God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 240: Aether Realm (1).

'Jumping through planes is not a very pleasant experience.' Cain thought to himself as he spiraled through the rip in reality.

He could feel the cold wisps of malevolent energy wrap themselves around his body and pull him further into the abyssal chasm.

'Let's just hope this ride isn't as unpleasant as the last.'

Maybe due to his internal monologue, or him just being a target of bad luck and ill fate, Cain's wishes weren't about to come true...

'Eh?'

Cain could feel a subtle, yet crushing force begin to hammer against his body from all sides.

'W-what's going on?!' His face immediately turned pale when he realized that the further he fell, the worse the terrible force became.

'Crap!'

He immediately activated {Wind Weaver}, hoping to reduce his acceleration. To his surprise and horror, he realized that the currents of mana that flowed within his body dissipated completely when they were expelled.

It was almost as though the thick energy around him rejected the very concept of the spiritual properties of mana, and sought to annihilate it.

Surprisingly, the cocoons of mana and the chains that bound them to his body held. It was as though they weren't affected by the corrupted energy.

'This is bad! Very, very bad!'

Panicking, Cain tried activating both his Ki and devil essence. He was relieved to find out that his devil essence was not as uselesas mana and his ki seemed to behave as normal.

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to remain calm...

'It doesn't seem that bad. The girls don't seem to be affected by this force, so that's good. As long as I can hold on, we ought to be fine. Right?'

Unsure of who would answer his question, Cain slowly concentrated on directing his ki outward. While it did help in reducing the terrifying crushing force, it didn't help much.

He felt his bones rattle and his muscles spasm with every meter of descent. The pain was just as terrible as the burning sensations that inflicted him when he jumped into the volcano back on Prometheus.

'Memories, Memories...'

A few minutes later, the crushing force was so terrible, he could hear his lines creaking and groaning. His body was put under incredible strain, and there was little to nothing he could do about it.

'Curses!' Ignoring the strain, Cain tried to take his mind off it by thinking about his current situation.

When it all began a few months ago, he had been a regular human with a slightly disturbing past. After that day, he had gone through all sorts of terrible and life-threatening situations. However, he hadn't changed a lot during this time.

In his mind, he was still the same person he had been all those days ago. It wasn't so easy for a person to change, after all.

However, he had a strange feeling blossoming in his heart. He could feel it... the him that was currently falling through a dark chasm that was filled with glowing red particles and flashes of red lightning was about to experience a great change. But he remained clueless as to whether or not the changes were good or bad...

The sudden increase in the crushing force drove him out of his thoughts and back to reality. The force had increased once again...

'When will this nightmare end?!'

Looking down, he could sense that the bottom of the chasm still wasn't in sight. Suddenly, an oppressive feeling washed over him. The force of his body suddenly increased again, causing blood to leak from his eyes, nose, and mouth, creating a very frightening visage.

'What the hell was that?!'

Turning his head was very difficult, as he was still falling at tremendous breakneck speeds. Because he couldn't use his mana, there was no point in activating the {Eye of Clairvoyance}. His vision was also severely limited within the abyssal tunnel, and his senses seemed dull as well.

However, he didn't need special abilities to see the horrors that dwelt within this passage between realms.

Cain immediately felt as though he had been thrust into hell...

Fear blossomed in his heart and turned into a magnificent tree when he gazed at the horrors hiding in the darkness.

Countless twisting shapes and shadows lurked within the darkness of the abyssal chasm, their features hidden and obscure. Their eyes radiated a sense of stifling madness, and their bodies convulsed and contorted in ways that made him feel disgusted.

Worst of all, hiding deeper within the veil of darkness and shadows, he could feel an eye. This eye was watching him fall through the darkness but didn't make any move toward him, as though it was content with just seeing him fall.

However, Cain could feel it...

This reverse sense of madness that was infused everywhere radiated from that strange being that kept watching him, filling his heart with terror and nightmares.

And as if that wasn't enough, one of the convulsing abominations finally seemed to notice him.

It broke away from the main group of evil entities and shuffled closer to him, swimming through the darkness at incredible speed.

'Crap!'

Cain didn't know why, but the very ain't of that filled him with inexplicable fear. Not only was he being crushed from all sides by this force, but he was also going to have to somehow defend himself from an abyssal fiend.

When the creature came close enough, he was finally able to look at its description,

***

{Abyssal Realm-Walker}: Level 99 (Half-god)

Strength: 4,000.

Agility: 4,000.

Defense: 1,000.

Magic: 1,000.

HP: 50,000/50,000.

MP: 50,000/50,000.

Skills: Void Dweller, Aura of Madness, Darkness Manipulation, Regeneration lvl.3,

***

Cain stared at the creature approaching him, then let out a sigh,

'I... I can't beat this thing!'

Knowing one's capabilities was also considered a strength, and he was very aware of his limits, as well as what he could and couldn't do.

One thing was certain for sure...

Unless he encountered a miracle, he was most definitely going to be killed by the creature.

Or worse...

There was still a bit of distance between them, so Cain used this time to peruse through his inventory and his mind in search of a plan.

However, until he knew the devil's intentions, he couldn't exactly attack. For all he knew, the creature was just coming his way and had no intentions of attacking him.

That hope was quickly dashed when the terrible killing intent of the fiend slammed into him like a tsunami.

'Curses!'

Cain stifled a groan and let out an internal curse as his bones continued to creak under the influence of the terrible force.

Since he had no access to his mana and devil essence, he would have to fight with just his Ki. Summoning the {White Claw} from his inventory, Cain held onto the blade as right as he could and prepared for the monster.

'Damn this blasted creature! I'll get you from the inside out!'

Full of anger, Cain could only curse internally...

Once the creature came closer, the feelings of anger he felt quickly changed into something very close to despair.

Despite the creature looking smaller than the other abominations that dwelt in the shadows, it was much bigger than he was, standing at over three meters tall.

Streaks of darkness rolled from its treacherous shape, and sharp edges protruded from various corners of the creature, causing a cold sweat to break out on his forehead.

Three glowing red enters burned brightly in the place Cain assumed to be its head. A frightening black maw stretched from through the length of its face and was filled with coal-like fangs that were mostly hidden by the darkness.

However, he was unable to see more than that due to the darkness of the abyssal chasm...

Right now, both he and the creature were falling side by side, with barely five meters of space between them. Cain positioned himself to be directly between the girls and the creature so they would be safe from the dreadful battle.

Cain could feel the insidious wickedness of the creature's insidious gaze and its unquenchable hunger for his soul.

'How the hell doesn't something even survive in this place?! Is this the aether?! Why are there so many terrifying creatures in this place!'

Cain immediately focused on the situation at hand. Right now, he was unable to use most of his skills. The only thing he could do was try his best and hope it was enough.

Because if it wasn't, then things would get ugly really fast...

Indeed, the creature was after him. As soon as the distance between them was about two meters, the creature lurched forward...

Cain channeled his ki into the blade of the {White Claw} and watched as the white marble-like blade of the sword turned crimson.

Threads of darkness wove themselves onto the claws of the creature, and it lashed out with full force.

Although Cain knew the creature was strong, he had confidence in his strength. He had survived all sorts of terrible situations and had been dealt the terrifying hand of death numerous times in just a few months. To say he had become a little overconfident wouldn't be wrong.

But...

In the face of greater strength, all illusions were destined to be crushed.

Nothing in the world would have prepared him for what he was about to face.

The claw of the evil beast smashed onto the blade so fast, he was unable to see it at all. Eyes widened in terror, he tried to move back, but it was too late...

In but a split second, he watched as the tendrils of darkness around the claws of the creature deepened greatly. The crushing force that had been inflicting him for so long seemed to intensify at that moment.

However, he wasn't the main target of the force this time...

With wide eyes, he was unable to do anything but watch as the sharp edge of his crimson blade and the even sharper ends of the darkness-enshrouded claws clashed.

The sound of metal being shattered filled Cain's ears. He watched as the blade in his hands was shattered into hundreds of pieces, and the terrible claws slammed into his chest, assaulting him with blinding pain.