God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 358: Herding Call.

The {Blood Abominations} we're very strange creatures...

They had three twisted horns on their heads, a mouthful of razor-sharp fangs, a long serpentine tail, as well as two pairs of black beady goat eyes. They were covered in a mismatched connection of fur and metal scales. They also stood on their hind legs resembling that of a mountain goat, and their forelimbs were huge muscular arms that ended with three sharp claws.

The most harrowing thing about them was their blood-red complexion. It was as though they were newly baptized with fresh, putrid blood,

***

{Blood Abomination}: Level 90 (Deadly)

Strength: 1,200

Agility: 1,750

Defense: 200

HP: 23,000/23,000

Aether: 2,000/2,000

Skills: Corrosive Blood, Physique Augmentation, Herding Call.

***

As Ignis used are incredibly powerful body and devastating magical attacks to tear through the {Blood Abomination} army, Cain and Hunter were focused on something else entirely...

The flying abominations above the main army were not as numerous as the ones on land. And much to Cain's surprise, they were not a different breed of Aether beasts. Rather, they were the second evolution of the {Blood Abominations}...

***

{Scarlet Blood Abomination}: Level 95 (Deadly)

Strength: 1,400

Agility: 2,150

Defense: 190

HP: 20,000/20,000

Aether: 4,000/4,000

Skills: Corrosive Blood Toxin, Physique Augmentation, Blood Cannon, Herding Call.

***

There were quite a few changes between this type of {Blood Abomination} and the regular ones.

For one, they could fly...

They looked exactly like regular {Blood Abominations}, except for the leathery bat-like wings on their backs that enabled flight.

Another thing was the difference in skills. It was the same for the most part. However, there were quite a few changes that made Cain quite cautious...

'Still...'

He could think about them later. For now, his mind was occupied with a single thought. How quickly could he kill these flying abominations?

His trigger finger danced wildly as he sent bolt after bolt of golden death into the dark skies. For every bullet that was released from the chamber of the {Hand of Midas}, a {Scarlet Blood Abomination} fell from the sky. It took nothing more than a single bullet to end the life of a single one of them...

'I can fire nothing more than a single bullet every second.'

Although the magic weapons had an insane amount of damage, the mechanisms within the handguns required time to work. The magic circles engraved on the {Forx Stones}needed mana to reach them before they could function. Hence, there was an obvious delay time.

Hunter was also killing the {Blood Abominations} at a rather decent speed. His arrows always struck true. Jenny was downing them just as fast as Cain, if not quicker.

The plan was to make Cain, Hunter, Jenny, as well as a few marksmen focus on handling the flying abominations, while the rest of the marksmen as well as Ignis and the Sword and Spearmen handled the I'd on the ground.

As the tanks pushed against the layers of snarling and biting creatures, they began losing momentum. Despite how much of an advantage they had initially gained, they still couldn't compare to these absolutely vile and powerful creatures.

One of the {Blood Abominations} stretched its muscular, clawed hands and pushed one of the heavy tower shields, pushing it and its owner back by several steps, causing the poor beastman to cough up a worrying amount of blood.

Just as the creature was about to land another blow, a soothing radiance fell upon the baseman with the tower shield. As the powerful fist fell, the tower shield was adjusted to deflect most of the force behind the attack.

Behind the shield, the beastman who had a bony carapace on his back resembling that of an armadillo yelled with a furious expression as he pushed forward with all his strength, throwing the aether beast off balance.

Two spears and a terribly sharp sword struck forward and pierced the sides and the chest of the creature...

Letting out a roar of pain and anger, the creature tried to fight them off. Despite the damage it had just taken, its defenses and vitality made it such that these wounds were not life-threatening in the slightest.

A loud noise blasted into the ears of the tank and melee fighters as a bullet made of a spinning ball of magically smoldering flames shot right through the head of the creature, killing it in an instant.

Corrosive blood spewed everywhere, but the sword and specimen were quick to react and hid behind the huge tower shield.

"Thanks, man! You saved our tails..." One of the spearmen said, a grateful smile on his face as he addressed the marksman who had saved their lives.

Pulling his sword out of the creature's chest, the swordsman flourished his blade to get rid of the corrosive blood,

"To think those guns are so powerful. Even the ones we had acquired from before can't even measure up in the slightest."

"Of course! That's because they were handmade by the Lord's apostle himself, Lord Cain..." The tower shield-bearing tank said with a grin as he tanked another hit from a huge {Blood Abomination}.

"I thought it was just rumors..." The other Spearman said, his face filled with fear as he stabbed forward.

The {Blood Abomination} knocked his spear to the side and tried to reach for him. However, at that moment, a wave of smoldering heat arrived and washed over the creature, leaving nothing but charred ground and black bones.

Ignis glared at the group of men, "Stop yapping and start fighting. Put your backs into it, damn it!"

Started by Ignis' sudden intervention, the men began attacking with even more fervor. In a similar fashion, Cain and the others continued to attack and move forward.

'Things are far easier this way...'

The entire army moved like a well-oiled machine thanks to Cain and the others taking on the brunt of the {Blood Abomination} army.

Cain's guns blazed violently as the bullets ripped through beast after beast, felling them like rotten trees.

Still, he couldn't help but think that things were go into to smoothly. Soon, his suspicions were confirmed...

His senses tingled vibrantly as he sensed something. Hunter and Jenny's faces also change as they sense a drastic change in the {Blood Abomination} army.

"Crap..."

Almost instantly, the pressure they were facing tripled. {Herding Call} he'd been activated...

They had intended to simply plow through the ring made by the {Blood Abomination} army. As though they could sense their intentions, the part of the enforcement that was under pressure was immediately reinforced, greatly increasing the amount of creatures they had to kill.

Shrill screams and yells of anguish and pain erupted all over as a few beastmen were overpowered and torn to shreds in but a split second. Most of them didn't even have time to cry out before twhir limbs were torn away and they disappeared into the horde of {Blood Abominations}.

Cain's face twisted as a savage grin appeared on his face,

"That's more like it..."

There was no longer any need for words...

His knees bent slightly as he pushed up, jumping over the layer of tower shields that were struggling to hold onto dear life.

'I can't activate any spells that can affect t a large area. But what I can do, is kill these things as fast as possible...'

A spark of lightning drowned his figure as the centerpiece lodged onto his chest plates began to glow brightly. Sparks flew as Cain's figure disappeared.

Everything around him seemed to slow down. The wind brushing across his face seemed thicker than usual. Feeling the rough grip of the huge handgun in his hand, he tightened his grip.

Although he was stuck with a firing rate of a single bullet per second, that was only because of his own speed, as well as the mana flow rate he could produce.

A torrent of mana exploded out of him as he pulled down on the trigger...

A shower of golden bullets erupted from the muzzle of the guns in his hands. {Blood Abominations} fell to the ground like flies as Cain reaped their lives like he was doing a mundane chore like cutting grass...

Because of the speed he was moving, as well as his control over his mana dropping, his accuracy fell so he couldn't kill with a single shot anymore. However, even if they weren't killed, the {Blood Abominations} that he shot at were injured severely enough that it made killing them easier for the beastmen.

"He's definitely worked up," Jenny said with a chuckle. Spinning the guns in her hands in a flashy display of skill, her eyes took on an eerie, yet beautiful glow as a magic circle appeared on the barrel and muzzle of the guns in her hands.

"Rapid Culling..."

With a single chant, a rain of bullets flew out of her guns like tongues of fire, far exceeding what Cain could do even with his incredible increase in speed...

Hunter grinned as he dismissed his bow,

"I was never a fan of fighting from the back lines anyways..."

His figure morphed as he transformed into his half-beast form. A ferocious growl rumbled deep from his throat as he turned into a phantom and disappeared into the ocean of writhing crimson bodies.

Limbs and heads flew as Hunter turned into a killing machine. Blood stained the hard, coarse earth as different beings, aether beasts and beastmen alike, fell to the ground, never to rise again...

Despite how powerful this small concentrated force of Cain's was, it was still a fool's errand to go up against so many deadly creatures at once.

Nevertheless, Cain was no fool...

Susan unleased another spell that revitalized the tiring tanks,

'They clearly won't last much longer. There's only so much they can do without any reliable power to call their own.'

The beastmen were not strong. Although they had tremendous physical strength and capabilities, they still couldn't hold a candle to the insane physique of the {Blood Abominations}.

It was inevitable that they would begin to tire out. And once this began to happen, tragedy would undoubtedly strike...

***

Author's Note: What's up, everyone. It's your favorite author here!

So, I was thinking of doing something special this month since this is the first month of the year. Before the month runs out, I will be doing a special mass release.

For every 1000 coins worth of gifts, I will be posting three extra chapters. For example, if you gift this book a Dragon, I will be posting six extra chapters before the month runs out. However, the absolute limit I can get to is 5000 coins, which will equate to 15 extra chapters as I am not Superman.

So if you really like this book, and you are interested in reading more of it, SHOW SOME LOVE AND GIVE ME A MOTIVATIONAL PUSH!!! ?

Thank y'all for the timeless support. I'm looking forward to some positive feedback...