God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The black sea parted before Gwendolyn.

In the Captain's cabin on the deck of the ship, numerous individuals were seated silently around a wide circular table. The ship, Gwendolyn, was incredibly huge, and came with a lot of facilities even though it was in a state of disarray. However, it could be patched up quite easily.

"The ship is not too badly damaged, at least there are no leaks." Steve said at the table.

Seated at the table was himself, Cain, Evangeline, Leah, Ignis, Jenny, Susan, and Hunter.

"All the weapons are destroyed however." Hunter said, his face impassive as always.

Cain shrugged, "That's unfortunate. Either way, what needs to be done will be done."

He then turned to Evangeline,

Her ruby eyes sparkled, but she remained silent with a slight smile on her lips,

"What?"

"The leader of the Lightslayers, Lukas, can you handle him alone?"

Cain was very certain of Evangeline's ability. Still, he had to ask.

Evangeline took a while to think about it,

"I can't be certain, but judging from the reports, he must be very strong. I would say my chances are around thrity percent."

Cain nodded, then turned to face Susan and Jenny who blinked at him in surprise,

"What if it's the three of you?" Cain asked.

"You don't need to kill him. Just hold him down long enough for me to take care of the other bastard." Cain said sinisterly.

Evangeline chuckled, "If that's the case, then it might be doable. However, if you truly intend not to kill him, then we'll need more assistance since he is likely to be surrounded by many subordinates."

Cain nodded, "Ignis, you'll join them. Steve, you'll join them as well. Jenny, bring Stan, Li, and Sue with you if you'd like."

They all nodded in understanding.

"What about the Mutant Beasts? We can't forget the level of danger they pose." Steve asked.

Cain grinned, "Don't worry about that. When the time comes, I'll take care of them. Leah, Roselle, Kai, and Lin Lin should take a few Beastmen to board the island. Hunter, Dan... You both follow them."

A layout quickly appeared in his mind. With how many people he had, he was confident in controlling the battlefield.

Cain then turned to Steve, "Those three... Did they join us?"

He was referring to Vincent, Manny, and Blaze. After he had beat them up, he had left them there apart from Vincent. He didn't know whether they would back out or not even though they had lost.

Steve grinned, "Those three? Relax. They dare not oppose you now that you have proven yourself."

Cain let out a sigh, "Remember... The most important thing in all this is to keep the casualties low. Try not to die."

Although he seemed indifferent, his words were sincere. Evangeline gave him a strange glance,

"Oho? Since when did you care so much?"

Cain snorted, "Whatever. If you want to die, then die... We'll soon get there. Let's get ready."

Everyone let the cabin to prepare.

Stepping out of the cabin, Jenny quickly located Stan, Li, and Sue, relaying the plan to then.

"Is that so... Well, as long as it isn't a suicide mission, I'm all for it." Li said casually.

Sue threw him a disdainful glance, "You idiot. If they can't be killed, isn't this the same as a suicide mission?!"

Jenny chuckled, "Calm down, you two. It won't be only us. It might be dangerous, but as long as we stick together, we'll get through it."

Although her words were inspirational, they didn't seem convincing at all.

Stan sighed, "If I die today, try to bring me back to life before burning my body, okay?"

Li shot him a strange glance, "What?"

Stan grinned, "Who knows... I might just be pretending, or I might have fallen asleep. You never know..."

Li was overcome with emotion, "I'd burn you first, then check later."

"Ah?!"

Watching the two bicker, a faint smile appeared on Jenny's lips. Her mind quickly wandered. Things had been like this for as long as she remembered. Unfortunately, they could change very quickly.

Going in, she could very well expect to lose everything. The reali9pf their situation was not post on her at all.

'Cain...'

With a sigh, she steeled her mind,

"Get ready. It's about to happen."

***

Standing at the bow of the ship, Cain watched the horizon. It was a strange thing. It really didn't exist, as the harder you tried to approach it, the faster it receded into the distance. It hung there forever, like the ever-present sickle of death of the necks of mortal creatures.

Soon, the horizon began to change. The Western Island was quickly taking shape before his eyes.

It was not very huge, but it was far bigger than the previous school had been.

'Magic... What an inexplicable thing. The ability to change the very structure of a world.'

Cain wondered deeply. How was all this possible? It was a question that he still couldn't answer, as what he knew to be logic had long since flow out the window. Magic was the very antithesis of mundane logic. Anything and everything was possible, with the only limits being the mind and imagination.

Once the horizon disappeared, the Western Island began fast approaching. Looking at the shoreline, Cain was a bit taken aback. People ok the island would have been unable to see this, but the horde of Sea Mutant Creatures stret he'd far into the distant ocean, with more arriving every second.

A frown appeared on his face as he muttered to himself,

"Why are they so many?" It was going to be impossible to get rid of the majority. Luckily for him, he didn't need to do that. He just needed to clear his immediate path.

He heaved a sigh...

His mind drifted into the depths of his soul.

The {Elemental Vault} had changed drastically. It had turned into a dark void containing five star-like objects.

A star of flames, one of frost, one of inky black shadows, another of world destroying lightning, and a strange gem that held unimaginable power.

Cain's attention immediately settled on the dark star and the one that contained lightning...

He could sense the amazing power within them. Although this power didn't truly belong to him, he could use it. However, to what extent? He didn't know...

That didn't mean he couldn't try...

With his control over the elements increasing thanks to the {Gate of Stars}, and his ascension to Tier 1, he was able to exert some control over the energy in the Vault. Unlike before, he would not be able to choose whether to use half of a single elemental pool at once or the entire thing.

He made his first choice. He reached out into the dark star.

"Sigil of Darkness."

Half of the energy stored within the black star was immediately consumed.

At the same time, above the ship, something strange appeared.

The first to sense it was Steve who looked up in shock,

"What the hell?"

Old Man Ling's gaze was affixed onto the strange thing that appeared in the sky,

"My Lord..."

Previous activations of the {Sigil of Darkness} saw a large runic smybol appear in the sky. With its activation, under its eerie light, everything was hidden. Everywhere its dark light shone, all senses disappeared.

This time, things were a bit different... Because floating above the ship was a strange creature made of darkness.

This creature had no ears, or eyes. Just a single black maw, as well as hundreds of inky black hands that formed hundreds of hand symbols.

"Shoot it down!" Somebody yelled causing everyone else to break out of their stupor. Archers aimed their arrows, and those who could cast long distance magic readied their spells as they attempted to defend themselves from this evil creature that had suddenly appeared over their heads.

"Stop. Hold your fire." Steve said all of a sudden, eliciting different response.

Blaze, now fully healed stop close by with a strange expression, pointing his spear at the evil being,

"You... You know what that thing is?"

Steve nodded, albeit with a strange expression,

"Yeah... Relax. It isn't an enemy."

Blaze, as well as the rest of the Beastmen slowly put their weapons down.

The evil creature remained undisturbed, floating above their heads like an evil deity.

In the bow of the ship, Cain looked around. With the appearance of the evil deity, the details of his spell had changed...

***

{Congratulations to Host... Your spell, Sigil of Darkness, has evolved into the Tier 1 spell, {Summon: Soul Deity of Darkness}.

{Summon: Soul Deity of Darkness}: A trace of an ancient Shadow Deity, seeking resurrection, has latched onto this new manifestation. Within the embrace of the Shadow Deity, all being are lost in endless darkness, rot and plague.

Cost: N/A.

***

'So sinister...'

Although the description was scary, Cain more or less understood what it meant. This strange creature was a remnant of a shadow deity. The enormous amount of shadow energy he had just expelled had somehow opened a tunnel for this shadow being to manifest in their world.

Fortunately, this shadow being was not hostile. Instead, it had attached itself to his skill and had infact improved it. In exchange for this, Cain had tied himself to this shadow creature.

He didn't know whether this was a good thing or not.

However, the ship had basically turned into a true ghost ship. Under the embrace of the Soul Deity of Darkness, all traces of them in this world were gone. Even the ripples made by the ship were gone.

However, that was not all. He could sense that should any person he recognized as an enemy step foot into this domain of absolute evil, they would find themselves very weakened.

Still, he could sense that this was not a true evil deity, merely a fragment of a fragment of a shadow of the real deal.

'Hm... Catching the eye of evil beings so frequently... Perhaps I truly am the problem...'

Cain let out a breath of foggy air...

He could now see the turbulent battle quite clearly. The Lightslayers fought valiantly, but the number of Mutant Creatures were just simply overwhelming. Cain had to admit. Even he wouldn't be able to alst long under such an onslaught.

However, this wasn't his problem...

Still, he was going to lend a helping hand.

Confirming his target as dead center within the horde of squirming Mutant Beasts, he drew upon the power contained within the star of Lightning.