God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 210: Cherufe Spawn.

"My Lord, can I ask you something?" Alveera said to Azazel suddenly.

"What is it, Alveera?"

"If you value this mortal so much, why did you send him into that place?" The giant serpentine woman said, pointing at the enormous volcano.

"Erh... 'Cause it's a challenge." Azazel said with a strange smile.

A weird expression appeared on her face, "My Lord, there is no way in all the hell realms that mortal will leave with his life intact. Don't you want him to live longer so you can dig out his secrets while his heart still beats?"

"Alveera, my dear... A magician can only rule the world when he has been destroyed by it. Such is the process of nature. If he isn't destroyed by nature, he will never come to understand the elements..." Azazel had a wide ear-to-ear grin as he explained his reasoning.

"I see..." Alveera exclaimed as though she completely understood her master's reasoning.

"Besides, I have a feeling he won't die. I think this one might be able to give me a decent surprise. He's still alive so far, so let's see how things go from here. Hahaha...*

Alveera heaved a deep sigh upon hearing these words, 'My lord is so careless with his toys. He gets upset when he eventually breaks them. I hope I am not here when that happens.'

***

Staring at the depths of the volcano, Cain marveled at the wonders of magic...

"To think I could create a spell so powerful." Looking at the red sun floating above his head, shielding him from the flames all around him, Cain was enveloped by a surreal feeling.

"I still haven't truly understood the essence of this spell. By combining {Flame Orbs} and {Imploding Star}, I created such a marvel. Would it be possible to do the same thing to spells of different elements just like Azazel told me? I've seen something similar happen before." Cain mused.

His mind drifted back to his battle with the phantasma. He had been struck by a spell that utilized more than one element. At that time, he hadn't thought about it too much, as the spell was disjointed and didn't feel like a single spell, but several spells being activated simultaneously.

"A spell that gathers and concentrates mana, and a spell that coagulates it into a more solid form were fused to create a spell that has the same characteristics of the original two and more. I wonder what else I can do with this..." Excitement filled his heart as he began to explore the secrets of the spell.

***

Vampiric Star(lvl 1): Command the mystic power of a celestial entity. Syphone the flames around you to create a miniature star that stores all this power until further use. The power in this star can only be used on fire attribute skills or spells once. The Vampiric Star boosts attack damage by 100% to 1000% depending on the amount of fire attribute mana it has absorbed.

Only one can be created at a time.

Costs: 1 hour.

***

Thirty minutes later...

Cain stared at the details of the skill with wide eyes...

Closing his status screen, he decided to focus on what was ahead. His descent continued even with the battle he had just fought. He was able to avoid major damage, and with the power of the Vampiric Star, he was able to protect himself properly. His {Infernal Wings} were looking much better, and his mana pool was filling back up rapidly.

Suddenly, a deep rumbling sound began to reverberate through the walls of the volcano.

'Is this normal?' Not knowing what to think, as this was his first time in an active volcano, Cain decided to just go with it and not worry too much, although he kept his eyes peeled for any threats.

The deeper he descended, the louder the rumbles got...

'I should be reaching the bottom soon...' Thinking about his progress, Cain swallowed a mouthful of saliva as he felt his feet touch solid ground. He nearly buckled under his weight, as his legs had suffered some damage due to the high strain he was putting them through by forcing him mana through his human body.

By now, the rumbling was so intense, it felt as though an earthquake was happening every other second.

Just what is causing this exactly? A Gas or magma build-up? Does it want to erupt?" Cain thought to himself with a frown.

If any of these happened, he would be put at risk. The next rumble caused Cain to look around. This time, despite there being incredible amounts of fire, he was able to see through it. At the other side of the volcano's internal base, was a huge stone figure attached to the wall.

There were all sorts of gems on the stone figure that shone even in the intense heat and radiance, but the one that caught his attention was the gem attached to the thing's chest.

'This is what that demon wants, I presume?" Cain thought.

Walking through the sea of fire, Cain came to a stop before the sculpture. Sharp angular corners and rigid designs made the figure look like it was birthed from the earth itself. While it looked a bit humanoid, it resembled the {Magma Demons} even more.

'Was this thing created by Azazel, or does he not know what lies here?' Cain thought as he stretched his hand to touch the sculpture.

Due to how large it was, he would have to climb it to be able to reach the center of the statue. Squatting his knees into a 90° angle, he prepared to leap up.

Just before as he was about to leap, he felt something that immediately made his blood run cold.

Without even wasting a second, he linked his {Vampiric Star} to his {Infernal Wings}. Due to how much fire mana it had absorbed, the {Vampiric Star} was at maximum capacity. Linking it to the {Infernal Wings}, they immediately took on a golden luster making them appear more material.

The wings instantly doubled, becoming four wings that covered him from all directions. Not even a second after this was done, a flaming fist slammed down onto his {Infernal Wings}.

BOOM!

An explosion instantly sent turbulent ripples through the fiery world. Cain could feel the ground beneath him cave in as he was launched backward. If not for his quick thinking, that strike would have killed him immediately.

'What was that?!' Cain's eyes grew wide as he scanned his surroundings as best as he could. However, he failed to see what had attacked him.

BANG!

A flaming fist slammed onto the wings again, sending him back a few meters again. Since he was protected by the {Infernal Wings}, he wasn't taking any damage. The {Infernal Wings} were also being powered by the {Vampiric Star} above his head, so he didn't have to use his mana pool.

However, he could tell from the potency of the attacks he was receiving that he wouldn't last very long if he continued taking a beating...

Suddenly, the lava around them seemed to shift, and part like ocean waves. All the lava at the bottom of the volcano defied the laws of gravity, flowing upward to reveal what was hidden within the lava to Cain.

Cain stared at the creature that had attacked him with a mixture of shock and confusion.

'What the hell is that?' Cain stared at the 'creature', his guard completely raised to the limit.

That was because the creature staring at him looked almost exactly like a human. An incredibly beautiful human woman...

The only things different were the flaming red crystals that were embedded in her flesh and the flames floating on her head instead of her hair. The two stared at one another for a while before the 'creature' opened its mouth,

"Human..." Her words were like the sounds hidden within the earth. Filled with power, yet gentle and subtle at the same time.

'I see...' Cain immediately understood the situation he had gotten himself in.

Not even a second later, the lady disappeared from his line of view.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Three heavy flaming fists slammed against the Infernal Wings. Their eyes met, their gazes speaking a thousand words as Cain was launched backward and slammed into the volcanic walls.

While it wasn't doing him any damage directly, the energy in the Infernal Wings was still being sapped.

'A few more hits and I will be toast.' Cain thought to himself.

"Blue Lightning!" Cain yelled out as he pointed his hand upward.

Silence...

'Crap!' Cain felt a headache coming up as the spell he had tried to activate didn't even give him a response. Tilting her head, the female fire creature stared at Cain curiously for a while before she began attacking again...

'So deep inside this volcano, there is no way I can access the lightning elements that are deep within the clouds.' Cain thought to himself, sighing internally.

Jumping back, a bit, he was able to evade the creature's attack. He immediately focused his eyes on her to get an idea of what he was fighting.

***

{Cherufe Spawn]: level 40 (Legendary)

Strength: 1500.

Agility; 1800.

Defense: 500.

Magic: 2000.

Spirit: 900.

HP: 15,000/15,000.

MP: 40,000/40,000.

Skills: Raging Flames, Lava Manipulation, Hell Shift, Burning Ocean, Inferno Fist Barrage, Destroyer's Flame.

***

Staring at her stats and skills, Cain's expression instantly turned ugly. Most of his stats were locked, but he is now forced to face off against a being that is not only at full strength but is also more powerful than he is at full strength. What's more, her level was even lower than his!

'This is it... I'm dead!'