God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.-Chapter 1109: Conflict.

Settling into his tent, Cain couldn’t help but ponder for a few moments.

Then he sighed and rose up,

’There’s no meaning in dwelling in it for so long.’

At the end of the day, his mistakes existed only for him to learn from them. And while some of them were expensive, he believed he could pay the price.

’Eva...’

He shook his head.

A moment later, the flaps to his tent flipped open and Hunter alongside Steve walked in.

Without wasting any time, Hunter began,

"With the addition of these new forces, assuming they are reliable, we can move on with the plan. According to my estimation, at least a thousand armed combatants will march to meet us, a gross number of them being Tier 1 humans. Without including aerial units, we certainly will have to be dealing with a lot.

Cain nodded, "Of course, that’s all for show. I’m reality, our real foes, are the elders themselves and maybe a few others. With that in mind, the scale of the battle becomes much more concentrated."

Steve nodded, "Indeed. So with that in mind, what do you plan to do?"

Cain was silent for a moment,

"We will proceed as intended. Although we are at a numbers disadvantage, we will just have to deal with it. By dueling out in the open here, they won’t have any other choice but to fight in equal footing with us. And when that happens, a nasty surprise will be here waiting."

Cain’s gaze was cold.

Hunter raised a brow, wondering where the strange air around him had come from.

’No. That’s none of my business. I best not get involved.’

Unfortunately, Steve didn’t have the same decorum he had.

"What’s got you in such a bad mood?" Steve asked curiously.

’This idiot!’

Cain’s brows twitched. Then he sighed and smiled bitterly,

"It’s a long story."

Hunter cleared his throat and immediately steered the topic away as fast as possible.

"In that case, we can handle the elders and leave there est to the others. While we do not have much information on the abilities of the elders themselves, we do have a general idea of the power distribution within the Dome of Blood..."

Hunter cleared his throat,

"From that, we can infere who the most troublesome opponents will be."

Cain nodded then paused,

"It will be of no use to make assumptions at the moment. For now, all we can do is get ready."

Hunter nodded, "The landmines have already been set. All fighters are in peak condition as well. All that is left is windfall."

Cain nodded,

"Then what are we waiting for?"

***

After three days, the combined forces of the Golden Asura, Pilgrims, Lightslayers, and mercenaries of Valestorm, which numbered at exactly a hundred and twenty combatants, excluding contracted Mutant and Aether Beasts, were gathered at the stretch of vast desolation right before the Dome of Blood.

A few months ago, a few dozen dilapidated buildings littered the area. However they were all gone now. Instead, all that remained was eroded rubble and grit drifting in the wind.

The air was heavy and the hearts of those it blew against even heavier.

Something strange was happening on the other side of the horizon as well.

In front of the Dome of Blood, hundreds of organized ranks of warriors, each one wearing battle gear attuned with a single color, each one with the insignia of a pillar within the sect.

Beneath, behind, and above them, were contracted Aether Beasts, summons, and all manners of biological atrocities that weren’t supposed to exist in this world.

But unfortunately, they did.

Compared to the picture he had in his mind, however, Cain felt this was much less terrifying.

But the most frightening thing about the entire army arrayed before him, were the elders at the very forefront of the army.

They wore their robes and insignias as well.

Eaxh one of them had at least a hundred men under his command, and several dozen contracted beasts, with even more summons.

They were several times greater than the attacking army.

However, despite that, the mood here was tense as well.

Compared to most of the other enemies they had faced since the beginning of all this chaos and madness, this was, the first ever conflict against another human settlements on such a large scale.

It was frightening, and some within the army were unsure of how they felt about it as well.

But that didn’t matter. Because, their old identity as mere humans did not exist any more.

They were the chosen ones. The ones destined to lead Urbus out of these dark times into prosperity under the leadership of their goddess.

This was the only way to salvation. This was the only path available to the world.

And those that refused to take it, wstood in the way of that salvation. As such, they were the enemy!

They had to be vanquished.

They had to be destroyed.

The doubts in the minds and hearts of these men an women faded away.

Until their hearts has been hardened into cold unfeeling blocks of ice.

"Your magic truly works wonders, Princess Suzume." Thorne, the Ink Sorcerer said as he directed a gaze at the whiter, gracious Fox Princess.

The Ink Sorcerer rode on the back of a large beast with a long snout, large horns and a large frame.

Compared to the rather ugly steed, the Fox Princess rode upon an enormous white hawk. The eyes of the beast glowed like amethyst crystals as it hovered in place, kicking up a violent storm.

"All I have done is deepen their understanding with the truth."

"Tch. Terrifying wench." Plague muttered under his breath.

He turned to Senkai, who had both his eyes closed,

"So? What’s the hold up?"

Senkai spoke without turning,

"As you can see, we are missing a few others."

Plague snorted, "Whatever. We can get this done without them. Besides, they are just, what... a hundred?"

"Underestimating your enemy is the beginning of folly." Thorne spoke up.

"No one’s asking you, old bastard."

Then he huffed, a sinister grin appearing on his face,

"If you all won’t make a move, they I’ll go first."

Plague rode upon a giant black cobraz its diameter larger than that of a truck. The collosal reptile hissed furiously, the sound louder than rumbling thunder.

Senkai was silent for a moment.

The he turned to the man at the very head of the procession.

The so called strongest amongst the elders...

Baldur the Ox king.

The Ox king snorted and waved his axe,

"Nockt and his band of defectors will answer to us later. For now, we shall lay waste to the insignificants before us."

His axe fell.

The army behind them stirred to life, and with a loud war cry, charged forward.