God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Guy stretched and flexed his arms, eliciting a few cracks and pops.

"Damn... This feels good!"

Although he appeared calm, Cain was inwardly very guarded. He could sense the threat level of Guy suddenly skyrocket. If he was as deadly as a low caliber bullet before, now he might as well be a ballistic missile.

Red hot veins covered his face and eyes. The runes on his body flashed with light, slowly changing into a redder hue, perhaps influenced by the veins.

'What is this?'

The feeling of staring an inexplicable phenomena down was obviously unpleasant. It was like trying to decipher how to observe gravity without any instruments.

That was what Cain was feeling at the moment...

And the source of this strange feeling wasn't Guy, but rather...

"The power of a God... So this is what it feels like." Guy muttered to himself.

With a grin, he turned up his eyes to face Cain and Ruby.

"Ruby, get ready..."

Ruby had gotten quite powerful as well after ascending to Tier 1. As a Mutant Beast, even if she didn't engage in death battles, she could passively acquire mana in her mana shard, slowly accumulating it until she was on the precipice of breaking through into another Tier.

Right now, she was incredibly powerful. Still, she was just a Mutant Beast. Although the [Body and Soul] contract between her and Cain had increased her intellect a great deal, she was still bound by the limitations of a beast.

And she also enjoyed the benefits of being a beast as well, one was her incredibly resilient body.

Coupled with the ability to create skills, something a vast majority of Mutant Creatures lacked, the potential of this creature that was supposed to be nothing more than a beast was quite shocking.

With a roar that shook the surface of the ocean, Ruby charged forward.

'Right now, he's in an unstable state. If we can capitalize on this, I won't have to use that skill to deal with him.'

Cain's eye narrowed,

"Falling Stars of Orion."

Ruby charged across the surface of the water launching herself at Guy. In response, he merely chuckled,

"A mere mindless beast?"

Taking a step forward, he swung his axe. Cain's face immediately paled. Ruby's body suddenly blinked out of existence, replaced by a golden sword surrounded by shimmering lights.

Guy's axe sheared the sword into two clean halves, then landed on the ocean, creating two waves.

Ruby appeared behind Guy, biting down on his arm. Blood filled her mouth, but in the next moment, she felt great resistance. Letting go if the axe, Guy slammed his other fist into Ruby's nose, sending her barreling backwards. Cain arrived just a moment later, the {Scale of the Abyssal Flame} flashing forward.

Blocking with his axe that had miraculously appeared back in his hand, Guy grinned at Cain,

"Your moves... I can see everything!"

With that, he pushed forward, attempting to destabilize Cain. However, Cain was no pushover himself.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed back on the back of his sowrd with his hands. Still, that was not enough. He was slowly losing ground.

After a moment of pushing back, both seperated...

Then immediately activated their respective abilities,

"Tyrant Armament!"

"Burning Spirit!"

Their power exploded forth, enveloping the surface of this vast body of water. Power like this wasnt6 something beings such as themsele6 were supposed to wield. It was unheard of. There was no other way to describe them, other than anomalies...

Still, they did exist...

And right now, both were trying to halt the existence of the other...

Guy was covered in a blood red haze mixed in with speckles of golden runes floating around. Right now, he looked no different from a war god.

Cain on the other hand, had activated the Flame Enchantment of Burning Spirit. Not only had his normal stats doubled, his attack power had increased greatly as well. However, his defense had taken a huge hut in return. Should Guy land a single clean hut, then there was a chance he would be killed instantly.

With no word left, both men charged forward.

Guy swung his axe widely in an arc, but Cain bent his knees, ducking under the wild swing. In one fluid motion, he spun, using the momentum to deliver a chop.

However, Guy's axe seemed to possess a mind of its own as it stopped the wide slash mid swing, guarding against Cain's blow with the shaft of the huge axe.

Cain struck again, this time from a different angle. However, it was deflected again. With {Eye of Uncertainty} and {Eye of Clairvoyance} active, he gradually increased the tempo of his strikes.

The space around them was quickly filled with the blur of swords as they clashed with increased speed, their blade never stopping for one second.

Both displayed a high level of skill, accurately dodging and deflecting attacks they couldn't clash against. Both pressed the attack when they were at an advantage, and retreated when they were at a disadvantage.

Complemented by their skills, both men were able to allow their martial capabilities shine like being stars.

And yet, there could be only one winner...

After another heavy strike, Cain was forced on the back foot again. He was dor8 to fight far more defensively than he would have liked to because of the Flame Enchantment. However, it was worth it, as every one of his attacks were not only fast, but also incredibly lethal. Meaning Guy couldn't afford any slip ups as well.

Ruby was still very much involved in the fight, occasionally swiping at Guy's unprotected areas with her claws.

Cain held the most cards when it came to versatility thanks to his skills and spells.

With {Fallen Stars of Orion}, he was able to maneuver swiftly around Guy, attacking from numerous angles at once. He was also able to move Ruby around, ensuring that none of Guys attacks could reach her.

He was able to do this solely with the help of his Devil Eye and Magic Eye skills. If not for them, making multiple accurate calculation and choices during high speed combat would have been the death of him.

Even then, he could feel that his stamina was draining quick. He was currently consuming a lot of mana and Ki. If his stamina reached dangerous levels, things would get ugly very fast.

Still, the battle was exhilarating...

As they clashed their weapons, their eyes clashed as well. Cain could see it clear as day.

His opponent was having just as much fun as he was.

They clashed back and forth hundreds of times every minute. With each cmash, Cain could feel his finger getting more numb.

Guy on the other hand was becoming even more agressive. His strikes were filled with terrible power. Cain felt like a boat trying to fight against the current. The slightest slip up, and he would be destroyed by the rapids.

'What is this? Could his stamina be recovering the more he fights?'

Cain would never have known that he had guessed it right. Guy possessed a unique skill that increased his stamina ythe more he did battle, almost like giving his a second wind anytime he was about to feel exhausted.ike this, he would be able to fight for days on end without stopping.

However, he wasn't planning on dragging things out for too long.

"More! More! More!" Deranged roars escaped his mouth as he lost himself in the bloodlust. His eyes became redder, filled with throbbing veins.

His body was filled with so much power, the blood vessels on his skin began to pop.

The very definition of a berserker...

Still, that was not enough to explain this. With every attack, Guy hit harder and harder until Cain couldn't bear it any more.

His hands trembled violently as he was unable to lift his sword anymore.

'Crap!'

Guy's axe came flying at his head.

'Master!'

Sensing the danger he was in, Ruby quickly shoved him out of the way. In doing so, her entire back was torn open. Fur, hide, and muscle were ripped open like paper under the mercy of a razor.

Blood sprayed out like a fountain.

"Ruby!"

Guy let out a laughter filled with insanity and cruelty,

"Yes... Finally! Blood! More, let there be more blood! More! Give it all to me!"

He let out a roar that shook the skies.

Suddenly, a vast cloud of blood erupted from him. The cloud of blood kept spreading, enveloping both himself and Ruby, and continuing onwards.

Lost in the cloud of blood, Cain was able to recognize a few things.

First, the mana flow patterns within the fog.

Mana flow patterns were the main component behind a spell. A magic circle, rune, or sigil, was just a way for these flow patterns to be manipulated. They were a direct correlation to the spiritual plane.

Once the flow of it was disturbed on one side, there would be an equal correspondence on the other. Much like input and output feedback.

As for this set of mana flow patterns;

He recognized it very well...

It was something he was used to seeing.

'Blood Restitution? No... Not quite. Something far more sinister!'

He looked down at Ruby who was bleeding profusely. As a Tier 1 Mutant Beast, especially one with a hefty vitality, the bear was supposed to heal up quite quickly. However, for some reason, within this blood fog, she kept losing blood. That blood then bled into the air, further increasing the density and concentration of the blood fog.

"Will of Carnage." A voice echoed out from the fog. Cain could make out Guy's figure thanks to his good eyesight. Still, it was a bit blurry.

What he could see though, was that the blood fog was slowly seeping back into Guy's body. The more of it went back in, the larger he seemed to become.

The air was being filled with a Divine presence. Cain could almost hear the heavens roll away as the war angels sang as a herald to their god descending onto the mortal realm.

Cain's frown slowly relaxed.

Guy slwoly walked up until he was visible within the fog. Cain observed numerous changes. The runes on his body seemed to have increased and were far more cryptic. Some, he couldn't make sense of, meaning they were of a higher Tier.

When thinking about this, Cain realized he could hold back anymore.

A savage and haughty expressiom hung of Guy's face,

"Stand up. Let's end this farce."

"Indeed. Let's end it." Cain calmly said as he rose to his feet. He stretched his hand towards Ruby and activated {Maximum Blood Restitution}.

A large stream of mana piyred out of him and into her. Although the blood fog severely hindered the spell, he was still able to cast it successful thanks to his incredible control.

The wound on her back slowly stitched together. Once the sight of her organs beating within her skeletal frame was gone, Cain faced Guy.

A small smile appeared on his lips, 'You said we should end this, right? I agree... If I want to get rid of you, then I'll have to use special means. Consider this my respect to you as a strong opponent.'

Guy waved his hand, and a huge amount of blood condensed around his body. Behind him, a magnificence blood eagle appeared, within the blood fog. Within this space, it was the ruler.

"Be grateful. I doubt that pretentious bastard could have forced my hand like you did, so you should be proud as you go down." Guy said with a grin.

Cain said nothing, merely putting his ebtire focus on the task at hand.

Seeing Cain remain silent, Guy shook his head,

"Blood Incarnate..."

His eyes became as crimson as blood,

"Go."

The eagle let out a loud caw and shot forward, slicing through the blood fog towards Cain. Two massive walls of water appeared on both sides

The eagle's passage literally split the ocean in two.

Cain sensed all this, but remained calm...

Just when it appeared as though he was giving his life up, his eyes shot open.

And within them, locked in the depths of his vision, was a deadly chill...