God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 348: Prepare For Battle! (3).

The moment Cain stopped speaking, two shadows moved at lightning speed.

Floki's eyes glowed with a vibrant blue, while Galip stuck his tongue out as a viscous poison coated the edges of his serrated blades.

They moved so fast, that barely anyone in the hall had time to respond. Barely, but not everyone...

In a split second, Hunter, Jenny, and Susan made their moves...

Hunter's form changed slightly. His tail turned bushier, his fangs and claws grew out, and his eye became as scalding as magma.

With just a single step he was before Floki, swinging a left hook...

Jenny simply pulled out her sniper rifle and aimed it at Malcolm, who was still seated at the table, unmoving, but with a very dark expression on his face.

Susan wanted to go after Galip, but she hesitated for a second, causing him to close the distance rather quickly.

A sinister grin spread across the reptilian's eyes as he chanted a spell under his breath,

"Flesh Erosion!"

He was going to stick his blade into Cain's flesh and watch as he crumpled to the ground, gasping for air as his face turned pale and bloodless, whilst black, putrid blood leaked out his nose as he tried to beg for his wretched life.

However, reality didn't play out the way he imagined...

Instead, his body became overwhelmed with fear as he came to a halt. For some reason, he felt that should he take another step, he would more than likely, lose his head immediately.

A slightly rusty, yet seductive voice swam into his ears,

"If you move, you'll leave your head behind."

'Where?! Where is that sound coming from?!'

His sharp eyes darted around for a second before he noticed the dagger and short swords that were already at both sides of his neck, ready to end his life at a moment's notice.

'A-an Assassin?!' Galip screamed in his mind silently.

Ignoring the panicking Galip, Cain turned to face Malcolm who was still seated, with a very dark and ugly expression on his face,

"So you are the ring leader, huh."

Malcolm chuckled, however, the expression on his face was extremely terrifying,

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

Cain shrugged, "Pretend all you will. It won't help either way. All I'm really interested in is knowing if you'd like to fall under my wings..." He said, his eyes fixated on the wings behind Malcolm.

An eyebrow twitching, Malcolm spoke through gritting teeth,

"No need."

Then, he turned to Floki, who was being suppressed by Hunter. Despite the big guy's huge stature he simply couldn't handle Hunter's frosty, speed and insane strength.

"Floki, stop."

The large beastman jumped backwards to disengage. He glared at Hunter with vicious eyes,

"How did you get so powerful?!"

Hunter silently stared at him, not saying a single word. Malcolm then turned to Evangeline,

"May I please ask that you don't chop this man's ear off?"

Seeing Cain give her a look, she rolled her eyes, then disappeared into the shadows, leaving behind the fear-saturated Galip on the group, his face filled with sweat and rage.

'That bitch! I'll kill her! I'll fucking KILL HER!'

Still, his mouth stayed shut, not daring to say anything...

Cain threw him a sideways glance,

'Coward...'

Every beastman in the hall fell silent. No one would have ever foreseen this change of events. The silence was so loud, no one dared to breathe. They all just stood, watching, waiting for the next action to happen...

Turning his attention back to Malcolm, Cain smiled sweetly,

"You were saying?"

Malcolm tried to suppress his anger,

"I don't know what you want. However, I'd like you to please leave me out of it. I have nothing against you, so I won't stand in your way."

Cain raised a brow in suspicion,

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." He said, this time, with a calmer expression.

'Do what you want. However, don't expect me to help you in any way.' Cain got the message crystal clear.

Cain had no idea why these beastmen were doing all this. If he thought about it deeply, trying to escape alongside eight hundred men would be a hassle. They might even lose a few men along the way. However, some of them would make it out eventually. They had somehow managed to escape. Surely, they would be able to do it again, right?

Cain knew Malcolm, Floki, and Galip were not stupid. Rather, the trio were quite devious and intelligently cunning.

'Perhaps they just couldn't be bothered with them. Taking advantage would be the safer and easier option as well.'

If it was a few months ago, Cain's thought patterns would have surely been going in that direction. However, now, he had come to realize that while it might not seem like it now, manpower would become quite scarce in the near future.

"As long as you understand." Cain paused, then threw a strange glance at Malcolm.

'His eyes... He has a {Devil Eye} as well?'

Cain knew his words shouldn't have been enough to get Malcolm to back down. Hence, he had been ready to use some force if necessary.

But that didn't seem necessary anymore as Malcolm wasn't up for it. Then, he had noticed the peculiar, but familiar nature of his eyes and had concluded it had something to do with his {Devil Eye} ability. Because of his own {Eye of Clairvoyance}, he had the ability to see through the true nature of things. He could see the things that were hidden beneath the surface.

Hence, sensing something like this was a piece of cake.

Cain turned to Jenny who had pointed the muzzle of her gun away from Malcolm's head, allowing the avian to finally suck in a fresh breath of air as sweat rolled down his face.

She immediately got the hint, and with a smiles she turned to face the crowd. Her beauty seemed to enchant them all. Regardless of how hurt they were by the betrayal of the women on the central island, Jenny had somehow manage to get some of them to trust her completely. Some of them even looked at her with deep reverence and some other complex, less savory emotions in their eyes.

When she spoke, the entire room became quiet,

"You have all seen and heard. Now it is time to decide. Those who want to join us, who desire to fight for their chance at living, step up."

Cain had initially thought that since they had only been here for less than a day, it was impossible for Jenny to gain the trust of a lot of the beastmen, especially considering their hostile mentality towards women.

He had greatly underestimated her...

He remembered her telling him some time ago that she was great with handling people. She was. She was better that great. She was so good at it, it was a bit terrifying...

Much to everyone's surprise, numerous men from each baseman camp flooded into Hunter's. It didn't matter what they looked like. Avians, reptilians, or even bipedal fureu creatures. They all took that step mainly because of one person... Susan.

Cain was shook turning to the beautiful with the long black hair and incredible cleavage, he couldn't help but ask,

"This... What exactly did you tell all these guys?"

A small, yet proud smile surfaced on her lips as she confidently proclaimed,

"It was no big deal, really. All these men needed was hope, and I showed them that the only person that can provide it to them... is you."

Cain scratched his head, "Er... You flatter me. I have no intention of giving them hope. I'm just giving their fates back to them."

Jenny rolled her eyes,

"That's what hoe is, dummy..."

Cain couldn't help but make a strange face at this. Seeing this, Jenny chuckled a bit,

"Alright. I managed to convince a lot of them that you are an apostle of the god the now involuntarily worship, Pluto, and that you came to heal them and deliver them from their ill fates."

Cain felt the urge to bash his head against a wall,

"So you were the one who spread the rumor?"

"Indeed... I also had help from Hunter and his men." She said, puffing out her full chests.

Cain stared at her for a while before letting out a sigh,

"Still, it worked wonders."

Cain was impressed. Who would have know that something so simple would be so effective. However, it really wasn't all that simple. If Caij didn't heal Hunter and the rest of them up, it would have been impossible for something like this to happen.

Things had gone so smoothly because Cain had proven that he had the power to back his claims up.

When the disturbances in the hall finally came to a standstill, the results were quite shocking...

A decent amount from Floki's camp had defeated to Hunter's. Malcolm's camp had also lost a decent number, while Galip's camp only had about a dozen or so defectors. Despite this, all three had equally dark looks on their faces as they watched their former comrades stare at them from the other side of the table.

'Seems like they weren't very united.'

The law of the jungle...

The strong eat the weak, and the weak serve the strong. Those who were more blessed by the Lord Pluto received more enhancements. They were far stronger, faster, their eye sights were more keen, their senses were clearer, or they could fly faster.

The rest... were forced to live under their feet and be bossed around daily. As such, there was no real camaraderie between these men. Rather, they were simply brought together by their need to stay alive long enough to return back to Urbus.

Malcolm stared at Cain, a dark, sinister look in his eyes as they turned even blacker,

"This isn't over, Cain."

Cain grinned and nodded, "Indeed it isn't."