God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Immediately, a wave of scalding hot air hit them, causing they to stop in their tracks.

Cain's mind spun as he took in several things at once...

Three individuals were working together to fight off an entire host of guards. There were two individuals lying in a pool of blood behind them.

Cain felt his heart grow cold. Meanwhile, Manny didn't even get through a single thought before he launched himself at the guards. They had stopped on the way out to retrieve their weapons, so they were now properly outfitted.

Manny had a special sheath that held four blades in total. It was attached to his back. The moment he reached behind him, he pulled two of the blades out. Because of how fast he was, the guards didn't have time to react. The blades in his hands danced like vipers ad they reached the gaps in the armors of the guards, cleanly severing bone and flesh.

"Another one of the Heretics have escaped!"

"Kill him!"

The guards roared with a terrifying zeal as they launched themselves at Manny, who seemed eager to take them on. He managed to take some burden off the backs of the three fighters, but the number of guards just keep increasing.

Cain let out a sigh. He reached down to his waist and pulled two handguns. He had also made sure to bring the {Hands of Midas} along.

Without taking aim, he began by unleashing a villey of bullets into the guards. Each bullet slipped through the visors of the helmets and penetrated their brains.

Cain had to convince himself that these people weren't real. Now wasn't the time to be bothered about morality. If he didn't kill them, all his comrades were going to die in cold blood.

With the aid of his {Eye of Uncertainty} magic eyes, he discovered that his aim had turned nothiny short of godly. He could not only see the trajectory of the moving bodies, he could also predict where they would land.

With this, he could fire his billets with incredible control. A single bullet was all it took to claim a life.

As such, the guards began dying in droves. However, they couldn't tell where the culprit was, thanks to the {Emblem of Darkness}. At the same time, Cain rapidly approached Hunter, Blaze, and Vincent, the three individuals that had been fighting the entire guard on their own.

Blaze sensed something brapidly approaching. Without thinking about it for too long, he swung his spear. The spearhead cut through the air, generating a large amount of friction and heat.

Cain's eyes widened as the spear approached him. He saw the trajectory of the blade and realized that if he didn't dodge, it would pierce through his throat and sever his brain from his spine.

Cain was baffled. Blaze was the first person ever to see through the veil created by the {Emblem of Darkness}. However, he was no pushover himself.

With questionable agility, his body moved to the side. However, the spearhead was like a hungry snake as it followed behind him, not a second slower. Cain grit his teeth as he quickly dispelled the spell.

"Stop! It's me!"

The spearhead stopped just inches away. Vincent who was firing a volley of mana bullts into the crowd was surprised,

"Cain? Which part of this hellhole did you crawl out from?"

"Now isn't the time to make small talk.. Those two..." Cain said as he finally looked toward the two laying on the ground.

It was Floki and Jutè. These two men were heavily injured, laying on the ground. He had never seen wounds so bad before.

The fight was still incredibly chaotic, so Vincent and Blaze had no other choice but to take their focus back to the guards rushing at the without regard for their own lives.

Cain crawled towards the two men. His eyes turned dark.

He was mistaten. The two men on the ground weren't injured. Well, one of the was. The other was already dead...

Cain could hear his own heart beat slow down. No, the world around him slowed down as well.

Jute stared at the slowly brightening sky with blank, glassy eyes. The trial had barely even begun, and yet, here he was, dead, having accomplished nothing.

Cain had many questions. How haf this happened? Who killed him?

But now wasn't the time to be asking those questions. Floki was on his way to the afterlife as well. If he didn't do something, he would become a cold corpse like Jute.

Cain swallowed the bile building up in his throat and pressed his hands against Floki's chest. The huge mutant was not weak. Whoever, or whatever did him in must have been a beast. Thanks to teh great vitality he possessed, Cain didn't need to expend a lot of energy to treat him. Howeverz he was still unconscious. He couldn't do anything about that for now.

Cain quickly unsheathed {Platinum Genesis} and joined the he fray. A raging flame burned in his chest, and it could only be cooled by blood.

However, he still kept his cool...

Hunter had noticed Cain and Manny's arrival as well. However, he couldn't say anything as his entire focus was on holding the guards back. He also didn't want to turn around and see what had become of Jute.

The two of them had gotten aquatinted during their time spent in captivity in the hands of Stingè. Over time, to him, Jute had become an invaluable comrade.

But now...

Cain shifter towards Hunter. With a wide swing of his sword, a crescent streak of light cut through numerous guards. They finally had some breathing room.

"What happened?"

Hunter was silent for a few seconds. What Cain had expected to hear wasn't what he said,

"There's an assassin here."

Cain's eyes turned cold as they narrowed. His mind went to the time he had been captured, that person that struck at him from the shadows.

'Could it be the same person?'

Hunter continued, his face impassive as he brutally grabbed a guard and tore his head off his body,

"The moment he slit his throat, he realized he wouldn't make it. So he detonated the explosives you gave him."

Cain had handed every member of the ground that entered into the trial, apart from Ruby since she didn't have any hands, {Black Eggs}. It was to be used in case of an emergency.

To think it would be used like this was...

"We had already broken out. We thought we could do it, break out quietly. However, it was just a joke. That bastard played with us!" The more he spoke, the redder his eyes became as he tore through the guards with more and more brutality.

"He used his life to buy us a chance." Hunter siad through gritted teeth. All five trial takers were now back up against a wall. Floki had been dragged to the safety behind them, while Jutè's body had been trampled under steel boots.

They had been fighting for a while now, and no matter how many they killed, there just seemed to be no end to them.

'There's also that bastard in the dark to worry about.' Cain had never felt so tense in his life.

Through the battle, he had gotten to learn a few important things. And all those things boiled down to one conclusion.

They had to get out of here as quickly as possible. If not, they were going to die. As Hunter had told him, if he thought the assassin wss scary, then he was in for a world of shock. If he allowed the other monsters in the prison to meet them here, then they would have to forget about escaping.

There were so many things to deal with right now. He had to take care p them one by one, starting from the most important.

"Vince... How fast are you?" Cain said as he clashed with a guard. Sparks flew between them, but Cain expertly slid through his defenses and punctured his heart with the curved tip of his blade.

Vincent touched his rotund stomach, then grinned,

"Fast enough."

With one fluid motion, Cain jumped back and grabbed Floki. Throwing him through the air, he landed right in Vincent's hands, who looked at him like he was insane.

"In thirty seconds, get ready to run like hell!" Cain yelled as they continued to fight.

"You've got a plan?" Blaze asked as his spear claimed another life.

Cain nodded. There were no entrances or exits in sight, so what better way to escape than to make one yourself.

He pointed at the wall behind them, "Can you make a hole in it?"

Blaze frowned, "It might be a bit difficult because of the runic enchantments. But it is possible. But I won't be able to fight for some time after that."

Cain nodded, "That won't be a problem. Once you break through, you, Hunter and Vince should run as fast as you can. Me and Manny will catch up."

Hunter seemed unwillingly. However, Cain shut him down quickly,

"I know you are angry. I am too. However, there will be plenty of time later to seek revenge. Not if we are dead though." Cain said calmly, but firmly.

Hunter seemed to want to say something, but eventually, he fell silent. They were all covered in all sorts of injuries now. They had been fighting for some time, so it was unavoidable. The guards were also very strong. The only reason they had come so far, was their repertoire of skills and spells that increased their physical abilities.

Cain nodded at Blaze who started making preparations.

'I need something big. Something that'll force that bastard out of hiding.'

Cain's.lips moved as he began chanting the mana flow patterns in the air began changing rapidly as huge thunderclouds began gathering in the sky.

His eyes sparkled with electric lights as he prepared to call down heavenly lightning.

However, that process was cut short as a dagger drenched in an eerie purple fog closed in on his throat light the specter of death.

It was so fast, and it struck with extreme precision. The culprit finally revealed himself from the shadows.

The look of surprise on Cain's face morphed into a death glare as he stared straight into his attackers eyes.

'Found you!'