God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.-Chapter 1081: Cleanup and Reconciliation (2).

The waning wind was a sign that the changes that had rocked the world would stop for the time being.

Gazing into the sky, Cain found his attention fixed on a certain patch of grey.

There was nothing special about the grey. It was the same grey as the rest of the firmament’s blanket.

But for some reason, it seemed particularly interesting at the moment.

For some reason, a distant memory swam to the surface of his mind.

’A man’s hubris is his own damnation.’

Cain couldn’t remember where he had seen or heard those words. In this moment, however, they seemed truer than any other thing.

Everything had gone wrong the moment he had failed to think about the situation thoroughly.

In hindsight, he could have convinced Ambrosia and Roc to simply leave their homeland and head to the main continent completely. Staying on the island was bound to limit them any way since there was no means of permanent expansion.

When Anathe became desperate, he could have offered her the same too.

There had been no reason to go down the route he had chosen.

And yet he had. And these were the results.

So he had no one to blame but himself.

"Ah, to hell with it!" He growled then snorted.

He noticed movement behind him. Without turning around, he called out,

"What do you want, rat?"

Blatt the Wretched trembled slightly then cleared his throat as he walked over.

The {Black-hide Rat} was much larger than a typical rodent, standing at over three feet tall. He was slightly pudgy, suggesting to Cain he was nowhere near as miserable and wretched as he claimed,

"This... Master Cain. I couldn’t help but notice your agony. There must be a way I can be of assistance." The rat said cautiously.

Cain was silent for a moment.

Then he burst out laughing.

"What the hell? Since when did you learn to speak so formally? Why can you even speak at all?"

He sighed and turned back to face his precious patch of grey,

"It makes no sense at all. All this makes no sense at all."

Blatt’s nose twitched,

"That might be true, Master Cain. However, I believe most things do not need to make sense. I might be just a rodent. But I possess enough presence of mind to know that there is much randomness in this world. Some disasters simply cannot be predetermined and we must do our best to move forward."

Cain turned to glance at the {Black-hide Rat} that was now giving off a scholarly air.

His expression twisted a bit,

"Hey. You might have fleas."

"W-wha—?! That’ er darned lie! Absolutely impossible! I’ll have you know I take good care of..."

Cain sighed and turned away.

Perhaps the rodent was right. But it didn’t matter if it was true or not. In the end, being unable to control the outcome would only lead to more and more disasters. That was absolutely not acceptable when he considered the grander scheme of things.

Besides, he still thought his decisions had a huge role to play in the outcome.

’In that case...’

Something seemed to change in Cain’s eyes.

His gaze became less chaotic and more focused. They also looked a fair bit darker.

He glanced down at his hands and balled them into fists.

"I have twenty more days to go." He muttered.

Blatt paused his rambling ad looked up,

"Twenty days for what?"

Cain stood up and picked the rat up from the scruff of his neck.

The {Black-hide Rat} kicked around frantically,

"Oi! Let me go, darn it!"

"Shut it, would you? I’m trying to concentrate here!"

There was a stretch of momentary silence between them.

And then, the eyes of the {Black-hide Rat} widened,

"T-this...!"

Cain snorted, "You are pathetically weak. You are also a coward. But, I think I can make use of you."

’Ha... Is this a good I dea or not? I truly wonder.’

He had chosen to created a [Body and Soul] contract with the beast.

According to the system, the number of contracts a creature could make was limited by the quality of its soul.

The quality of a creature’s soul was quite arbitrary and independent of many things like personal power and race.

In the end, it was also.hard to gauge, making every contract he made a rather significant investment. To waste it on— No.

Cain huffed,

"So? What do you say?"

He raised his brows when the sound of sniffling caught his attention.

His expression twisted in disgust at the weeping {Black-hide Rat}.

"Master Cain...!"

Suppressing the urge to throw the large rat away, Cain sighed and gave an ugly smile,

"I’m one step away from throwing you away, you know."

Blatt wiped his eyes and steeled his expression.

Hearing the sound of the system’s confirmation, Cain nodded internally.

"I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth, Master! These teeth will chew through all the worlds for your sake!"

Cain grimaced, "Sure. Sure."

Blatt went silent for a moment then asked cautiously,

"But why grant me this opportunity?"

A dark smile appeared on Cain’s face as he tucked the rat under his arm and began walking back towards the pile of rubble,

"Well, that is because I have come to a realization."

"A realization?"

Cain nodded,

"Most of the creatures of your stature are not nearly as intelligent as you are, Blatt. A gross majority, perhaps even all of them, do not yet have the cognition required to communicate effectively. And perhaps most of them never will. That means there’s something rather strange about this strange evolution that I have not quite figured out yet. The power of a goddess? Sure, that could be it. But there certainly is something else."

Cain chuckled and shook his head. Under his arm, Blatt slowly trembled in terror.

’H-have I made some sort of terrible mistake?!’

"I’m still a bit curious, but in any case, I want you to work for me now. And your first task will be to find a way to fix this mess for me."

"W-what mess?" Blatt asked suspiciously.

Cain’s lips parted as he explained...