God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.-Chapter 794: Vice and Virtue (1).

A flicker of consciousness passed through Susan's radiant eyes.

For a moment, Cain simply stared, half-admiring her semi-unconscious face, and half-expecting her to lash out or shove him away. Instead, there was a brief pause...

An instant stretched between breaths, their eyes locked together. Her expression transformed from confusion into panic.

A fist slammed into Cain's chest with surprising force, sending him skidding back across the polished stone. He barely managed to steady himself, coughing as a dull ache spread through his ribs before it abruptly disappeared.

'She hits hard!'

Susan bolted upright, her eyes wide,

"I'm sorry! That was—"

Cain let out a chuckle,

"It's fine. I was surprised too."

He allowed himself a smirk whilst rubbing his chest,

"It wasn't that bad."

Susan's face turned an impressive shade of red,

"You scoundrel!"

Cain laughed.

Staring at the slightly fuming, but also blushing Susan, Cain couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat.

With him forced to always confront his own mortality, he realized, as time went by, that he was more human than he thought.

In the past, he had not thought about things like this.

He had been alone.

He embraced his solitude too.

But at some point, something had changed.

Or maybe it hadn't. Maybe he had been that way all along.

And yet, it made him even more aware of his current situation.

So at least for the time being, he couldn't be honest.

He had to set them aside. For everyone's sake...

Susan groaned as she pushed herself up. Cain lent her a hand, pulling her up.

He watched her carefully. Though her strength had returned, there was a lingering weariness in the way she moved, the ghost of whatever trials she had endured in her own battles.

"Where are the others?" she asked, brushing herself off.

Cain exhaled, tilting his head toward the sky. "Not here yet."

He was surprised Susan was here first. He had expected Evangeline or maybe Jenny.

Then again, she was powerful in her own right. And Viden had said that the trials each of them would face were quite different from what was normal.

He couldn't help but ask her,

"Did you meet a strange, talking skeleton in your trial?"

Susan frowned then shook her head,

"I met something, that's for sure. But it didn't talk much. Just tried to kill me."

Cain raised a brow,

"Tell me about it..."

Susan's brows furrowed,

"I'd assume that thing was the 'Star' we were meant to kill. From what I know, those things are called Stars of Eternity. They are born from a lightless void and hence, contain a trace of its power. The god that died, Sekth, was a Star of Eternity."

Cain nodded. That was in accordance to what he knew as well. He asked her a few other questions before getting an idea of how her trial went.

Then she nudged him lightly,

"So what's this about a talking skeleton?"

Cain let out a tired sigh before giving her a run down of his trial.

When he was done, she looked surprised, but not by much.

She nodded then said with a frown,

"Looks like our experiences were quite similar. However, I don't know what the point of it was..."

Cain thought about it for a moment,

"Maybe it was to see how significant the gains we made in the trial were. Who knows..."

Suddenly, the air around them distorted and someone fell to the ground.

"It's finally over?" She said, her voice filled with disbelief and relief.

Cain chuckled, "It's good to have you back."

Jenny sniffled as she sat up,

"I'm sore all over."

Susan stretched her hand out,

"Lucky for you, there are no injuries. You'll be fine."

Jenny gave her an appreciative nod before turning to Cain with a soft smile on her lips,

"You look great too."

Cain shrugged, "I'm sure I've seen better days."

He narrowed his eyes as he scanned both of them.

'Don't they look too good right now?'

Although Susan and Jenny had always been rather attractive people, for some reason, they looked even better now.

Their skin was clear and radiant, with a subtle bounciness that was almost visible.

Their faces seemed even more beautiful, their eyes more alluring, and even their hair seemed to have taken on a brighter sheen.

To crown it all, their body seemed to be packed with strength and tension, like that of wild cats waiting to pounce on prey.

He shook his head and averted his eyes.

Although he didn't think he was perverted, staring and thinking like that definitely made him feel like a deviant.

Not long after, Roselle and Evangeline finally appeared.

Staring at both of them, Cain was even more certain that for some reason, all the ladies standing around him had become even prettier after completing their trials, although their faces were covered in a fair bit of dust and dirt.

However, it was nothing a quick bath couldn't fix...

Once they were all present, the lake at the center of this island in the sky trembled.

Ripples spread out from the center to the very edges.

The four statues standing at each quadrant began to crumble into dust.

Cain looked around,

"Looks like it's time to leave."

He walked towards the lake.

A magic circle appeared under his feet.

The rest walked up as well, standing at the lakeshore as magic circles appeared beneath their feet.

Cain let out a deep breath.

The magic circles released thick beams of light.

A moment later, they were gone.

***

Screams and shouts.

The clangor of steel and loud magic explosions as all sorts of mana powered firearms and explosives were set off, filling the air with pandemonium and chaos.

There was blood.

There was gore.

What was there not to love about it?

A large figure loomed in the distance, casting a shadow over the world, bathing all in its wretched grace.

There was another explosion, this one far greater than previous ones.

A portion of the City had been turned into a fetid battleground. Pools of blood and black putrid liquid bubbled across the battleground.

The buildings that had managed to survive up until now were turning into rubble by the dozen.

The bodies of humans and Devils alike were smeered on the cracked concrete.

There was madness and despair in the air, so much of it, one could almost breathe it in.

Overlooking all of this from her high vantage point, Mira couldn't help but sigh.

Standing behind the protective barrier given to them by the goddess of fire and the Forge, Mljorra, she felt guilty gnawing at her heart.

Lives were being lost by the minute, and yet, here she was, cowering behind a shield.

But what could she do?

She was not a fighter. If she stepped foot down there, she would be torn apart in seconds.

She let out a tired sigh.

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"Mira!" A voice called out to her.

She turned around, her brows knotted together,

"What is the matter, Legarde?"

A tall man wearing crimson battle armor and wielding a long black spear appeared behind her.

His face was covered in blood and his eyes were burning with flames.

"Stay away from the windows. You'll be dead before you could blink if they see you."

Mira snorted,

"I'll be fine."

Then she pursed her lips and asked,

"I haven't heard from Julio in a while. Is he..."

Legarde shook his head,

"He isn't dead. At least not yet."

Mira let out a sigh,

"Good."

Legarde walked up to her,

"I'm recalling those that are still alive. There isn't much that we can do now. If we remain here, we'll join the dead very quickly."

Hearing that, Mira's expression turned cold,

"I see..."

She had thought it would have been possible to live peacefully here for a while longer, but she had been too optimistic.

Far too optimistic.

They were both silent for some time.

Eventually, Legarde let out a sigh. He had been fighting for three days straight, but he dared not fall. Because if he did, then all hope would truly be lost.

He stared at the back of this woman, who had been a pillar so far, his heart heavy.

Watching her world fall down around her must have been rather heart wrenching.

"I'll have the men pack up the forge. For now, it is best we exercise caution. We'll pull out slowly and let the barrier take as much damage as it can. We most likely will not be able to receive support before it finally gives in, so our best bet is to move to the nearest one."

Mira nodded,

"That of Balangol, right?"

Legarde nodded.

She hummed to herself then smiled,

"Alright. Let's get moving as fast as possible. Too many lives shouldn't be lost if we act fast enough."

Legarde nodded his head silently. Then his body vanished...

Mira sighed then sat on the only leather chair in the room.

She looked around. The room barely had anything in it.

A bed, a chair and a small shelf holding a few books.

She walked up towards the shelf.

Her eyes turned glassy and a bit vacant as she scanned through before finding what she was looking for.

Once she did, she waved her hand and the entire bookshelf disappeared into her inventory.

Running her hand on the leather cover of the book, her fingers traced the words etched into it.

It was written in ancient runic text, and it read;

"Four Hundred and Fiftieth Volume of the Record of Akasha."