God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Steve was in a bad mood.

For one, his ace in the hole had vanished into his own shadow, abducted by some awful wench to meet her own ends.

To make things even worse, some time later, the people they were putting their lives on the line for had all returned and were now firing into the Devil army from the other side of the chasm since there was no longer a bridge between the two sides.

Only the broken remnants of one.

Although it wasn't that bad, it had completely defeated the purpose of their 'sacrifice'.

Now, they absolutely couldn't retreat. If they did, the {Sky Devils} will surely attack them from behind, stalling until the rest of the Devils find a way to catch up to them.

Then it was the same thing all over again.

Luckily, since they were separated by a chasm, the only things that could bridge the divide were the {Sky Devils} and devilish artillery.

On the other hand, they on this side, were forced to bear the burnt of the furious Devils far longer than they had to.

In other words, to put it lightly...

He was faced with a dilemma.

Should they begin their retreat now, damn the consequences?

Or do they fight it out, break their bones and spill their blood until this tide of darkness was no more?

That option was not only incredibly unrealistic, it was also almost impossible to pull off.

When the details were considered, it should be something they were grossly incapable of.

His eyes reached every corner of this great battle.

Some were in groups, others stood as individual monoliths. Together, they stopped the rushing tide of darkness.

But there were already a few weak points showing.

To make matters worse, the Devils had begun to adapt, much to his dismay.

They were no longer throwing their numbers at them blindly.

Instead, they were making calculative plays to strike heavily at their weakest links whilst simply suppressing the others.

And there was nothing they could do about it. It was already incredibly impressive that they could manage this much.

Especially for them being humans.

Something like this should be unheard of.

And yet, it was playing out right before the eyes of all.

Maybe that was why he was unable to give the order to retreat.

Perhaps he was holding onto some hope as well.

Which was why he had asked for it.

Thirty minutes.

Just thirty minutes to turn the tides around with a crazy play.

If he couldn't think of something, then they would all be damned.

Steve's expression was dark.

If only he had his trump card...

He was tempted to let out another sigh.

'What do I do?'

Even as his eyes scanned the battlefield, his lips never stopped mumbling incantations even as his fingers danced around with the wind, etching runes into reality itself.

Thousands of macabre hands stretched out of the sky and earth, pinning, crushing, binding, twisting and breaking at the dark tide.

'Come on. Think like a certain crazy person with everything to lose!'

Suddenly, his brows furrowed.

Then his eyes widened and his face paled,

"I-Impossible."

His hands trembled and his bladder went weak.

Dark whispers traveled into his head and through his mind.

He froze for a moment.

Then an expression of confusion appeared on his face.

"How could this be?!" He muttered in a trembling voice, speaking into the empty space before him.

If one were to glance at him, they would be entirely convinced he had gone mad.

However, Steve was sure he hadn't gone mad.

At least, not in the way they thought.

The reason why he was speaking into the nothingness, was because there was actually something standing before him at the moment.

For the known universe, Devils were one of the most popular agents of darkness, chaos, death, and destruction.

But they were not the only ones.

Dark spirits, eldritch beings, the creatures within the tunneling darkness of the abyss between realms...

And of course, the dark gods of the Hell Realms.

He was well accustomed with a few of them.

In fact, he had made deals with several of them, one of them being the dog-headed dark god standing before him in tenebrous regal attire.

Steve's face went pale as various thoughts ran through his mind.

How had this dark god been summoned into their world?

Was it here for him? But it wasn't time for it to collect its dues. He had made sure to read the terms and conditions clearly.

"I am not here for you, brat." Anubis said.

The Dark God, Anubis. The First Guardian of the East Gate of Death and the Hell Realms, as well as one of the otherworldly powers he sought to gain power from.

Steve's expression twisted into an ugly smile,

"T-then why are you here, Lord Anubis?"

The Dark God huffed, the wind from that single blow sending him flying over.

"This avatar was summoned here with the dying throes of one of my worshipers. One of devilish origins."

Steve's eyes widened,

"Devils worship you?"

The Dark God bared its teeth in a terrifying grin that sent shivers running down his spine.

"A bit of extra power never hurt anybody. Although, calling that one a worshiper isn't quite right. If anything, our relationship was similar to the one between the two of us."

Each word the Dark God spoke was silent, but also rumblin. Like a merciless thunderstorm.

Droplets of blood dripped down his nose but he quickly wiped them away.

"Why did the Devil summon your avatar?"

"To destroy the humans of this city. That was the plan. At least in the beginning. But I've changed my mind."

'How wanton!'

"Then, what do you intend to do now?" Steve asked carefully.

Anubis grinned,

"Something interesting."

As he said that, the Dark God stretched its hands towards him.

Steve's face paled,

"No..."

"This is the first time, so if might be a bit jarring. However, I ask that you bear with it. It won't last long."