yourself?"

Hunter was very confused. He couldn't make heads or tails of what they were talking about. He frowned,

'I need to destroy that altar. I can tell that whatever this thing is, the summoning isn't complete. It doesn't have a foothold on this world yet. If we can sever the connection, perhaps we might be able to even stop, possibly kill it!'

Hunter spoke to Evangeline, "Can you summon the others here..."

Evangeline threw him a glance, "Don't bother. If they come here, they'll die or get in the way. Also, there is no point in speaking telepathically. He can hear everything."

The blood cloud seemed surprised, "How do you know so much, human?"

Evangeline snorted, "What makes you think you are so special? There are probably billions of your kind within the Scarlet Moon Celestial's army."

The bloody cloud rolled violently as it began to seep away from the altar.

"It matters not why you know so much, human. You shall die now. This world belongs to its rulers."

Evangeline turned to Hunter, "There will be no escaping this. You and the others here with you must keep as many Templars as you can away from this place. They are probably rushing here as we speak. No matter what, we cannot allow this thing to get even stronger or bigger."

Although Hunter was confused and more than a bit suspicious, he knew now was not the time to ask questions, as he could sense the urgency in her tone. Evangeline stretched her hand and commanded the shadows, The inky black tendrils grabbed the White Wolf and pulled it into a nearby shadow. Once the beast was gone, Evangeline turned her attention back to the bloody cloud,

"Now, then... How do you kill a {Hell Scarlet Omen} again?"