God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The scent of dirt and grass assaulting his senses, Cain grit his teeth and held on even harder.

The beast beneath him buckled and tossed, throwing avalanches of dirt and rocks into the air. But he absolutely refused to let go.

By now, Cain could already tell what the nature of this thing’s power was;

The ability to manipulate gravity.

Of course, within certain limits.

Regardless, it was still a very powerful ability.

It was no wonder why it could thrive so much in a place suited for swift and silent assassins. It could lock down a target within a certain area with its gravity magic.

The reason he was was not being ground to mush, besides his incredible defenses, was of course, the existence of a certain skill in his arsenal.

Specifically, the {Gravity Defying} skill. It was one he had gotten from a rune, and so was relatively independent of his own power source.

Thanks to its ability to reduce his effective weight by half, he was able to bear the brunt of the increased gravity field much more than a normal creature would.

But that didn’t mean he was having an easier time.

Not all all.

He could already feel his organs pressing against themselves in his chest. The feeling of bile rising to his throat was ever prevalent, but due to his awkward position, he was unable to throw up, creating a feeling of agonizing discomfort.

Cain grit his teeth, feeling a headache rising up.

Why the hell had he encountered such an annoying beast so randomly? And why was it so difficult to deal with?!

Where the hell had it even come from?! 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

’Not having access to my magic doesn’t make it easier.’ he lamented internally.

Still, despite the terrible situation he found himself, his opponent was not in a better shape than he was.

With the bulk of his now tremendous weight pressing into it stubbornly, the beast’s windpipe was completely closed up.

It could not breathe.

Granted, it would take a while for him to choke the thing out, but his persistence could give it incredibly discomfort regardless.

All he had to do was wait it out and win the war of endurance.

Or...

Cain’s mind spun furiously.

He absolutely would not be satisfied with simply choking this thing out.

At the moment, he had assumed his Devil Wyvern form, and he also had {Black Warrior} active. Using the {Black Dragon of Crimson Sky} had proved useless. However, his entire body was currently encased in Demon Matter regardless.

{Field of War} and {Battle Master} were also active.

As his mind churned, a thought was suddenly birthed.

The nature of the strength stat was simply the system’s way of calculating his relative physical might.

With more points added to his strength stat, the greater his physical might, or in more intricate terms, the ability of his muscles, bones and tendons to exert force.

Skills and spells that enhanced his physical might strengthened his muscles, bones and tendons, allowing them to exert even more force.

Ki on the other hand, was an amplifier that made his physical might more robust, meaning the quality of the force he could exert were ramped up as well. The greater his reserves of Ki, the greater the amplification of his physical might.

For a beast such as this one, however, his strength simply could not match up, even with all these enhancements. The power of a beast as powerful as this was not something he could meet up to without his magic, even with Ki and Demon Matter enhancing him.

In the end, against a beast such as this, all that mattered, was his strength.

To overcome the beast’s defenses, he would need something that could overwhelm even its might defenses.

Without his magic, his combat power was effectively cut in half.

A feeling of resolve engulfed him.

ith a terrifying ripping sound, his back stretches and burst open to reveal two enormous wings that stretched out in body directions.

His wings flapped hard, generating incredible gusts of wind that carried the displaced dirt and rubble into the sky.

In the depths of his eyes, a golden flame began to burn.

Golden runes appeared in his body as his demonic form became even more monstrous.

His claws became elongated and his muscles became larger even as he extended in height.

The Demon Matter in him churned as the flesh at his sides burst open with purtrid blood, weaving them into two more arms. His tailbone extended to form a tail.

The beast beneath him seemed to sense the changes in him as it began to struggle even more.

Cain stretched one of his arms out and {Eidwyrm} flew right into it.

All the Ki and Demon Matter within him began to boil furiously.

"Black Dragon, Ascending!"

BANG!

The sound of the air being forcibly ripped apart cut through every corner of Redscale Island.

Beasts from far and wide, slumbering beasts, hunting beasts, hunted beasts.

And even the humans on the Island.

Every one of them heard the loud boom.

In the sky, the large creature bellowed loudly a the force beneath Cain’s blade took it high and higher into the sky.

Its large body sent out incandescent beams as the runes on it became even brighter. Its body became even larger as it roared down at Cain.

Having to bear such enormous force Cain’s muscles began to ruptured and burst under the strain.

He could no longer endure. The energy behind the Black Dragon, Ascending was completely spent .

***

{Congratulations to Host. The sub skills within the Black Dragon of Crimson Sky series, Hell’s Nexus and Black Line have both evolved to create the skill, Black Dragon, Annihilation}.

***

The {Black Dragon of Crimson Sky} was a sword technique that he had developed for a long time and had gradually become integrated into every aspect of his battle style.

It had been a long time since anything about the technique had changed.

As they reached the point of zero velocity high in the sky and began falling back to the ground, Cain felt the aftermaths of the epiphany.

The blade in his hand became even more comfortable than before.

His body felt lighter despite the gravity field still being active.

{Eidwyrm} seemed even more magnificent than before as a crimson dot appeared in the sky.

And then...