God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Lost in the slaughter, Cain could feel each life he claimed slide off his blade like a drop of water.

For a moment, his eyes caught his reflection on the now fully crimson steel of the {Lonely Dragon} Warblade.

'Is that me?'

It had been a while since he had seen how own reflection.

His thick black hair has grown widely and was now around shoulder length. Despite getting closer to his twenties, he still didn't have a single facial hair. The scar he has always had was still there, but his eyes...

His eyes seemed different.

Not in a good way, or a bad way either. It was almost as though he was staring at a different person.

The {Lonely Dragon} Warblade swam through the air, leaving behind a trail of broken bones.

Ruby swam swiftly through the horde, tearing apart Aether Beasts with her fangs and claws, while his blade, despite being heavy, was like a slightly heavy stick.

He swung it with enough force to whip up a sandstorm. However, the only thing sent flying were mangled bodies.

Truly, he was lost in the slaughter...

On another side of the battlefield, General Arltzwalt looked on coldly as he fired a round into the horde.

The moment the bullet reached the first creature, a chain reaction of explosions spread out, detonating the body of his target as well as a few others nearby with just the power of a single bullet.

"Keep this up and we will have all of these abominable Beasts dead in a few hours."

Boulder fired an arrow into the horde then spoke,

"I doubt they'll sit around and wait for that to happen."

The General nodded, "Of course they won't. But that's where your friend comes in."

Boulder raised a brow,

"My friend?"

The General chuckled, "Indeed. He's smart, that's for sure. But he's also ambitious. As such, he's rash. I intend on exploiting that."

Boulder frowned, "Sir... At a time like this–"

General Arltzwalt shook his head,

"Don't lose sight of the goal, Boulder. Our goal is to take control of the entirety of this place and turn it into a bastion of safety. I'll do what those idiots can't and give us life."

His eyes narrowed, "Don't become sentimental. This is war. They might be allies for now, but the tides can turn any moment."

Boulder fell silent, his bowstring slacking for a moment.

General Arltzwalt turned around, a strange smile on his face,

"After defeating this round, we should have some time to rest. Hopefully, we've given Cain and his friends their moment of stardom. Let them shine. After all, the stars that shine the brightest are the ones that attract the most attraction."

Then he frowned,

"Although we still can't be so sure. That bastard Blackwater is a very conniving bastard. His imbecile son is nothing compared to his father. We have to be careful."

Boulder nodded, "Understood."

His face was unchanging, and his thoughts were unknown.

The next arrow he fired seemed to fly a little bit harder, unnoticed and unseen by others.

***

On another part of the battlefield, Evangeline gently shook her hair. Despite having been fighting so long, there wasn't a speck of blood on her clothes.

She dove through the shadows again, appearing behind a large terrible looking Aether Beast.

Stabbing her daggers into its back, she punctured its heart and lungs in one clean stroke.

With its strong vitality, the creature didn't die immediately. Instead, with one final push of desperation, it turned around and wildly attacked her.

However, before it could commit to the attack, Evangeline pulled her daggers out and stabbed the creature through the eyesockets, both sharp blades piercing through them and reaching its brain, killing it instantly.

Pulling out her blades, she dashed forward and dove into the shadows, looking for her next victim.

A smile appeared on her lips,

"Remember, conserve your energy. Push yourselves."

On another end of the battlefield, Susan snorted and her lips moved despite no sound coming out of her mouth,

"You don't need to worry. My mana pool is vast. And if anything serious happens, I have the Emerald Altar."

Evangeline chuckled, "Relying on that thing all the time must be tasking."

Susan frowned, "I don't recall asking for your concern."

Another person seemed to join the conversation.

Taking in a deep breath, Jenny pulled back on the trigger of her sniper rifle. The entire upper body of an Aether Beasts disintegrated into bloody chunks.

Placing another bullet into the chamber, she activated the magic mechanisms of her weapon, ready to fire again.

She sighed,

"I thought you two agreed to not bicker before this started?"

Evangeline shrugged as she slit the throat of another Aether Beast,

"This isn't bickering. I'm just giving her a friendly compliment."

Susan clicked her tongue, her hands never stopped weaving complicated hand signs,

"We aren't friends."

Arrows of light manifested to strike down approaching enemies, and halos of light descended on the wounded or poisoned, healing and cleansing them.

Although she could be classified as a healer, Susan wasn't completely helpless in a fight. In fact, in terms of lethality, she was only inferior to others in the group.

Others would perhaps not be able to scale to the damage her arrows of light could inflict.

Judging from the level of bickering between the three girls, it was obvious some changes had come over their relationship after their time spent together.

They had once spent quite a long time together in a world they had believed to be the Aether Realm. Despite that, nothing had brought them so close together, as the week of danger they had spent exploring the Sea of Sands and a bit of Valestorm at Evangeline's request.

Susan pursed her lips,

"Do you think it was the wise thing to do... not telling Cain, I mean."

Evangeline seemed to know what she was referring to.

She sighed, "It is for his and our good. Of he knows, it wouldn't change much, but I doubt he would want to sit still on it. Instead, I'd rather handle it personally."

She chuckled, "Of course, I might not be enough, so I sought to employ the help of you ladies."

Jenny huffed, "At the end of the day, you can only see us as expendable pawns, is that right?" She said, firing another round into the horde, this time clearing away three Aether Beasts with a single shot.

Evan chuckled once again but didn't say anything. Instead, her crimson eyes flashed with brutality as she bared her white teeth.

She turned into a blurry shadow, daeting everywhere. Wherever she went, a pipe of corpses was left behind.

The same scene could be seen all over the battlefield as members of Cain's original entourage dominated their sections of the battlefield.

With their presence and help, it was only a matter of a few hours before the gorge between the Sea of Sands and the Military Encampment was filled with nothing but corpses and the scent of blood.

Wiping off the layer of sweat that had formed on his forehead, Cain let out a deep breath of air.

Despite fighting for so long, he only felt a bit out of breath, and his stamina hadn't gone down by a lot. He reckoned he would be able to fight at the same pace for a few more hours before he would even begin to feel a bit tired.

He looked around.

Death from every direction. There ground was littered with the corpses of the Aether Beasts. There was an occasional appearance of a human mixed in with the multitude of corpses, but it didn't seem to be a lot.

'As long as well kept it to a minimum.'

The General's voice resounded over the entire battlefield,

"Retreat and regroup!"

His men scattered across the battlefield began to retreat back towards the slope.

'Hunter, tell everyone. Let's retreat as well.' Cain thought out loud.

'Understood.' A gruff voice echoed in his head.

The General's men, for some reason, where positioned more towards the back lines, making it easier for them to retreat.

Cain frowned, immediately sensing fowl play. He shook his head,

'I must be overthinking it. There is no reason they would–'

'Cain! We have a big problem!'

Cain gritted his teeth.

"Damn it!"

Before he knew it, the General and all his men were nowhere to be seen.

The {Eye of Clairvoyance} did its magic immediately.

Cain could see a lofty figure staring down at him from up on high in a rampart.

He looked down at him with a calm gaze, his long beard slightly moving in the wind.

"You damned bastard!" Cain growled as rage coursed through his veins.

General Arltzwalt smiled,

"No hard feelings, Cain. If you want to fight, then go right ahead. You wanted a battlefield to shine on, so I decided to give you one. This plan was meant for only you and your friends. However, you brought back an entire army for me. Never would I have imagined things turning out like this. Well, I do suppose it's for the better."

He didn't speak loudly, yet Cain could hear his words, almost like he stood right next to him.

Cain gritted his teeth,

"If you don't believe that I can get right up there in an instant, you are grossly mistaken." Cain said through gritted teeth as he prepared to launch himself up.

The General spoke without hesitation,

"You try something like that, and I will order my men to send down a hail of bullets. You might not die, but what about the rest of your friends? These men and women who are fighting for a chance at tomorrow? Would you sacrifice their lives because of your whims?"

Cain felt his blood boil even hotter. He was almost at the point of bursting. But somehow,.he managed to control himself. He sucked in a deep breath.

'I should have seen the signs earlier. I should have known. No. I did know. But I didn't think he would do it.'

He sighed internally, 'So this is the legendary ruthlessness of a military official. How eye-opening."

Cain looked back up calmly and spoke,

"Arltzwalt. What makes you think I won't just disregard everything you just said and come straight for.yoir head right now?"

The General shrugged, "Because you aren't heartless. Despite your looks, you are too softhearted and kind. So much so, it bothers me quite a bit. Someone like you, who already reeks of blood, should have not a shred of compassion on him. You've managed to shock me a couple times since we've met, so you can take heart in that regard."

Cain breathed out heavily,

"I see. Looks like you really thought this through.

Cain digested the amount of information he had just received.

To put it simply, what this amounted to, was a betrayal.

A very bloody one at that.