God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

In the life-and-death battle between him and the {World Eater}, he had reached a special state. In his mumble of emotions, he finally got to experience what it was like to fully dive into a sea made of his blood.

He bathed in it and became reborn. From the depths of the crimson and black pool, a strange creature was formed...

Cain practiced the {Dragon's Gate Ki Plundering Technique}, while he had absorbed the devil essence from a few devils. The unique nature of his Ki plundering technique made it so that he absorbed a bit of the latent devil essence within every devil killed.

Devil essence was different from other sources of energy and could be produced infinitely as long as one had an internal source. Since Cain didn't have an internal source, his ki plundering technique stole some of it every time he killed a devil. It also absorbed it from the atmosphere as devil essence had already begun to spread within the world of Urbus.

Although it wasn't much, over time, the devil source within his body had grown a bit. Hence, he could produce devil essence, albeit of very low quality. He would also never be able to produce it on the same level of purity that an actual devil could produce.

Despite all this, it was really precious in his hands. He had turned it into something diabolical.

Cain didn't know this, but that was the true nature of the {Dragon's Gate Ki Plundering Technique}. It not only gave him access to a very strong Ki, but it also made him more susceptible to other forms of energy. Whether this was a good or bad thing, only time would tell...

Cain's body had thus become a brewery for three energies. Mana, Ki, and Devil essence. And now that he was in the aether, unfortunately for him, his ki plundering technique pulled in some of the despicable energy as well.

His had sparked a chain reaction within his body, which had manifested as the second form of his blade technique— Rakshasa.

A Rakshasa was a powerful demon who fought in the war against the Celestials. It was a powerful creature that was part of the lesser tribe of creatures called demons, A sub-species of beings created from the immoral mixture of the genes of devils and aether creatures.

Demons came in all shapes and sizes. Most of them carried the special bloodlines of ancestral devils, which meant they were bloodthirsty monsters most of the time.

The Rakshasa were known particularly for their violent tendencies when in the thick of battle. Legend had it that the blade of a Rakshasa was an ink brush capable of painting the cosmos red with the blood of its inhabitants.

Thus, when Ki, devil essence, and a small amount of aether were mixed in his body, an unlikely situation unfolded.

A Demon of Blood and Fire was born...

"Arghhh!"

Cain let out a scream of rage and madness. He looked nothing like he usually did. Three curved horns grew out of his head and curved upward. His eyes had turned into empty sockets that spilled golden light. His body was completely covered in a layer of black and crimson, making him look like an apparition and not a living creature.

Despite the pain in his body, it felt full... Full of power!

The {Scale of the Abyssal Flame} had become attached to his arm by sticky tendrils of darkness, making it seem as though the curved blade was an extension of his body.

The {World Eater} sensed the change but was completely focused on the meal in front of it. It completely ignored this change and continued its mad dash...

It swam across the destroyed earth, consuming all in its path. Nothing could stand a chance against its razor-sharp teeth and its powerful maw.

The ground turned to butter beneath it, and the corpses of dead aether beasts were crushed in seconds. In the blink of an eye, it was above Cain. Its maw was opened with the intent to consume him whole.

Cain's figure was covered with lean muscles that contracted with every breath he took. His hand moved, and then his body followed.

A streak of red and dark cut through the grim air of the battlefield. Cain had disappeared from his previous location and was behind the monster. The blade that was his hand glowed with crimson light outlining its edges. The cold wind streamed through his hair.

The low din of the howls and cries of aether beasts in the distance rang out. At some point, these creatures had become less interested in Cain and were busy ripping each other apart.

There was a pause for a few seconds. Then the {World Eater} fell to the ground in two separate halves. A fountain of blood gushed into the sky and formed a rapidly growing pool of bright red.

The landmass shook violently, and large chunks of rocks began falling into the void below.

The system prompt that announced his victory echoed within his mind, but he didn't respond to it. The black and red energies mixed on his body slowly faded into the wind and his battered body was revealed. The hand holding onto the {Scale of the Abyssal Flame} suddenly fell to the ground, completely separated from the rest of his body.

Cain stared at it for a while with empty, blank eyes before his pupils contracted and his mouth stretched into a scream of silent agony. Blood streamed downhill orifices as he crumpled to the ground. His blood pooled beneath his body as he quaked and stirred, holding his handless stump.

After a while, he staggered onto his feet and walked toward the edge of the island...

***

When he had been found, he was already close to death's door. The injuries he had suffered were simply too terrible for anyone to live through. Even now, the pain he was going through was so excruciating, a normal human would have been begging for death at this point.

However, he still clung to life, albeit weakly...

His conscience was slowly falling into darkness, and he knew that once it was completely overwhelmed, he would die.

'I don't want to die.' Cain thought.

His mana had run out long ago, and his {Mana Heart} was trying its best to pull in more mana. However, it wasn't enough. The trickle was barely enough to keep his {Mana Heart} functioning.

'I don't want to die.'

Cain's mind felt light. He knew if he gave up and let the darkness embrace him, it would be over quickly. Then he wouldn't need to suffer for so long. He could just give up... No one would call him a coward.

'I don't want to die.'

And so, he activated the {Dragon's Gate Ki Plundering Technique}. It was the only thing he could think of that would be able to save his life.

His broken body greedily absorbed the vital Ki like a sponge. As an energy closely related to life force, Ki was very vital to his survival. If he wanted to live, then he needed to rely on it.

However, the rate of absorption was too slow. So in his desperation, he increased the speed of the Ki circulating in his veins, pulling in more and more Ki with greater speed.

He defied the standard and directly influenced a system skill. His mind and body became as hot as molten steel. Ki rushed into his body like a dried-up well drinking from the ocean.

The aether realm was filled with aether, but it was also filled with Ki. Ki was an energy that accompanied the existence of lifeforms. Wherever there were living creatures, the was also Ki.

The aether was filled with an innumerable number of aether beasts and strange entities that relied on aether as a form of power. However, Ki was something that was ingrained in their body from the world, granting them their monstrous physiques and might.

At this moment, Cain stole all of that Ki hanging in the air and converted it to his. He stole this vital energy from the world and began to devour it in huge bites.

The stream of ki within him continued to flow faster and faster as he exerted his control on it. He could feel himself rising from the depths of the abyssal darkness that tried to pull him in. The cold feeling that enveloped him was slowly fading away,

The pain in his body grew more intense, but he couldn't care less. All he wanted to do, was live...

His body was covered with the crimson ki of the {Dragon's Gate Ki Plundering Technique} and it seeped into his bones, organs, flesh, and skin, repairing all the damage done to him. Despite all this, it wasn't enough.

Meanwhile, within the darkest reaches of his consciousness, a lonely figure sat in the silence of eternal darkness. Suddenly, the figure raised its head. A grin was on the figure's shadowlike face.

"Let me help you out a bit."

Cain's vision was suddenly filled with the image of a glorious gate. Beneath this gate was an infinite ocean of crimson waters. The ocean stretched on into infinity, and the gate was located high above the crimson ocean.

A stream of the crimson water suddenly shot up into the sky and reached for the gate. The water surged with full force, splitting the air and rushing toward the gate. As it approached the gate, it grew weaker and weaker, until it turned into a small steady jet of the crimson water. Cain was able to see the vague outline of a human fighting with all its might to move further and further.

Eventually, the outline of a human did reach the gate. A series of runes flashed on the surface of the gate, and the silhouette was drowned in light. It emerged from the other side as a gigantic dragon's shadow...

It raised its head and cried to the skies in victory as it swam across the endless blue. Cain stared fixated at the patterns on the gate, his mind transfixed on the smallest of details.

Then, the vision ended. He was in the dark cave with three despairing girls by his side. His right arm was gone, and he was still bleeding from a few dozen holes in his body.

'No harm in giving it a shot...' Cain thought to himself as he put the knowledge he had just learned to the test...

He tried visualizing the image of the gate and remembering the mysteries it contained. The trickle of ki pouring into his body slowly changed from a trickle to a stream, and then a full-on flood. Cain's eyes opened wide as they were suffused with golden lights dancing around.

The girls took a step back in shock as they watched his severed hand growing back, and wounded body being mended.

The crimson aura around him became so dense, it was visible to the naked eye. The Ki surrounding him turned into a vortex that his body greedily soaked up.

So much more poured in, and Cain was having a problem controlling the flow...

Very soon, his body was fully healed. He let out a tired, pained sigh before the exhaustion hit him hard, knocking him unconscious instantly...