God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain felt his mind and his body click.

It was a subtle distinction from the norm, like the moment a bird realized it could fly, or when a caterpillar emerged from the cocoon.

It wasn't some sort of euphoric feeling either, as all he felt around his body was a dull, enduring pain.

However, it was eye opening. The things he didn't realize existed before, were open up to him.

'So this is what it feels like to see.'

He gripped the handle of the sword in his hand tighter. It felt incredibly comfortable in his hand, like a sixth limb of some sort. Not an extension of his body, but rather, an item he had become very intimate with.

The energies flowing within his body were also calm and mellow. His strength was like a restrained lion. Dangerous, but fettered, just waiting to be released.

Letting a burst of air escape from his lips, Cain calmly slashed forward.

An imperceptible, almost invincible attack was released.

The world around him shuddered, but a moment later, it became calm once more.

A frown appeared on his face,

"I still haven't mastered it completely."

It wouldn't be a stretched to say he had reached a completely new realm with his mastery over his weapon.

At the end of the day, a sword say simply a tool. An instrument of murder.

Understand a tool, its purpose, and functions, was vital in doing the job properly. If he had been a Tier 0 swordsman before, he could confidently say he had ascended to Tier 1.

From what he could infere, Inixth would be a High Tier 1 to Low Tier 2 weapons user. Meaning for him to defeat him, he had to become even better.

'Still... This is enough for now.'

The style of swordplay he had realized was one that prioritized high speed, high damage attacks, with incredible footwork and mobility. Not only that, but he had also found a way to blend his usage of Ki, and Demon Matter into his swordsmanship to the point of the skills he executed not being skills anymore, but rather, extensions of his sword.

Cain sheathed the blade and returned it to his inventory...

He then pulled his guns out. While they weren't very effective against high-level and high-tier opponents, as those individuals could easily move at speeds surpassing his bullets, they were still very effective against weaker Mutant Creatures and Devils.

The bullets varied from regular bullets, to explosive bullets. They were plenty options to chose from. And he theoretically had as much ammunition as he had mana. He could create spent bullets from thin air using magic, although those bullets would be just normal.

Thinking about it a bit, Cain put the weapons into holsters attached to his waist.

He checked his bow, {Maelstrom}, and his gauntlets, {Gihenai}, as well.

Once he was satisfied, he moved on to his armor.

While the armor did offer a decent amount of defense, it wasn't that great in terms of protection. The material the armor was created out of was on the thinner side, and while it was very convenient to be able to don on his armor quickly, giving up the vital importance of defense made it almost not worth it.

What the armor lacked in defensive capabilities, thought, it made up for in terms of utility.

Cain had used heavy, metallic armor before, and it was nothing new that it slowed him down by quite a bit, as well as reduced his overall agility.

This armor on the other hand, gave him maximum freedom of movement. It also had a skill attached to it that further increased his speed.

Its design was intimidating, and the colors, or lack thereof was definitely something that could inspire fear in the hearts of his enemies.

It wasn't the best, but he could make it work.

Once he had properly checked himself out, Cain got up from his bed.

Staying in this room for a few weeks, he had grown attached to its simplicity. It reminded him of his room before the inception of mana into the world.

It was simple then. He didn't have to worry about much, and he was bored out of his mind.

Right now, it seemed like being bored was a luxury. Not that he was complaining though. Al the he had lost a lot of things, he had gained plenty more.

Like purpose...

For the first time in a long while, he'd finally found somewhat of a direction to move in. For most of his like, he had been stuck in a mire with his face barely above ground, just enough to breathe.

But now, he had a goal.

Only...

That goal was a seemingly impossible mountain to climb.

Cain chuckled to himself. Without looking back, he walked out of the room and into the corridors.

Outside, there were two men clad in the unique armor that was commonplace around here. Over the course of the past two weeks, Cain had gotten to know a few things, such as the nature of the material used in the creation of the armor.

There were three barrier settlements with the City, the largest of which was the one created by the goddess of the Moon and Blood. The being responsible for this phenomenon of Evernight.

Because of the overwhelming presence of her power, not only did it seem as though the moon had become much closer to the planet, but several strange creatures had begun to spawn outside the dome.

In the area around the Dome of Blood, several strange creatures, pulled from the depths of the Aether had begun to spawn.

These creatures were basically summons, brought through the barrier between realities.

However, because of they had been brought here by the power of a god, they were also quite different from regular summons.

One of these beasts, were the Dusk-Kin.

Cain had no idea how these beings looked like, as all attempts to describe them came up short.

What he had been able to make out, from the several descriptions he had heard, thought, was that they were tetrapods covered in a layer of hide that was five layers in one.

It was virtually impossible to slice through their tough hide, so only by dealing g concussive damage, could one kill them.

However, these beings were increased fast and vicious. They also preferred hiding in the darkness, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

The Devils periodically wiped them out, but thanks to the power of the Goddess, their number were quickly replaced.

Many more creatures were summoned with her power to, serving as sort of a first line of defense for those within the dome.

'The Goddess is quite powerful. This isn't going to be easy.'

Cain's main goal, was to ultimately drive these parasitic gods away from his world. If he was going to do so, then he was setting himself up for conflict with these gods in the future.

Conflict with Celestial Beings...

Creatures that shined and burned as bright as stars in the sky, perhaps even more so...

His path wasn't going to be an easy one.

Walking past the two guards, he said nothing. The guards didn't seem to react to his passing as well.

Cain smiled to himself, 'Looks like he kept his word.'

Walking down the hallway, Cain descended a flight of stairs before stepping out of the building.

As always, the world was enveloped in the gentle, silver glow of the moon. Leaning against a wall was Lucia. She was also dressed in the Dusk-Kin Leather Armor, her pistols hanging from her waist.

On her back, was also a nasty looking sniper rifle. There were strange glyphs carved into the body of the weapons, far different from the runic language Cain studied.

The moment she saw Cain, her face scrunched up into an annoyed expression.

"What took you so long?!"

Cain smiled, "Good Morning to you too."

Lucia sneered, "It's always night here, idiot."

Cain shrugged, "I was preparing for the mission."

Lucia snorted, "What are you, a woman? Why take so long to prepare. Besides... I don't see any weapons. Are you sure you're ready?"

Cain chuckled,

"Well, you can't see any weapons because they are in my inventory. You should know have figured that out, no?"

Lucia blushed, "Huh?! What are you trying to say?!"

Cain raised his hands in mock surrender,

"Nothing. You are probably misunderstanding me."

Just when it seemed like Lucia was ready to rip his throat out, Boulder and Khan appeared.

"Cain, this is Khan, our sword's specialist. Khan, this is Cain. Newest recruit."

Cain stared at the darker skinned, good looking man who stood before him with a light, cherry smile.

"Oh... This is the Legendary Cain I've heard all about? Nice to finally meet you." He said with a soft smile, his voice deep and comforting.

Cain smiled back, stretching his hand out,

"The pleasure is all mine."

Inwardly, Cain's expression was quite different,

'Are all these guys monsters in disguise?!'

Now that he had had his eyes opened onto the proper way of the sword, he was able to see, albeit, very vaguely, the threat level of a fellow swordsman.

The man with the cherry, good looking smile standing before him seemed even scarier than the Devil, Inixth.

After a brief exchange of greetings, they moved on to the main discussion.

Boulder pointed at a map placed on a wooden table,

"Alright, this is where we are headed today..."