God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain gently opened his eyes.

In front of him, the communicator lay still.

"Well, that was an experience, wasn't it? That old dog is still as scary as ever."

Cain shot Azazel a dirty look,

"You said he wasn't powerful."

Azazel shrugged,

"I said compared to the other Celestials that existed in our camp. I'll tell you this; there is no way I could have defeated that old dog even in my prime. Not in a million years."

Cain sighed and leaned back.

The night sky was as bleak as ever.

The stars were obscured by the dreary clouds, and the moon was hidden away.

The surface of the lake trembled softly, perhaps mirroring the state of his mind.

"By the way, how strong were you in your prime?" Cain suddenly asked.

"Hm?"

Cain sat up,

"I've been thinking about this for some time now..."

The image projected of Azazel distorted.

"This war that happened... a thousand millennia ago, just how bad was it? Were you the only survivor?"

Azazel was silent for a moment. Then he chuckled,

"The war didn't happen a thousand millennia ago. It lasted a thousand millennia. As for how long it's been after that, who knows... Ten thousand years? Eons? It gets difficult to track the passage of time when you've lived for so long."

Cain frowned.

Something of that scale was under rather difficult for him to comprehend, seeing as he had only lived for less than twenty years.

"As for how bad the war was, let's just say words cannot describe, and your human mind cannot comprehend it. Entire worlds were torn apart. The void itself shook, and the very essence of everything became inseminated with chaos."

Azazel expression was rather solemn as he continued,

"Those days really were shitty."

Cain hummed.

Azazel chuckled,

"Although, I guess you could say I am not what I used to be, at least the old me wasn't so lonely."

The Demon sighed,

"Listen, Cain. If you do not take any other thing I say to heart, remember this; don't take your comrades for granted. Try your very best to keep them alive. Because if you don't, you'll end up with a fate just like mine. Or perhaps even worse."

Cain frowned,

"I doubt any being possessed a fate as horrible as yours."

"What was that?!"

"Nothing."

Azazel cleared his throat,

"In any case, don't go around asking questions that cannot be answered. Focus on the more important things."

Cain sighed then nodded,

"You are right."

Now that Sentry has agreed to assist him, it was only a matter of what to do going forward.

'I could attempt talking with Anathe again. But depending on the cards I have to play, it might not go smoothly.'

The last time he had attempted conversation with Anathe, the Ant Queen had been rather stubborn, not willing to even hear him out.

Although she had not outright kicked him and the rest of the humans to the curb, leaving them to their fate, it was practically the same thing.

However, he couldn't blame her for prioritizing the well-being and interests of her people.

And since he would rather not engage in a battle he was almost certain would be unwinnable, it was best to try and find other ways to negotiate.

'But first...'

He yawned and reached out for the communicator.

"Thanks again for today."

Azazel chuckled,

"Do not thank me just yet. I do all this because you are still useful to me. The day you become useless, I'll throw you into the void."

Cain chuckled,

"Yeah, sure. Goodbye for now."

"Hey! What did that snarky chuckle mea—"

Cain quickly severed the link.

'Isn't this thing too impressive? To be able to connect to that damned Demon from anywhere in the universe is rather convenient.'

Cain let out a sigh as he rose to his feet and dusted off the wet sand from his palms.

As he walked back towards the tent, Steve glanced up,

"Back so soon?"

A small fire had been lit up, and a lot of stewed meats and wild vegetables were brewing in an earthen pot beside the burning flames.

Cain looked around.

Blaze was seated in front of the tent, his eyes closed while Steve prepared their dinner.

He walked up,

"Yeah. I'm done. Hopefully, we should be seeing some results in the morning. For now, we can rest here tonight."

Steve raised a brow,

"Just what did you do?"

Cain grinned,

"I spoke to a Demon."

Steve sighed, then shrugged,

"I'm not going to be the one to discuss ethics and morality with, but try not to mingle with the darker side. There's a lot of really nasty things there."

Cain raised a brow,

"The Darker side?"

Steve huffed,

"Demons, evil entities... Creatures of the Hell Realms. Perhaps just as terrifying as Devils. Perhaps even more."

Cain hummed.

He knew that Prometheus was indeed located in the Hell Realms. However, he had very little idea to what Azazel's connection was with it was.

'He might be hiding something...'

Cain shook his head.

Even if that was the case, he felt like he shouldn't pry too much.

If the Demon was keeping what had happened for it to end up in his current position a secret, it was clear he didn't want him digging it up.

If that was the case, then he figured it was best to keep it that way.

Cain paused for a moment then shrugged,

"I'm sure it's fine."

Steve's eyes narrowed, but he didn't press it any further,

"If you say so."

Then he turned to Blaze,

"Dinner's ready."

Blaze voice came half a beat later,

"I'm not hungry."

Steve chuckled,

"What is this? Are you feeling grumpy?"

Blaze clicked his tongue,

"I said I'm not hungry. There's nothing else to it. Besides, who knows what wretched things you put in there."

Steve chuckled,

"If you say so..."

Cain picked up the ladle to scoop some of the stewed meats into a bowl Steve had brought out of his inventory,

"I'm sure it's—"

Upon further inspection, Cain saw that the stew didn't look as appetizing as he originally thought.

There was an eyeball floating in his bowl. Faint ominous gases drifted off the surface as well.

He felt Steve's focused gaze burning holes into him.

He sighed and gently put the bowl down,

"On second thought, I guess I'm not that hungry after all..."