God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.-Chapter 1145: Boiling Blood (1).

The salvage operation moved with practiced efficiency. Warriors rifled through the bodies of the fallen creatures, collecting weapons, armor, and anything else that might prove useful. Mages harvested mana cores from the more powerful corpses, storing them in spatial rings and inventories for later processing.

Cain supervised from a distance, his enhanced senses monitoring the perimeter for threats while his mind catalogued the resources being recovered. The mercenary force had been well-equipped, much better than he’d expected for what was essentially hired muscle. That suggested backing from someone with significant resources.

Which meant more trouble down the line, probably. But that was a problem for later.

"Boss."

Cain turned to find Steve approaching, his expression troubled. The researcher had mostly stayed back during the actual fighting, but he’d been instrumental in coordinating the support elements during the battle.

"What is it?"

Steve nervously scratched the back of his head,

"Well, it seemed like you were having the time of your life back then. I just wanted to congratulate you."

Cain chuckled proudly,

"It wasn’t too bad, I’d say..."

Steve sighed dreamily,

"Oh, boss. Your humility knows no bounds! This is why I follow you!"

Then gestured toward a cluster of bodies near what had been the mercenary force’s rear position. "We found something. You’re gonna want to see this."

They walked through the aftermath of the battle, stepping carefully around scorched earth and scattered remains. The strange energy of this universe made everything feel slightly wrong—colors too saturated, shadows falling at incorrect angles, the air itself tasting of something metallic and foreign.

Steve led him to where several of his people had gathered around a particular corpse. Not the Centauri—this was something smaller, more humanoid. At first glance, it looked almost human, but the details were wrong. The skin had a faint blue tint, and where there should have been hair, there were instead thin crystalline structures that caught the multicolored light.

But what had drawn attention was what the creature had been carrying.

A device of some kind, roughly the size of a large book but infinitely more complex. Its surface was covered in symbols that seemed to shift when Cain wasn’t looking directly at them. More concerning was the faint hum of energy emanating from it—not mana, but something similar to the strange power that permeated this universe.

"Don’t touch it," Cain said immediately, though none of his people had been stupid enough to try. "Steve, what do you make of this?"

The mad researcher crouched beside the device, studying it without getting too close. "It’s a communication array. I think. The symbols match some of the documentation we recovered about this trial universe."

Cain’s jaw tightened. "Meaning?"

"Meaning someone is aware of our existence. Perhaps that is the crux of this trial? To survive whatever this strange world will throw our way. In this case, it was a mere band of mercenaries from a strange world. I’m inclined to believe this is just the beginning."

Cain hummed.

That was... problematic.

"Can you disable it?" Cain asked.

"Maybe? The energy signature is unfamiliar, and I don’t want to risk triggering some kind of failsafe." Steve pulled out a small scanning device of his own, passing it over the communication array. "Give me a few minutes to analyze the structure."

While Steve worked, Cain turned his attention back to the broader situation. The battlefield cleanup was nearly complete, and his scouts had returned with potential locations for a more secure camp. They needed to move soon—the longer they stayed in one place, the more vulnerable they became.

Hunter materialized from somewhere, his expression alert. "We’ve got movement. Northeast, about two miles out. Multiple signatures, moving fast."

"Kaeler Fiends?" Cain asked, though he already suspected the answer.

"Looks like it. At least several hundred, maybe more. They’re being drawn by the energy discharge from the battle."

Of course they were. Cain had thrown enough magic around for their current location to look like a beacon beneath the darkness.

"How long do we have?"

"Thirty minutes if they maintain their current pace. Less if they speed up."

Cain did quick calculations in his head.

"We’re leaving," he decided. "Steve, you have two minutes to finish with that device. Everyone else, prepare to move out."

Orders rippled through his forces with practiced efficiency.

Steve worked frantically with the communication device, his hands moving in precise patterns as he attempted to decode its workings. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the cold atmosphere of this universe.

"Almost... got it..." he muttered. "Just need to bypass the—"

The device pulsed.

Everyone within ten meters instinctively took a step back. The symbols on its surface had gone from slowly shifting to rapidly cycling through configurations that hurt to look at. The hum of energy increased in pitch and intensity.

"Steve," Cain said carefully, "what’s happening?"

"It’s... responding to my attempts to disable it. I think I triggered some kind of defense mechanism." Steve’s hands had frozen, hovering over the device.

"What happens if it completes the transmission?"

"Best case? Nothing immediate. Worst case? Everyone connected to this network knows exactly where we are."

Cain considered for a moment. Then he pulled energy from the lightning star in his {Mana Vault}, forming a precise, concentrated bolt between his fingers.

"Step back," he ordered.

Steve didn’t need to be told twice. He practically threw himself away from the device as Cain released the lightning.

The bolt struck the communication array dead center. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the device began to crack, fissures spreading across its surface as the foreign energy interfaced catastrophically with the electrical discharge. Sparks flew, the symbols flashed through dozens of configurations in rapid succession, and then—

It exploded.

Not a large explosion, thankfully. Just enough to reduce the device to molten slag and scattered components. But the energy discharge that accompanied the destruction was significant—a pulse of that strange universe-specific power that radiated outward in visible waves.

"Well," Steve said after a moment of silence, "that’s one way to solve the problem."

"Did it finish transmitting?" Cain asked.

"No idea. Maybe? The energy patterns were... unstable. Could’ve gotten cut off mid-transmission, or it could’ve completed just before destruction." Steve rubbed his temples. "Sorry, boss. This tech is way outside my expertise."

Cain waved off the apology. "Not your fault."

A howl cut through the air—closer than before, and definitely coming from multiple sources. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Time to go," Cain said. "Now."

The multicolored lights of the Graveyard of Stars painted everything in shades that felt wrong. Overhead, the floating rocks continued their impossible orbits, held in place by forces Cain didn’t understand. Somewhere in the distance, more howls cut through the ambient dark— the {Kaeler Fiends} closing in on their position.

This trial was going to be a nightmare.

But they’d survived the first major test. They’d proven, quite brutally and decisively, that they weren’t easy prey.

Cain and his forces had made their statement.

Now they just had to survive for a month. That didn’t seem too difficult anymore.

Maybe...

Probably...