God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain stared at the Devils surrounding him...

Each one of them was very different, compared to the other Devils he had been facing so far.

For one, each one of them gave off a far more dangerous feeling.

This could only mean one thing...

'They are all Tier 1.'

Now, this was when panic was supposed to set it. Right now, at least twenty Tier 1 Devils currently surrounded him. From what he could sense, at the very least, every single one of them also had to be Deadly Grade at the very least to be thos threatening.

Cain had no doubts;

He was in a pinch...

Still, he remained composed, barely even faltering.

Besides, he had no choice. It was get out of this situation, or die. Since he latter option didn't really exist, he didn't really have a choice.

Staring at the Devil gazing at him with a gleeful expression, he quickly came to a conclusion.

'This one is a {Speed Devil}.'

A particular species could be broadly classified with grades. However, Devils were different. Besides being separated by grades, Devils also came in all shapes and forms.

To name a few, there exists; {Sky Devils}, {Blade Devils}, {Miasma Devils}, {Speed Devils}, {Sentinel Drones}, {Hulking Behemoths}, {Hunter Devils}, and so on...

While grades are subject to change, for the most part, a Devil's form remained the same.

Still, Devils could evolve. Some grew bigger, and developed perhaps, elemental affinity, others grew smaller and developed a more streamlined body, with keen perception and inverted knees, allowing them move far more easily.

These were the thoughts going through Cain's mind.

The human-looking Devil smiled, revealing its rows of sharp teeth,

"Tell me, Human. Where did you come from? You don't give off the same odor as those turtles."

Cain frowned, then spoke, "From across the ocean."

The Devil raised a brow in surprise,

"Hm? But that should be impossible..." The Devil frowned.

A Devil standing beside it with a far more muscular frame, standing at over eight feet tall snorted,

"That's enough, Inixth. We should take care of this mess quickly."

The Devil was obviously a {Hulking Behemoth}. However, its figure was far more compact that what he was used to. Its blades claws and forearms were also much more sinister looking, appearing more like wickedly curved scythes than anything else.

'I'd better stall as long as I can.'

Cain shrugged, "You don't have to think about it too much. We simply hopped on a ship and sailed here."

The Devil, now identified as Inixth, smiled sinisterly,

"By we, you mean there are others with you, right? The ones you brought here can't be all, am I right?"

Cain thought about it before nodding,

"Indeed, you are right. I brought a whole ship back here."

The Devil's eyes widened in surprise,

"Then, Human... As long as you lead them here, we'll spare your life. Letting a single human go shouldn't be much. Consider it as you owing me a favor."

Cain chuckled, "I would have loved to take you up on that offer. But unfortunately, I can't do that."

Inixth sighed, then shrugged, "Figured as much. Oh, well... You die now."

Before Cain could even register what was going on, the other Devils ll rushed in simultaneously.

His eyes widened to the maximum as he forced himself to concentrate, drowning out all the unnecessary noise.

Tier 1 creatures were far different from Tierless ones. Every single Devil here, in terms of power, possessed just as much as the {Frost Devil} and {Flame Devil}. At least, on paper...

In reality, they were far less capable physically. But that didn't mean they were any less lethal. In fact, Cain had the idea that facing these guys would be far more dangerous than facing the two collosal Devils.

Changing his stance, he swung his blade, welcoming the first of the Devils.

The first to meet him head on, was unsurprisingly, the scary looking Devil with the inverted pupils and strikingly malicious green eyes.

The Devil turned into a blur as it let a flurry of blows loose. Cain managed to deflect them, moving back to create some space.

However, he was quickly attacked from the back, as well as the sides.

Cain's face turned hard. This is where things start to get serious.

Blocking with {Platinum Genesis} he waited for the last possible moment before making a drastic move.

His body suddenly popped out of reality with a surge of mana, and was replaced with a floating, golden hiltless, star-tipped blade revolving in place for a split moment before sending it forward at a speed far surpassing that of bullets.

At the same time, Cain had reappeared behind a towering Devil. Wasting no time, his sword rose and fell, slicing through the creature's back. With a yell, the Devil fell to its knees, but just as he was about to deal the finishing blow, a feeling of intense danger washed over him.

Without even thinking about it, he popped out of reality again, leaving only a floating sword. Reappearing behind another Devil, striking it down as well.

His speed picking up as he used this strange 'flicker' ability, Cain turned into a phantom, constantly harassing the Devils.

While he wasn't able to kill them in a single strike, at the very least, he was able to avoid being backed into a corner.

Inixth was amused, "Quite the useful ability, human. However, it would do you good to remember this;"

The eyes of the Devil began to glow with an even brighter sickly green.

Its previously high speed suddenly shot through the roof and broke it.

Just as Cain flickered into existence, Inixth was already beside him.

"I can see you." The Devil said eeriely as it swung its blade at him.

Cain swung {Platinum Genesis} as well, but it felt as though he hit a wall.

Gritting his teeth he swung again. And again, and again...

And that wasn't all he was doing. Cain was also adapting at a frightening pace.

A swordsman's greatest asset, is the ability to move freely on the battlefield. Despite his obviously slower body compared to Inixth, he was able to survive and hold his ground, only because of the {Fallen Stars of Orion}

With it, he was basically at numerous places at once. His footwork that had been previously restricted, became far more fluid and defensive.

With one last strike, Cain broke off, skidding across the ground on his two feet.

Letting out a sigh, he winced as his wounds open back up. Plus the ones he had just earned himself, they became even more unbearable.

Meanwhile, the Devils were mostly unharmed. The ones that had been harmed were coming back, slowly healing. Meaning, he was getting more and more exhausted as the fight dragged out.

'If this continues, I'll run out of stamina and mana before I even take half. That's not good enough!'

Having fought off a literal army, albeit a small one, his energy reserves were running out fast. He also had to make sure their retreat was guaranteed.

Staring at the black dome. He realized that his connection to it hadn't been interrupted at all.

Meaning the outside world had no idea what was going on yet.

All it knew was that the Devils in the area had gotten temporarily unable up reach.

Staggering a bit, Cain managed to catch himself before he fell.

Inixth sneered, "Is this how all humans are? Weak and pathetic?"

Cain spat out a mouthful of blood and chuckled derisively,

"You of all people, calling us pathetic? I'd rather clap with crap in my hands, than hear that again."

Cain felt himself becoming more and more heated,

"You all came to our world to leech off of. Because of your fear of death, you'd rather travel through Reol, than allow your soul rest.

Inixth frowned heavily, "How do you know about the Othershore."

Cain sneered, "I thought humans were weak and pathetic? Try figuring out with your awesome Devil mind, why don't you?"

The Devil, Inixth, chuckled,

"Is that so..."

The other Devils rushed forward again, signalling the start of the second round.

This time, Cain knew what to expect, but he also hadn't expected the Devils to switch things up a bit. For one, their backs were now against a new another, countering his ability to sneak up on them.

Rather than all of them rushing forward at once, only a few did, leaving the rest to the others and combining a mixture of defense, positioning, and offense.

Still, he didn't allow any of it to bother him. This was because he found out that the more he fought, the better he became at it.

Improvements such as these were difficult to quantitate, so it was a bit difficult to tell where he stood.

But at the very least, he managed to hold so many Tier 1 Devils back without dying.

At the very least...

But he was also smart enough to recognize one thing;

The battle was just getting started.