God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"Die! Die! Die!" The {Hulking Behemoth} yelled in rage as it swung its axe-shaped forelimbs onto David's shield.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

However, regardless of how many times the devil swung, it was unable to make David move even a step backward.

"Crimson Render! Ha!" In retaliation to the aggressive attacks, David swung his axe twice, striking the devil on its kneecaps. A deep crimson energy flowed from the axe, into the devil's body.

"Argh!" The previously aggressive devil suddenly stopped attacking for a while as it gazed at David with hatred in its eyes.

"Y-you bastard human! H-how, dare you do this to me!"

In response, David was completely quiet as he went in for the kill...

"Blaze, Now!" David yelled at Blaze who was busy with the other {Hulking Behemoth}.

"On it," Blaze said, his face full of confidence. In a split second, Blaze broke away from the devil he was engaged with and rushed towards David.

"Where do you think you're going?!" The devil with the fire elemental attribute yelled in rage as it threw a raging fireball at Blaze.

"True Flame Art: Absorption." Without even turning around, Blaze activated a spell. As soon as the ball of flames made contact with him, it disappeared.

'What?!' The devil was so shocked, it hesitated for a moment. And that moment of pause was all Blaze needed to finish the deal.

"Scorching Spear: Tornado of Flames."

The spear in his hands turned into a flaming disk which he launched at the darkness attribute devil.

SLICK!

The stench of burning flesh overpowered the scent of the earth in the forest.

"Hmph! All talk..." Blaze said as he caught the spear he had launched. The upper part of the devil fell onto the ground. The wound that was left didn't produce a single drop of blood as it was completely carbonized...

Spinning his polearm with dexterity, Blaze turned to the devil who was still in shock, and spoke in a deep sinister voice, "You're next..."

***

"This is a grade 5 darkness elemental mana shard!" David said as he pulled the exquisite gem that emitted dark pulses from time to time.

"A grade 4 flame elemental mana shard. What a good harvest." Blaze said as he increased the amount of pressure in his hands.

BANG!

The mana shard previously glowing a rich vibrant orange suddenly shattered into pieces. Streams of energy traveled from his clenched fist into his body.

"Ha..." Blaze let out a satisfied sigh. His eyes glowed for a bit before he turned to face David.

"Should we head deeper into the forest, or is it time to call it quits for today?" Blaze asked.

"Hmmm..." Looking to the skies, David was able to see the signs of dusk taking over the lands...

"Night is fast approaching. I suggest we head back. We don't want to be caught in an ambush because of lack of visibility..." David said as he placed his axe into his inventory.

"Is that so..." Blaze said as he turned around.

"Yeah. Besides, the number of devils in this part of the forest has greatly reduced. We've gained more than enough today." David said as they began their march back.

"I wonder how long it will take us to defeat all the devils in this forest," David said, anxiety noticeable in his voice.

"Relax... With the speed at which we all grow stronger, we should be done with this place by the end of the week. Frankly, I need a change of scenery..." Blaze said dismissively.

"What about that huge devil over there?" David said, pointing at the gigantic devil that had miraculously appeared earlier that day.

"That thing? While it is true that we do need to be worried a bit, I'm sure we will be able to take it down fairly easily."

David shook his head and said, "We know next to nothing about that thing, so we can't make any conclusions yet."

"Hahaha! I have faith in my strength and potential to grow stronger. That should be more than enough." Blaze said with a laugh.

What Blaze said did have some truth to it, as the growth they all experienced was incredible when the regular human leveling speed was taken into consideration.

Not just leveling, but the acquisition of skills and spells was a bit abnormally high. In less than a week, they all could go toe to toe with the very powerful {Hulking Behemoth} devils.

This was definitely something to be proud of...

But...

When looked at from a wider perspective, all of this was comparable to sand.

The devils they had been engaged with were all spawn devils. According to devil hierarchy, spawn devils couldn't even be classified as real devils, but merely cannon fodder.

Maybe as a sick joke of fate, they had to unlucky face a true devil just five days into the apocalypse...

"Ha... All I'm saying is to expect and prepare for the worst. Over the past few days, we have barely faced any difficulties. I doubt fate is so generous..."

"Don't be so pessimistic. What good will it do us thi-"

It was as though an explosion with the magnitude of a dying star had gone off...

The sky above the forest was instantly tainted red, and the temperature increased multiple folds.

The dried leaves instantly ignited, but before they had the chance to spread, they all turned into ash.

Blaze and David felt rh pressure come crashing down on them like an avalanche.

'What is this?!' Blaze's pupils dilated as he traced the pressure back to its source.

"That's!"

***

"Boss! What happened?" Vincent said as he came up to the duo.

"I think we've found the main players in this game..." Cain said, his body emitting a thick hunger for blood.

With a raised brow, Manny asked, "What do you mean?"

Cain responded, "The strongest devils in this forest should be that big devil and the Broodmother."

Cain paused for a while to let the information sink in...

"Carry on..." Vincent nodded with understanding.

Manny on the other hand had a confused expression on his face, "B-broodmother? What is that?!"

"The next in line, is a special devil, a true devil, known as a Soul Devil, or {Phantasma}," Cain said, a serious expression making its way to his face.

"I see..." Vincent said with a pondering look on his chubby face.

"That's not all..."

From the shadows, the mellow sound of Jenny's sweet voice came.

"Ah!" Caught by surprise, Vincent aimed his gun at the newly arrived Evangeline and Jenny who had magically appeared from space.

"What do you mean?" Cain said with a frown. He didn't know why, but a sense of foreboding came over him alongside those words

Taking a deep breath, Jenny continued

"The devils are planning to attack."

"More than 90% of all the mutant beasts in the forest have been consumed, so we have no reason to stay alive according to those devils we encountered back there," Jenny said, her beautiful face contorting into a frown.

"Hmph! They sure have a lot of courage saying those things." Manny said angrily.

"Cain, the number of devils in this forest is in the thousands. They are faster and stronger and more intelligent than the mutant beasts. Do you think we will be able to take them on?" Vincent said seriously.

Cain fell silent for a while when he heard that. Turning to Jenny, he asked, "Is that all?"

Jenny let out a short sigh, "Yes, that is all I heard."

"Then we still have a shot at survival if we start planning now. They might have numbers, but at the end of the day, all that is useless again true power and wit..." Cain said, his confidence evident in his voice.

'Hehehe... That's my boss.' Vincent thought, a smile making its way to his face.

"Then we need to get back as soon as possible and start making preparations," Jenny said as she readied her stealth skill again.

He craved the defeat of the {Phantasma} so much so that he nearly forgot the difference in power between the abilities of a spawn devil and a true devil. Luckily, there was no way for him to avoid the truth.

The terrifying aura came crashing down on them the next moment.

"What?!" Every single one of them had their eyes widened in shock.

With the power of his extremely powerful physique, Cain was able to bear the majority of the pressure. Tracing the pressure to its origins, he was able to witness a scene straight from his nightmares.

The eyes of the giant devil had finally opened. Gazing into its flaming eyes, Cain felt a burning sensation come over his soul, causing him to look away.

In that brief moment, he was able to get a look at its description...

***

{Flame Devil} level 50 (Half-god)

Strength: 1000.

Agility: 800.

Defense: 200.

Magic: 500.

HP: 100,000/100,000.

MP: 20,000/20,000.

Skills: Flame Hell, Flaming Sword, Burn, Blade Mastery lvl 4.

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