God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Evangeline stared hard at the smoldering corpse of the giant Devil that lay in the ground before her.

Gritting her teeth, she clutched her hand and fell to the ground, her usually impassive face bundled into a terrifying scowl.

'Damn it!'

Fighting the {Flame Devils} hadn't been easy. One might even call it suicidal. However, somehow, she had done it.

"Fuck. I almost died over there." Luke said, his golden blonde hair scorched black.

Surrounded by a world of shadows, even his seemingly perpetual glow was grossly dimmed.

Evangeline's scowl disappeared, replaced by her usually indifference.

Pulling a potion from her inventory, she chugged it down as fast as possible. A swirling mist of blood enveloped her as various blood red runes appeared on her skin.

In the blink of an eye, all her injuries, both life threatening or not, began to vanish.

Lukas stared at her, his eyes narrowed,

'She's dangerous. Too dangerous.' Thinking back to the battle they had just had, Lukas couldn't tell who he thought wasore dangerous; Evangeline, or Cain.

Both now seemed like obstacles on his road to dominance. Human-shaped roadblocks.

Evangeline's power layed mostly in striking from the shadows and draining the life of her enemies. Like a vampire...

Only, she didn't need to drink their blood. Technically at least...

Watching it happen right before his eyes wasn't something he would like to see again.

Lukas sighed, "We are done, right? Let's get out of here. Where's that damn exist again..."

Evangeline stretched a bit before standing up,

"What's the rush? Let's stay here for a while..."

Lukas turned around, a question in his eyes,

"What? But that was not the plan."

The plan has been for them to quickly defeat the collosal {Flame Devils} together, before joining Cain and the others. This way, they would have the advantage.

Evangeline shrugged, "Plan's change..."

Lukas stared at Evangeline a few seconds longer before breaking his gaze,

"You... What exactly do you plan on doing?"

Evangeline's lips curled up into a smile,

"What do you mean?"

Lukas frowned, "From what I can see, you don't seem to be on Cain's boat completely. You have your own goals."

Evangeline remained silent, neither confirming, nor rejecting his words.

Lukas became emboldened. He took a step forward,

"Perhaps you are also thinking like me... The future of this world is drenched in mire. Only people like us can save it. We should have our own ambitions!"

Evangeline chuckled darkly. Staying silent for a few seconds, she finally spoke,

"Yes, you are right. I have my own goals. However, make no mistake. I do not plan on betraying Cain."

Lukas' frown deepened, "Then what the hell are you doing?"

Evangeline's smile turned strange,

"Well, you see... Things become most valuable only when you desperately reach for them."

Lukas was confused. He didn't understand what she was trying to say, what purposes her actions served, and what linked both together.

Evangeline continued, the smile on her face deepening, making her beautiful face more menacing when shrouded in shadows,

"To become someone Cain values the most, I have to be there in his time of need. He's very confident in himself, so I doubt any regular situation can push him to the brink of desperation."

Suddenly, it clicked in Lukas' mind,

"You..."

Evangeline clapped, "See? You aren't as slow as you thought. Yes, that's right... He needs to value me, cherish me, even. I am the only one that can save him. His only place of solace on a dark, treacherous night like this..."

Staring at the slightly absentminded, yet beautiful face of Evangeline, Lukas was struck with a tiny bit of grief.

He would have loved to be the one that would have her, but it turns out she had already set her eyes and claws on another man.

However, thinking about it, he decided it would be for the best. After all, he wasn't sure he would be able to handle the thoughts of this scary woman.

Evangeline chuckled to herself,

'Cain... Let me show you just how much you need me, just like I need you.'

Evangeline's eyes suddenly lit up,

"Looks like our time has come."

With a wave of her hand, the world of shadows receeded like the passing of a storm.

Going from a world of shadows to a world entombed in darkness wasn't much different, so Lukas was able to get his bearings quickly.

Staring around, all he could see, was devastation.

The smoldering corpses of Devils of all forms and sizes lay on the rubble. Blood stained the ground, and whatever buildings that had been here were all but leveled.

To put things into perspective, it was a catastrophe...

Without waiting a few more seconds to thoroughly enjoy the scenery, Evangeline began to run, her shadow almost unable to keep up, barely following behind her speeding form.

Lukas sighed. The element f light surrounded his body, and in a fraction of a second, his body disappeared.

Evangeline came to a stop at the scene of a battle still taking place.

Lukas arrived a split second later. Looking around, his face darkened...

As humans, the results of this battle was nothing short of outstanding. They had managed to kill a staggering amount of Devils.

However, currently, they were all being pushed back.

Cain was evidently struggling against his opponent, barely even staying alive at this point, Susan, Jenny, and Roselle were being pushed back constantly, while the rest just seemed to be running for their lives.

To make matters worse these Devils weren't your normal Devils. No, they were Tier 1 Devils. Easily five to ten times more dangerous, regardless of their grade.

"Shouldn't we be going in to help now?"

Evangeline shook her head, her eyes fixed on Cain's desperate struggle.

"Not yet."

Lukas turned his eyes back to the various battles. Truthfully, he couldn't care less if everyone here died.

However, that would lead to his death as well. There was no way he would be able to escape from this place should everyone else die.

And so, he has to try his best to make sure as little lost their life as possible.

Chugging down a healing potion, Lukas tried to prepare his mind.

Evangeline paid him no mind, merely observing Cain and the others.

She barely suppressed her smile,

'Looks like he took my words to heart.'

Just a few meters away, Cain desperately fought for his life.

He had been in countless battles over the last few months, but none had ever pushed him to the brink like this.

There was no insane explosions of power from this Devil. No immense eruptions of energy, nothing of the sort.

Instead, the Devil was meticulously breaking him down. One stone at a time...

Using its terrifying blade he continued to press him, until he felt so suffocated, he couldn't breathe.

The blade of the scythe flew towards him, creating a sonic boom with its approach.

Cain desperately shuffled backwards, trying to avoid it. Gripping the chain, Inixth took the weapon on one revolution, whipping it around again.

Cain had to take another step backwards to escape from it.

'Damn it. They are trying to corner us.'

It was like he could see their situation from high up above.

Slowly but surely, they all were being boxed into the center, where Gatotak and Ba'logth, the Flame and Frost Devils, were waiting.

Cain chuckled bitterly...

This wasn't a battle...

This was a slow execution. His plan had failed miserably. He had managed to get in a decent amount of kills, but it wasn't worth it if he was going to lose his life in the process...

So now, the next best thing, was to get everyone out as quickly as possible.

As long as he managed to get everyone together, he would be able to do that.

Splitting his focus, he reached out to Hunter through his mind,

'Hunter! Have everyone meet up just before we get to the center.'

Hunter's voice came a second later,

'What are you planning?'

Cain sighed, 'We have to leave this place.'

Dodging again, he rolled behind a fallen piece of rubble, and switched positions with one of his floating blades.

A split secondatwr, the piece of rubble and the blade were torn into a dozen pieces by the sharp scythe.

Inixth balanced the weapon on his shoulder,

"Human... You have been running for a while now. Don't you plan on fighting?"

The Devil's grin deepened, "Or have you become so scared, you can't even fight back. Or..."

The Devil's grin melted away like ice before a blazing flame,

"You want to run away."

Cain's eyes widened. He managed to stay calm, but his grip on his weapon tightened.

Inixth guffawed, "What? You seem surprised..."

Inixth swung his scythe again, calmly approaching Cain,

"I've chased down many a prey... The look in their eyes when they think they have a way out is the same. You have the same look right now."

Inixth continued as his scythe hit the ground, sparks trailing behind,

'It is unfortunately my responsibility to inform you, that that won't be possible."

Cain's frown deepened, "What do you mean?"

Inixth chuckled, "Take a look around, would you?"

At the same time, Hunter's voice came through, albeit a bit strained,

'Cain... I don't think that would be possible.'

Cain was stupefied, 'What? Why?!'

Hunter spoke quickly, 'They seem to have gotten a hint at our plan. They are keeping us separated. If you want to escape, you'll have to leave us behind.'

Cain cursed loudly, "Fuck!"

'So that's why he insisted of fighting me alone.'

Inixth chuckled, "You are far too young to play games, human. Alright, enough games."

Cain stayed silent for a few moments, before nodding,

"Yes. Enough games indeed."

His eyes glazed over as a torrent of power locked within his body was unleashed. His body began to change and morph.

Inixth raised a brow, looking a bit amused. However, that amusement slowly disappeared, and was replaced with disbelief.

"What the..."

Because the human before him was no longer what it used to be.

This human...

Had become something else, something more...

And that thing incited a fear he didn't know existed within his soul.