God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

He immediately spotted the difference. The bodies of the creatures had previously offered some resistance to his blade despite him aiming at the cracks in their armors and weak spots.

Now, whenever he hit a creature, his blade sliced through its flesh like a hot knife through butter. He danced across the fragmented land like a god of death. Right now, he was able to exert his full potential.

The blue flashes of electricity rolling around his body, coupled with the purple and red mist created by the {Hand of Stingè} made him look like a strange apparition that streaked through the flesh of the creatures, tearing their flesh away from their bones and draining them of all their blood.

Thanks to the strange spell Susan activated, they were able to advance to the center of the floating landmass much quicker than Cain had originally expected.

'This is great! With the help of Susan, we will be done with this in no time!'

Although Cain was clearly excited about the bloodshed, he still managed to keep a clear and leveled head. Right now, his priority was to make sure everyone made it through safely.

Once they reached the center of the floating landmass, the situation changed drastically...

Cai felt the air grow cold and stiff all of a sudden. He had known there were some exceptionally strong aether beasts within the horde, but he had no idea there was one capable of producing such a fearsome aura.

"Jenny, watch the skies! Ignis, hold your position!"

At a time like that, Cain knew he couldn't afford to have them broken up. He would have to try his hardest to keep it this way until they could make their escape.

He wished he could just cart them all away using {Spatial Jump}, but things weren't so easy. Activating {Spatial Jump} requires the space around him to be stable. Right now violent clashes of aether, ki, and mana made the space so volatile, he would be unable to use the skill at all.

If he did, and they stepped through, there was a huge possibility they would be killed by the spatial tunnel being destroyed.

Cain gritted his teeth as he pressed forward. The head of another aether beast fell to the ground once again, and its body soon followed. His tuned sense of danger kicked in.

Because he couldn't dodge the attack as doing so would put the people behind him in harm's way, Cain made the decision instantly...

Walls of golden metal erupted from the ground. Disks of glowing metal elemental energy covered in runes materialized around him.

However, his defenses seemed to melt like butter before this sudden attack. The gracious pillars of metal were marred by a projectile firing through them. The {Golden Halo} skill was broken and then, Cain was able to see it.

Just before it connected with his body, a crimson orb was flying at him at full speed. With {Eye of Clairvoyance} activated, he was able to see the truth of the world. The energy within the crimson orb was so concentrated, that Cain nearly thought it was a laser beam.

The orb of blood slammed into his body...

And exited from the back...

'Crap!'

Cain paled as he felt a hint of sweetness rising from the back of his throat. Blood poured down his mouth as he touched his chest.

Because he had sensed it beforehand, he was able to position his body in such a way that none of his organs were harmed.

That didn't mean that it didn't hurt...

Cain locked eyes with the culprit...

An eight-meter-tall creature stared at him with human-like intellect and the savagery unique to beasts in its eyes. It looked similar to the {Blood Abominations}, only more frightening and perverse.

A long spiked tail swished behind the creature. Its powerful hind limbs had huge amounts of fur on them, and its body, from its torso to its neck was that of a muscular lizard. On its reptilian face, two intelligent eyes stared at Cain. Its head held up two large curved horns that twisted and pointed at the sky.

The creature opened its mouth, revealing a grin full of razor-sharp teeth. It held a long curved bone in its hand. Looking at the bone, Cain could only wonder what animal it had come from. What he did know, was that it was very sharp, and would be able to slice through his armor and flesh unhindered.

***

{Crimson Disaster Beast}: Level 100 (Legendary)

Strength: 2,000

Agility: 1,900

Defense: 200

HP: 33,000/33,000

Aether: 7,000/7,000

Skills: Blood Compression, Skin of Steel, Physique Augmentation, Herding Call.

***

The creature opened its wide maw once again. A drop of blood could be seen floating a few inches away from its teeth. Then the world around the beast darkened. Blood elemental energy converged toward the beast, causing it to glow bigger and brighter. Then the orb of blood was compressed again, turning it to the size of a bullet.

The creature raised its mouth to the sky, took a step forward, and turned to face Cain again.

BOOM!

A beam of red light was fired from its mouth...

Cain knew he couldn't let this attack touch him again. But he also couldn't move out of the way. Wings woven from feathers of firs surrounded his body and kept him in their warm embrace.

The orb of blood connected with the wings of fire and blasted them into smithereens. However, it was successfully blocked.

'Even Infernal Wings isn't enough?!' Cain staggered a step backward as he stared at the creature with malice and a hint of fear.

'If it doesn't die, we are all dead.' Cain had already activated {Blood Regeneration}, and the passive skill from the {Hand of Stingè} was working its magic. The terrible injury he had suffered was healing slowly.

He needed to reach the creature before it could charge another one of those deadly attacks. However, he couldn't leave the group without a vanguard. Luckily, he didn't have to think about it too hard.

"Susan, summon the Light Guardian!"

The light guardian was a powerful being that was materialized thanks to a skill of Susan's. The creature's main strength was its insane defensive capabilities. Cain was sure they would be able to hold out with its help while he dealt with the {Crimson Disaster Beast}.

Nodding at him, a sweaty and blood-covered Susan drew a magic circle in the air with the tip of her magical staff.

A bigger magic circle materialized on the ground and a miniature pillar of light shit out from it. The gigantic Light Guardian walked out of the pillar of light and immediately bashed the nearest aether creature with its shield, caving in its skull.

Cain stepped away from the group and lunged at his target. The {Hand of Stingè}and unfortunate aether beast in his path. In the blink of an eye, he had clashed with the creature.

The creature wasn't overwhelmingly strong. Its repertoire of skills was just a headache to deal with.

Cain disposed of the creature in a relatively short amount t of time and was about to head back when he suddenly felt a light disturbance in the ground.

Before he knew it, he was surrounded by a {Crimson Disaster Beast} and four other strange aether beasts, all stronger than the creature he had just slain. A large fly8ng aether beast appeared in the sky and swooped down toward him. However, Jenny had been prepared for this.

A thick bolt of mana was fired from her rifle and hit its wing. The creature cawed furiously and flew toward her with rage in its eyes. Meanwhile, Cain stared at the group of creatures surrounding him with a pained smile.

'I underestimated these bastards.'

Cain had forgotten just how intelligent these beasts were. They had stayed hidden in the horde, waiting for him to consume his strength. Once they noticed his exhaustion, they swooped right in to take his life.

It was an insidious and wicked tactic. That was almost guaranteed to work.

Almost...

The only miscalculation they had made was not going straight after the girls and focusing their attention on him. If they had attacked them, he would have been forced to be defensive.

However, they had come for him. And so he was going to give them hell...

The aura of blood and madness surrounding him picked up a notch as the blood from the corpse of the {Crimson Disaster Beast} he had just killed was absorbed into the purple most around him.

There was a moment of tense hesitation between Cain and the creatures. Their bodies and minds were tense, each waiting to see what the other would do. Cain could feel the tension amidst the heat of the battle...

'So exciting!'

Then his feet blurred...

The air around him split open as he activated {Wind Weaver} his speed increased drastically as he dashed at the closest creature.

Black and Crimson mixed together as he slashed down. However, the {Crimson Disaster Beast} was prepared. It fired the charged shot at the approaching blade energy.

The two energies clashed and canceled one another out. A vortex of wind surrounded his body and tried to slow him down. It succeeded and in the next moment, the three other beasts lunged at him with their claws and fangs hungry and searching for his blood.

Cain's thoughts raced furiously as he executed Dark Dragon Orbiting. Although he could no longer execute it perfectly, it was still enough to deflect all the incoming attacks.

Pushing them all back, Cain took a moment to stabilize his body. A chuckle escaped from his lips. Despite his situation, he had never felt so liberated in his life.

His blades turned into a blur as he there himself back into the death melee with a grin on his face.