God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

'Mother... It is time.' J'orntz the Soul Devil said as it gazed at the magnificent creature laying before it, the origin of its life, the Broodmother...

Due to the devil's incredibly violent nature, as well as their insatiable thirst for blood, they possessed a bottomless hunger that couldn't be filled.

Some of them could even degenerate into cannibalism when the time came. However, to ensure the survival of their race, they possessed a single inbuilt mechanism knitted into every fiber of their genetic structure...

Keep the mother safe and obey her every command...

Without even answering the devil, the gigantic abyssal creature continued its purpose for existing. Its body vibrated several times, the translucent tentacles attached to its extremities creating several strange popping sounds.

The translucent tentacles that previously had red blood-like fluid flowing through them no longer had anything in them as they had turned completely dry.

The yellow ones were the same...

The {Broodmother} had completely detached itself from the ground. The pitch-black tail it had plunged into the soil to absorb the nutrients of the very planet was done its job, so it was no longer needed down there. Instead, it was needed to spread toxins and poison to corrupt the living.

The {Broodmothers} were centerpieces of every devil invasion. For true devils to be born, the Broodmother would need to rely on the nutrients they absorb from the creatures of the host planet to provide the unhatched spawn devils the sustenance they need to continue the cycle until every single inch of the planet has been eaten clean of all life.

To sustain themselves, they would sacrifice the futures and fates of billions upon billions of others...

With the devils, an endless loop of destruction, birth, and death is created for these reasons...

Hence, their very existence was an inexcusable sin and stain on a pure white marbling...

'J'orntz, you are back...' The Broodmother said as it slowly stepped closer to the {Phantasma}, its dark soulless eyes gazing deeply into its soul. Since it was such a huge creature, it had a hard time moving around with much in the way of agility.

'Y-yes Mother! Now that we have gathered all we can from this place, we must start looking for greener pastures at once. If we do not make haste, I fear your sisters might have already eaten their fill, leaving you with nothing more than scraps!"

'Speak no more, child.' The Broodmother said as it turned away from J'orntz.

'We have unfinished business here. Have you caught it yet?'

'Almost, Mother. We plan to box it in slowly alongside the other humans we have been fattening up for days now.' J'orntz had a wicked snarl on its face as it continued, 'Unlike the mutant beasts, humans might be known for their bright minds, but they are also known for their feeble bodies as well.'

'It is of no doubt that they are weak, but you certainly are right about their cunning. I chanced upon one recently, and while I was about to extinguish its life force, it somehow managed to escape from my grasp.'

'But that should be impossible! No human, especially humans this weak, should be capable of breaking a soul capture from mother.'

'That is indeed the case. However, there might be another force at hand we know nothing of, so it is best if we stay careful at all times. I am not back to full strength, and neither is Forza. You lost a majority of your strength as we came crashing into this world. It is best to err on the side of caution. We do not want our underestimation of these puny humans to be the death of us.

Understood?' Despite the Broodmother's gentle voice, one could tell that these words could be said by any other than someone with good intent.

'Yes, Mother!'

Within the devil race, the Broodmothers were close to the bottom when it came to battle strength. However, on a scale of importance, they were as treasured as rare resources.

'And remember, the one that takes utmost precedence is the human with the archaic aura. I have a feeling there is more to it than meets the eye.' The Broodmother said.

Sitting, or standing up from the ground, the Broodmother steadied its weight on its sixteen deadly-looking legs shaped like curved hooks.

The dried ground beneath it began to create questionable noises before it finally gave way under the amount of pressure the terrifying creature was putting upon it.

Before it gave way, the Broodmother was able to accomplish its goal...

BOOM!

Like a catapult, the enormous five-ton creature was launched high into the air.

Midflight, just before gravity began doing its work, two pairs of wings burst out of the creature's back, giving it the ability to soar even higher into the sky.

Flying higher, it finally reached its destination, the body of the {Flame Devil}...

Upon arriving at its destination, it lowered its bizarre insect wings and sank its hook-like legs into the thick shelly surface of the devil like a knife through butter. Once that was done, it drove its devilishly large stinger-like tail-end into the {Flame Devil}.

'It is time for you to wake up, Forza.'

A thick billow of scalding hot air blew across the entire forest that now seemed to be completely devoid of life.

At that moment, the eyes of the {Flame Devil} seemed to completely come alive...

Still, on the ground, the eyes of the {Phantasma} were also lit with a flame. A flame that could burn for ages without being extinguished.

"It is time for the devil army to march..."

***

Jenny and Vincent walked back just in time to be greeted with the sight of Dan, Stan, Li, and Sue hovering over the collapsed body of Hunter.

"What happened over here?" Jenny asked in confusion.

"For now, he's out cold. He told me to relay this message – The devils plan to attack us very soon." Dan said calmly.

"Ha! Tell us something we don't know..." Vincent responded with a smug smile...

"You know this already?" Li asked with raised brows.

Jenny nodded in affirmation, "The forest isn't very stable right now. Prepare the others down there for immediate evacuation. We might be forced to change locations or plans depending on how the tides turn..."

"I could feel it too. It looks like that big guy is ready to wake up." Sue said with a serious expression as she twirled the small staff she held in her hands.

Resisting the urge to tease her, Li walked up to Jenny, "What of your new boyfriend, where is he? Did he get mauled to death by the devils?"

"From the looks of it, he's giving us enough time to get those down there to safety before any actual fighting begins," Jenny said as she quickly rushed into the building.

"Is that so? I thought he doesn't care about their fates?" Li asked confusedly.

"He doesn't..."

Li frowned, "Then why-"

"It will be best to save all these questions for alter, Li." Jenny said, her expression turning darker and more serious as the seconds passed.

"Right now, they might be holding off a swarm of those devils just so we can get these people to safety before joining in. Not only are we putting their lives in jeopardy, but we are also losing a ton of exp to those musclebrains!" Jenny said as he burst into the safe room where all those who didn't have access to the system were hidden.

"Jenny? You came back!" One of the more elderly people sitting in the room said in genuine surprise.

"Why wouldn't I?" Jenny responded with a smile as she walked into the room followed by Li.

"Did you bring any food back?!"

"Yeah, food!"

"Nothing is more important than food right now!"

"So hungry!"

"Enough!" Li yelled, causing the entire room to fall into decorum.

"Unfortunately, there will be no food for now, but there-" Jenny tried to explain, but was cut off by the crowd of dreary and hopeless people.

"N-no food?!"

"We-we won't be able to live!"

"We'll all starve to death!"

"Is this how we are all going to die?!"

The entire room stank of defeat, fear, and worst of all, hopelessness. Li watched them with eyes full of pity. The only reason they weren't part of those grumbling and cursing at their fates was that they had the power to control their fate.

One of the benefits of mana is they don't need to eat to supply their body with nutrients, as the mana they passively take in from the environment is enough to sustain them for days on end before it gets to critical levels.

They didn't have to worry about thirst, either, or getting too dirty, as mana was too potent of a form of energy for single-celled organisms like bacteria to deal with.

Getting exhausted was the same as your stamina getting bottomed out, and many other things that would be impossible for normal humans to comprehend...

"No one is going to die here today, you have my words," Jenny said, her beautifully heroic face seemed to be a light that broke the curtain of darkness for the hopeless individuals. In a split second, a serene calm fell upon them.

Seeing this, Jenny let out a relieved sigh, "Now that you all are calm, I want you to pay close attention..."

"Right now, we are bordered by two things. The ocean, and the forest. We know what's in the forest, we don't want to find out what's in the ocean..." Jenny said as she began discussing their escape strategy with Li.

"To truly survive, we need to position them in such a way they won't get killed by the shockwaves of the battle, but still won't interfere."

Li seemed to ponder, "Maybe taking them to the ocean isn't such a bad idea after all..."

"Y-you've got to be joking, right?! This is basic knowledge. If the creatures on land are already this terrifying, I can only imagine what the creatures of the sea would look like!" Jenny nearly choked out of anger.

"Relax... I'm not saying we should dump them at the center of the ocean. I know this entire island is bordered by water. And the ocean is probably even more dangerous than this forest right now. However, what if we just drop them off on that small stretch of beach on the extreme north?"

Seeing that Jenny didn't completely dismiss his idea, he kept going, "And just if there are maybe one or two mutants or devils that pop up, then we can leave one or two people to watch over them until the fight is finished. However, this way, those who choose this will miss out on the opportunity to level up and accumulate devil cores." Li ended his speech with that.

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