God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The cold desert wind didn't have respect for no man.

It was cold, cruel, and merciless...

The pale moon hanging in the sky was like an immovable goddess, unconcerned about the unholy things that seemed to occur in the world beath her.

Staring at it gave him a headache.

Cain sighed as he looked down. Both Hunter and Boulder were seated before him. They both seemed to be deep in thought.

'I have no idea what they are thinking.'

He frowned,

'After what happed three days ago, there's no stopping this avalanche. Soon, the Champion and his Priests are going to be back from whatever crusade they embarked upon. In the meantime, we still have some time. Hopefully, it will be ough.'

For now, the most important thing, was that they were making progress. Substantial one at that...

However, he was a bit bothered by the absce of Evangeline, Susan, and Jny, he didn't want to think about it too much. He trusted Evangeline well ough to know she wouldn't put the other girls in unnecessary danger.

There was still the question of where they were hiding, but that would have to be answered another day.

He noticed a gaze land on his. He quickly shook his thoughts away and stared at Hunter.

Hunter seemed suspicious,

"Cain, some things ar't adding up.'

Cain chuckled wryly to himself, 'Tell me about it.'

Hunter, with a frown, placed a finger on his chin,

"This situation just seems odd."

He th turned to Boulder, his eyes narrowed dangerously,

"Especially wh you consider the circumstances of our capture. If I recall, it had happed just an hour or so after we stepped foot in this place. That might be ough time for Eva to realize that we were in danger, but it certainly isn't ough for these people to figure out you were our leader, considering you were mostly considered dead, or cloze to death at that time."

Cain nodded, "Indeed, it doesn't make sse. I've be hoping to figure it out myself, but I'm having as much trouble as you are."

They both turned to stare at Boulder.

He shrugged,

"Don't look at me. Believe it or not, I'm just a step higher than a regular lackey. I'm also not that important in this place. I doubt I have the answer to your questions."

Cain chuckled, "That seems to be the case. Either way, it will do us no good thinking about it."

They had made their way a Death's Barrow once again, meaning they were now closer to the Military camp.

The journey became more perilous now that they had a larger group to maintain.

However, with Cain, Hunter, and Boulder taking the reins, they managed to pull through somehow.

Cain had coordinated combat on a large scale before, but it wasn't something he was good at.

Boulder on the other hand was far better at it than himself and Hunter.

It was like he was a natural-born commander. While shooting arrows from the rear lines, he could easily spot weaknesses in the emy's defse and tear them to pieces from there.

Still, it was far easier to coordinate against a single emy than multiple. That didn't mean they fought most of the emies they countered. Rather, they avoided most of them.

If there were some they couldn't avoid, th Cain, Hunter, Boulder, and the rest would jump in and eliminate the threat as quick as possible before Khan reinstated his blessing.

Boulder cleared his throat,

"Now that we are getting closer to the camp, what do you plan on telling the Geral?"

Cain shrugged, "I plan to tell him everything that happed."

Of course, he wouldn't do that as he wasn't slow in the head. There were certain things he needed to keep a secret.

"Is that so..." Boulder said after a momt of pause.

Hunter side-eyed them both before getting up,

"Either way, we can't stay out here for too long. My gut tells me that wouldn't be good."

Cain nodded whilst getting up,

"You are right. We've managed to avoid getting into too much trouble so far. I wonder how the last stretch of this journey will go."

In this desert filled with sand, there were a few things that could threat him.

Luckily, he didn't have the misfortune of meeting any of them. The Sea of Sand was a vast area; literally as big as a sea.

There were countless creatures buried under its treacherous dunes.

Rabid, blood hungry aether Creatures summoned to this world by some mysterious power.

In this world dyed in pale moonlight...

***

"Where did you three run off to? Leaving me out of the important conversations, I see..." Lukas said, a strange grin on his face.

Cain threw him a glance,

"Nothing too important. We were just discussing the path to take out of here."

Lukas raised a brow,

"Path? All I see is sandy dunes that stretch into the horizon. What paths?"

Luke sighed, "They probably mean what route to take. Not everywhere is safe out here. The added threat of avoiding battle makes things ev more dangerous for us."

Lukas nodded, "I see. In that case, have you figured it out?"

Cain nodded, "We'll follow the same route we used to get here. Stay on alert. There's no telling what will happ. Most of the Aether Creatures here have found ways to either hide in the sand or completely bld into their surings."

Cain turned to Manny, "Especially you, Manny. Don't attack, no... Don't draw your swords unless I say so."

"Eh?! What, why?!" Manny stared at Cain with teary eyes.

Cain glared at him coldly, "Remember what happed last time?"

Manny shivered, "Well, you do have a point, I'll give you that. Fine!"

Cain shook his head. To make sure they could avoid sneak attacks, he made sure {Eye of Clairvoyance} remained active.

It consumed mana, but his reserves were incredibly robust, and his rate of regeration ev more so. He was not worried about running low any time soon.

As they walked through the sandy dunes, Cain's mind drifted off once again.

Since their group had now ballooned by many times with the addition of most of the former laborers in Valestorm, they had to exercise caution wh moving.

Floki, Cain, Luke, and Rollo stood at the forefront of the group, while the rest either stood at the flanks, or at the rear of the group.

As they walked through the dunes, silce diffused with the sound of numerous feet hitting against the g was the only thing that could be heard.

Floki held his tower shield tight, while Rollo causally rested his Greatsword on his shoulders.

Luke on the other hand seemed to be the most cautious of them all.

'That's true, this guy...'

Cain dug out all the information he had on Luke out.

He recalled sailing Gwdolyn to the Eastern Island to rescue the wom and a few childr that had be kept captive there.

Most of them had be in horrible shape due to the maltreatmt from Guy and his followers.

The wom especially. Many of them had be tak advantage of daily in the most cruel ways possible. However, most of the childr there seemed to be doing alright.

They were perhaps the only childr Cain had se still living.

Most childr didn't have what it took, both the mtal and physical fortitude to survive this long.

Just imagining a pile of little corpses made him feel uneasy.

But in the d, there was nothing he could do. That was the world he was living in right now.

The best he could do was make sure those kids and wom grew up safer, seeing as most of them were powerless as it was.

'I'm no hero. But if I see something distasteful, I have every right to use my own hands to change it.'

It wasn't a battle of morality, of good, or bad. It simply was what he wanted to do.

Luke noticed his stare. He blinked,

"What? Is there sand in my hair?"

Cain chuckled th shook his head,

"No. I'm just wondering."

Cain looked down at his waist, "Your sword..."

Luke gtly touched the hilt of the {Black Obsidian} blade.

He shrugged, "There's nothing special about it. Any sword is equally lethal in my hands. It is just the first weapon I ever used to kill. It holds stimtal value, so I hav't had it changed in a while."

Cain could understand the feeling.

"Still, don't you think it's better to use stronger equipmt against stronger emies? Won't this give you a disadvantage?"

Luke seemed to pause, "If you pity it that way, th yes. But I have yet to meet someone my blade cannot cut."

Cain thought to himself, 'A spectre, huh... I wonder what the secret behind that name is.'

Either way, he could think about it later.

Right now, there were more pressing concerns.

"Stop." Cain said suddly.

In the Sea of Sands, sound seemed to travel rather well. Despite their large group, everyone seemed to hear him at the same time.

They all came to a halt at once.

Cain breathed in a deep breath,

"We are being sured."