God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

[Ki Fire] was one of Cain's greatest advantages in battle. As long as his blade could reach the target, it would definitely fall with a single strike. That was the power of a Ki-powered ability.

Streaks of crimson lightning flashed against his armored body as he swam within the horde of aether beasts, leaving beheaded corpses in his wake. Despite the obvious strength of the {Crimson Horned Blood Abominations}, they couldn't do much against him.

"Roar!" One of the {Crimson Horned Blood Abominations} carrying a staff made from the bone of an unidentifiable creature let out a soul-shaking roar. Its lower pair of hands made a hand symbol as it pointed its staff at Cain, who was busy slaughtering his way through the horde.

A magic circle appeared before the creature. A scary amount of blood elements were gathered at the nexus of the magic circle before it was fired as a highly destructive {Blood Cannon}.

BOOM!

The large figure of the Light Guardian appeared, blocking the full-powered strike. However, a crack appeared in the creature's armor.

Cain threw a glance at Susan, who threw him an understanding nod. She then began to chant...

Motes of light appeared from a magic circle behind her and seeped into Cain and Hunter's bodies. A rush of power filled them both as their physical capabilities were boosted.

At the same time, the same motes of light turned into chains of light that restricted the movements of numerous {Crimson Horned Blood Abominations}.

Cain's muscles bulged as a tremendous amount of Ki and Devil Essence poured into his blade.

With a loud roar, he swung horizontally. A wave of black and red sword energy exploded out of the blade's curved edge and into the crowd of restrained {Crimson Horned Blood Abominations}, chopping a hundred of them into pieces.

Hunter let out a loud roar as his huge body pounced onto the horde. Despite his size, his body moved with frightening speed and agility that was on par with the smaller and lithe Cain.

Opening his maw wide, a large amount of flame element gathered in the abyssal darkness of his open jaws. A beam of destructive energy was shot out, incinerating a hundred of them into ash.

Both Hunter and Cain were like natural disasters that descended upon the {Crimson Horned Blood Abominations}. Wherever they went, a roar paved with blood, ash, and broken bodies was left behind.

During this time, Jenny and Susan weren't idle. Their job was to make sure the spellcasting {Crimson Horned Blood Abominations} didn't obstruct Cain and Hunter. Jenny's well-aimed shots destroyed the heads of the chanting creatures. Spells were exchanged between the two groups, but they were easily countered by Susan and Jenny. The spells that managed to slip through were simply dodged.

However, there were some spells that couldn't be avoided...

One of the skills the {Crimson Horned Blood Abominations} possessed was called {Origin Chanting}. It gave them the ability to use a multitude of different spells either by chanting or forming hand symbols. These spells ranged from attack spells like {Blood Sycthe} and {Blood Cannon}, to restrictive spells like {Poison Bog} and {Blood Chains}. It gave them a wide pool of spells to use from.

Still, it wasn't enough to stop the monsters that Cain and Hunter had become. If one were to look at it from a third person's perspective, it was as though Cain and Hunter were evil demons that had escaped the seals that were supposed to bind them for eternity, and the {Crimson Horned Blood Abominations} were trying their best to stop them, but to no avail.

'This is... Wonderful!'

Rakshasa was more than just a flashy transformation. A special state created from all the energies on Cain's body running rampant at the same time. In this state, Cain's control over Ki and Devil Essence.

The skill now had other factors influencing it like {Draconic Transfiguration}, and [Ki Fire}. Cain's body was now larger than normal. The hilt of his blade was attached to his hand by tendrils of Devil Essence. Every time his weapon was swung, it was as though he was moving an extension of his body.

Devil Essencs was truly a strange energy. It was quite different from Ki and mana in the sense that one couldn't attain more of it the same way one would go about increasing mana or Ki.

Its nature was also fundamentally different. Ki was the power of the body, mana was the power of the mind and soul. But Devil Essence was different. It was a corrupting power. It could degrade the effects of other types of energy. It was destructive and malevolent.

There was nothing good about it. Its existence was for the sole purpose of destroying or transforming something into a more corrupted version.

That was why the battle technique Cain had picked up on, 'Dark Dragon, Orbiting', was so efficient. It dispelled the force and power behind attacks dealt to him by making use of a large amount of Devil Essence that manifested in the form of a coiling dark dragon.

'Faster...'

Cain's blood boiled with excitement as he sliced away. In this state, all he saw, was red. There was nothing else on his mind but slaughter. The fastest, and most efficient way to cut down the creatures standing before him.

His body moved like a phantom of death. Twisting his waist, his body spun to avoid a downward slash from a halberd swung at him. Slashing forward horizontally, he severed the creature from the waist down.

With a grin, he looked down at the writhing creature. The creature's goat-like face was filled with rage and malice. However, one look into Cain's golden eyes was enough to put the fear of god in it. A deep, instinctual fear consumed the creature.

"Don't stop struggling. It makes things less interesting." Cain said. Bringing the edge of his blade to the creature's neck, he slowly stabbed forward. Despite the creature's struggles, it couldn't do much as it had lost both of its legs.

"Cain, what are you doing?!" Hunter snarled at Cain when he finally noticed. Ignoring Hunter, Cain continued his slow decapitation.

'Something is wrong...'

He couldn't quite place his finger on it. However, Hunter could tell something had changed in Cain.

As the fear in the creature's eyes was replaced by a glassy look, Cain withdrew his weapon and dashed forward again.

Hunter frowned as he tore a {Crimson Horned Blood Abominations}. He continued to keep an eye on Cain even though he seemed to return to normal after that.

Their goal was to keep the entire army occupied for as long as possible. And while that seemed like a tall task because of the number of {Blood Abominations} and {Crimson Horned Blood Abominations}, it was still doable. There was a limit to the number of creatures they could engage with at a time.

This meant that while they were forced to fight nonstop, they were also able to regulate the numbers they could face off at a time.

This meant they couldn't be overwhelmed. However, since their stamina wasn't infinite, it was only a matter of time before they eventually fell...

But for now, they needed to kill as much as possible...

Their combined power was nothing to scoff at. Floki and Galip we're very powerful in their own right. Floki's heavy attacks with his war hammer, as well as his control over the ice element made him create a bubble on the battlefield where he could exert as much control as he wanted. Any {Crimson Horned Blood Abominations} that stepped into that bubble was as good as dead.

Galip was also a force to be reckoned with his incredible speed as well as his poisonous tactics that guaranteed death upon contact made him one of the most dangerous fighters.

He moved like a phantom in the horde. Everywhere he went, wails of death spread. However, both men were getting injured quite quickly. Although they were competent, they were not powerful enough to face off against so many aether beasts without assistance. As such, Susan had to pay attention to them both so they didn't die.

Ignis' job was to make sure Jenny and Susan were not attacked, which happened white often. Although Floki and Galip were trying their best, they couldn't handle all the {Crimson Horned Blood Abominations} that attacked them.

This is where Ignis stepped it. Any creature that dared approach her was burnt to a crisp or smashed apart beyond recognition.

Together, they worked like a well oiled machine in fighting off the army of aether beasts.

Nevertheless, it was impossible for them to fight forever...