God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 374: Cain.

Hunter ran with as much speed as he could muster. Leaping over small craters that had been made during the fight, he quickly approached the large gorge Stingè had created before the fight had begun.

'Come on...'

He didn't have a lot of time on his hands. Gritting his teeth, he fell on all fours and began running like a hound straight out of hell.

'Arghhh!'

Running like this felt humiliating. Despite the power he had gotten from training this new form, he had always felt unpleased with it.

In his eyes, he had been reduced to the same status as an animal. When he had come across the legacy of one of the most powerful beings in the universe, he had trembled with excitement. Visions of glory were all on his mind.

It provided him great strength. However, the cost of all that was his apparent humanity...

'Damn it all!'

Now, that sacrifice seemed like a waste...

Despite his injuries, he was still running at supersonic speed, he left shockwaves behind as he leaped across the gorge. His eyes were ablaze with flames, like hot coals.

No matter how much pain he was going through, he continued to persevere. After all, he had a mission to complete.

'Just what did he plan? Something tells me it will be absolutely devastating. No... It will be something devastating. If not, he wouldn't have been so urgent about it.'

Gritting his teeth, Hunter endured the pain and landed on his hands and legs. Without even wasting a single moment, he dashed into the horde of {Blood Abominations} and began a killing spree.

Even though he was engaged in the heat of battle, his mind was cold,

'But what could it be? A secret weapon? Or spell? No... Nothing like that would be enough to take care of that guy.'

Snapping a neck with his huge arms, he continued on,

'Then... Whatever it was must be the cause of that earthquake.'

Hunter was smart, so he was quick to link the two occurrences together. When the tremor had spread through the ground, Cain didn't seem perturbed. Instead, it was almost as though...

' ...As though he anticipated it!'

Finally, Hunter could see his goal. With a powerful leap, he dodged numerous attacks aimed at him and approached the light shield that had been protecting Susan and the others.

Upon seeing him, a pale-faced Susan's eyes turned wide open. Her air was wet with blood, and there was a long gash across her face. Still, an arrow of light was aimed at a {Blood Abomination} that tried to attack the shield.

"Hunter!" She yelled out to him.

Because she couldn't undo the shield just yet, she could only watch him fend off the numerous beasts after his life. Floki and Galip, who both sported injuries of varying intensity seemed surprised to see him as well.

However, there was no time for words...

The moment he saw them, Hunter knew there was no more time to waste. After all, the {Shadoe Gate} was already activated. Which meant there was not a lot of time left. He ran towards the shield with all his might.

'Pathetic.'

Hunter's eyes glazed over...

A terribly cold feeling gripped his heart. He didn't want to accept it before, but upon seeing the others, he folded,

'I'm... running away.'

He was running. Not because Cain told him so, but because he didn't want to die. Although he was appreciative of Cain for saving his life and giving him his limbs back, he didn't want to throw his life away here.

No, he couldn't!

It wasn't something he could do, as he wasn't the owner of his life. Some things needed to be done before he could finally rest.

'I am a coward.'

Indeed, he was. He was running away from the fight. He gritted his teeth,

'If only I was more powerful!'

If he was, he could have done something. He recognized that look in Cain's eyes.

'He... He was ready to die.'

Hunter had always seen Cain as someone without convictions. He mostly did things at a whim, and his behavior and actions were very erratic. Despite Cain's talents, he was limited by one thing.

His lack of a goal or direction...

Hunter had been convinced that because he had a goal and direction, he was stronger than Cain, in a way. Even if Cain had managed to become stronger now, he felt he would eventually win in the long run.

But now...

Now, he knew just how mistaken he was. Sure, Cain was directionless, and he didn't have any convictions. He didn't seem like he could torture kids and women. However, he wasn't a savior.

His eyes showed that he would try to take an advantage where he could find one. However, he knew he wasn't someone who would betray teammates...

'He might lack conviction. But he is stronger... Stronger than I'll ever be.'

The world had become a cruel and unforgiving haven for insane beasts and wicked Devils. Strength was king, the law of the land...

And yet, he, who was weaker, had the privilege to run like a coward and survive...

He was nothing more than a beast then...

However, he could live with that. He wasn't a man of virtue. If he was, he wouldn't have been called the dog of the underworld by some. Anything and everything goes when it came to survival. That was one of the principles he had operated by.

This shouldn't have been any different...

However, that sour feeling in his heart only continued to grow stronger every second that went by...

Shadows poured out from the ground to form a magic circle that enveloped the ground beneath the group of Susan, Jenny, Ignis, Floki, and Galip, as well as Hunter and a few {Blood Abominations}.

{Shadow Gate} had been activated...

Hunter gritted his teeth as the torrent of shadows enveloped him. A moment later, his expression became serene. The cold part of his mind had resumed work.

Regardless of how he felt emotionally, there was one conclusion he had managed to come to after all this.

'If he survives this crapshow, then he can survive anything. And in the event he does, I'll place all my chips on him.'

He was making a promise to himself. If he wanted his dreams to become a reality, he had to up the stakes a bit. Anyone who could survive this impossible situation was worthy of not only his respect but also his complete loyalty.

'Show me what you got, Cain!'

The shadows swallowed him whole...

***

Stingè stared at the large figure that had been sliced by his powerful attack with narrowed eyes.

'I see...'

He then turned to Cain who now had the world's widest shit-eating grin on his face.

"Told you..." Cain said with a chuckle.

Stingè sighed, "I should have killed you from the start."

Cain smirked, "What? Are you scared of a larger-than-average worm now? What happened to all that gusto, huh?"

Cain knew he was no match for Stingè. From their first interaction, he could tell there was no way he would beat him, despite how strong he had become.

He needed a trump card...

As such, he realized he needed to make certain arrangements to deal with Stingè, if worst came to worst.

When he had thought about it, he could only repeatedly come to a single solution. And that was to make the creature slumbering in the depths of the mountain kill Stingè in his stead.

The only problem with this plan was that the creature would probably kill him and everybody else before it attacked Stingè.

This conclusion had formed the basis of all his tactics...

First, make the {Blood Abomination} army believe they were going to make use of an all-out charge to escape. Then make use of Evangeline to transport the beastmen away, leaving only their leaders who had planned to escape, leaving them as bait to buy time for their own escape.

The next part involved confronting Stingè and making him stay long enough for the others to escape. Then, he would use numerous {Black Egg} explosives to destroy the cavern the unidentified creature slumbered in, thereby, waking it up.

Cain reasoned that since the creature would be angry when it had been awoken so rudely, it would attack the person most likely to cause it harm, which was the strongest person in the vicinity, which was coincidentally Stingè.

Using that commotion, he would then escape right under both their noses. It was brilliant in his eyes.

However, not all brilliant plans turned out exactly as it was envisioned...

However, he needed to make sure that Stingè died. It had to happen...

Stingè's eyes were like scalding knives. If gazes could kill, every atom in Cain's body would be destroyed beyond redemption.

"To think a single idiot would cause me this much damage," Stingè said with a fight.

With a flourish of his spear, he turned to face the giant worm that let out the largest shriek Cain had ever heard,

"Looks like I should get serious now. But first..."

Pointing a finger at Cain's chest, Stingè fired off an {Idle Slash} but concentrated the area of attack to a single point...

Cain's smile turned wider, "Looks like this is it for-"

BANG!"

A huge hole opened up on the ground behind Cain...

Cain's words were stuck in his throat and were replaced with a torrent of blood.

'Straight... for... the... heart, huh...'

Stingè's attack had completely obliterated everything in its path, which included Cain's heart.

'I'm tired.'

His eyelids were heavy. He wanted to sleep.

And so he did...

His head drooping, he fell to the ground. The moment he hit the ground, he was already dead.

Stingè clicked his tongue, "That is for causing me so much trouble."

Turning his attention back to the huge aether beast that had arisen from its slumber, he spoke in an incredibly dark and chilly voice, his face sporting a wicked grin,

"Time for a hunt..."