God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 273: Hanging on the Edge.

If Cain were to use one word to describe his current situation, it would be 'Precarious'...

Cain bit onto the blade of his weapon as he held onto a chain made of metal. His entire was filled with bloody wounds. However, a portion of them were already healed. However, because he was still suffering from hunger, his body had become sparing with the way it consumed his already limited energy.

'Damn it!'

Cain was like an enraged monkey as he swung on the golden chain like it was a vine. His body traced a hyperbolic path as he used his other hand to hold another blade to deflect the spears that well like raindrops. Despite his efforts, one of them managed to sink deep into his flesh.

"Shit!"

Cain cursed out loud as he ignored the javelin. He landed at the edge of the cave and began his rampant slaughter. The cave was filled with cries of anguish, rage, and fear as he mowed through the creatures and reaped their lives like he was harvesting wheat.

Cain's eyes were now bloodshot. The amount of blood he had lost wasn't something he could replenish with {Blood Regeneration}. Suddenly, a deep growl echoed out from the depths of the cave.

As though he was expecting it, Cain had already prepared a rather large orb of spinning flames in his hand. Dodging a blade made of obsidian, he kicked the culprit in the chest threw the huge {Flame Orb} deep into the cave system, and ran with all the speed he could muster.

A second later, just as he materialized a new golden chain and swung away, the cave was rocked by an explosion.

Cain's peripheral vision caught signs of the system prompt indicating his success, but he didn't even spare its glance.

'Just how many of these little fuckers are there?!'

Cain gritted his teeth as the chain he was swinging on suddenly contracted, pulling him up.

Just as he did that, a rather large spear struck the path along the mountainside he had been following previously. Cain glared at a rather large creature that stuck its head out of the cave.

***

{Elite Chaos Goblin}: Level 70(Elite)

Strength: 600.

Agility: 590.

Defense: 120.

HP: 10,000/10,000.

Aether: 6,000/6,000.

Skills: Magic Resistance, Basic Weapon-Handling, Devil Source, Minor Charge.

***

The most annoying thing about these slightly more powerful goblins was their skill, {Minor Charge}. They allowed their weapon to absorb a part of the Devil Essence and Aether they gave off, turning it into a small-scale explosive with frightening penetrative damage.

'If such a thing hit me...' Cain felt a cold sweat break out on his back.

Still, these creatures were too weak to take his life. They would wear him out, but they were not going to kill him. He was far too experienced to let that happen. He had lived through enough battles. Some were so dangerous, that he was, without a doubt, supposed to die.

However, he had pushed through...

So he wasn't going to die here. He couldn't...

Cain performed an aerial flip. His body hovered for a while, weightless for a few moments due to the balance of the forces on his body. Golden chains materialized in his hands with one end attached to the cave entrance where the {Elite Chaos Goblin} stood.

Cain dodged the downpour of projectiles, twisting his body at weird angles and relying on his {Eye of Clarivoyance} as well as his terrifying precision to avoid the especially dangerous ones.

Finally, he was close enough to the cave. Without even bothering to enter the cave, he threw a twinkling orb of flames into the dark cave. He watched in dark glee as the flames swelled for a brief second before it turned into a vortex that pulled in all the creatures that had laid in wait for him.

A resounding explosion turned them all into a hot pool of bubbling blood and organs with a side of sizzling bones.

Cain ran across the vertical wall for a while before performing a flip, allowing the chain to pull him back as he traced an arc across the air.

By now, the downpour of spears and javelins had decreased substantially. Cain felt his lines wash with relief. He was so exhausted. He had long since lost count of the number of creatures he had to kill.

Perhaps sensing that it would not be a wise choice to keep up the attack with how few of them were left, the attacks suddenly stopped.

Cain watched as the dozens of eyes lurking in a few caves suddenly vanished into the darkness.

Cain breathed a huge sigh of relief as he swung into a cave he had emptied previously. This cave hadn't been destroyed by his {Flame Orbs} or {Imploding Stars}. Although it was still covered with the bodies of the vile creatures, he didn't care. He simply wanted to rest for a while.

"Damn it..."

Cursing for what felt like the thousandth time that day, Cain walked deeper into the cave. Since all the caves were connected, he walked a considerable distance before placing a hand on the cave wall.

The walls rumbled for a while before the gaping hole that led deeper into the darkness was suddenly filled with rubble. Cain had simply activated the {Divine Essence of Metallurgy} within the walls of the cave and collapsed them from the inside.

Taking a deep breath, Cain slowly slid down the wall and sat on the rocks. Pulling out a short spear that had been stuck inside his shoulder for some time, he gritted his teeth as the blood knitted into new flesh.

His stomach grumbled. He glanced at the corpse of a {Chaos Goblin} nearby and shook his head.

Instead, he quickly searched his inventory. There, he saw a rather huge slab of meat. He had gathered a rather large amount of branches within the Carden of Self-Reflection and thus, could easily start a fire anywhere to cook.

He arranged a few stones to form a circular structure and pulled out a bunch of the now dried-up twigs.

'My life was so simple before...' As he prepared all the necessities, Cain's thoughts turned bitter.

He had no idea whether he was supposed to call the {Draconic Transfiguration} skill a Divine curse or a Hellish Blessing.

He could feel his body improving every time he was healed, every time he ate, even when he was doing nothing. Although it wasn't noticeable immediately, he could sense that his constitution was slowly changing.

However, he has now constantly assaulted with a hunger that knew no bounds. The hunger of a divine beast...

'No wonder it is called Draconic Transfiguration. It is changing me from the inside out.' Cain thought bitterly.

Soon, the smell of cooking meat saturated the cave. Cain was unsure whether it would invite more troubles but he honestly couldn't care less. Anything that tried to disturb him as he was sulking was going to become an appetizer, no questions asked.

Once the meat was cooked, Cain dug in. Although there was no seasoning on the meat, it tasted heavenly.

It was truly proof of the old saying, 'No one can appreciate water like a man dying of thirst', or something like that...

In the blink of an eye, he had eaten a chunk of meat as large as one-eighth of an adult cow.

However, he wasn't done. He continued pulling out more and more meat from his inventory. After a while of eating, only a small portion of the original giant portion of raw meat was left.

Cain had a euphoric look of satisfaction on his face as he lay in the dark cave. Cain suddenly remembered the existence of the {Dark Soul}.

The poor guy had been in his shadow for a while, doing nothing but watching. However, Cain finally had some use for it.

It was time to scout the mountains. He had gone a considerable distance up the mountains after traveling for a little less than an hour. However, something told him that the higher he went, the more danger he would face.

That was why he needed information. He could only avoid danger if he noticed it beforehand.

The blood of darkness separated from his shadow and traveled through the darkness of the cave. The interior of the cave system was like paradise for this creature of darkness as it swam like a fish in water.

Cain closed his eyes. His hands moved, and a magic circle appeared at the other entrance of the cave. Almost immediately, a large metal wall covered it up.

Nodding in satisfaction, he let his body relax as he began looking through the eyes of the {Dark Soul}.

Cain watched as the creature eventually met up with the fleeing {Chaos Goblins}. The creatures made strange noises which Cain assumed to be their way of communication. However, for some reason, he couldn't understand a word of what they were saying.

'Isn't the system supposed to have an automatic translation property?' Cain thought.

{Replying to host: The system can only translate languages within its registry. Any other languages would have to be analyzed first, either by the host or by the system. However, it will take a rather long time for the system to analyze the new language}.

Cain just shook his head, 'It's been a while since I heard your voice, system...'

Apart from the frequent system prompts indicating a successful kill or an achievement, Cain realized he had been using the system's databank less frequently.

{Replying to host: The host has been trying his best to acquire information by himself, which can be considered a good thing as well}.

Cain raised a brow, 'What do you mean?'

{Repling to host: As the host ascends to higher Tiers, the quality of information the host can acquire becomes greater. However, the amount of said information decreases correspondingly. This is to encourage the host to seek out more means rather than being heavily dependent on the system. The system was designed to give only basic, yet vital help and information...}

Cain had a relaxed smile appear on his face, 'I see...'

Cain took a deep breath...

'In that case, can you tell me where I am?'

{Replying to host: Unfortunately, the host lacks the necessary amount of system points to access such information}.

Cain gritted his teeth, 'Then can you at least tell me if the story that bastard, Og-Solath, told me is true?'

The system went silent for a while...

{Replying to host: ...Yes}

Cain wanted to say something else, but he was quickly cut off by the system...

{However, he was not completely truthful. It would do the host good not to completely trust anything a devil, especially a primordial devil, has to say}.

Cain nodded sagely. He truly had been right to suspect the sneaky and insidious devil in the end.

Cain's brows shot up, 'Then can you tell me the full story?'

{Replying to host: This purchase will use up all the host's accumulated system points. Does the host still want to go forward with the purchase?}

Cain fell silent for a while before nodding with conviction, '...Yes'

{Replying to host: Purchase Successful...}

There was a brief pause...

{The story begins eons ago, long before the Thousand Millenium long war that shook the universe...}