God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

'Damn it! Damn it all!'

Was he tricked by Fuji? Did the damned turtle lie to him?

Currently, him, Julio and the Steel Herald were running for dear life away from a horde of enraged {Turtle Golems}, each one as enormous as a mountain.

As they ran out of the burrow, Cain ignited his mana.

Several balls of concentrated flames manifested into the air and slammed into the entrance of the burrow.

With a rumble, the entire Stone Pillar came crashing down, stirring up a might gale and dust storm.

They were blown away by the force of the explosion, their backs crashing into another stone pillar.

Cain groaned as he forced himself to sit up. His body shuddered in pain. Reaching down, he winced as he pulled an enormous shard of broken stone out of his thigh.

He turned to Julio. He had sustained a few wounds, but he didn't seem in too bad if a shape.

"Are you alright?" He said, reaching out with his hand.

Julio grabbed his hand and pulled himself up,

"I hurt all over, but I'll live."

Cain glanced down. The Steel Herald also lay on the ground, a few dents on its iron flesh. However, they were quickly disappearing as the elemental stood up.

Julio sighed,

"Do you think that will be enough to stop them?"

Cain shook his head,

"They created this stone forest. I doubt a few boulders will be enough to stop them."

Sure enough, the entrance sealed by rubble and boulder began trembling.

Julio grimaced, "That damned turtle! I can't believe he lied to us."

Cain shook his head,

"It doesn't matter now, does it? We have to find a way out of here."

Julio went silent for a moment. Then he scratched his head,

"Actually, I know how to get out of here."

Cain frowned and raised a brow,

"You do?"

Julio nodded, a strange look on his face,

"What Fuji said... A certain spirit knows the way out. It isn't affected by the strange misdirection. However, getting its help was a bit... difficult before."

Cain's eyes widened,

"Then that means."

Julio nodded, a serious expression on his face,

"We can get out of here."

"Then what are we waiting for?!" Cain exclaimed.

The moment he said that, the boulders blocking the entrance to the burrow flew out in all directions, some crashing into the base of nearby stone pillars, forcing them to crumple down on their own weight.

A moment later, the sound of hundreds of enormous stumpy feet crashing into the earth spread through the stone forest.

"This way!" Julio yelled as he turned and began fleeing.

Cain and the Steel Herald followed behind.

***

Arnach stood in front of the stone forest created by the vile {Turtle Golems} with a deep frown on his terrifying face.

"And you are sure Obegrin said the humans will be headed towards us from within the forest?"

The {Sky Devil} flying close to his head affirmed,

"Indeed. The best would be to capture them, but if that is not possible, killing them is fine."

Arnach clicked his tongue, "That damned bastard is too particular about these things. What a pain."

Arnach stretched his arm forward. In his hand was an enormous blade the size of a a small stone pillar. It has a gem encrusted into its guard with a black flame swimming within.

"Well, if he is so worried then I believe these humans should be more that enough to entertain me for now."

The {Sky Devil} hissed,

"The humans have proved themselves to be a resourceful bunch. It would be best to crush them quickly and—"

Arnach swatted the {Sky Devil} away like a fly,

"Stop buzzing in my ear."

Although the {Sky Devil} would appear huge to a regular human, to a {Greater Flame Devil} like Arnach, he stood at the same height as the enormous Stone Forest.

He was titanic in size, and even more so in might.

He slammed the top of his blade into the ground, creating a large fissure that swallowed hundreds of bumbling zombies down at his feet.

"The humans are probably too frightened to leave the stone forest. If they are not killed by those troublesome things, they will remain in there for a while, maybe untill they turn into old bones."

Every word the {Greater Flame Devil} spoke was like a rumble of thunder. Despite the glare of the crimson moonlight washing all over its body, it didn't seem at all affected.

Flapping itself wings furiously to keep from falling to its death, the {Sky Devil} cursed in its mind. However, it dared not say anything out loud.

Arnach grumbled,

"Besides, why do I have to be the one to—"

Suddenly, its eyes narrowed.

"What is that..."

An incessant rumbling came from the stone forest.

Off in the distance, dozens of the enormous stone pillars fell.

Arnach immediately felt something was wrong.

He pulled his blade out of the ground and gave out a mental command.

The thousands of {Zombies} and Devils beneath him brushed forward towards the edge of the stone forest.

The tempo of the rumbling gradually increased.

The earth shook as even more and more stone pillars fell.

Finally, Arnach sighted the culprits.

If the {Greater Flame Devil} was a human, its face would have turned pale.

'Not good!'

He wanted to yell out the order to retreat.

But unfortunately, it was too late.

The last line of stone trees crumpled to the ground.

A tide of {Turtle Golems} came rushing out from the stone forest, crying out in furious roars as they stomped all over his army.

'It's a damn stampede!'

The {Turtle Golems} were enormous. Almost as large as he was when standing in all fours.

Right now, almost a hundred of them surged forward like an unholy tidal wave bringing forth only chaos and death.

I'm a second, they crashed into the Zombies and Devils, turning them all into a bloody crimson paste.

Arnach roared furiously as the mana core in his chest burned with dark flames.

He stretched his blade forward, mad fury burning in his eyes.

That was when he caught a glimpse of something just ahead of the stampeding horde of {Turtle Golems}.

His rage flared up even more,

"Damned humans!" He roared as he stabbed his flaming sword into the ground.

"Die!"