God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 198: Prometheus (6).

A painful sensation ran through his body, jolting him awake.

The pain ran through his body like poison, reaching his bones and nerves, causing him to yell out in pain. His eyelids snapped open to reveal bloodshot eyes that had undergone a bit of a change. His previously black eyes now had a slight hint of purple within them. They were also darker than before and appeared to contain something that couldn't be well detected.

Something dark...

Breathing heavily, Cain turned around to observe his environment. His mind was completely blank, but his body instinctively scanned his surroundings to make sure there were no threats around.

A dimly lit came with a few coarse stone furniture and a very sophisticated-looking painting hanging on one of the walls. It was odd to see something so brilliant in a cave with stone furniture.

'Where am I?' Cain thought to himself. He slowly began to recall the series of unfortunate incidents that had led him to the state he was currently in before he had fallen unconscious.

'I'm not dead...' Cain let out a sigh of relief as he let his back fall back onto the bed he was lying on. Although it wasn't the most comfortable of beds, it felt like a cloud to him.

Knowing he wasn't dead allowed him to ignore the pain he was feeling and open his status screen right away.

However, what he saw nearly made him puke blood on the spot...

***

{Warning: The host is in critical condition. All stats are reduced by 90%.

{The host has ingested the Mortal realm Celestial grade medicine, Purple Deep Venom. Symptoms are reduced by 30%. All stats increased by 30%. Effects of the drugs will take a month to be fully activated}.

{All energy points in the host's body have been sealed. As such, the host has temporarily lost access to all energy sources}.

***

Cain felt a chill run down his spine as he read through the system prompt.

However, he quickly calmed down the next moment...

'What do I do now? It's obvious that I have been poisoned by someone, most likely the person who rescued me.'

Cain's brows furrowed as he fell into deep thought. He got up from the bed he lay on slowly. There was an opening he assumed was the door, so he simply moved toward it. The first step to getting answers to his question, was locating who would give him those answers in the first place.

Although it was painful, it wasn't outside of his pain tolerance threshold. He shuffled to the door, the overwhelming feeling of losing 90% of his stats weighing down on him. Surprisingly, he was unable to feel the exponential effects of this world's gravity weighing down on him.

'This place is just too odd. First, I can't access my mana. Now, I can use my Ki and other skills as well.' Cain knew he was going to have it hard going forward if he didn't find a way to get back to full power as soon as possible.

Gritting his teeth, he placed one step after the other. With a wave of his hand, he quickly withdrew the {Sea Demon} now from his inventory.

With only 40% of his original stats, the only weapon of his he could use with relative ease was the {Sea Demon} bow. The White and Black claws were too heavy for him to make use of, so he ruled them out very quickly. Although the bow was heavy, it was still useable.

With a heavy breath, he attached the quiver of arrows to his back, readied his bow, and stepped out of the room.

Stepping into the corridor, he realized he was still deep underground. Everywhere was dimly illuminated by a few glowing crystals he couldn't identify...

***

Bioluminescent Crystals: Crystals formed upon the death of the Legendary creatures, the {Quil Fireflies}, eons ago. Gives off a faint illuminating glow and can only be found deep underground. Reduces the temperature of the surrounding environment by 99%.

***

'So that's why I'm still breathing?'

Before he entered the cave, he remembered the terrible heat that had caused him to faint. Realizing these crystals were so precious he didn't waste any more time...

'Taking one or two wouldn't hurt anybody, no?' Cain thought to himself shamelessly with a grin.

Ignoring the pain in his body, he walked up to the cavern walls. Although some were too high up, with most of them embedded into the roof, a few were just within his reach.

His fingers moved like a snake as he tried to remove a small one from the wall. However, regardless of how much force was applied, the gem didn't seem to budge.

'Tch! Looks like I'll have to leave them for now...' Realizing that swiping the souls be more difficult than he thought, Cain decided to leave them for the meantime.

Since there was only one path forward, he decided to follow it. Using the walls as support, he was able to make it work albeit with some difficulty. After a few minutes of walking, he was able to see a brighter light at the end of the tunnel.

His eyes brightened as he quickly raised his steps. In a few seconds, he got to the source of the light.

Right before his eyes, was a furnace, but not just any type of furnace. This furnace was very big and consisted of a frame created from blocks of stones that had numerous runic engravings etched onto their surface arranged into a unique circular pattern.

At the center of this circular arrangement of evenly cut blocks of stones, was a pillar of flames. This pillar of flames was a deep orange. Within the flames, he was able to see a few runes dancing within, as well as more than a few streaks of red, giving the flames a deep crimson tint as well.

As soon as he gazed upon the frames, Cain could feel an overwhelming heat wash over his body. The heat was incredibly intense, yet it wasn't completely unbearable. However, it did make him recoil due to how sudden the heat was...

"You are awake? I thought you'd be out for a good three months." A slightly hoarse, but crisp voice suddenly made its way to his ears.

Like a reflex, Cain's fingers pulled on the bowstring in his hands. In a split second, an arrow was already nocked and readied to be fired.

"Who's there?" Cain called out coldly. Although he realized that the other person might be his savior, he couldn't risk taking any chances.

A chuckle rang out from the room, and a figure appeared right before Cain. It was a lanky middle-aged man dressed in what Cain could only describe as a blacksmith's attire.

In his right hand, was a hammer that was usually used in forging, while in his left, a small piece of metal that completely absorbed the surrounding light sat.

Cain stared at the man in confusion...

"Are you the one who rescued me?" Cain asked suspiciously.

"Oi, oi, oi... Don't you think I should be the one asking questions?" The middle-aged man said with a smile that showed a set of pearly white teeth. His head was full of messy hair, and he looked like he hadn't eaten anything in days, or had his bath in months...

Cain also realized he couldn't sense any energy coming from him as well. Not even the slightest fluctuations...

This made him pause as he began to feel some apprehension towards the man...

"I guess so..." Cain said, relaxing his drawn bow, but still keeping the arrow nocked.

The man still had the same carefree expression and smile on his face,

"First question, how did you arrive in this world? It should be nearly impossible for any being to come to this world. Only the truly fortunate or those cursed to death should be able to find this world. Hmmm... Judging from your appearance, you seem to be the latter. Hahaha!" The man said with a laugh while pointing at Cain.

The playful look in his eyes was like he didn't even regard Csin as a living being, but merely as passing entertainment...

"I got swallowed by a huge creature. There was a portal in its stomach."

"Hm? A portal inside a creature? That's a first... Well, I suppose how you got here isn't that important. What's important is how you survived till now on this planet. You are so weak, a mere sneeze will kill you." The blacksmith said with his hand stroking his chin.

Cain's brows furrowed when he heard those words...

However, he quickly calmed down.

"Are you the one who saved me?" Cain asked in a softer voice.

"Eh? Why, yes. Yes, I did. However, you don't need to thank me." The man said with an odd smile on his face.

Sensing something wrong, Cain induced some tension into his bowstring.

"I am not so ungrateful that I won't thank my savior," Cain said with a bow to show his sincerity. However, the man's next words caused him to pause.

"Savior? Boy, I'm not your savior..." The smile on the man's face quickly changed into something Cain had never seen before. Slowly, the man's form mutated into something beautiful, yet terrifying at the same time. He had never seen something so beautiful yet made all his nerves scream at the sheer horror they were witnessing at the same time.

He recoiled in fear at the being that revealed itself to him in its full glory.

"Mortal, you are quite courageous. I have never met a being such as you before. Humans are usually lowly creatures that grovel at the mere sight of beings as majestic as myself. Yet, there you are, standing, in MY presence. I've never seen something so hilarious in my many millennia of existence." The being before him laughed loudly, causing blood to burst out of Cain's ears and nose.

'Damn it!' Cain's puppy expanded as the pain he felt in his body multiplied by many times.

"What the hell are you?!" Despite his distress, Cain didn't hesitate to point his bow at the creature before him.

It was taller than him by a few feet. Behind it was a set of pitch-black wings. At the center of each wing was an eye that sent fear straight into the depths of his heart. The face of the middle-aged man had turned more handsome and was placed on the body of a thin, yet beautiful body. On its head were a huge pair of horns, and a tail like that of a lizard protruded from its back.

"I guess it is rude not to introduce myself..." The being said with a frown. That frown quickly changed into a smile that sent shivers down Cain's spine.

"My name, is Azazel. The First Celestial Demon of Sorcery and the Forge. One of the greater demons of old. You might have heard about me on one of your lower worlds, so my name shouldn't be too new to you. Regarding this place, I welcome you to this humble world of mine."

A crazed look was in his eyes as he spread his hands out. An irresistible force drove Cain down to his knees. Both knees were completely crushed in the process, causing him to let out a shout of pain.

"Welcome to Prometheus, the First layer of the Hell realms in the Godless plane."