God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain and the {Phantasma} locked eyes for a brief second, their bodies tensed and ready for another charge. Despite Cain having just killed one of his men, J'orntz didn't seem even a little bit concerned.

Suddenly, J'orntz adjusted his position from a fighting stance to a less threatening one that still didn't leave any openings. Ignoring Cain's confusion, he began to speak,

"The devil race is an ancient and unique race unlike any in the domain of the Nomad..."

"Hey, hey... When did this turn into a history lesson..." Cain couldn't hide his confusion, but he also adjusted his posture and assumed a more comfortable, yet attentive one, just in case the Soul Devil before him was trying to be smart with him and have other invincible devils sneak up on him as he spoke.

The {Phantasma} continued in a dream-like voice as its eyes glazed over, "Unlike most races, we, the devil race thrive in the void. We do not have a homeworld, as we bear a curse that prohibits us from creating an existence on any world in the Nomad's domain."

"What point are you trying to make? What good will saying all these things do you?" Cain said, his face turning somber as well. He felt like the Soul Devil was trying to make him understand the plight of the devil race and make him feel pity...

"Do not worry... I do not ask you to pity us. After all, our goal is to take your home from you and turn it into a lifeless she'll after we are done with it." A look of savagery flashed within the devil's eyes but was gone as quickly as it came.

"Then why are you saying these things?" Cain asked, even more confused.

With a slight, disturbing smile on its face, the {Phantasma} continued, "Because of the curse, our strength is extremely limited on host planets, planets that sustain intelligent life. A mere {Blade Devil} would be able to rip you to shreds at its full power." The {Phantasma} said, the green glow in its eyes becoming even brighter.

The devil's words caused Cain to sneer coldly, "Hmph! This sounds like gloating to me... Regardless of how strong you normally are, that doesn't change the fact that you are weaker right now, as we humans have the ability to stand up and fight against you." Cain said whilst gripping his blade tightly.

Somehow, he couldn't help but have a bad feeling build up in his chest due to the {Phantasma's} words.

"For now..." J'orntz interrupted.

"For now, you all might be able to fight, but very soon, you will come to know why we devils are the greatest blight the Nomad ever created. The most feared race in the known universe and the eldritch creatures that bring nightmares onto all light shines upon!"

Cain was able to pick up a deep sense of hopelessness in the voice of the {Phantasma} as it roared to the heavens with a sadistic grin on its face.

"Mother was the first of us... I do not know how a mother is birthed, but I'd assume she was given life the same way we all were. I and a few others were born in the void surrounding this host planet. When I first descended, I thought consuming this planet would be as easy as squashing a bug. Never would I have imagined I would come across a nasty one like you. Hahaha!"

The Soul Devil turned its eyes back to Cain, a mixture of curiosity, anger, and apprehension within them...

"Earlier today, when I was scouting you, humans out, I noticed a strange surge of energy reach me. That sort of energy isn't something that should exist in a world as young and juvenile as yours. I let my curiosity get the better of me, and decided to see what it was..."

"It was me, huh?" Cain said as he stared right back into the vicious green eyes of the {Phantasma}.

"Yes... In the very depths of your soul lays a very scary entity. Its very existence sends chills down my spine, like dousing the embers of a fire with cold water. I'm sure other members of my race would feel the same if they saw what I did..."

Cain finally got the message...

"In conclusion, you see me as a threat?"

"Yes... A threat that must be neutralized. However, Mother sees you as an opportunity." Suddenly, there was a change in the tune of the Phantasma's message.

"Opportunity?"

"Yes... If you are willing to submit yourself without resisting, your friends will be granted safe passage out of the forest." J'orntz said with a complicated expression.

"Are you serious?" Cain had an incredible expression on his face as he stared at J'orntz in disbelief.

"I'd rather it not be like this and we fight to the death, but the Mother has other plans. To her, the expansion of the devil race is the most important, while everything else is secondary. If she can absorb this ancient energy within you, she will be able to evolve further and expand our army.

Fighting any more willingly leads to more losses even though we still win at the end." J'orntz said with an air of arrogance.

Cain was in disbelief because he didn't know the devil's had what it took to get involved with negotiations.

'Am I really that valuable?'

"Of course, you can choose to refuse this offer. Then I will have no choice but to kill you, alongside every single human here. The choice is yours to make..."

Cain had a contemplative look on his face as he considered the Phantasma's offer.

Would it really be better to give himself up for the others?

He knew his heart wasn't so good, so offering himself out of selflessness wasn't even worth discussing. He wanted to meet with the {Broodmother} and see what it was like, but that could be done after he skewered the {Phantasma}.

"You haven't given me any good reason to give my life up... I'm not a saint, nor am I the savior of humankind. I choose what I want to do and when. I don't think sacrificing myself will give me any benefits..." Cain said straightforwardly.

"I see..." The Soul Devil, J'orntz had a look of understanding on his face as the air around him slowly darkened.

"You have chosen a violent death then...I hope you do not regret it..."

Cain said nothing but simply got back into his attacking stance. In the blink of an eye, the two of them dashed towards one another once again to clash blades.

***

Manny, Blaze, Li, Hunter, Dan, and David braced themselves as they held off the initial clash of the devils.

BANG!

David who had his shield up was forced to move many steps backward as he was bombarded with the attacks of numerous devils all at once.

"Blessings to the Guardian..." Susan cast a spell on David instantly the moment she saw him facing difficulty in holding the devils back.

"Thanks! Savage Strike!" David yelled out his thanks before turning his attention back to the devil army. Raising his axe with his right hand, he delivered a crippling blow to the chest of the devil standing before him, causing it to scream out in rage.

It retaliated by slamming its bladed forelimbs into David's shield, nearly hammering him into the ground in the process.

'These things are a real headache...' David lamented as he bore the attack with relative ease. His defense was very robust, and in addition to the protective spell Susan cast on him, bearing the attacks of a few devils all at once wasn't too big of a deal. The problem was he had to bear the attacks of more than a few decisions at once, which put a lot of strain on him.

Thankfully, he wasn't fighting alone...

BANG!

Blaze had a coat of flames envelope his body and weapon as he spun his polearm around and drove the tip into the chest of the devil attacking David.

"Ha!"

BOOM!

A violent burst of flames later and the devil had been consumed by the flames...

Suddenly, a purple-colored light shone on the body of the devil they had nearly taken down... Its wounds slowly healed as it picked itself off from the ground and assumed a wicked expression once again.

Although David and the others weren't fighting alone too, that didn't mean the melee devils didn't have their own support.

In fact, they had way more support than David and the other melee fighters had...

"Tch! Those guys at the back area real headache..." Blaze said as he spun his spear once again, striking at all the weak points of the devil before him while David defended them both. They decided to focus on one devil at a time, dealing with one while they kept the others at bay.

"Getting to them is not an option as long as we don't take care of these ones first!" David said as he bashed the head of one of the devils rushing at them with his shield.

"Then we can only rely on our ranged attackers."

"Hahaha! You guys are worrying too much. The real battle just began and you are making it boring already!" Manny said with a bright expression on his face. Beneath his feet was the corpse of a devil, torn apart beyond recognition as he fought against other devils on top of the corpse of the other.

'This guy...' David and Blaze's eyelids twitched when they saw what Manny was up to.

"Fighting isn't all we need to do right now! Planning is important so we can adjust to any changes in the situation." David said as he pushed three devils back at once, burying the sharp end of his axe into the shoulder and neck of one of them and pulling out, blood and broken flesh spraying all over his face.

Together, the three of them were able to stop the attacks of the devils that attacked from the front side.

Meanwhile, Dan stood like a guardian of ice as he created ice wall after ice wall to block the devils, while using his ice armor to attack and defend. Since his main attribute was the ice element, he specialized more in debuffs and defense rather than offense. The devil's that came closer to him had their movement and attack speeds impeded, so he had an easier time handling them.

Hunter was like a beast that ran on the blood of the falling devils. He already ditched his bow and was relying on his beastly body to attack the devils around him.

Even in his gigantic form, he didn't lose out in terms of agility, so despite his huge strength, he was still able to move with the deftness of a cat.

His claws dragged through the air and into the throat of a devil, grabbing its esophagus and ripping it out in one fell swoop.

Li wasn't any off worse as he moved like a grasshopper, his feet never touching the ground as he blasted tufts of air from the soles of his feet. Because of this, he was able to fight in the midst of the enemies, yet he hadn't been touched even once. With every swing of his fists, the sounds of crushing bones could be heard.

The impact compressed air could produce wasn't something to be laughed at as it could create a hole in a tree trunk as wide as a basin. Fighting with Li was the same as going up against a near untouchable air cannon.

The ranged attackers, Steve, Jenny, Susan, and Vincent all did their best to support with various attack and support spells, but they were still unable to keep their momentum up. In the blink of an eye, they were completely surrounded...

It was at this delicate moment, that for the first time in a while, true tragedy struck...

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