God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 216: Send Me Back!

BOOOMM!

An explosion that shook the planet down to its very core...

The creatures that scoured the lands of Prometheus all stared in the direction of the volcano, their hearts gripped with fear. The earth beneath their feet quaked, and the seas churned with violent waves, filling their hearts with fear and unrest.

"My Lord!" With a wave of her hand, Alveera erected a barrier that looked like a grand wall of shimmering scales. Despite the power of the flames and lava that poured from the depths of the planet, the shield wasn't even so much as scratched.

From the depths of the planet, black and purple flames roared into the heavens, destroying the surrounding lava and turning the volcano into a geyser. Like a scene straight from an apocalypse, the ground beneath the volcano turned into a field of raging infernos. The ground broke into a thousand pieces, and lava spewed forth.

"Hmm... Never could I have imagined that they would cause this much damage. Seems like these kids are much more powerful than I expected..." Azazel said, starting at the destruction wrought upon his planet...

"Lapsus..." With a snap of his fingers and a short chant, time seemed to play out in reverse. The destroyed volcano and the surrounding environment began restoration.

"There..." Azazel said, dusting his hands together.

"Now then... Let's see how my toys are doing... Ho?"

Staring at the ledge of the volcano, Azazel was able to see the blackened outline of Cain.

"He escaped from the explosion? But how?" Alveera asked in surprise.

"Spatial magic, huh... You truly are one of a kind, boy." Azazel said as he glanced down at Cain who looked as dead as a rock.

"However, it seems he wasn't strong enough to survive the strains of battle. If I am not wrong, he is dead, My Lord." Alveera said, her tone returning to its original coldness.

"Well, you aren't wrong. However, have you forgotten the type of world we live in? In this world, the amount of miracles that can be created are one too many." Azazel said, a smile on his face, but his eyes were enveloped in seriousness...

"Then..." Alveera said, her eyes widening in shock.

Before her very eyes, she got to witness something she had never seen before. Right from the edge of the abyss, a single heartbeat pulsed...

Lying on the ground, Cain stared up at the brown skies above him. His body and muscles had been burned still, and almost all the blood in his body had been dried out.

Just a fraction of a second before his attack had collided with Ignis', he had felt this sealed strength return to him. With that, he knew he had to act as fast as he possibly could.

Jumping back as fast as he could, he scaled the statue and grabbed the gem that was stuck onto it. Just before the destructive explosion of flames caught up to him, he activated {Spatial Jump} and escaped certain death.

This was his truest failsafe. If he didn't have such a backup, he wouldn't have put himself in so much danger.

Despite now regaining his former strength, his regeneration had slowed down significantly. It was fast enough though that he had now gained sight in one of his eyes.

Staring at the glowing red gem in his hand, Cain reached out with his {Spirit Sense} and sure enough, he was able to feel it.

He had thought it was a possibility, but only now were his suspicions confirmed. When he had dragged the gem out of the wall, Ignis had disappeared and entered the gem. As such, she was also saved from the destructive aftermath of the explosion but was now trapped within the gem, in a state of rest...

'As long as she is safe...' Placing the gem into his inventory with a thought, Cain immediately pulled up his status page where he was immediately bombarded with a stream of system notifications.

***

{A system error has occurred... The host's body has gone against the natural order, and as such, has been hit with a natural drawback. 10% of EXP points will be lost for 30 days...}

{Level Up!}

{Level Up!}

{Level Up!}

{Level Up!}

...

{Confgratulations to Host... You have reached Level 60...}

{+100 to all stats.}

{You have reached {Lvl 3} of the {Metal Creation} skill.

Your level of proficiency in the skills {Metal Manipulation} and {Metal Creation} has risen greatly. The skills have thus been combined and a new skill has been birthed...}

{Congratulations to Host... You have acquired the divine skill, {Divine Essense of Metallurgy}.

{+300 to Magic.}

{+100 to Spirit.}

{+200 to Defense.}

{Your understanding of mana and the elements has grown stronger...}

{Due to the mana within your {Mana Heart} being incited by an external force, your understanding of magic and ability to control mana and other forms of energy grows even stronger... }

***

Name: {Cain Lenosi}

Level: 60.

Strength: 1,776.

Agility: 1,877.

Stamina: 1,089/1,089.

Vitality: 1,227.

Defense: 998.

Control: 86.2..

Perception: 81.4.

HP: 10,050/33,200.

MP: 17,000/40,800.

Magic: 2,512.

Ki: 67,280.

Spirit: 1,120.

Resistance: Poison- 90%. Fire- 50%.

Skills: Golden Body, Mana Blade, Lightning Edge, Burst Step, Divine Essense of Metallurgy, Golden Severance, Blood Regeneration, Azure Burst, Mana Heart, Seal, Hollow Judgement, Devil's eyes: Eye of Clairvoyance, Elemental Body, Abyssal Dragon Blade Mastery Tier 1, Abyssal Crimson Slash, Spirit Sense, Gravity Defying, *Charge, *Pure Energy Strike, *Evil Devouring.

Spells: Infernal Celestial Arts: {Flame Orbs, Imploding Star, Vampiric Star}, Infernal Wings, Wind Weaver, Dark Cloak, Blue Lightning, Blink, Golden Halo, 7 Golden Stars, Frozen Paths, Frost Temple, Poison Arrows (Unavailable), Flames of Darkness.

Titles: Champion of Ashur (locked), Sorcerer's Mind, Blessed by Mana, Pioneer, Devil Hunter.

Free attribute points: 58.

System points 201,009.

{Inventory}. {Shop}.

***

Cain stared at his status page with a confused look. He knew he had suffered in the volcano, but if these were the rewards for all his sufferings, he would gladly go through it all over again.

'The drawbacks on the other hand...' Cain thought. However, after a second, he quickly closed his eyes and let out a rough ghastly sigh.

"My, my... Seems like you are still alive, Cain." Suddenly, Azazel appeared out of thin air before him. Staring at the demon that stood before him with a smile, Cain couldn't even bring himself to utter a single word as all his saliva had long since evaporated.

"Can't speak, huh... Hahaha!" Azazel said with a small laugh.

"Imple..." With a simple chant, a magic circle appeared above Cain's body and poured a white light onto his body.

The feeling of earth that perforated through his body incited a slight moan that rumbled from the depths of his damaged chest.

"Take your time to heal. Do not speak... I'll get back to you in a while." Azazel said before disappearing again.

Staring into the space Azazel had occupied, Cain had a thousand and one thoughts running through his mind, causing a terrible headache to hit him.

'Seems like I've overdone it...' Cain thought to himself as he lost consciousness...

***

"My Lord, what is that?" Suddenly reappearing before Alveera once again, Azazel had a complicated look in his eyes as he stared at an object in his hand.

"Alveera..." Without answering her question, Azazel called out to her in a sullen tone.

"My Lord?" Alveera exclaimed, concern and worry in her tone.

"I need you to do something very urgent for me..."

***

Three days later...

Staring at the ceiling above, Cain realized he had returned to the room he had found himself in the day he had woken up from being rescued by Azazel.

Standing up to his feet, his eyes lit up as he soon realized he felt incredible. The sounds and injuries he had suffered during the battle with Ignis were all gone. Not only that, but his MP, HP, and stamina were all completely regenerated.

'This is incredible...' It was as though he had been given a new pair of wings. Because his stats had been locked, he had felt shackled down by powerlessness. Now that all his strength and more had returned, he felt as though he could do anything...

Rising from the bed, Cain stared at the decorative ornaments within the room before hastily taking his leave.

Following the same steps he had taken last time, he quickly arrived at the forge. There, hammering at an intricate metal piece was Azazel, dressed in a blacksmith's clothing. He was completely concentrated on what he was doing and paid no attention to Cain who had just barged in.

Seeing that the demon was busy, Cain decided that he could wait a while longer. Turning around to stare at the workshop, surprise filled his heart as he wondered why a demon like Azazel would even bother with something like blacksmithing.

About twenty minutes later, Azazel stopped hammering at the piece before him and put it away into his inventory. Turning around to stare at Cain, a smile slowly made its way to his face,

"Took you long enough. Sleeping for three days? Such a weak-willed fellow."

Completely ignoring Azazel's sarcastic comments, Cain asked Azazel a question,

"What about Ignis?"

"Her? Isn't she in your custody?" Azazel said with a confused look.

"How do I get her to wake up?" Cain said more specifically.

"Oh, that? Well, now that you pulled her away from her source and destroyed her home, you will have to find a way for her to live. Unfortunately, a Cherufe Spawn like her is quite a rare commodity. Maintaining her is quite a chore, you see..."

"Bastard! You were the one who told me to get it from the bottom of the volcano!" Cain said angrily.

"Hahaha! Relax... While she might be trapped in that state, for now, it is quite easy to turn her back to normal.

"How?" Cain said, trying his best to stay calm.

"Form a {Body and Soul} contract with her."

"What?! She isn't a wild beast I can just form a contract with, right?!" Cain stared at Azazel incredulously.

Azazel simply stared at Cain with a smile...

Seeing through his intentions, Cain decided to just give it up.

"In that case, I'd like to ask for something," Cain said with complete seriousness.

"Oh? What is it?" As if he could sense this was coming, the smile on Azazel's face became even wider,

"Send me Back!"