God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Hunter breathed heavily.

Despite the chilly wind, he felt hot all over.

The heat came from the flames surrounding this barren, broken world.

The flames of war.

All around him, the world crumbled to pieces as the flames of battle waxed greater and greater, with both human and Devil seemingly having lost themselves in the madness of slaughter and carnage.

And it was only getting worse.

He himself had cut a bloody path through the Devil Army. For every Devil life he took, it was as though he lost a pound of flesh and fur, bleeding even more until he was completely exhausted and at the brink of death.

Luckily, the vitality provided by his physique was not going to let him have his rest just yet.

At the moment, he had turned into a giant, lumbering wolf-like, man-like, somewhere between but not quite hybrid creature.

At his feet were the remains of a terrible {Greater Flame Devil}.

It had taken a lot for him to fell this thing. There were parts of his body still smoldering with vicious burns from the Devil's flames.

He sat there, leaning against the giant corpse, hoping to catch his breath amidst the smoke and flames.

All around him was a boiling hell.

Yells of fury and death mingled with the sound of clashing steel to produce an ungodly symphony.

With a wince, his body began to contract until he had become his normal size once again.

'I miyhave over done it there.'

He glanced down. Now that he had shrunk down, the wounds were much more obvious.

His stomach had been torn open and there were multiple gashes on his arms.

His body was covered in vicious burns that would have killed any other person.

As he lay there, his breathing heavy and labored, he stared at the dark sky.

It was bleak, covered with the fragrance of death and a lofty crimsom hue of the Red Moon.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Hunter turned his head.

A subtle chill wrapped around his body.

His twisting vision finally stabilized.

He smiled bitterly,

"What does it look like to you?"

Dan plopped down beside Hunter with a tired sigh.

His hands still slick with blood, he placed them directly into the wet, blood saturated dirt.

Grabbing a handful with one hand, his other hand moved to his side. A twisted arrow was lodged deep in, from one end of his torso to the other.

Sucking in sharply, he pulled it out.

Blood spurted out with a sickening squelching sound.

Beads of sweat rolling down his face, Dan threw the arrow away then let out a shaky breath.

Hunter glanced over at him, then turned away,

"I see. You were done in as well."

Dan chuckled. However, the laugh was rather bleak,

"Don't say it like that. Makes it sound like we are both going to die."

"Die, huh... I wonder what death feels like." Hunter muttered.

He turned his eyes back to the sky.

There was a streak of silver constantly cutting through it. Behind it trailed a terrifying cloud of darkness constantly biting at the tail of the silver streak.

It all came together somehow, painting a rather grim but picturesque scene.

Despite the chaos and death unraveling around them, the two seemed to share a moment together.

Like they had traveled back to the past somehow.

When it was just them both against the world.

"Hey..." Dan trailed off.

Hunter turned his neck,

"What is it?"

"So this really is our life now? An endless cycle of battles and death."

Hunter paused for a moment, then he nodded,

"I guess it is. And there is no escaping it."

With a deep sigh, Hunter slowly pushed himself off the ground.

He was beaten and battered, but there was still some fight left in him.

Besides, the battle was not yet over.

The snarls and growls of the Devils now surrounding them had become louder.

From the distance, all manners of projectiles and bolts of magic rained down from the sky across the chasms. The humans they had tried to buy time for their escape had returned to back them up at some point.

That meant there was no way out of it anymore.

They had to not only survive, but also beat the Devils back.

A flash of incandescent radiance drifted between his fingertips and two blood red daggers materialized in his grasp.

Dan glanced at him, then sighed,

"At this rate, we'll end up turn to pieces within the hour."

Hunter went silent for a moment.

Then he looked down.

His eyes flashed with a soft white glow for a moment before returning to normal,

"We only need to hold on for thirty more minutes."

Dan raised his brows as he moved close. With their backs facing and their weapons drawn, all the blindspots were completely covered.

As their auras swelled, a large ring was formed around them.

They had already felled countless Devils, so their presences were well established on this battlefield. Even with how insane and fearless the Devils were, it was impossible for them not to feel cautious at this point.

A few Devils shot towards them from all sides.

These Devils weren't your regular grunt. They were just at the border of reaching the Third Tier, so they were powerful, but not Tier 2 creatures just yet.

However, their combined might was comparable to that of a Tier 2.

The Devil's had adopted a new strategy in the face of the abnormally and overwhelmingly powerful humans.

They would whittle down at their strength and stamina until they eventually broke them down since randomly throwing bodies wasn't going to work anymore.

Dan's eyes narrowed as the air around him began to crystalize.

As an assassin, he specialized in covert killings. But on this battlefield, he couldn't make use of his stealth properly.

So he could only take on a support role to the actual powerhouse.

Hair fluttering in the wind, Hunter straightened his posture and stretched his arms forward.