God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

In this room, there were a lot of people who's intentions, he wasn't sure of. However, if there was one thing he had learned so far, it would be that he could trust them, at least to a degree.

He sighed.

"We can't fight a war with the Pilgrims with our numbers. That is a given."

He turned to stare at Boulder,

"I don't mean anything by saying this, Boulder, but your men might not be able to measure up to what Valestorm is capable of."

Lucia frowned, "Doesn't mean we'll go down without a fight."

She slammed her fist against her palm,

"Whatever it is, let them bring it on."

Cain chuckled, "Well, it's good to have morale."

His face darkened, "But that can only take you so far."

He turned to Boulder again,

"I can't say much more than this. At least not for now. Give me a few days and you'll understand."

Boulder's eye twitched. He fell silent.

'What could he mean? And why does he need time? Is he planning something? What could it be?'

Boulder's mind spun as different theories were created and unraveled in seconds.

In the end, he was unable to come up with anything.

Lukas cleared his throat. A confident smile appeared on his face,

"Plans are important. They are an integral part of any success. However, they can only get you so far. Let me explain the point our leader made earlier."

A bit of schadenfreude appeared on his face as he spoke,

"You idiots are weak. Terrifyingly so... Even those in Valestorm aren't as weak as you are, even though they are also inept. In the face of the true horrors this new world has to offer, you can only stand for so much with this much power. So how do you expect to fight with us, huh?!"

Cain frowned as he glared at Lukas,

"Hey, that's enough!"

Lucia looked like she was about to pop a nerve, while Khan glared at him.

Boulder remained relatively calm,

"While I do admit that we are not as powerful as you are, please do not be mistaken about a few things..."

"Hmm? What might that be?" Lukas said, a grin spread across his face.

Boulder's expression was still as unchanging as ever. However, his words were not as calm as he was.

"Despite how it may seem, the fact remains that you are guests here. And when I say guests, I mean that lightly."

Lukas' eyes narrowed as his presence became heavier. A sharp, biting radiance appeared in his eyes,

"Is that a threat?"

Boulder shook his head,

"No. It is a warning. You can say whatever you like, but I'd be damned if I let you walk all over my men who have risked life and limb to survive up till this day."

Silence reigned for a while as the tension in the tent brewed.

Cain berated himself internally. If he was a bit more straightforward, then perhaps he would have been able to avoid this.

However, his need for keeping secrets was one of the reasons that had led up to this.

He could imagine what was going on in both Boulder and Lukas' minds.

They wanted him to reveal his mind. Perhaps that way, they would be able to infer what their position was. Lukas was especially aggressive with it.

"There's no need to exchange words, boys. If you want to Duke it out, you can go outside." Evangeline said snarkily.

Lukas' ballooned posture deflated almost immediately.

He shrugged with a wry smile,

"Well, he's the one that started it. This amateur shouldn't be so quick to run his mouth."

Boulder remained silent, seemingly ignoring Lukas.

He turned to Cain,

"Besides whatever secret plans you might have, there has to be something else we can work with."

Cain nodded, "For preparations, we can start by disseminating the news properly. Having it move around as rumors will only lead to potential misinformation."

He thought about it for a moment before he continued,

"We'll need to prepare a few things as well. Weapons, armor, and Regen potions amongst other things. Since our opponents this time around aren't Mutant Creatures, but actually human beings, we need to deal with this cautiously."

Hunter spoke up,

"Humans might be harder to deal with, but they are easier to kill, for what it is worth. The same thing goes for our side. We get too complacent, and we'll lose a lot of lives as well."

Jenny, who had remained silent spoke as well,

"Killing and destroying the other side shouldn't be our sole objective either. They are humans, stuck in difficult times. The same as we are. Perhaps we can find other ways to solve this without resorting to all out violence and death."

Cain thought to himself, 'She really is the voice of reason.'

Cain had considered this himself as well. He didn't really believe they had to resort to fighting, not just because of Jenny's words, but because of the things he had learned in Valestorm.

Internal fighting amidst a disaster was the best way to completely ruin a civilization with crumbling walls.

For those hiding behind a shield, perhaps it was taking a bit longer for the reality of their situation to set in.

Still...

He sighed, "Of course. But if we have to, then we need to make adequate preparations. Mercy is a privilege granted only to the winners."

In the end, there was plenty and nothing to talk about.

The meeting was not as productive as he had hoped, but Cain didn't mind.

Because it was all temporary. In a few days, it would be time to unravel his plans.

Even Arltzwalt won't see him coming. Perhaps he could use that opportunity to scare the old croon into the grave.

He made several excuses to get away from everyone else before jumping through space and arriving within a certain building a little bit farther away from everything.

He sucked in a deep breath.

'The air of solitude sure hits different.'

He chuckled to himself.

The air in this run down building was suffused with dense mana. This was because of the large magic circle he had engraved into the ground.

Without wasting a single moment, he began.

If there was something he truly did find passion and joy in, it would be the art of studying and creating runes and magic circles.

It was like discovering a lost art; something that few others could do. Every cell in his body seemed to explode with joy the moment he began moving his brush.

With every strike, the magic in the air became excited.

It was like the world was egging him on, and the spirits were guiding him every movement.

If course, all that was just in his head.

If it was possible, he would have liked it to be real.

His mind was connected to the very flow of mana. The patterns that only he could see, that could connect two opposite realities together.

There was also the technicality of it. He had gained a lot of useful knowledge from studying all sorts of runes and runic combinations in learning how to create magic circles.

He had no doubt they would be of great use to him in the future.

But for now, he had to pool all of this knowledge together to create a teleportation anchor that could breach a distance of many miles.

***

Three days later...

Leaning against the railing of the outpost located just at the border of the Dome, Lucia admired the complexity of this magical barrier silently.

It was the thing that had managed to keep them safe.

She lightly placed her hands on the grip of her guns. They made her comfortable.

Not long ago, several {Sky Devils} had come around, and had launched themselves towards the barrier as usual.

Of course, they were shot down before they could even approach it.

She has no idea why they did this still. It was indeed very pointless to just throw bodies at them in this manner.

'Could there be some hidden, sinister reason?' she had once thought to herself. However, these days, she decided not to bother with such things. Regardless of how hard she thought about them, she believed she wouldn't figure it out. That job fell on others.

Her job was to fight against the threats once they were actualized.

Right now, she was catching a break.

A sound came from behind her.

Without turning around,

"Go away, Khan. I don't want to see anyone right now."

Khan chuckled, his voice deep and enigmatic as always,

"How did you know it was me?"

Lucia shrugged, "I just knew, I guess."

Khan sighed as he leaned into the railing beside her as well,

"From what I can see, I can tell you are upset."

Lucia snorted, "Damn right I am!"

Khan fell silent for a moment,

"Is it because of that day?"

Lucia pursed her lips, "Weren't you angry as well? What did that bastard mean by calling us weak?! We aren't weak! We've defeated many Devils! We can hold our own in a fight! Where does he get off saying all that crap, huh?!"

She gritted her teeth,

"Then there's that stupid Cain! He didn't even defend us! He didn't say anything! Perhaps he thinks the same of us as well! I bet he does, doesn't he!"

Khan remained silent, listening to Lucia as she ranted on and on.

Once she was done, she let out a sigh and retrieved a canteen of water from.ger inventory.

Chugging it down, she let out a sigh and wiped her lips.

Khan had a knowing smile,

"Cain... You seem to like him a lot."

A blush appeared on her face,

"I... I don't! Don't put words in my mouth."

Khan laughed heartily, "Indeed."

He sighed, "Don't be so hard on him. They are his friends as well. If anything, I believe he is someone we can trust."

He looked towards the dark expansion of sky above them. The cool wind on his face was rather soothing,

"The battle that is coming... will be brutal. Promise me you won't die, Lucia."

Lucia froze for a moment,

"What do you mean? Of course I won't die."

She added with a snort, "If anything, you should be worried about yourself."

A strange smile appeared on Khan's face,

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

He seemed like he wanted to say something else, but he eventually swallowed it down. He seemed to think of something else

"You know, you can talk to Cain about it, see what he thinks. I'm sure he doesn't truly believe we are weak."

Lucia shook her head,

"No."

Her eyes were firm. They radiated a deep sense of conviction,

"I don't need to tell him anything. I'll show him. Show him that I'm just as capable."

Khan sighed, then shook his head,

"You sure are strong willed. That's a good thing though."

Her face turned bright red again,

"Enough of that! Now get lost!"

"Okay, okay..." Khan said with a chuckle as he waved goodbye.

Stepping away from the outpost, his expression changed drastically.

He let out a sigh, "So foolish, so worrisome. It makes me sad..."

He stopped for a moment and gazed at the sky again.

A strange, eerie smile appeared on his face again. A soft light shimmered between his fingers as he pulled an object from his inventory.

Taking a deep look at it, he sighed again and placed it back.

"In the end, whatever will be, will be. I am nothing but a mere instrument of destiny. An agent of fate."

A wide grin appeared in his face as he once again savored the cold breeze of the Evernight,

"For every court, there must be a fool..."