God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Staring at the wave after wave of {Zombies} pouring at them, it was normal for one to feel disheartened, or heavy with fear.

The stench of rotting flesh and the sight of it, was overpowering to say the least. Their expressions twisted in eternal agony was more than enough to get one thinking...

...how did they die?

What evils did they commit to deserve this fate?

What gods did they offend to experience this suffer?

At the end of the day, it didn't matter. None of it did...

The {Miasma Devil} still didn't come forward. Instead, it sent it's minions out.

On the battlefield of rundown, rusty cars, black rocks, and the tattered road, a sea of rotting bodies surged.

Apart from the regular {Zombies}, there were three distinct types of elite variants.

***

{Wight Zombie} Lvl. 90 (Elite).

Strength: 10,000.

Agility: 7000.

Defense: 100.

HP: 3,500/3,500.

MP: 15,000/15,000.

Magic: 1.5.

Skills: Blood Drain, Bone Shield, Blood Boost, Horde Call, Infection.

{Toxin Zombie} Lvl. 85 (Elite).

Strength: 9,500.

Agility: 3000.

Defense: 90.

HP: 3,000/3,000.

MP: 14,000/14,000.

Magic: 1.3.

Skills: Corrosive Spit, Regeneration, Toxic Cloud, Frenzied Attack, Horde Call, Infection.

{Brutè Zombie}: Lvl. 90 (Elite).

Strength: 20,000.

Agility: 700.

Defense: 500.

HP: 7,000/7,000.

MP: 2,000/2,000.

Magic: 1.

Skills: Might of the Horde, Rot Carapace, Berserker, Bone Claws, Horde Call, Infection.

***

The {Wight Zombies} were fast; more than three times as fast as the regular {Zombies}. Their eyes were alit with wickedness and brutality as they tore through the regular {Zombies} and one another to reach them first.

The {Toxin Zombies} stayed at the back lines. Their bodies oozed out toxic slime and gases that slowly drifted over towards them. The black, obviously poisonous slime on them was also more prevalent compared to the other {Zombies}.

Then, there was the {Brute Zombies}; abominably massive creatures that towered over the rest. Their bodies hunched forward, and layers of massive flesh fell to the ground Everytime they took a step.

It was almost too much to behold...

Taking a deep breath, Jenny lined a shot straight for one of the {Brute Zombies}.

She steadied her breath, and her tense muscles relaxed.

Then she squeezed the trigger...

An incredibly loud boom rocked the world as the hammer smashed the primer, igniting the explosive material within the bullet, sending it into the barrel. The interior of the barrel lot up with runes and magic, further charging the bullet up.

By the time the projectile was ready to escape the barrel, it was already moving at speeds that far surpassed that of sound.

The bullet traveled through the air, turning red hot in a split second, arriving at its target on less than a second.

The head of the enormous, once-human creature was turned into mush and mist.

With a snarl, some of the {Wight Zombies} dashing at the others changed course and began charging towards her.

"Shit!"

Adjusting her body into a half-kneeling position, Jenny let another bullet fly, hitting another {Wight Zombie}.

Firing a third, she was unable to hit a target, as the zombies seemed to learn from the deaths of their kin.

They began moving erratically, trying their best to throw her aim off.

Clicking her tongue, Jenny tried picking more of them off...

Just before they could get within fifty meters of her, she decided it was time to abandon her sniping rifle.

Placing it back into her inventory, she pulled the strip of cloth holding her hair up and let it flow. Waves of long silky black hair billowed in the wind as she retrieved two smaller magic guns from her inventory.

Her eyes were steely as she charged forward, spraying forth a curtain of steel.

Meanwhile, the zombie horde finally made contact with them...

Gritting his teeth, Floki felt his knees buckle under the weight of a three way assault from three {Brute Zombies}.

A low growl escaped from his lips as he pushed back with his shield.

With his other hand, he swung his axe, separating the head of a zombie from its shoulder.

A low yell of pain escaped from his mouth as a normal {Zombie} had managed to sneak under his guard, biting onto his forearm. Luckily for him, he was clad in leather armor. Had this been his raw flesh, should the bite have broken his skin, he would have been infected with the strain of Devil Essence that began the zombification process, turning him into a zombie.

Such a fate was not a bright one, and so, with a cold heart, Floki smashed the but of his shield into the ground. Using his left feet to keep it steady for a moment, he reached over with his left hand and grabbed the skull of the zombie latched onto him.

Applying a bit of pressure, the head of the {Zombie} popped like a grape, spilling grey matter, blood, and a horrible smelling black liquid.

Throwing the corpse away with a slight shake of his hand, he grabbed his shoeld again.

Smashing it into the jaw of another {Brute Zombie}, he prepared to deal the final blow.

However, that was unnecessary, as a ray of light came down from the sky, incinerating both {Brute Zombie} into dust.

Skirting around the battlefield, Lukas calmly walked his hand, and a torrent of light blades came down from the sky, turning dozens of zombies into ash.

The {Miasma Devil} standing close to the giant bovine skeleton frowned,

"This human might cause a little trouble. The other one too..."

A humanoid expression appeared on its face, as though it was contemplating something...

"Cain... You have no business dealing with these ones. We'll handle them."

Stopping to reload his gun, Cain was surprised to see Hunter standing before him, a Dead zombie in each hand.

Hunter let out a breath of steamy air,

"Go. Let's end this as quickly as possible."

Cain chuckled, "Alright."

Placing his guns back into his inventory, he summoned {Platinum Genesis}. The rest of his armor crawled up his body,

"Clear a path for me."

Hunter nodded, "Already on it."

Lukas turned towards both of them. Even though they were separated by a moderately large distance, they could see him clearly.

Hunter dashed forward with Cain following very closely behind.

Making a hand seal, Hunter spoke under his breath, magical words. Words that summoned creatures from the Aether.

These creatures were wolf-like, as tall as humans whilst standing on all fours. They brought with then the stench of sulfur and the flames of hell.

Tearing a line through the zombies, they made quick progress...

Cain had a lot of his mind as they pushed forward, yet his mind was blank.

He could already sense that this Devil was a Tier 1 creature. Meaning the fight was going to be deadly. And yet, he was surprisingly calm...

The foreboding feeling that came with a death battle wasn't there. Staring at this Devil, all he felt was a cool and calculating calm.

Like a Hunter staring at the delicate posterior of a juicy prey...

That wasn't how things were supposed to be. He was supposed to be shaking with fright.

A {Wight Zombie} launched itself over the horde and towards him, its blackened, rotting teeth aimed at his neck.

Cain calmly waved his hand, sending {Platinum Genesis} towards the creature.

Sensing death, the {Wight Zombie} summoned a bone shield. However, that was comparable to blocking an arrow with a sheet of paper.

The blade sliced through the shield and the zombie with two swift strokes like a knife through butter.

They continued their charge through the horde of zombies. With the rest holding the majority of the horde back, they managed to make it to the {Miasma Devil} without much effort.

Hacking through the last zombie on the way, Cain let out a sigh.

Then he turned to stare the {Miasma Devil} in the eye...

***

{Miasma Devil, Greotes} Lvl. 110 (Special,Tier 1)

Strength: 80,000.

Agility: 50,000.

Defense: 3,000.

Magic: 50,000.

HP: 400,000/400,000.

MP: 750,000/750,000.

Skills: Infection, Warblog, Thousand-Hand Devil, Cataclysm Poison clouds, Heart Revival.

***

Cain frowned...

Seeking the skills of a creature before a battle was always a boon. That was something Cain grossly appreciated about the system. However, it was also a measure for knowing how screwed you are..

Just staring at the stats and abilities of this Devil gave him a headache. Even worse, was that this was just a special grade Devil. How would an Epic grade Devil's stats and abilities look like?

He didn't even want to think about it.

'Still... This is nothing I can't handle.'

Dismissing {Platinum Genesis}, he changed into his latest weapon; the Angel of Fallen Grief, or {Gihenai} for short...

The strange, yet beautiful gauntlets manifested into existence on his arms. It complimented his armor perfectly, almost too perfectly, in fact...

The moment he put it on, he felt his body become incredibly light.

As light as a feather, even. It was almost as though he had become one with the wind. He feared that of he was any lighter, his soul would leave his body and he would die.

At the same time, he felt as though someone had dropped a rock on his heart, keeping him tethered to the earth.

He stared at the gauntlet in amazement,

'As Heavy as Grief... So this is what it means.'

The gauntlets weren't too huge, but they weren't small in any way. With it, he would be able to grasp the head of a {Brute Zombie} with one hand.

Cain let out a breath of hot air once again,

"Hold the zombies off while I take care of this thing."

Hunter nodded, then dove right back into the fray.

Staring at the {Miasma Devil} whom he had now come to know as Greotes, he smashed his gauntlets together, producing a torrent of flames that reflected in tjet depths of black eyes.

"It's been a while since I've seen one of your kind. I'm looking forward to this."