God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 359: Discovering Secrets.

'That's ten now...'

A displeased frown made its way onto Cain's face as he mentally counted how many beastmen had disappeared into the mass of {Blood Abominations}. Cain had no doubt that they weren't dead yet. However, the fate they would be facing was going to be worse than death...

It was impossible for everyone to be saved. If they had someone with David's skills and spells, they would have been able to keep everyone alive. Unfortunately, the casualty rate was going to keep rising unless something was done.

'These guns are even faster than {Maelstrom}. They so consume less mana, so they are easily sustainable.'

When it came to killing the aerial aether beings, the guns used by Cain and the marksmen were superior. The only reason the entire beastman army was not currently in shambles was thanks to these weapons.

By targeting the creatures in the sky, they couldn't be attacked from above. Hence, the main army only had to worry about facing the land-borne creatures.

On the other hand, Floki, Galip, and Malcolm's army of beastmen were doing comparably worse. Although they weren't losing numbers rapidly yet, it was obvious that the only reason they were hanging on was thanks to the influence of the three leaders.

Floki was like an unstoppable war machine that slaughtered everything in his path. The moment Cain had first laid eyes on him, he knew that the giant of a man practiced a strange Ki Plundering technique that gave him the ability to cultivate a strange type of ice attribute Ki.

The moment the Ki began rolling off his body, it passively created an ice field that slowed down the movement of his enemies within that area. As such, he was the perfect candidate for pushing the army forward. This way, it was easier for the weaker beastmen to kill the stronger {Blood Abominations}.

Combined with the fact that every swing of his war hammer turned a dozen {Blood Abominations} into shattered ice sculptures, Floki was the perfect candidate for pushing them forward. However, he wasn't invincible...

His heavy armor was dyed with his blood as well as the blood of his enemies. The {Blood Abominations} were powerful creatures in their own rights as well.

Luckily for Floki, he had Malcolm...

A healer was always vital in every battle. After witnessing Malcolm's performance, Cain realized that he was the most powerful and versatile of the trio.

His ability to heal wasn't on par with Susan's. However, he made up for this with his incredible support. He had the ability to cast spells that slowed the enemies down, weakened them, or rendered their defenses useless. One of the spells he made use of the most frequently, was {Quicksand}, which temporarily restricted the movement of a large number of {Blood Abominations}.

He could also use various attack spells, although they were only useful for causing distractions and stunning temporarily.

Plus, he seemed to have an ability that gave him a bird's eye view of the entire battlefield. That way, he was able to respond timely to any tragedy that was about to occur...

Nevertheless, this wouldn't have been enough to push them forward and keep them alive...

Although Cain thought Galip was an arrogant idiot, he couldn't deny his abilities. What made Cain mindful of him the most was his speed. He was so fast, he turned into a literal blur on the battlefield. Wherever he passed, a trail of severely damaged corpses was left behind.

Combined with his ability to use a powerful toxin that killed with only a single blow, he was a true powerhouse on the battlefield.

Together, the three of them were actually able to gain an advantage despite their inferior weapons. However, once the pressure the horde put on them increased, they found themselves slowly losing ground.

All in all, despite their efforts, they were gradually being pushed back...

Cain wanted to gain back the momentum they had lost. And what better way to do this than to enter the fray himself?

Shaking his head, he reprimanded himself,

'Hold on. You need to hold off these flying bastards. If you don't, then the entire army will crumble in seconds.'

Now that Hunter had switched from long-range to melee combat, only he and Jenny were available to fend off the flying {Scarlet Blood Abominations}.

With their backs against one another, they emptied their bullets into the horde of flying creatures above them.

"They are too many. We can't hold them off much longer." Jenny yelled out suddenly.

Despite their efforts and the efforts of the other marksmen, there was only so much they could do against the flock of thousands.

Although only a limited number could attack them at a time, the moment one of them died, two more would take its place. It was getting harder and harder to keep up.

Cain thought about it for a moment. Then he turned to Susan,

"I need you to hold off as many of them for a minute."

Susan's forehead was filled with needs of sweat. Staring at Cain with a face filled with shock, she yelled at him,

"What?! I'm already street thing myself thin here!"

Truly, she was performing to the best of her abilities. Not only was she constantly healing those who were injured, but she was also providing timely support to those who needed it, preserving their numbers in the process. Asking anything more from her was like telling her to give up a limb.

Cain frowned, 'Hmmm...'

His mind spun as he tried to think of something. He couldn't stop attacking. However, he needed something big to clear up their airspace to give them some breathing room...

A grin appeared on his face as an idea popped into his head...

"Jenny, shoot them down faster!" Cain yelled out.

Rolling her eyes, Jemny's eyes took on a deeper shade of purple. Two magic circles appeared behind her, then manifested into two circular rings of metal with numerous engravings on them,

The earth seemed to tremble as the two rings began to spin violently, drawing in an insane amount of air into them. The metal rings began turning red hot as their speed picked up. Sparks of deep violet electricity rolled around them as they continued to speed up.

Throwing the two weapons in her hands up, she clenched her fists. The two rings of metal responded in tandem as they shot forward at a speed that broke the laws of common sense,

"Lightning Manipulation: Magnum Railgun!"

Cain's eyes remained wide open for a while as a portion of the creatures in the sky disappeared. The two rings of metal had turned molten as they shot forward at speeds greatly exceeding hypersonic.

The amount of energy they produced was enough to release several shockwaves that murdered several {Blood Abominations} that walked on the ground as well. Some beastmen would have died as well if not for Susan's timely support.

Her face pale, Jenny shot a glare at Cain as she caught her weapons and continued firing,

"I can only use that skill once or twice more. Hurry up!"

They were in the thick of battle, so there was no time to be worrying about how she got her hands on such a powerful skill.

Cain closed his eyes for a brief second and drew power from within. A whirling sensation blossomed in his chest. It wasn't something physical. Rather, it was ethereal and magical.

"Vault, Open..."

When his eyes snapped open, they were a vibrant golden color. For that brief moment when his eyes were closer, his mind had not been idle.

Rather, it had been working overtime...

Inlay magic was a special type of magic Cain and learned from Azazel, the Demon of Sorcery...

It was unlike any other sort of magic because it could be used to layer magic circles of different elemental properties to create a spell or skill that was mutually dependent on every element used in its creation.

To put it simply, it was a 'magic blender'. It could incorporate magics of different elemental orientations and turn them into a single, working spell. This same effect could be achieved with non-elemental mana as well. However, it wasn't quite as efficient and effective.

However, there was another special thing about inlay magic...

The magic circles didn't necessarily need to be of different elemental orientations...

Cain wasn't well versed in the magical skills of others. However, something he had come to observe, was that they all seemed so... basic. Although skills like the one Jenny had just executed and Evangeline's {Blood of Black Seperation} were beyond reasoning, those types of skills were exceptions to the rule.

For most of them, there was little to no complexity involved. Even though all of his spells and skills were created using Tier 0 magic circles, that didn't mean they had to be basic. He himself was a victim of this. Most of his spells were just basic applications of an elemental property.

But that was about to change...

The foundations of all things complex were fundamental in nature...

And as such, Cain wondered...

'The metal element was one of the most incomparable elements when it comes down to pure versatility...'

'Metal is malleable in nature. It could be molded to fit any requirements, and there were countless types of it with numerous variations in composition and properties...'

All these thoughts ran through his head in just a fraction of a second. And the part of his consciousness that was in charge of modifying and creating new spells and skills began acting up. It spun and wove a complex spell that was just an application of the {Dovine Essence of Metallurgy} combined with the preexisting magic circles within the firearm itself.

His eyes still consumed by a sheen of gold, he pointed the two guns to the sky...

Two magic circles appeared in front of the muzzles...

'I can feel it...'

In the heat of battle, he could feel that he had touched upon one of the infinite secrets of magic...

A multifold magic circle...

All the metal elemental mana within the Vault was drained in an instant. It all flowed through his body, into the guns through the numerous runes and sigils on the handle, then became concentrated in the chamber before Cain pressed down on the trigger...

"Divine Essence of Metallurgy: Golden Firmament..."

***

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...