God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 248: Reconnaissance.

Cain stared at the like of words displayed before him with a frown. Sitting in a corner of his inventory, was an item he had never obtained before from any of his previous accomplishments or kills.

Besides him, Susan sat with a displeased expression, treating the sounds he had sustained from the battle with the {Vile Centipede}.

The creature was a fearsome foe, and its hard carapace was immune to a lot of things. However, the black flame of destruction Cain possessed was not one of them. Every attack from Cain after he activated the {Flame of Darkness} was able to melt straight through the creature's defenses and burn it from within.

Eventually, after a long and harrowing battle, that required a lot of effort from all of them, they finally managed to bring the creature down.

"Don't ever do something so reckless. If you do, I won't treat you."

Listening to Susan berate him just like the good old times, Cain had a meek expression on his face, but his heart was filled with warmth. He was just reminded of the good old days before the apocalypse.

Back then, he had had a rather bleak outlook on life. Things were uneventful, and he longed for something new.

He had gotten it, but it wasn't as pleasant as he had hoped it would be. For all intents and purposes, fighting for his life and constantly teetering on the edge of the abyss wasn't something he had come to enjoy very well.

Of course, fighting still gave him a thrill, but now, he would rather have the peaceful days back.

Letting out a sigh, Cain squeezed his face and said in a flaccid tone,

"Okay, okay... I understand, Mum. I won't be so reckless again. I'll let the next nomination line at you next time we fight."

Rolling her eyes at him, Susan stood up and adjusted her clothes. Jenny on the other hand simply watched them with a strange expression,

"You two really are close, huh..."

"Not quite..."

"No, we aren't."

Both replied simultaneously, causing a chuckle to burst from Jenny's lips.

Frowning, Susan stared at her,

"We really aren't too close. It's just that he is just as stubborn as he has always been. I thought he would have changed by now."

'Woman, a few weeks isn't enough to change me, okay?!'

Turning to Cain with an amused expression, Jenny was about to burst out laughing again. However, Cain just chose to ignore the two girls and concentrated on the item he had received.

***

{Weak Blood Carapace}:

Description: The Corrupted Blood Wyrm, Leonis, was captured and placed in an eternal prison and kept as a slave. Consumed by anger and madness, the Blood Wyrm traveled the length of her eternal prison, capturing other creatures and corrupting them with her tainted blood. While this blood contained great power, it also contained the divine insanity of a once great creature, now reduced to a mere dog.

{Weak Blood Carapace}: Special [Armor]

Defense: 300

Weight: 100kg

Skills: Nascent Blood Armor, Providence.

{Nascent Blood Armor}(active): A thin film of blood drains your life force to increase your defenses.

{Providence}(passive): While worn, HP pool capacity is increased by 30%, with an additional 600HP per minute regen rate.

***

Cain stared at the description of the armor with a frown...

'This... This is odd.'

While he had a lot of questions, the most pressing one wouldn't have seemed like a big deal to any other person. However, he knew that the devil always lay in the bloody details.

The description of the weapon was... unique for lack of better words. It was more like he was getting a part of a story, rather than a description about a weapon.

Who is Leonis? What was a Blood Wyrm? And what did she have to do with the {Vile Centipede}?

There were many questions, but they had to be kept on the back burner, as no one would be able to answer them for him.

Staring at Susan with a serious expression, he beckoned Jenny to come forward as well. All three of them were sitting in the dark cave that was previously occupied by the {Vile Centipede}. The darkness was driven to a corner by an orb of light floating in their midst.

Once they had gathered in a messy circle, Cain opened his mouth,

"We need to a plan..."

He had been weighed down by this for a while. Because of how quickly it had all happened, they had not had the time to go over their objective and the various ways to accomplish said objectives.

Susan and Jenny glanced at each other and shrugged simultaneously,

"What do you have in mind?" Jenny blinked her eyes and said.

Cain fell silent for a few seconds,

"Understanding the terrain better is key right now. The next moves we make will heavily depend on the types of enemies that surround us."

Susan suddenly spoke up, "With my abilities, I will be able to tell what creatures or groups of creatures are the most dangerous so we can avoid them. However, doing so will consume a lot of mana, so we won't be able to do it often."

"My skills let me act as a scout of sorts, so I think I can help us avoid a few dangers as well," Jenny said after a brief period of silence.

Cain glanced at both ladies secretly. Despite his outward composure, his mind was in turmoil. After a whole, he shook his head slightly,

"That will be too dangerous. Fighting with low mana reserves can prove to be fatal." Cain said darkly. Others weren't like him with more than one reserve of energy. If their mana was exhausted mid-fight, they would be nearly useless.

After a brief second of thought, he shook his head, "On the contrary, we might need your ability every once in a while, depending on the situation."

As for Jenny...

Scratching his head a little, he turned to her,

"Well, you won't need to put yourself in danger too much. The ability I've been using will be more than enough."

Hearing that, Jenny shook her head, "It's not enough. There's been a lot of fights we could have avoided if we had an extra pair of eyes assessing the situation."

Thinking about it a bit more, Cain finally decided to relent. In truth, he was just reluctant to see Jenny or Susan put their lives in danger. Should anything happen to any of them, he would be unable to forgive himself.

A sigh made its way out of Susan's breathtaking lips. The frown on her face dissolved into a tired expression.

"Can't we think about all this tomorrow? We haven't had a moment of rest since we got here..."

With the corpse of the {Vile Centipede} blocking the entrance to the cave, they were relatively safe from any external influence, assuming it wasn't something string enough to break through its carapace. Which meant they could finally get some well-deserved sleep.

Despite this, a dead expression made its was onto Cain's face. He was already accustomed to the time dilation between different worlds. For all they knew, a thousand years could have passed back on Urbus. At the same time, a minute, or ten minutes could have passed as well. It was something he had thought about since their arrival in the strange place known as the aether realm.

However, he chose not to say anything to the two girls. Part of this was because, unlike the time he arrived on Prometheus, the system had not echoed in his ears that he had stepped foot into an alternate plane or world. He had no way of knowing the reason, so he simply kept it to heart.

"Alright. I guess we should all get some rest. You two can take a nap first."

While sleeping wasn't absolutely necessary for them, it helped them recover mana and stamina much faster, so it was still welcomed.

"Are you sure? You bear the brunt of the pressure, so I think you should have some rest first." Jenny said, her eyes glinting. It was apparent she was worried about his well-being, or hers, depending on how one looked at it.

Should anything happen to Cain, who was the central pivot of their group, the two girls would find it hard to remain on their feet for long.

Despite that, Cain was sure her concern for him was genuine at least...

Letting out a sigh, Cain rubbed his eyes and let out a sigh again. Jenny's words got him thinking again. When was the last time he had had any proper rest? He remembered it clearly...

He had been beaten and broken to the point of unconsciousness, and had collapsed in front of Azazel's man— demon-cave. The mentally unstable demon then captured him and forced him to partake in its deranged experiments...

It had been a fairly long time ago, so he was tired.

Very, very tired...

"I guess you are right. Then I'll leave myself in your care." Throwing an appreciative glance Jenny's way, he slowly turned around and put his back against the cold rocky surface of the cave. Giving the {Dark Soul} an order to stand guard outside the cave and inform him if any creature approached, he allowed himself to drift into the unburdened realm of dreams...

'Ah... So, so tired...'

Darkness consumed the world, and in a few seconds, he was out cold...

***

In the Normal world...

Steve stared at the figure standing before him with a pale face and wide eyes. Just a minute after he had said none of them would be able to penetrate his barrier, the figure of a slender woman was reflected in his eyes.

However, this figure was not any of the beast-girls of the central island. It was someone Steev was faintly familiar with. He thought she had died in the battle with the broodmother, but apparently, he was wrong...

Pristine white hair, and lips and eyes as red as blood, Evangeline looked as beautiful and horrifying as ever.

"You..." Speechless, Steve simply stared at her, dumbfounded.

Throwing a weird look at him, Evangeline walked past the barrier and stared at the abyssal chasm.

Her raspy voice was carried by the wind, "Well, this place seems scary, don't you think?"