God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The nature of the {Seal} skill was one of absolute dominance...

It was a terrifying skill that could affect the natural flow of mana in both the physical and spiritual planes.

***

{Seal}: Forcibly freeze the flow of mana in the spiritual plane. This skill doesn't distinguish between friend and foe, and any skill or spell, apart from ones activated by the host, will be nullified. Skills or spells already active will be deactivated as well.

This skill will only work on skills that are not above Tier 1.

Cost: 300MP per activation

Cooldown: 30 minutes.

The skill was capable of shifting the tides of a battle completely in his favor, allowing him to dominate his opponents completely, especially those that heavily relied on magic for combat.

Although he has other skills in his repertoire, he felt that the best way to control the situation was to stop the fighting completely.

An invisible totem of a seal appeared above Cain's head in a split second. During that second, the smoldering fires were snuffed out instantly.

Sue who wanted to throw another fireball at David realized that she had no control over the mana in her hands.

"W-what is this?!" she exclaimed with horror and fear in her eyes. David on the other hand was also just as confused as she was as his {Crimson Dome} had also been shattered by Cain's mysterious skill as well.

The people that experienced the shock factor the most were Li and Jenny. Jenny watched as her powerful attack was snuffed out faster than one could blink. Just as the attack was about to reach Cain, it was forcibly deactivated.

Li who was charging at Cain with his movement skill was stopped dead in his tracks. With perfect control of his body, he was able to avoid a collision with Cain even though he was previously headed for him at top speed.

Li and Jenny stared at Cain in shock, 'What the hell did he just do?!'

After a moment of silence, Jenny asked Cain in a shaky voice, "What did you do just now?!".

Never had she imagined that someone could possess such a terrible skill that could put her at such a disadvantage so quickly.

"The dead do not need to be concerned about the affairs of the living..."

Cain's reply caused fear to overwhelm Jenny as she kept her finger on the trigger of her gun. Never would she have imagined that their plan would go so badly.

'We weren't able to do a single thing to him!'

In the eyes of Jenny and the others, Cain's aura was comparable to a strong mutant beast. Because Cain had no control of his emotions at this point, his aura was also spiraling out of control.

He had subconsciously suppressed his aura, but now that he had lost control of his emotions, he had become a walking time bomb. The strength of an individual could be measured by the amount of magical pressure they exuded. Those who could sense mana were naturally able to sense this intensity.

Cain had titles and a skill that increased the quality and quantity of his mana. The greater the quality and quantity of mana a creature had, the higher the magical aura. So it only made sense that Cain appeared like a monster in their eyes.

Cain wasn't just angry because they thought it would be a good idea to dish him a surprise attack. The main reason a terrifying rage boiled within him was because they had tried to play him like he was a fool...

While he hadn't expected them to turn their encounter into an ambush, that was because he was confident in his strength, and was sure they wouldn't be able to harm him even if they did. He also didn't think they could be so two-faced.

Regardless of what he had gone through in life, the fact that he was a grossly inexperienced young man remained unchanged. He had no experience on how to deal with complicated human nature, so it came as a surprise to him.

He had only ever seen one extremity of human nature, but he had never seen what was in the middle, not to talk of the other side.

However, at this moment, all this was irrelevant to him...

The atmosphere became so heavy, it fell to the depths of hell. Everyone in the room, be they friends or foes felt a terrifying chill run up their spine.

Dan and Hunter who had yet to enter the room halted their steps just before they could enter the room.

"Damn... What the hell was that?!" Dan and Hunter could feel the effects of {Seal} as well even though they weren't inside the room.

Hunter had a cold look on his face, "It's best if we stay out here..."

It was Dan's turn to stare at Hunter in shock,

"You knew what they were planning?"

"Yes. If he can't handle a situation such as this on his own..." Hunter's cold face had a cruel smile on it as he continued, "Then he will never be able to win against me.

Those who have power, but no discipline or common sense will eventually be left to rot under the ground because of their foolishness."

Dan was silent for a while before he looked at Hunter with a look of both admiration and fear, "Honestly, I'm glad I'm not your enemy. You are so scary!"

"Shut it!"

"You've had your turn," Cain said, a cruel expression on his face.

"Cain. I think that's enough why don't we just forget what just happened and-"

"Those who play with fire must be prepared to be burnt as well..." Cain said as he drew his weapon. He had already noticed that his emotions had become volatile due to the attack of the {Phantasma}, but he never knew it could be so bad.

'What is going on with me?!' Cain could feel his heart pounding in his chest as the flames of rage blazed within him.

'System, what is going on with me?' Cain couldn't help but be deeply concerned. He usually had a generous amount of control over his emotions, but what was happening to him was hitting too close to home.

{Replying to host: The system is unable to detect any underlying conditions, be they mental or physical within the host...}

'Hmmm... I'll think it over after I kill these bastards.'

Although Cain's mind was occupied with his thoughts, his body had already begun to move on its own.

The {Devil's Broken Claw} drew a swift arc across the air as he slashed down toward Li. Both Li and Cain stood at roughly the same height, so Li was able to see with utmost clarity, the river of flames boiling with Cain's eyes as he slashed down on him with blinding speed.

Cain's agility and strength stats were so high, he would be able to cleave Li apart with a single swing.

'Crap!' Li attempted to move away as quickly as he could.

At this point, the effects of {Seal} had died out, and they were all able to use their skills again. Li directed the now-flowing wind elemental mana toward his feet.

He was about to activate his skill, {Drifting Clouds}, that would greatly increase his movement speed, granting him the ability to effectively evade Cain's attack.

Just as Li's skill activated, Cain dished out a spell of his own...

"Air Whips."

Numerous invincible air tentacles appeared around Li's limbs, constraining his movements and reducing his movement speed by 40%.

Before Li could even register what was going on, Cain's blade had already arrived before his face.

"Li! Let him go!" Stan, who had been fighting with Blaze disengaged from him and attempted to go to Li's aid, but was instantly obstructed by Blaze.

"If you think you can do what you want, you are greatly mistaken. You all will now bare the consequences of foolishness!" Blaze said as he points the flaming tip of his spear at the fuming Stan.

"SCRAM! Body of Adamantine!"

Suddenly, numerous golden metallic runes flashed across the surface of Stan's skin. They all linked up with the previous metallic suit of armor he had on, and stuck to his being, creating an exoskeletal armor that clung tightly to his bulky frame.

The length of his blade also increased as well, and his aura became as steady as a mountain. He charged forward toward Cain, completely disregarding Blaze.

The latter simply let out a disdainful chuckle, "You want to leave with that sort of skill? You should be more worried for yourself!"

"Scorching Spear: Tornado of Flames!"

The spear in Blaze's hands spun into a violent blazing pillar of flames that slammed straight into the back of Stan.

BANG!

"Argh!" Stan was blasted a few meters away by the intensity of the attack and fell to the ground after coughing up some blood.

"You fuckers! Sea of flames!" Sue, who had been fighting against David completely lost it when she saw her brother and his friend brought to their knees.

She spread her hands out and cast spells. The temperature in the room went up very quickly after that as waves of flames spewed out from his outstretched arms. However, before she could make it far, the spell was shut down by David.

David placed his hands on the ground and called out his spell, "Crimson Dome." A blood-red hemispherical dome instantly enveloped the entire room, containing the spell.

Just like that, the entire group was completely suppressed...

Cain stared down at Li with cold devilish eyes. Because {Eye of Clairvoyance} was still active, Cain was able to observe everything that occurred within the room with utmost clarity.

"Drop your weapons or he will lose his head," Cain said to Jenny in the coldest voice he could muster.

"Don't listen to him. You guys should leave now! Find a way to escape!" Li who was rendered almost immobile by Cain yelled at Jenny and the others.

Cain's eyes narrowed for a moment before he made a move.

Before anyone could process what had happened, Cain had already made his move. With more than 400 agility points and 300 strength points, no one in the room was able to follow his speed. Cain turned the flat of his blade sideways, then slammed it into Li's arm.

Although Li was powerful, his specialty wasn't a defense.

CRACK!

"Argh!" Li let out a painful shout but stopped himself almost instantly. He stared right back at Cain with cold loathing in his eyes.

"Li!" Jenny couldn't help but exclaim in fear. Her hands trembled as she gazed at Cain in fury.

"I'll make you regret that!" Her eyes flashed with purple light as her bountiful chest vibrated due to the intensity of her breathing. However, her heart was filled with turmoil.

"I'll give to the count of three. Put your weapons down, or he'll lose his head." Cain was trying his best to stay calm. The only reason he hadn't acted on impulse yet and chopped off Li's head was that he still had a little bit of sensibility with him.

He could feel the overwhelming bloodlust creeping up on him, trying to consume his senses.

Silence...

"3."

"2."

Jenny suddenly let out a sigh and tried to say something, but was stopped by Li.

Li spoke with a sneer on his face, "Relax, Jenny. He won't do it..."

Jenny yelled out in shock, "Li! What are you saying?!"

"Oh?!" Cain raised an eyebrow at Li.

"You won't do it. I can see it in your eyes. You don't have what it takes to kill someone else." Li said with all the confidence he could muster.

Cain felt his grip tighten around the hilt of his sword. Without saying a word, he raised his blade in one swift motion and let it fall back down towards Li.

If this strike was successful, no one in the room doubted that Li would be cleaved in half. And the worst part was that they were all powerless to stop it. The strike was just too fast for them to be able to do anything before the damage was done.

Just as the edge of the blade was about to fall upon Li's head, Cain felt a strange warmth envelope him.

"Stop..."