God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"Why is it so cold?" Manny said, rubbing his hands furiously together whilst blowing full gulps of hot air at his nearly frozen fingers.

Cain let out a breath of frosty air.

'It really is damniny cold here.'

Staring at the sky, he was once again enthralled by its off-putting beauty.

For the most part, the sky was empty, and yet full at the same time.

Clouds of dense grey drifted by from time to time, but there were no stars in the sky. At the same time, the moon hung high above, from the horizon, covering up a decent portion of the night sky.

It was a strange thing to witness indeed...

And then, there was the strange topography.

Looking all around, Cain could see remnants of what had once been. The rusting husks of unidentifiable vehicles both up close and in the distance...

The broken foundations of what might have been an enterprise, or a warm family home...

It felt too surreal...

Back on the islands, most of what would remind them of the real world had been promptly destroyed by numerous circumstances. The Devils, the horde of Mutant Beasts, and of course, the shower of metallic death that had rained down from the sky on that faithful day...

Cain frowned, 'Come to think of it, those missiles, although they weren't very powerful, were enough to destroy more than a few buildings, most likely killing everyone in the process, had we not been stronger.'

It was definitely not an accident. In fact, it was very intentional.

Cain turned to Hunter, "Who do you think was responsible for those missiles?"

Hunter turned his head, his nose a funny shade of red due to the extreme cold,

"Missiles?"

Then he remembered, "Those missiles?huh... Then you'll be referring to Major Arltzwalt, Head of National Security for City Z." Hunter said casually.

Cain raised a brow, "And how do you know that?"

This time, it was Like who answered. Dressed in warm, furry clothing that completely covered his shiny armor, he looked less glorious than usual,

"His face used to be plastered all over the net. A crazy, war hungry, lunatic, they called him."

Hunter shrugged, then turned to Cain,

"Why do you ask? He's either very dead, or alive. That's the one we don't want."

Luke couldn't help but nod, "That's accurate. If that bastard loves, then we might as well turn back."

Cain was more than little confused, "Why?"

Luke snorted, "What do you mean why? If he lives, all sorts of difficult situations will definitely come. Knowing the bastard, we might fall on the receiving end."

Seeing Hunter's look of agreement, Cain was even more baffled.

'Just what sort of man is that?'

Under the brightly dim light of the moons that gave birth to Evernight, they continued their trek, coming across the vestiges of a ruined civilization that had been bustling a few months ago.

As they walked further, Cain began to notice more than a few changes.

For one, the density of destroyed and desolate vehicles began to increase steadily.

'We are getting closer...'

Then the road began to appear...

With the expansion of the world, it created a paradox. If the land expanded, the immense tectonic movement should cause all sorts of disasters.

But this was where magic came in. The expansion of their world was a consequence of the world itself absorbing mana.

Thos creates a strange phenomenon where not just the world, but the terrain as well expands. If they weren't destroyed in the process...

Staring at the long road that stretched into the distance, surrounded by miles upon miles of wilderness, Cain felt himself engulfed in its desolation.

The others came to a halt behind him...

Staring at a car, Cain bore witness to a rather horrifying scene.

This car was in mostly good condition. All the windows were broken, and its tires were flat.

The front door was a bit mangled, and streaks of dried blood could be seen at the edges of where the window had one been.

Staring into the car, Cain could see what what had once been a complete family.

One set of bones, arranged nearly im the driver's seat, and another rim the passengers seat. At the back seat, were three sets of smaller skeletal frames.

This was just one story...

Staring at the long, winding road filled with similar vehicles, in similar states, one could only guess at the harrowing nature of this library...

"Fuck." Cain heard someone curse behind him. He couldn't have agreed more.

Tearing his eyes off, he continued his walk,

"Jenny, Eva... You guys go forward. Give us a warning of you see something."

Jenny's face was probably the grimmest of all of them. One with the a heart as soft as hers would probably find this scene unbearable. However, her grit was as tough as her heart was soft.

Still, it was something else to bare witness to...

Once both women were gone, Cain turned around,

"Alright, this is how it's going to go."

Cain raised his head to stare at Floki, who seemed to be the only one unaffected by the cold.

Floki's face remained unchanging. He spoke in his characteristic baritone,

"What is it?"

Cain sighed, "You'll take point guard. You can use your shield, right?"

Floki snorted. Pulling the huge tower shield off his back, he walked to the front of the group,

"Would I wield it if I couldn't use it?"

Cain chuckled, "I guess not."

Then he turned to the others, "Rollo, Manny, Luke... Guard our sides, make sure nothing takes us by surprise."

Then he turned to the last part of the ten-man crew,

"Roselle, Hunter. Lukas... You're with me. If anything manages to get past the big guy, we put it down."

It was a simple, yet very effective arrangement.

With his huge frame and heavy weaponry, Floki would be able to stop anything coming for them from the front. Manny was quick, and as such, would be able to react rather quickly to any possible sneak attacks.

As for Rollo, his ability to control gravitational forces would certain come in handy in taking care of possible ambushes. Luke on the other hand was a a very deadly version of a one-handed Manny. He was perhaps, even more deadly than Manny...

Evangeline was better suited for scouting and taking care of enemies from far away. With the {Dark Soul} busy with other arrangements, Cain had to make due with what he had.

Jenny was probably the best in taking long distance shots accurately, so having her go forward would make tejor advance less deadly.

The rest of them, himself, Roselle, Lukas, and Hunter, they were going to be responsible for pushing forward...

Cain could already smell the danger in the air. It was subtle, like the faint scent of rot that comes from a being afflicted with a plague.

It has been a while since Cain had seen so many cars. Getting one of them to work would have probably been a good idea but that would waste time.

'I should have brought Ruby along.'

Thinking about how easy it would have been for the giant creature to bulldoze through the wreckage, he let out a sigh.

'Forget it.'

He had purposefully left her behind. When it came down to trust, there was no one he trusted more than the beast. This was a trust born solely from the link between them.

And then, there was Ignis as well. Although many remained back on the ship, he had given Ignis control over the ship, as well as the responsibility of keeping it safe in his absence.

He trusted Ignis. While not as much as he trusted Ruby, he could at the very least expect her not to switch sides...

Letting out another chilly breath of air, Cain continued walking.

Just as they walked a few more meters forward, Hunter spoke,

"Stop. Evangeline said there's something approaching."

Cain frowned "What are they, and how many?"

Hunter closed his eyes, "She said a little over a dozen, and they are humanoids."

'Humanoids?'

Cain wanted to be certain, but there was no helping it...

"Remember your positions. Floki..."

Saying nothing, Floki hit the button of his tower shield against the ground, eliciting a loud bang.

"I'm ready."

Cain quickly drew his weapons of choice, the {Hands of Midas}...

Checking to make sure theyw ere fully loaded, he pointed forward.

First it was faint, then the groans became much louder. A few seconds later, the damned creatures were revealed, running through the gaps between the cars with extreme speeds.

***

{Zombie} Lvl. 77. (normal).

Strength: 7000.

Speed: 2000.

Defense: 50.

HP: 2,000/2,000.

MP: 10,000/10,000.

Magic: 1.

Skills: Infection, Physique Boost, Horde Call, Devour.

***

Cain was more than a bit surprised...

"Zombies?"

It had been a while since he had seen them, although these ones seemed a bit different from the ones he had encountered in his early days.

Hunter frowned, "This is not good. Their {Infection} skill is probably the worst one to face in this sort of space."

Cain agreed. That skill was the absolute bane of all things human. It didn't matter how strong. One bit was all it takes. Cain wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

And so, he lined his guns up for a series of straight shots...

Before he could squeeze, a bullet came flying from the distance, turning the head of a {Zombie}, and the torso of another into bloody fireworks.

"Thanks, Jenny." Cain said with a small chuckle as he let two bullets fly, killing two off at once.

Hunter also pulled his bow out, firing a few arrows.

It only took a few seconds for this batch of gnarly wretches to breathe their last, their undead loves ending a second time.

Holstering his guns, Cain continued on without wasting a breath...