God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 286: Energy-Freezing Field.

Describing {Hell's Nexus} with a few words would be taking the maximum power {Abyssal Crimson Slash}, concentrating it to the edge of his blade, and slashing forward with so much speed, that time fails to take into account that the attack had even happened.

However, this attack takes its victim straight to the underworld. No stops, checkpoints, or comebacks. It was a complete killer move...

At least, it was supposed to be...

Cain's mind was filled with the utmost concentration. And that was why he was able to hear it...

The slightest tinkering of a bell. It was so faint, it was almost like it didn't exist. However, what happened next shocked him.

One of the after-effects of executing {Hell's Nexus}, was that for just a brief moment, he would possess a perception that could match up with the speed of his blade.

At that moment, he was able to see it. A face appeared on the black back of the tree. Then another, and another. These faces were not humanoid. Some were so strange and vile, that Cain couldn't even begin to imagine what creatures they came from.

However, Cain came to an unsettling conclusion. All these faces were screaming in anguish and horror. Like they wanted to be let out of an eternal prison.

Cain suddenly heard the bell again. Then an astonishing magic circle appeared behind the tree. Unlike other magic circles he had seen before, this one was very unique.

'What the hell is this?!'

The magic circle was in the shape of a pentagram enclosed within the image of a dying tree. Its lines looked as though they were drawn with blood. Although magic circles were mostly ethereal in form, this one looked very physical. Just like the golden gather had once seen in a dream. Probably...

'Is it about to activate a skill?! What skill but it's going to die soon! Just to be safe, I'll activate {Seal} and...!'

Cain's thoughts were scrambled, but he was able to hear the next sounds. And for some reason, he was certain the words came from the abhorrent and evil tree before him,

"Wheel, Expand..."

Cain suddenly felt all his energy leave him. His Ki, Mana, and Devil essence. Everything simply disappeared. No, a more accurate would be that they returned his body, and were sealed within, just like how he had felt when he first arrived on Prometheus.

'W-what?!'

"Tremble of the Nightmare Bud..."

The world became slightly dim and the cold wind picked up speed.

Cain heard the voice chant again. He recognized the first incantation it used. It was the same one the Primordial Devil, Og-Solath had used to turn into a terrifyingly large devil and open the barrier that turned the Garden of Self-Reflection into an eternal prison.

Cain could explain many things, but never before had he experienced something like that.

A talking tree!

Of course, {Hell's Nexus} was deactivated, and the huge blade simply scraped against the bark of the blade.

Cain's face went pale. To his surprise, not only was he affected by this, but Evangeline and the {Golden Spine Gorilla} were also affected.

"What was that?! What are you doing here?!" She said as she tanked a blow from the huge Aether beasts that sent her flying. Flipping gracefully through the air, her legs drew grooves through the ground. Zhe had been him leading the other Aether beasts away, so she was surprised seeing him.

She was also a bit mad, "Didn't we agree you'd chime in with support now and then?"

Cain rolled his eyes as he wiped a layer of sweat away from his forehead,

"You could manage for a few minutes. Besides, I had a plan..."

Evangeline turned her sights back to face the large aether beast. Her eyes then turned to face the huge tree in the center of the even larger pit.

"That plan didn't go very well, did it?"

Cain had a bitter look on his face, "I think we might be dealing with something far above our abilities. I think we should leave..."

Evangeline immediately shut his suggestion down, "We must see this through till the end."

Cain gritted his teeth, "Not if we come out dead!"

Without turning back to him, Evangeline dashed forward. For some reason, they were unable to use any energy. Cain knew for a fact it had something to do with the giant magic circle behind the tree.

He tried using the system to pull some information about it out, but nothing came up.

'Shit!' Cain slapped himself over and over in his head. He was still acting so recklessly. And now he was about to pay the price...

Cain didn't hesitate any longer as he dashed forward as well. The huge {Scale of The Abyssal Flame} cut through the air and slammed into the shoulder of the occupied {Golden Spine Gorilla}.

Evangeline threw him a surprised glance, but Cain didn't turn to face her,

"We have a little over three minutes to take this thing down. Anything more than that, and we will be back to square one."

"Say less..."

Cain and Evangeline immediately got to work. Cain was unable to use his Ki and devil essence. As such, the blade in his hand weighed more than a ton. It felt so heavy in his hand. However, he was still able to swing it gracefully. Since he entered this place, his stats had leaped and shot through the roof.

Wielding the heavy blade was not too much for him anymore. And fighting without his skills and abilities made him realize something.

For some reason, he kept finding himself in situations where he was restricted in one way or the other.

'So infuriating...' Cain thought to himself.

Despite the attacks they dealt to the creatures there wasn't even a single tear on its tough hide.

Cain gritted his teeth, "What were you doing all this while?! This thing isn't even damaged!"

Evangeline's face was expressionless, "It is stronger than I thought. Taking it down will require some more time."

"Time that we do not have..." Cain said through gritted teeth...

"Then what do you propose we do?" Evangeline said, dodging out of the way as a large fist slammed down into the ground.

Cain was speechless...

'This girl is crazy! She is batshit crazy!'

However, he took a deep breath in and cleared his mind. This wasn't the time to berate her. Instead, he had to think.

Staring at the {Golden Spine Gorilla}, he could see that the madness and anger within its eyes was still contained.

'First, we get this bug guy angry...'

Cain dashed forward and slashed with all his might. The attack was powered by nothing but his pure physical strength.

'Since I can't use my powers, I'll beat you to death!'

Cain turned into a hurricane of metal as his body sidestepped the area of the creature and his blade turned into a shadow that floated behind him, striking the aether beast occasionally. Evangeline wasn't a step slower as she held a large halberd in her hands. Cain had never seen her use it before. He had seen her use a short sword and daggers, and this was a first for him.

Together, they rained hell down on the {Golden Spine Gorilla} the creature snarled angrily as it finally began to feel something more than dull pain. However, the annoying insects were just too small, fast, and slippery.

"I have a plan. Just trust me..." Cain said to Evangeline suddenly...

Cain could see a conflicted look flash in her eyes, but she relented and nodded not even a second later. They were running low on time and had barely a minute left.

Cain returned the nod...

Then turned around and dashed toward the large tree. Before he had even taken three steps, a wave of bloodlust so thick and viscous slammed into his back, nearly making him trip. Deep fear was ignited in his heart as he realized the creature had completely abandoned Evangeline and was now after him.

However, that was what he was after...

Pouring all his strength into his feet, the passive effects of the {Abhoreent Devil Enchanted Gloves} as well as {Gravity Defying}. His body shot forward like a bat out of hell.

He felt the air around his body heat up slightly as he dashed at the tree. They arrived at the large tree in a split second. If Cain looked back, he would have been created with a bone-chilling sight. The {Golden Spine Gorilla} was already upon him, its large maws spread open to devour him. A millisecond later, he would disappear into its mouth and be crushed by its jaws.

Cain suddenly stomped on the ground. His body immediately became airborne as he flew at the tree that was located at the center of the pit. The circumference of the tree was about a tenth of that of the pit. This meant that to get to the tree, crossing this chasm was of utmost importance.

In its mad fury, the {Golden Spine Gorilla} had forgotten the narrowing evil of the tree and was now airborne as well. Cain turned back and without any hesitation, slashed.

The rough edge of the blade came crashing down on its skull and Cain immediately felt a tremor pass through his bones. Blood flowed from the sides of his mouth, but he didn't relent.

His body was pushed to the limit as he and the large creature exchanged many blows midair. It lasted less than a second second, but in that moment, the were already halfway through the wide distance of the pit.

Cain's eyes became wide as his muscles suddenly tensed. Stepping on the creature's body, he pushed himself up and was now above it. The creature snarled wildly as it threw another blow at him. It's heavy fist came crashing down on him, and the bones in his left hand finally gave way, snapping in half. He let out a suppressed yell but he had already achieved his goal.

He threw the blade down with burning anger and all his strength. Although it wasn't enough to kill it, the force was able to kill its horizontal momentum and send it straight down.

At first, the aether beast looked a bit confused. However, once its eyes cleared and its anger faded away, it looked down and Cain could almost swear he saw the damned gorilla's face become pale.

The creature let out a yelp of fear as it clawed upward as though it was trying to beg for mercy. However, there was no support for it to hold onto. It plunged mercilessly into the hole.

Cain frowned as well. Just what could make the huge and terrifying creature so scared. Cain got his answers immediately.

The magic circle, or whatever he thought it was suddenly expanded. A large, veiny vine shot through it and held onto his leg. Before he could even register what was going on, his body was dragged into the deep, deep abyssal pit in the ground...