God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

A purple magic circle spread out from beneath Jenny's feet, forming a circular shield that blocked the golden chain.

Cain immediately appeared with an orb of glowing flames in hand and smashed it down into her shield.

BOOM!

'Crap!' Jenny watched as the force of the {Flame Orb} launched her backward.

The other normal humans that had escaped the school grounds with them all started as Cain and Jenny's group fought against one another.

"Oh, no! They are in trouble!"

"We need to help them!"

"Idiot! What do you think you are saying?! A casual swing from any one of them could send all of us to the other shore and on our merry way."

"But we can't just watch this, can we? They've saved our lives so many times!"

Conflicting voices rose from the crowd of people, but none of them took even a step forward. It was obvious that those who spoke in favor of taking action did so with false bravado. They were also far enough from the fight that they weren't affected by the aftershocks. Hence, it was more like they were watching a movie as opposed to the danger of having their lives on the line.

'Humans...' Susan thought to herself.

'Let's just hope nothing more comes out of this.' To her, while she didn't want any of them to die, she completely understood human nature. If her life was in danger, none of these people she was risking her life to protect would take that step forward...

Seeing that Jenny was alright, Li and Stan took the initiative to launch a flurry of attacks at Cain. Bobbing and weaving through the blows, jabs, and stabs, Cain watched carefully, waiting for an opening.

"Don't ignore me, Cain!" Cain felt a chill breeze blow against his back. His eyes shot wide open as he felt a presence appear behind him all of a sudden.

Blackened flames poured out of Sue and rushed straight as Cain...

'Flame of Darkness? No... Something else...' Cain thought to himself.

"Absolute Saber Art: Might of a Mountain!" A huge golden blade fell at Cain from above, casting a shadow on his body.

"Hypernova, Explosion!" Li roared violently as his fists launched at Cain. A determined look blazed in his eyes with ambition as its fuel...

The same flames burned within Sue and Stan's eyes. Cain stared at them, the light of excitement burning in his eyes as well. When he had been on Prometheus, he had been fighting solely for survival. His life was always on the edge, and he was constantly trying to preserve his life.

That had only served to boost his bloodlust and fighting spirit. Despite his life being constantly on the line, he had enjoyed every moment of it. He enjoyed tilting on that edge. However, he didn't forget the purpose. Every battle he experienced taught him a valuable lesson, allowing him to grow each time he clashed blades with a foe.

"This is good..." Cain muttered under his breath.

BOOM!

All the attacks came down crashing on him...

"This is really good!" Eyes burning with magnificent flames Cain let out an excited roar.

"Infernal Celestial Arts: Imploding Stars!"

Tens of magic circles appeared around him in the blink of an eye. The moment his {Infernal Wings} were broken through, the magic circles had taken full form.

They all exploded to create flaming orbs of flames that didn't look stable...

Sensing the incoming danger, Stan let out a loud yell,

"Get away! Obsidian Body!" The runes on Stan's body lit up, and his skin took on a black glow. Pushing Li and Sue away, he took the brunt of the attacks head-on.

BTOOM!

BTOOM!

BTOOM!

Upon impact, the flame orbs didn't explode, but rather, they twisted and collapsed the surrounding space. This, they were able to completely bypass Stan's defenses and cause internal damage along with some burn damage that didn't do much.

Stan spat out a mouthful of blood as he fell to a knee...

'He's got me... I shouldn't have blocked it.' Stan thought to himself.

"You are lucky I reduced the power in those things. If not, you'd be full of holes right now. Just rest while I handle the rest." Cain said to Stan in a low voice.

"Haha... You really are too much." Stan said with a chuckle as he fell to the ground.

"That makes one..." Cain said, taking a step toward Li, Sue, and Jenny.

'Damn it! He's... He's stronger than I thought.' Li gritted his teeth as he stared at Cain. He knew Cain was strong, but he didn't realize the space between them had become so wide. He had been under the assumption that if they found a way to neutralize {Seal}, they would be able to pin Cain down and defeat him.

However, he just realized he was completely wrong...

"I'll use my hands to beat you into submission. If you don't think I can do it, try me..." Cain said, his voice radiating an infernal chill as he took another step forward.

'We can't beat you?! Don't screw with me!' Veins popped out on the sides of his head as the flames burning on his hands increased in volume.

"Stop it, Li! You don't know exactly what will happen if you use that skill!" Sue yelled at Li when she noticed the brief change in the flames surrounding his hands.

"I don't care! If we want to beat this fucker, sacrifices will have to be made!" Li yelled back as he prepared to activate the skill.

Cain's eyes narrowed when he heard this...

Snapping his fingers, golden magic circles blossomed beneath them like a flower in full bloom.

'Divine Essense of Metallurgy...'

Ever since the nature of his metal creation and manipulation skills changed, he had felt his affinity for the metal element increase. He could now feel the metal particles in the air, floating within the mana surrounding him. He was able to sense the energy stored within each particle and how he activated their power each time he drew upon it.

It was like he was a magnet calling out to pieces of metal. He could sense the individuality of each particle and how moving them on a more fundamental level increased the strength, durability, and tensile strength of the constructs he could create and manipulate.

The magic circles turned into golden chains that had a single rune etched into every link on it. It was a rune that could impede the flow of mana in a particular area. These chains rushed at Sue and Li and Sue like snakes. Jumping out of the way, Li was able to escape them. However, Sue, who had way less agility and strength points was unable to avoid the chains in time.

In a split second, she was bound completely...

"I... I can't use my mana!" Sue cried out in a panic.

On the other side of the ice bridge, Cain stood with his eyes emitting an intense golden light. A golden rune floating above his hands.

***

{Congratulations to Host... You have created a new spell}.

"Divine Essence of Metallurgy: Chains of Binding." Cain's words were like the order of a divine being.

By using his understanding of runes and his newfound control of the metal element, he was able to etch runes into the metal he could create, giving them various effects. The effects of this spell increase with the advancement of the {Divine Essense of Metallurgy} skill.

***

{Chains of Binding}: Create chains of divine metal that have been inscribed with a basic 'restrict' rune to impede the flow of mana into and out of that which is bound by 90%.

***

"That makes two..." Cain thought to himself, staring at Sue who was bound. Sue had a completely captivated look on her face as she stared back.

'Strong...'

"You think you have what it takes to do this on your own? Let's see just how far your strength will take you!" Cain's glare burned straight through Li, causing the latter to backpedal, the expression on his face quickly turning into fear.

Without waiting for him to recover, Cain dashed at him, and two metal steel batons appeared swinging in his hands.

"Don't underestimate me, Bastard!" Li roared with fury as he dashed forward as well. The flames wrapped around his fists burned with fervor as he rushed on without thinking of stopping despite the fear that burned in his heart.

They both swung at one another without restraint. Metal and first met flesh as they both danced around in a flurry. Moving extremely fast, the normal humans there couldn't follow with their ordinary eyes.

Blow after blow connected rapidly until it finally died down a few moments later, revealing Cain who had a thin stream of blood running down his mouth and burn marks on his chest and abdomen. Laying at his feet was Li who was completely unconscious. With Cain's monstrous strength and agility, it would be very difficult for Li to keep up with him.

Staring at Jenny who had a surreal smile on her face, his contorted facial features calmed down a bit,

"Let's end it, Jenny. Let me show you that I am more than capable enough to keep my promises." Cain said.

Without saying a single word, Jenny raised her gun and fired the shot she had been charging since a while back.

'This shot is lethal. If he doesn't dodge it, he'll die. However, if it does, it will destroy those chains and break Sue free.' These thoughts floated through Jenny's head as she prepared down on the trigger.

'Although he has any intentions of doing so...'

Indeed, Cain had a calm expression on his face as he simply stretched his arm forward. Layers and layers of metal that had been etched with a basic 'strengthen' rune.

The layers of metal turned into a compact metal tower shield just before the crackling bullet reached him.

BOOM!

The bullet blasted a gigantic hole into the metal shield, revealing more and more layers of metal. The bullet was made of pure charged energy and was as hot, if not hotter than the surface of a star. All this energy was released in the form of a bullet of concentrated energy.

With this sort of skill, most defenses would be as flimsy as a single sheet of paper. However, Cain was a bit different than most. With his newfound understanding of the metal element, combined with the new ways he realized he could incorporate runes into the skill, he was able to create a defense that was incredibly difficult to penetrate.

"Divine Essense of Metallurgy: Heaven's Gate."

The layers of shining golden shield continued to melt as the energy in the bullet dwindled out. Eventually, the bolt fizzled out as the energy stored within it had run out.

Cain stared at the single layer of metal that had almost been breached. Luckily, his mana pool was large. If he didn't have enough mana, he wouldn't have been able to keep up with the damage, and he would have had a hole put in his chest.

Taking a huge sigh, he stared at the pale-faced Jenny who had a wide smile on her face despite having just lost...

"I win..."