God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"B-but how?! This should be impossible. I only showed it to him today. There should be no way for him to grasp it so quickly, right? What sort of monster did I find?" Azazel mumbled to himself, while Alveera had a confused expression.

"My Lord, what is this vile sensation that has descended upon this world," Alveera said, her white eyes shining brighter as she directed her gaze toward the volcano.

"That?! That's the result of Inly magic, Alveera. That kid actually managed to do it, huh..."

"What exactly is it, my Lord? Why does this spell feel so sinister?" Alveera said with a scowl.

"This is a basic Inlay magic spell that combines two simple elements together. Darkness, and Fire. Both have something in common, which is why they are easier to combine than most others."

"Darkness and Fire have something in common?" Alveera almost couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Yes. Darkness can devour light, while flames can devour everything else... They both possess the power to devour. Combining them both together, and you have a flame that will destroy everything, similar to the Flame of the Destroyer my dear Ignis possesses."

"My Lord, don't you think it is time to end this battle?" Alveera said with a forced smile.

Rolling his eyes, Azazel said with a complacent smile, "Trust me. I can't afford for either of them to die, so I have measures in place to prevent that from happening."

"If you said so, My Lord..." Staying silent for a few seconds, Alveera just decided to give up entirely.

"However, I am still surprised he could get it on his first try. It took me more than a thousand years of experimenting to form my first Inlay spell." Azazel said to himself.

"My Lord, regardless of how good the mortal is, he surely cannot compare to you in terms of greatness..." Alveera said to Azazel with a bow.

"I guess you are right... Oh, Look! The battle is about to reach its climax. Things are about to get real interesting..." Azazel said excitedly as he directed his gaze back to the volcano.

***

"Burn for me, Flames of Darkness!"

Cain let out a roar that split through the surrounding space. The pillar of black flames around him tore through the ground below him and the curtain of lava above him, consuming it completely...

The {Vampiric Star} above him seemed to be afraid of the flames, moving out of the way of the terrifying current. It is stated at the flame with a perplexed look on her face.

'This flame... Why is it so similar to my {Destroyer's Flame}? Although my flame is quite weak at my level, it should still be.be one of the most powerful flames in all of existence. What exactly is this human?!' The more she thought about it, the more she realized that the human standing before her on his last legs wasn't normal at all...

The dark flames licked at everything and consumed them, including his body. His entire body was falling apart very quickly, as despite being the conjurer of the flame, he still didn't have enough control over it. His skin had been scorched black, and his bones were visible in some areas of his body. Despite this, he refused to drop down.

"Give up, Cain. If you do, I will spare your life." Ignis said, finally deciding it was time to take a few steps back. Due to her complicated feelings, she would rather Cain live than him doing irreparable damage to his body, or him killing himself.

Cain heaved a sigh, a bloody most escaping from his slightly opened mouth...

"You might not know me very well, Ignis. If you did, you would know that I am quite stubborn. Attack me if you dare..." Cain said slowly, taking a step forward, causing burnt flesh to fall off his body.

With those words, the flames within her eyes seemed to reignite.

"In that case, try not to die!" Upon saying these words, She immediately willed the {Burning Ocean} to move forward once again. Previously, she had stopped the spell briefly when Cain had erupted with the {Flames of Darkness}. Now, she let the floodgates open...

Taking a deep breath, Cain let his mind fall into his consciousness once again. He had come to realize that time flowed differently within his subconscious space. He could spend a relatively long time here, yet only a few seconds would have passed in reality.

With this advantage, he was able to formulate spells in real time, although some spells required a long time to analyze, debug, and or create...

Staring at the magic circle that related before his consciousness, Cain felt an indescribable feeling.

Initially, he had tried multiple times to combine various elements with the fire element. He had tried combining lightning, wind, metal, blood, and even ice. Yet whenever he did, the magic circle broke down spontaneously.

The pieces of the magic circle would always come undone, and he would have to start from scratch. However, when he tried combining darkness and fire, shockingly, the speed at which they unraveled was slower compared to the other elements he had at his disposal.

When he noticed this, he immediately knew he had gotten something to work with. By tweaking and adjusting the spell, he was finally able to come up with this magic circle that consisted of very simplistic runes and sigils.

Despite its simplicity, it had one thing that was different from others. He had found a way to superimpose the magic circles upon one another.

And that was by using his soul like a hammer...

The soul is the anchor to the physical and spiritual plane that an individual possesses. But it isn't just that. It is capable of so many more wonders...

For the very first time, he had touched upon the wonders of the soul. He had turned one of the magic circles into a board, another into a nail, and his soul had become the hammer that smashed them both together. Because of this, his soul had imprinted a brand onto the spell, linking it directly to his being.

For the first time in his life, he had become one with something. Literally...

Staring at the magic circle that glowed with both dark and red light, Cain stretched his and out to touch it.

***

{Flames of Darkness} (passive): A spell that transcends its level in potency and power. You have combined the element of darkness and the element of the flames to birth a heretic spell that possesses the power to destroy the world.

Also known as the Evil Flame of the Sorcerer, the Flames of Darkness will consume everything in their path, including he who conjures it. The flames of darkness cannot be used alone and must be linked to a skill or spell before it is used. Boosts the magic damage of a spell or skill by 1000%. The {Flames of Darkness} will last until they are dispelled.

Costs: 5000MP per minute.

Cooldown: 3 days.

***

Cain stared at the spell blankly for some time.

'I currently have less than 1000MP points, which are nowhere near enough to execute this spell...'

Due to having fought for so long, Cain was completely drained of both HP and MP. Now tha he was on the brink of death, the only thing he needed the most, was the thing he didn't have.

'Damn it! I need to increase the amount of mana I have now!'

Returning to reality, Cain watched as the ocean of flames blazed toward him with incredible speed. There was no way he would be able to dodge or redirect this attack. It was now a do-or-die matter. He either blocked it, or he perished...

The black flames around him had burned him mostly to the bone, so he was already on the brink of death. Taking a deep breath, he activated his failsafe...

After he fought with the {Flame Devil} he knew that he would have to fight many more dangerous battles. To prevent himself from dying, as soon as he was on the brink of death, a special magic circle that gathered mana passively from his mana heart, which he had placed above his mana heart, would activate even if he had zero mana in him.

It was something he learned he could do during the fight with the {Flame Devil}. Hence, he always kept it there on standby, ready to save his life.

Today was one of those days...

The {Blood Regeneration} magic circle immediately activated, beginning the healing process on him. Since his HP was directly tied to his physical well-being, it meant as his body was repaired, his HP continually increased. However, the small amount of {Flames of Darkness} that made contact with his flesh reduced the speed at which his HP filled back up.

But all these didn't matter to Cain, as he had a completely different goal. He planned to survive...

Placing his hand above his chest, he could feel the undulations of his hearts. They beat simultaneously, creating a divine symphony only he could hear.

Golden radiance shone from the tips of his fingers as he plunged his claws into his chest, breaking through his ribcages and grasping his {Mana Heart}.

Blood splurted out of the huge hole, but there was no time to waste. This was the first time he had felt his mana heart, but Cain didn't even pay attention to that. Hand wrapped around the {Mana Heart}, Cain began to apply some pressure.

In response, his mana heart, which was now an organ in his body began to respond in the way any other organ in the human body would to external stimuli. It began beating even faster, responding to Cain's cries.

"Beat faster!" Cain let out a roar as the tsunami of flames came crashing down on his head. There he stood, a brief second away from death, his hand in his chest trying to bleed whatever power remained in his body out...

BA-DOOM!

BA-DOOM!

BA-DOOM!

Like the war drums before a battle, his heart beat...

A light blue glow spread through the gap in his chest. Even the darkness of the flames surrounding him couldn't obscure its radiance.

{Warning... Warning... SYSTEM ERROR!!!}

Ignoring the system warning blaring in his ears, Cain continued. Mana poured out into his bloodstream. He could feel the mana filling him up. Once this feeling took over him, he knew he had to make a move...

Taking his other hand, he activated {Flame of Darkness}, and immediately after, he activated {Flame Orbs}. He created a single flame orb in his hand and poured almost all the remaining mana in his body into it.

'Th-this... is it...'

The sea of purple and the concentrated ball of black flames collided, producing a cataclysmic explosion that ripped the surrounding space apart...