God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"Everybody, clear out!" Steve yelled at the top of his voice.

Manny and Blaze separated from their opponents, hastily retreating towards Steve and Vincent.

"What's going on?" The Blue Old Guard said in a gruff voice.

"Crimson was trapped by those old men. Chances are he just broke out."

The Black Guard shook his head, "No... This wasn't just Crimson. He might be strong, but he can't prdice something of this magnitude on his own."

As the smoke cleared, the two figures laying in the crater became more visible. Cain's body was blackened and all torn up, while Lord Crimson's armor was practically non-existent. Both individuals were clearly unconscious.

The moment Steve had an understanding of the situation, he yelled at the top of his lungs,

"Get him!"

The others didn't need to be told more as they raced towards the epicenter of the crater.

"Stop them! Help Crimson and kill the boy while you are at it!" The Black Guard declared ruthlessly as the others rushed towards Lord Crimson.

Although the Old Guard were powerful, they weren't enough to beat Cain's crew so easily, especially if their opponents weren't intent on fighting them to the death, and were just trying to buy some time.u

Manny turned into a specter. He raced across the boiling ground, seemingly unaffected by the heat it gave off. Just as he was about to reach Cain, a sword came right for his head. It was the Blue Guard.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he brought his swords up to block the attack. Both men clashed a dozen times before they both backed off.

The race now was to see who would get to their leader first before the other team was able to reach theirs. The cherry on top would be if they were able to kill the other team's leader.

As such, both teams were at an impasse. The flames of war had yet to die out, and yet, a chill pervaded the early morning air...

Steve cleared his throat, pasting a wide smile on his face,

"Hey, why don't we just all it a tie? You have a man down. I'm sure you want to go get him healed up, no?"

The Black Guard scoffed, "Men, cut them down."

There were still guards all around. Luckily, the men the old man had brought were still around.

Steve grinned, "We have achieved stalemate. I suggest we all retreat to lick our wounds before this continues."

The Blue Guard took a step forward, "I'm sure Crimson would have wanted us to deal with you lot first even if he was dying."

Manny snickered, "Are you sure you can do that? We've been going at it for so long, and you still haven't done more than scratch me a bit."

The Blue Guard growled, "Boy, I'm just getting started!"

"Enough. Let's retreat, Blue. They won't be escaping even if they tried." Black suddenly changed his mind.

Just as the others were about to say something, the treacherous boom of an explosion came from the direction of Temples.

"Fuck!" The Black Guard exclaimed angrily.

Steve suddenly nodded at Vincent. A sly grin hung on the fat marksman's face as he clicked the trigger of his rifle. An unassuming magic pearl was launched out of the muzzle.

The moment it left the muzzle, it shattered and turned into a beam of high density mana. His target was the Violet Guard.

It was too sudden. The moment when everyone's attention was diverted for just a brief moment, the sly Vincent and the cunning Steve had immediately capitalized on it.

Vincent possessed a skill called {Ammunitions Master}, which allowed him to create all sorts of unique bullets. The special bullet he made was so deadly because it had been made from more than a days worth of compressed mana. He had been coalescing and condensing his mana in preparation for a moment like this.

A hole was torn straight through the Violet Guard's chestplate and into his chest. A stream of blood erupted as he was blasted backwards.

The Old Guard were so stunned, they were rooted in place. Vincent tooi this opportunity to fire at the Blue Guard, bit he managed to dodge it. Unfortunately for him, Manny had already picked up on the plan.

The moment he dodged, he was dodging towards Manny's blade. The Blue Guard was fast, but he wasn't fast enough to completely escape Manny.

Blood sprayed all over the place as Manny cut through the joints of his armor and into his flesh. Just like that, the old guard were two men down. It was unclear if both men were unconscious or dead, as the bullet Vincent had released was incredibly powerful, and would blow a hole straight through five armored tanks should the situation arise.

Steve wore a sinister smile on his face as he prepared to attack again. However, he stopped in his tracks when he saw Cain move,

"Stop. Don't attack them again..." Cain spoke in a hoarse voice as he struggled to stand up.

Everybody seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Cain was still alive.

Steve sighed, but then frowned, "Cain... What are you saying?"

Cain's body was burnt black, but he was already healing thanks to his miraculously fast recovery rate.

He ignored Steve and simply placed his hand on Lord Crimson's chest.

"Get your filthy hands off him!" The Orange Guard growled as he pointed his spear towards Cain.

Cain ignored him and quickly activated {Blood Restitution}. Soon, Lord Crimson's healing would take over, but for now, his condition was not very stable.

Just as the Orange Guard was about to attack, the Black Guard raised his fist, causing him to stop. As a mage himself, he could tell that Cain was in fact, activating a healing spell.

If he could tell, then Steve could as well. He was beyond shocked,

"Cain, what the hell are you doing?!"

Cain sighed, "I'll explain later. For now, we don't have a lot of time. Where are those old bastards?!"

Shockingly, the three old men had disappeared when no one was paying attention.

"Don't say any more bullshit, heretic! Those old fools are nothing. We've done enough talking." The Orange Guard said as he moved in, ready to attack.

Suddenly, Lord Crimson sat up. His armor had been completed destroyed, so his handsome face was revealed for all to see.

"Crimson!"

Lord Crimson, or Gabriel sighed. Cain let out a breath of relief as he reached his hand over to him. Richard took it with a small smile on his face.

If everyone was shocked before, now, they were completely baffled. These two were adversaries trying to take each other's heads not too long ago. Now, they were dabbing it up like long lost friends. Just what the hell is going on?!

"Lord Crimson! What is going on? Why..." The Black Guard was the calmest as he tried to make sense of the situation.

Gabriel sighed, "It will take a while to explain, but we need to move fast right now."

Cain's face was dark, "Those old men are after your king. They plan to kill this kingdom's ruler and bring it to its heels."

Steve frowned, "But that isn't what they told us... They said..."

Cain nodded, "Destroying the temples is also a part of their goals, but theirmain goal is to kill the Silver King."

Cain stretched out a hand and two orbs of viscous blood rammed themselves into the Blue Guard and the Violet Guard.

Both men had been on the brink of death, but this surge of vitality got their passive regeneration at work again. Soon, they would be healed up.

Steve sighed with his hand on his head. Vincent had a bitter look on his face,

"What the hell? What was the point of this trial then?!"

Cain tuned to the palace, "I was wrong about the trial... The goal of this trial is to prevent this kingdom from falling to ruin. Doing the right or wrong thing doesn't matter. If the Silver King and both temples fall, the Devils will have nothing stopping them anymore. However, if only the temples fall, the Kingdom will still have negotiating power."

The Orange Guard slammed the butt of his spear on the ground,

"Then we can't waste any more time here!"

"We... have... to hurry..." The Violet Guard said as he slowly stood to his feet. The hole on his chest was already knitting itself back together. Luckily for him, Vincent had missed his heart, only by a hair's breadth, so he would get to live for a day more...

"Whatever those old men are planning cannot be pretty, but I'm out of mana right now, so I won't be of much help." Cain said. In the battle against Lord Crimson, he had drained himself completely.

He was out of stamina, Ki, mana, and even Devil Essence. Shockingly, his body had healed up completely, but there was not a lick of energy running through him.

Steve threw him an MP Regen Potion,

"Drink up! If the goal of this trial is as you say, then we need to stop those old men."

"As for the temples..." Cain turned to look at Lord Crimson.

Gabriel chuckled, "You might not know this, but the power in this Kingdom is shared between the tenpeks and the royalty. We are the Silver King's men, and thus, serve the country. We do not answer to the Temples. Although they helped keep the peace, they are nothing but puppet tyrants."

Cain breathed a sigh of relief. Then he added,

"But if the Temple are destroyed, the Devils are..."

Gabriel waved his hands, "You underestimate our power. Even without the backing of the Temple, the Kingdom is still able to train mages and Knights like us. If anything, they are the ones civenting our power, forcing promising warriors to die for a war that ended thousands of years ago."

The other members of the Old Guard said nothing, but judging from their stances,it was clear they didn't disagree with what Lord Crimson said.

Cain grinned, "In that case, I'd like to redeem myself."

With cold eyes, he uncorked an MP Regen Potion and passed the other one to Lord Crimson. Once they downed it, they began moving towards the castle...

"Let's go kick some geezer butts!"