God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The Western Island was a mere fragment of a whole. However, due to recemt, inexplicable events, its size had exploded tremendously. It was now large enough to house ten thousand people. However, much of whatever infrastructure it had had become desolate and destroyed.

The remaining humans had been able to live comfortably thanks to the actions of the Lightslayers and their new god, Yagani.

From what they had learned, he was the deity that was going to use his light to deliver the world from the perpetual darkness it faced.

These people had forgotten all about the kind of life they lived before the apocalypse. Now, seeing a new day was something to be grateful for.

And they had none other to thank than the Lightslayers...

***

Lukas looked around. Although, their troops numbered less than a thousand. However, they were strong. Inheriting even a portion of a Celestial being's power was something mortal beings like themselves could only ever dream of.

Lukas shifted his gaze towards the bubbling horizon...

"Its about to begin. Archers, Marksmen... Take aim!"

Firearms created from ancient elven or dwarven technology was incredibly precious, but they had managed to obtain quite the number of them. However, the only thing that was difficult to obtain was ammunition.

Lukas' gaze was steady. The Beast Horde was frantically approaching. With his improved eyesight, he could clearly see waves barreling towards them at impossible speeds. One might even mistake it for a tsunami.

"Shit... What the hell are we supposed to fire at?" One of the archers couldn't help but mumble out helplessly.

Lukas took in a deep breath then turned to address his soldiers,

"Do not fear, do not panic. All is under control! As long as you believe in the Light God, you will not perish. You are his faithful, determined to fight till the end. We shall destroy these beasts!" Lukas roared.

The men felt the valor in their spirits surge...

Yes, what was there to worry about. Besides, they were fighting not just for their lives, but for the one who granted them this miraculous power as well. So long as they continued fighting, they would gather enough power to dominate the world. By then, they would fear nothing...

"As expected of the Leader. He truly knows how to inspire other's hopes." Zue said with a wide, captivated smile.

Chloe, Lukas' sister, merely stood behind them and said nothing with a blank expression. Instead, she waved the wooden staff in her hand and began chanting under her breath,

"Wide Area Buff: Angel's Grace!"

She cast a buff on the melee fighters and long-range fighters. They immediately felt their physical capabilities boost, filling them with more confidence.

Luke was standing close to Lukas. He turned to Winifred,

"Let's begin."

Their men were a special squad on their own. They were meant to remain on standby in case things went south. This was because they didn't possess the blessing of Light God Yagani, and could be killed even though they were on the island.

That didn't mean they were powerless. In fact, they were quite powerful compared to the Lightslayers.

Winifred nodded and began chanting. A strange wind began to blow in the opposite direction. The surging waves seemed to mellow out all of a sudden, causing the Beasts to reveal themselves.

Strange aquatic beasts that had recieved the cursed blessing of mana, morphing into terrifying abominations. Their eyes were red and filled with bloodlust. Even though they seemed to have calmed down, it only seemed like the calm before a storm.

Winifred began speaking,

"There's roughly ten thousand of them. Most of them are below the waves, crawling on the seabed. The ones we sea on the waves are just to distract us from what is coming."

Lukas frowned while Suki seemed alarmed,

"What? Since when did Mutant Beasts become so smart?"

Lukas shook his head, "It doesn't matter. For now, the ones that can't move on land are harmless. Let's focus our firepower on the others."

The ones they could see above the waves were the ones that couldn't really do them any harm. What they had to worry about was whatever was approaching from under the waves.

Suddenly, the place where the shore and water met bubbled. Hundreds upon hundreds of creatures began crawling out.

***

{King Lobster} level 35 (Deadly).

Strength: 300.

Agility: 400.

Defense: 100.

HP: 7,000/7,000.

MP: 1,500/1,500.

Skills: Ice Creation, Diamond Shell, Crushing Pinchers, Underwater Propulsion.

***

{Water Newt} level 40 (Deadly).

Strength: 500.

Agility: 350.

Defense: 150.

HP: 10,000/10,000.

MP: 2,500/2,500.

Skills: Water Blade, Intimidation, Water Bullets, Impervious Scales.

***

{Sea Drake} level 50 (Epic).

Strength: 700.

Agility: 700.

Defense: 200.

HP: 15,000/15,000.

MP: 4,500/4,500.

Skills: Water Cannon, Lesser Water Manipulation, Regeneration lvl 5, Underwater Propulsion, Impenetrable Scales, Beast Aura.

***

The three main sea beasts that crawled out were the {King Lobsters}, the {Water Newts}, and the {Sea Drakes}. Other beasts like the {Golden Carapace Beasts} and the {Poison Water Urchin} made their way out of the inky depths. However, they were fewer in numbers.

These creatures numbered in the hundreds.

"Hmm... Those {Sea Drakes} will be very hard to deal with." Marq said with a frown.

Still, they held the advantage. Lukas waved his hand,

"Fire!"

This was all the archers and marksmen needed before their let their ammunition fly.

The sound of the air being split by arrows covered the island. The arrows and bullets knocked into the front lines. Blood and flesh split apart as whatever beasts on the front were pulverized.

The few mages they had immediately began chanting attack spells one after the other. Balls of flames, bolts of lightning and spears of ice came falling down like it was Armageddon all over again.

Lukas frowned, "Keep the tempo up."

The archers were incredibly effective facing off the {King Lobsters}. Although their shells were tough, since archers and marksmen had keen eyesights, they could spot the gaps between the plates that made up their shells. Felling them was not incredibly difficult.

The archers and marksmen that were chosen were people with prior experience. Although they were fewer in number than those who fought melee, they were not very hard to find. After all, many people engaged in these types of things every day as sports and workouts.

With their basic stats amped up so much, achieving these feats was impressive,but not impossible.

The normal humans who were unfit to battle were hidden deep within the island, so there was nothing to worry, especially with the giant earthen wall.

They had also managed to stall the blasted creatures. Everything should have been going fine. However, Lukas couldn't shake the nagging feeling at the back of his head.

"Get ready to attack at any moment." Lukas said suddenly, his tone grave.

The others looked at him in confusion. However, they quickly understood what he meant as a change came over the island.

The creatures that had been slowed down by Winifred suddenly picked up speed.

Luke raised a brow, "Why do they seem so eager to approach? They shouldn't have a way of getting onto the island, right?

Suki shook her head, "Perhaps that isn't their plan. I think it is something far worse..."

"They want to sink the island." Lukas said

"Bingo~" Suki flashed him a smile. Then she quickly remembered their dire situation and calmed down rather quickly.

"The point is now we have to make a choice. Sit on the island and pray it doesn't sink, or go and battle them on their own turf. That is a difficult choice to make..." Zue said, adjusting his glasses.

Lukas snorted, "We'll take the fight to them. Something is telling me this Beast Horde isn't as simple as it seems."

Luke nodded, "My men and I are ready."

Lukas nodded and gave out orders, "Marq, Stone, Anthony... Join the ground troops. Whatever you do, don't leave the island. Suki, coordinate things from up here."

"Luke, your men will follow us. We'll kill those beasts and have the waves bury their corpses." He said, his time containing a fair bit of arrogance.

Suki nodded, "Activating all enchantments."

Although their troops were powerful, they weren't going to be enough to destroy the Beast Horde. Most of them were ordina6humans that had been granted blessings. They weren't powerful on their own.

That was why the entire island was outfitted with numerous enchantments to prepare for a potential invasion. As the archers and marksmen kept up the salvo, the ground warriors had already made contact.

A rather huge man jumped as high as he could, bringing a large broadsword down with immense power. A {King Lobster} was immediately cleaved in half.

His blessing, {Dazzling Right Hand}, granted his incredible strength for ten minutes. However, he wouldn't be able to use this power afterwards for an hour. Still, the boost in power it provided was enough for him to cleave something as defensive as a {King Lobster}.

"Hahaha! Die, ya filthy beasts! Let your blood flow like rivers!" Madness could be seen in the depths of his eyes.

When a faithful killed a living being, the power of the Celestial within them absorbed the divinity of the slain beast. This divinity was absorbed by the

Celestial through some strange method. However, it provided the killer with a small portion of the deceased's strength.

This was the same for every Celestial. However, how effective this was heavily depended on the power of the Celestial.

For example, a Beast God like Pluto allowed his followers masssive increases in physical power. However, Levron could only grant his own followers slight physical and mana boosts. The two were not on the same level at all.

Yagani was even more powerful than these two...

The killing continued even as Lukas led a team to slay the creatures that were about to bring the island down.