God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The Summon skill is one of the most mysterious skills in the universe, as it gives its user complete control over other living beings.

It can be a branch of the nature element, which is so unique, that it can conveniently fuse with any other element to birth an uncountable number of paraelementals. Or, it could be because of something even more mystical...

The creature he summoned, {White Shadow}, was a unique summoned demon wolf whose special abilities were centered around stealth, with very few combat abilities.

At the start of the apocalypse, the special skill he had gained upon killing a devil was the {Demon Wolf Summon} skill series.

What made this skill so special, is the fact that the skill had a special property that allowed him to acquire special summoning spells the stronger he became. At every level of the skill, a new branch of the skill tree would be opened up to him, allowing him to choose which one he would prefer.

Hunter's eyes glowed a burning white as he let his soul be carried by his summon.

Racing through the forest under the effects of invincibility, Hunter was able to see everything through the wolf's third eye.

Not only did the wolf possess stealth abilities, but it was also extremely fast...

'That makes a total of 15. From my estimates, there should be a little over 20 of those things in this forest. 7 are scattered at the forefront, so we will need to pass through them if we want to even have a chance at leaving this godforsaken place.' Hunter thought as the wolf kept running.

'But still, Cain and the rest should have cleared a significant amount of those devils and {Appendages} in this section of the forest. Which means it should be a bit easier.'

'Hm?'

Out of the corner of his vision, Hunter spotted something...

'What in all the hells is this?!...' Hunter was so shocked by what he was seeing, he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. The leaves around him had begun to turn from vibrant green to yellow, to brown, and then finally to coal black in a matter of seconds.

The silence within the forest was already concerning, but what made shivers run through his spine the most in this part of the forest, was the sheer amount of dried bones and carcasses.

'What is this? Could this be a new type of devil?' Hunter could only wonder.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he decided to move forward a bit.

Passing through the sea of now-dried black trees lacking all life, he finally came across a change.

In a particular patch of the forest was nothing but dry sand, the same you would find at a seashore surrounded by black trees. At the center of this area of land, was a creature unlike any Hunter had ever seen...

A gigantic black bug was all Hunter could use to describe what he was seeing.

Sitting at the center of the barren land, was a creature a length of a basketball court, and above as wide as a car parked horizontally, with a black exoskeleton, no eyes, mouths, or any other facial features, and a bunch of antennae lined up across its back from its tail-end all the way to its head.

From what he could see, Its carapace was made of layers of scales piled on, so Hunter could only imagine the creature's incredible defense.

'What is that thing? Some kind of devil?'

{Replying to host: The creature seated before the host is a breed of True devil known as a broodmother. It is the creature responsible for the birth of all the spawn devils present in this forest}.

'Is that so?' Hunter said as he controlled the {White Shadow} demon wolf to move closer to the Broodmother.

{It would do the host some good to avoid going too close to the broodmother, as it is a very dangerous devil, whose power currently far supersedes that of the host, even though it isn't at full power yet}.

'It is that powerful?!' Hunter said as the eyelids of his main body twitched in response.

{Replying to host: Affirmative... Broodmother, besides their vital role in the devil species of producing the new generation of devils, also possess incredibly strong defenses. They might possess acid or poison attacks, but their main attack methods are Spirit attacks}.

'Spirit attacks?'

{Replying to host: Spirit attacks, unlike physical or magic attacks involve the direct use of the soul to cause effects in the physical plane or to cause harm to opponents... Spirit attacks are also extremely dangerous, and even a small disparity in the spirit stat between two opponents might be incredibly devastating when in battle}.

'If it's that dangerous, then I have no business going near that thing.' Hunter was very cautious by nature, so there was no way he would risk his life when he knew the dangers that came with unneeded curiosity.

'That might be a bit too late.' All of a sudden, Hunter heard a voice so mellow and sweet, akin to the whispers of a young woman.

'What in the' Before Hunter could even begin to figure out who the owner of the voice was, or where it came from, he felt a suction force being exerted on him.

Immediately, he felt the {White Shadow} demon wolf being forcefully released from its stealth form. He watched, in unimaginable agony, as the portion of his soul that had inhabited the demon wolf was torn away from the soul of the wolf.

'Arghhhhhh!' Hunter had never felt so much pain in his life.

'It seems we have a summoner on our hands.' The Broodmother said as she carried Hunter's now-tipped soul over to her body. The body of the {White Shadow} was Instantly crushed and torn to pieces, blood and fragments of broken flesh flying all around before a white flame consumed its broken carcass until there was nothing left.

'What... did... y-you do?!' Hunter said as he stared at the devil before him.

As he was looking from afar, he wasn't able to see it, but now that he was extremely up close, he could see that the Broodmother did indeed have facial features.

It had four eyes that were as black as the depths of hell. Those were the only organs on its face. Hunter didn't even know where to look, as the eyes of the creature didn't seem to have a focus point.

Enduring the searing pain that racked his soul, he stared straight at the black soulless orbs anyways.

'What do you want?!'

'Food... That is what I and my race want. Unfortunately, you and everything living on your planet just so happen to fit the bill quite perfectly.' The Broodmother answered in its deceiving voice.

Hunter was stunned speechless at this straightforward answer. Seeing him not speak, the Broodmother went on.

'Do not feel sad, as this is the fate of the weak. To be consumed by the strong. You serve as food for us, and we in turn devour you. That is how it goes, young human. So it will be in your best interest to do nothing but give up all resistances and offer yourselves to us as willing sacrifices.' The Broodmother said in its calming, almost hypnotic voice.

Still enduring the pain, Hunter could only imagine the expression on his face as he responded without any fear, 'If you want to see who's weak, then I'll show you, you fat maggot!' He said with unbridled rage.

'The sad fate of the weak is that they do not know when to quit. I have absorbed all the nutrients I can from here, so all that is left is to find the one with the archaic aura. Once I do, I will eat all of you. Now... Let me grant you a painless death.' The Broodmother said as it cast a single spell.

Before Hunter knew what to do, an incredibly terrifying force began to weigh down on his soul.

'Arghhhhhhh!' The pain multiplied with every passing second as he was forced to endure the soul-crunching pain akin to having his head dunked in a pool of boiling oil whilst being stabbed with countless needles.

'I need to think of a way, or else I'll die!' Realizing the danger he was in, Hunter quickly calmed his mind. He was only able to do this thanks to his numerous years of undergoing torturous training and conditioning.

***

Blood spilled from his white glassy eyes as he tried to recite the incantation for the summon. All summon spells required the summoner to call out the name of the summon they required, just like one would use speech to activate a certain skill.

"Flame Demon Hound: Summon!" In a trembling voice, the bow near epileptic Hunter called out.

The mana in the air stirred as a magic circle appeared beside him, and a large flaming mutant wolf appeared from it.

"Hm?" Dan, who was busy nearby was shocked to see Hunter create a summon so suddenly.

Walking up to Hunter, he noticed his entire body shaking violently, "Hey, Hunter. Are you-"

Coming to stand before him, a deep sense of fear suddenly overtook his mind when he saw the amount of blood that had pooled onto Hunter's body from his eyes.

"Hunter!"

However, Hunter, who was having a battle for his life couldn't hear him.

"Summon Sacrifice: Soul Substitute!"

In the heat of the moment, Hunter created a skill that had the potential to save his life. The eyes of the demon wolf beside him glazed over as it fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, his eyes began to gain more clarity as they turned from pearly white back to their original color.

"Blegh!" Coughing out a mouthful of blood, Hunter collapsed to the ground beneath him as he ignored Dan's hectic cries.

"Hunter! Are you alright?! What happened?!"

Staring at Dan, Hunter said in a weak voice, "I ran into some... trouble."

"Trouble?"

"Yes, trouble."

Before Dan could say more, Hunter continued, "We are all in danger. It is very plausible that the devils plan to attack very soon. Tell the others... Get... everyone... to...

regroup."

With that, Hunter closed his eyes as he let the sweet relief of unconsciousness take over him...

"Hunter!"

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