God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 387: Returning through the Rift (1).

Cain was supported through the shadows by Evangeline.

"You know, taking all this work on yourself all the time isn't a good idea." Evangeline suddenly said as they traveled through the shadows.

Taking in the surreal feeling of being dragged through the illusive shadows of the fragmented lands, Cain answered absentmindedly,

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Evangeline shrugged, "Always taking on the responsibility of risking your life will be the death of you one day."

Cain chuckled, 'Ha! That already happened!'

Clearing his throat, he gave Evangeline an answer to her unspoken question,

"If you are asking why I like fighting the biggest and the worst of them all, it's nothing complicated. Growth..."

Evangeline's lips trembled, "Haha... You bastard."

Cain grinned, "If fighting and killing strong beings makes me stronger, then I have no problems with it."

Evangeline chuckled, "Don't you think that's being a little bit greedy?"

Cain snorted, "So what if I'm being greedy?"

"Well now that I'm here, I won't let you keep hoarding all the good stuff," Evangeline said with a smile.

Although Cain couldn't see her face, he could tell she was in a good mood.

'What's got her all excited?'

After some time of traveling through the shadows, they finally stepped back into reality.

Cain was greeted with a rather awkward sight. Susan was glaring at him with slightly red eyes, while Jenny had a relieved look on her face. Ignis looked like she didn'care either way...

"Start talking. What happened?!" Without even waiting for him to finish stepping through the shadows, Susan moved quickly and stood in front of him, yelling with a rather stern expression.

Caught completely by surprise, he had no idea how to respond...

"Why did you think running off to fight by yourself was a good idea, you idiot?! What if you git yourself killed?!"

Cain managed to mutter out, "W-well, that wasn't my fault at all. We were just forced into uncomfortable circumstances, so I had to make adjustments to the plan."

Susan glared harshly, "Still, that isn't enough reason."

Grabbing his arm, Susan drew a deep breath and shut her eyes,

"Your vitality is extremely weak right now. You need to rest and recover."

Evangeline let out a sigh, "Don't worry. He isn't going to break apart."

Turning her burning eyes to Evangeline, her words were terse,

"Thank you. For bringing him back..."

Evangeline merely shrugged, "I didn't need to do much, really. The battle was already over before I even got there."

Cain tried to protest as he was led away by Susan,

"Wait... I..."

"Shut it!"

However, his attempts at a protest were shut down. Due to how exhausted he was, he couldn't escape from Susan's vice-like grip.

With a sigh, he could only be obediently led away...

Before that, he gave Pudding a command. It was suspicious how the fat, pink worm hadn't been noticed by anyone yet.

Detaching itself from his leg, the {Amethyst Silkworm} created a hole using its corrosive saliva and dug into the ground in a flash.

They were all currently seated on a small floating landmass, a bit far away from the previous battlefield.

Cain let out a sigh as he sat down on the hard ground. Staring at Susan who was busy inspecting his body for damages, he was overcome with a weird feeling.

Most of the time, Susan acted indifferently. That was until something bad happened. It had always been like this, even before the apocalypse.

"Don't push it. You truly need to get some rest." She said coldly.

Cain sighed, "We can't afford to rest now. Stingè... He isn't dead."

Susan paused for a second, before letting out a gust of air from her lungs,

"That doesn't matter. There are other things here that can kill us aside from that Demon. One of them is rushing into things without appropriate planning."

Although her words felt like a personal attack, Cain decided to ignore it...

Susan sighed, "What I'm trying to tell you is... get some rest for now. You can worry about all that later. Let us take over... You've done more than enough."

Cain was shocked...

He wanted to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat. After a moment of hesitation, he let out a soft chuckle,

"I see. In that case, I'll take your advice, Doc!"

"I'll smack you!"

Ignoring Cain's teasing, Susan got up from her knees and dusted them.

"It might not be comfortable, but you shouldn't have any problems with the current arrangement."

With those words, she turned around and left.

Cain watched as she turned away and left, a dazed look on his face. With a sigh, he shut his eyes closed.

Meanwhile, Susan had a grim look on her face as she marched away from the small floating landmass.

The floating landmass they were currently on was part of a chain of small floating landmasses. Hunter and the beastmen had left because of the falling out he had with Susan. However, they had not gone very far...

"Leaving through this place will put us all at risk. Depending on whether those flying bastards are still there, we will be sitting ducks. We managed to get past that place thanks to Malcolm."

Right now, Floki, Galip, and Hunter were discussing their next course of action...

Although they had once betrayed him, Hunter wasn't one to hold grudges, especially in times when every helping hand was needed.

Hunter frowned, "This isn't a discussion. Even if we lose a few men, that path is the quickest, and the one we are most familiar with. Plus, with those firearms, we will have no problems guarding against them."

Floki sighed, "We have limited ammo. It could run out before we can outrun them."

Hunter shrugged coldly, "We will just have to make due."

Now that they had gotten out of the danger zone, he had no intentions of prolonging his stay in this cursed world.

Still, just the three of them and Jutè were not enough to lead so many people back safely to the rift.

He let out a tired sigh...

'Perhaps I should send out a squad of {Flame Hounds} to scout first? But that would be consuming precious mana...'

His thoughts were a bit disorganized. However, if there was one thing he was grateful for, it would be the fact that Floki and Falip seemed to have no intentions of scheming against him or one another.

They were also sick and tired of this horrendous hellhole, wanting to get away as soon as they possibly could. That was why their opposition wasn't too strong.

'Hm?'

His ears twitched a bit...

"You guys should stay here. I'll be back."

Galip threw him a dirty look, "What's the problem? Do you need fresh air? You can get that along the way..."

Ignoring him, Hunter leaped into the air and disappeared...

"This guy... Always just does as he pleases. I'd like to knock him down a peg or two..." Galip said with a sneer.

Floki snorted, "Do that, and you'll end up dead. That man, Hunter... I can see it in his eyes. He is ruthless."

Galip frowned, "He might hate us, but he isn't dumb. I doubt he will overreact much."

"That is on the basis that we don't start anything. He even plans on betraying someone that saved his life. What do you think he can do to us who have betrayed him in the past? That man... Those people. They are all insane." Floki said with a dark expression on his face.

Galip froze for a second. However, his face turned normal in the next. Beads of cold sweat had gathered on his temple and forehead...

***

Stepping onto a floating mass of barren rocks, Hunter stared at Susan who glared at him coldly.

He sighed, "What do you want? I'm already aware of how much you hate me, so you don't need to come to say it again."

Susan spoke in an indifferent voice,

"If you have any shred of morality left in your rotten soul, you will realize that you plan to do the same thing those idiots are guilty of. Sacrificing the lives of others to retain yours..."

Hunter frowned as a dark expression settled on his face,

'She was eavesdropping?'

Susan stared at him menacingly, "Yes. None of your secrets can escape from me. If you think just because you don't say them out loud I will be unaware, you are too stupid to understand anything."

The frown on his face became deeper, but Hunter chose not to react. However, his tone now had a sharp edge to it,

"What do you want?"

Susan took a deep breath, "Cain... He's back."

Hunter's breathing stopped for a second. He stared at Susan with wide eyes,

"Are you for real?"

Ignoring his question, Susan continued,

"Although I dislike you, Cain... he sees something in you. That is why he was so adamant about coming to this hellhole to save your sorry ass. He even healed you when you became crippled!"

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Susan spoke softly but firmly,

"Even if you don't have a conscience, you should still have a bit of honor left. That should be worth something at least."

With those words, Susan turned around to leave. However, before she could go, Hunter finally spoke up,

"Where... where is he?" He said, his tone uncharacteristically low and solemn.

Susan sucked in a deep breath, "Resting."

Hunter nodded with a grim look, "Okay. Thank you."

With that, he turned around and departed...

"What a troublesome fellow..."

Rolling her eyes, Susan lightly kicked off the ground, leaving as well.

Upon getting back to the small floating landmass where the remaining beastmen had decided to make camp, Hunter was immediately greeted with a wave of awed gasps and sighs as well as looks of admiration.

Although Cain had saved them, Hunter had also been part of those who shone the most in the battle. Plus, he was the face these beastmen were most familiar with.

Keeping a straight face, he walked towards Floki and Galip who seemed to be having a discussion.

"There has been a change of plans..."

***

Shout out to Echelon_5 for sponsoring this extra chapter!!!