God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"The plan is simple..." Steve began.

He pointed at a rather detailed map on the stone table before him,

"The Devil's might take the more cautious approach this time. The terrain is rough and unstable. Meanwhile, we have the high ground."

"Or, they could just bulldoze through like they've always done. Besides, although we have the high ground, they have {Sky Devils} and {Sentinel Drones} on their side. That much can't really be considered an advantage, right?" Leah said, her hands on her hips.

"That certainly is possible. But it doesn't matter. We have guns."

"They have guns too, you know." Sue said dryly.

Steve cleared his throat,

"My point is... they can't approach recklessly, or they risk half of them being torn to shreds before the battle even begins."

Hunter folded his arms and stared down at the map on the stone table.

The Land Bridge formed as a result of the explosion was rather huge.

The chasms on both sides were also large, cutting around the entire rear side of City Z. It was almost to the point of being frightening.

At the collapse had been terrifyingly silent. As though instead of the earth caving in on itself, it had been swallowed by something.

Still, there was no need to be concerned about that yet, he thought to himself.

He glanced across the stone table at Cain who leisurely stared at the map as well.

To his side was Jenny and to his other side was Ignis. Although he stared at the map, his mind seemed to be elsewhere.

Steve huffed tiredly as he continued,

"Floki and the others will be here in a day. Perhaps a little more than that. But our enemies don't seem keen on waiting that long. They've already sent a few drones down here to monitor our situation. We can't allow them the leeway."

Leah frowned,

"Which is why you are proposing we strike first. But..."

She gestured with her hands spread out, her tone exasperated,

"As you can see, there isn't nearly enough of us to stop an army of thousands of Devils. We'll be crushed to pieces in a second, just by their numbers alone."

They didn't even number twenty. It was like throwing an egg against a boulder.

Despite that fact, Steve chuckled strangely.

He tutted as he wagged his finger,

"In the past, I might have agreed with you. But not today. Do you know why?"

Leah raised a brow,

"The stars have aligned in our favor?"

Steve grimaced, "There are no stars..."

Slamming her hand into the table, Sue snarled at Steve.

Startled, Steve quickly composed himself and cleared his throat,

"Fortunately for us, our secret weapon has arrived. Ladies and gentlemen... Cain, centered around a masterfull plan of my making, our handsome leader and sharpest sword will lead us into victory!" Steve declared boldly.

Cain's head shot up,

"Eh? Did you call me?"

Steve chuckled again. This time, his laugh was stranger than the last time, sending shivers down the spine of everyone present.

"Cain. Don't let us down. We are counting on you."

Cain grimaced,

"Wait a moment. I have no idea what you are talking about."

Sue sighed and explained,

"If you have any way to stop the charge of a thousand Devils at once, I'm all ears."

Cain frowned. He was silent for a moment,

"Well, I guess it is possible."

Jenny glanced at him with raised brows,

"You really think you could do it?"

Cain hesitated, but only for a moment,

"I think we can do it. But..."

He turned to Steve,

"What is the strongest spell you have right now?"

Steve raised a brow,

"It is {Black Hand of the Wicked God}. Why?"

Cain couldn't help but think to himself,

'Such an ominous name for a spell.'

He turned to Hunter.

Hunter frowned,

"I don't have a ton of powerful spells."

He turned to Jenny.

She shook her head,

"Most of my skills and spells are only powerful enough to take down a single target."

Cain nodded, "I thought as much."

Then he turned to Sue. The shorter girl stared at him, a smug grin stretching on her face.

He grimaced. Hesitating for a moment, he asked her the same question.

"I thought you'd never ask. I can conjure up a rather nasty surprise. If you are look for powerful, I can confidently say I can produce the greatest firepower of everyone present here."

Cain smiled, "Is that so..."

"So? What do you have in mind?" Steve asked eagerly.

Seeing everyone staring at him with curious eyes, Cain couldn't help but feel a bit... shy.

'There are plenty ways to do this. For one, I could try creating a giant {Iron Flesh Puppet}. No, forget that. It didn't go well the last time.'

Thinking about how he would explain the existence of Enoch to the others, he decided to shelf that idea for now.

'I could use {Frost Temple} powered by a star from the {Mana Vault}. That could certainly work, but it might not be very effective.'

To stop an army, quite literally, he couldn't make use of the regular damage spell. When it came to immobilization spells, there was only one he possessed, and that was {Frost Temple}.

By itself, the spell was not very powerful. However, it had the essence of a Celestial within it.

And when its effects were amplified by a terrifying volume of mana, things could make a rather drastic turn.

From a subtle frost, to a temple of ice that exuded permafrost, a biting cold deluge that could freeze all it came into contact with.

He nodded to himself,

'It will work.'

"I'll handle stopping the initial charge. The real question is what comes next."

Hunter raised a brow,

"Isn't that obvious? We fight."

The atmosphere grew a bit tense and dark.

Saying it was definitely easier than pulling it off. There was no doubt that a battle of this scale would have severe and catastrophic casualties.

Every single one of them was liable to die on the battlefield.

Even though they were all Tier 2 humans, there was no doubt the Devils had second tier warriors in their ranks, perhaps higher than that too.

If that was so, then their struggles were rather futile.

Still, an even worse fate would be to be destroyed without so much as putting up a decent fight.

Cain chuckled to himself.

'If they want a bite, they'll have to bleed for it.'

He stood up,

"That's enough talk then. Make your preparations."

He turned to Steve,

"When will Floki and Luke arrive?"

"In a day at most." Steve responded.

Cain nodded,

"That's more than enough time to make our preparations. I doubt the Devils will act before then, but just to be sure, keep on your toes."

A few minutes later, only Cain and Steve remained at the stone table.

Leaning back a bit, Steve folded his arms and stared at Cain with a knowing smile.

Glancing at him, Cain raised a brow,

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just... I like that look in your eyes."

Cain chuckled, "What look?"

Steve paused for a moment,

"It is the same look a dangerous man has. A man with a card or two up his sleeve. Some call it 'Confidence'."

Cain rubbed the bridge of his nose,

"Then there must be something up with your eyes. I'm rather anxious right now."

He frowned,

"I don't believe our situation will get any better. Before you know it, we will be stuck in a chain of slaughter. Then we will get over run."

"Or, we might very well just beat the odds and survive. Who knows..." Steve said with a grin.

Cain went silent.

The odds of them beating the odds were rather slim. Close to non-existent even.

But they did exist.

And that was more than enough to set fire to his blood.

He chuckled,

"Well, I guess you are right."

***

The land was dry and the winds were arid.

The terraformation caused by the inception of god ash on the planet of Urbus was slow and drastic at the same time.

Overlooking the abyssal chasms, Cain found a secluded spot on top of the remains of a funny looking children's mascot.

He sat on its huge red nose, calmly staring into the distance.

The more he looked, the more it became apparent.

The old world was gone.

He was seated upon its very grave.

The realization had always been there, but it had never been as hammered in as it was at this moment.

Science, technology, the complex machines and artificial intelligence.

Everything had been buried for some time now.

He let out a sigh.

Then a crack in space appeared behind him.

His body was swallowed by it, quickly reappearing in his cabin on Gwendolyn.

Without wasting any time, he walked over to a corner in the room, appeared before a strange arch.

It was the {Gate of Stars}, the mystical doorway in his possession that led to the realm of spirits.