God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"The first thing we need to do is to gather as much information as possible on what is going on within the forest. Going in blind will be the difference between life and death..."

They all stood in front of the gymnasium, the gray skies overhead, and the mana-saturated breeze brushing against their skin...

Standing adjacent and opposite to Cain, was everyone in the group, both old and new. Hunter, Steve, Vincent, Dan, David, Blaze, and Susan stood on one side, while Stan, Li, Jenny, and Sue stood on the other side.

Despite no weapons being drawn, it was clear that due to the unfamiliarity and the events that had taken place not too long ago, there was a bit of tension between them.

Behind him, was the looming figure of Ruby, who had a menacing red glow in her eyes. She stood behind Cain like a bodyguard, munching on a few 'treats' Cain had given her...

"We need scouts. These devils are very intelligent, so there is no way they haven't noticed us. Yet, they still haven't attacked. We need to know what is going on..." Hunter said with a serious expression on his face.

"Entering that forest is like going on a suicide mission. Do you think you can survive those crazy things?" Dan said to Hunter.

"What that means, is we need people with the right skills necessary for a covert operation..." Steve chimed in.

Vincent put his hand up to interject, "I think you guys are getting this mixed up... Before we even talk about who's going to their death, we need to draw a layout of our surroundings."

Squatting a little, he picked a twig lying on the ground nearby, then began scribbling something on the ground, and after a few minutes, he returned to his original position with a smile on his face.

Every one of them looked down at the images he had drawn on the ground in confusion.

Cain scratched his head and asked, "What is that?"

Still, with a proud smile on his face, Vincent explained, "This, my good boss, is a map..."

"A map, huh..." Cain fell into a contemplative silence.

"Yes, a map."

Vincent pointed to the first image he had drawn, "This is a map of the entire department area before the shit hit the fan."

"The other is a map I drew based on what I've been able to see and measure from up there." Vincent said as he pointed to the roof of the gymnasium.

On the ground, Vincent had drawn two separate images. Both had a surprising amount of detail on them. The first one Vincent pointed to was how their surroundings were before the arrival of the system, and the planet Urbus' collapse.

City Z was a port city, and as such, it was surrounded by the ocean on most of its sides, with a few islands attached to it. The school Cain and the others attended was built on one of these islands. It was separated into four parts.

The Northside, the Eastgate, the Central Park, and the Southwestern side...

The area Cain and the others were located, was the Northside. The Northside of the school was located on the very edge of the island and was the closest to the ocean. The forest surrounding them was the barrier created that separated them from the ocean as well as central park.

The forest was a part of the central park that had been cultivated to grow around the north side in a circumference until it formed a huge circle that cut the north side from the ocean, as well as separated it from the central park as well...

Within the central park, was the school's center for the study of botany and zoology. Within this region, numerous animals were kept and used as learning instruments for the students...

The animals ranged from the smallest of insects, poisonous or not, to the largest of land mammals and reptiles, poisonous or not...

The central region was also the biggest part of the school, and it linked the other parts of the school together, the same way it was connected to the Northside. Its name, The Green clover institute, was coined because of its unique geographical layout.

The Northside formed one leaf of the clover, the East gate formed another part, and the Southwest side was another. Together with the central, they all formed a clover shape. The stem of the clover was a very long bridge that linked the school's island to the city.

The images Vincent had put on the ground contained the basic information of what the Northside of the school looked like before and after Armageddon. However, Cain's focus wasn't on the before image...

'So that's what's happening...' Cain thought to himself as he gazed at the image.

On the ground, Vincent had depicted that the previously thin layer of vegetation had almost completely enveloped the Northside. The Northside wasn't very big. It consisted of just a few buildings and not that many infrastructures.

This was because the Green clover institute wasn't a technological science-oriented school. The school's area of specialization was mainly the biological sciences.

Hence, the technological department Cain was a part of didn't get the most attention compared to the other parts of the school...

However, this very scarce infrastructure had almost been reduced to rubble. Because the gymnasium was in the area of the Northside closest to the ocean, it was the least affected by the devils, as well as the shockwaves from the explosion of the missiles.

On the image Vincent had drawn, Cain could see that besides showing how far the forest had expanded, he also noticed that the area the two maps covered were very different when it came to size. And it wasn't just a little different. The after-image was 1.5× bigger than the before-image.

This was part of the drawings that confused Cain the most...

Turning to Vincent who was still looking at his work proudly, he decided to ask, "Why are their sizes different?"

As soon as Cain said this, Vincent because more serious, "I'm not sure if this is good or bad news, but it is a piece of unexpected news."

Everyone immediately began paying attention to him. Clearing his throat, Vincent dropped a bombshell.

"Do you all know why even though the forest is increasing and expanding, it hasn't overgrown its boundaries and consumed this place?"

When he saw that no one had any idea about what he was talking about, Vincent continued with a mysterious smile, "It seems the effects of mana are stranger than we thought..."

"Just get to the point!" Hunter said with a vein throbbing in his temple.

"Hehe, chill bro. As I was saying, the forest isn't the only thing expanding..."

As soon as Vincent said this, it immediately clicked in Cain's head.

"Do you mean, the ground is expanding as well?" Cain asked with an incredulous expression on his face.

"Bingo! As expected of my boss. Able to understand with so little information."

Cain immediately shut the rambling fatty out and activated the system...

'System, is this true?'

{Replying to host: Affirmative...}

'But how the hell is that even possible?'

{Replying to host: Just like how the host, mutant beasts and plants, and devils absorb mana, planets also absorb mana as well. This causes various supernatural phenomena. When a planet absorbs mana, the principles of normalcy and equilibrium the planet once operated by becomes perverted and twisted}.

{Deserts can become oceans overnight, and snowcapped mountains can turn into valleys in a few weeks. Various creatures created from the forces of the earth, creatures that are granted life through the power of the reaction between Paraelementals and the planet become very common as well.

All of this will continue to happen until all the mana within the planet is used up...}

'In summary, Urbus is growing bigger, and there are many more changes we are yet to witness?'

Cain suddenly spoke up in all seriousness, "It seems like we need to reevaluate how we move."

'I think it's finally time to make a move...'

Cain realized that if he was going to make any progress, he had to get the train moving. And those who weren't on board could be left behind...

Turning to Jenny's group who hadn't been involved in the conversation, he laid down the question, "We need to cooperate if we want to leave this place alive and move forward. The first thing we need to do is to scout the area and gather more information.

Is there anyone among you who have stealth abilities?"

There was a brief moment of silence, as glances were exchanged before Jenny spoke up. The beauty turned her caramel eyes towards Cain and said in a cold voice,

"I do... But, I won't be involved in any crazy plans that you insane people concoct."

Cain didn't even hesitate to reply, "It's fine. No one here is going to force you into doing something you don't want to do. If you don't want to fight with us, then that-"

Cain was about to add something, when Jenny interrupted, "I'm not done." she said, a cunning light flashing within her eyes.

"Oh?"

Nodding her head, Jenny continued, "If you want us to go along with any of your insane ideas, I have two conditions."

Although Cain was suspicious, he let her go on...

"One, you have to promise me that you will support us in protecting those who can't do so themselves. We definitely can't leave them to their deaths."

Cain thought about it for a while and felt that the gains outweighed the losses. He could tell that the addition of Jenny, Li, Stan, and Sue would increase the combat power of the group.

The only issue with this was that protecting others was way harder than killing.

"While I cannot guarantee their lives, I can promise you that I will do my absolute best to support you if you plan to take them with us as we get away from this place."

"Fair enough..."

"What's your second condition?"

Jenny let out a slight chuckle before she said, "If you want me to help you scout the perimeter, then you will have to follow me!" she exclaimed, pointing her index finger at Cain.

There was a brief moment of silence before Cain pointed at himself in surprise.

"Me?!"