God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 408: Abyssal Millionth Beast (1).

'Where did it go wrong?' were famous last words...

Leah looked around her, an expression of confusion and disbelief. Things were not supposed to turn out this way. She had wanted to use this opportunity to draw out the rest of the bandits that had invaded the Central Island. However, the tables had turned too fast for her to control.

Although the majority of Beastwomen were stowed away safely, they didn't matter anyway because the main fighting force was here.

'Just what happened? Why did Sisi betray us?'

Staring at the pink-haired girl she had known as a friend for many years, she was stumped for words. She just couldn't believe it.

She had seen it...

A giant flying serpentine creature had shot out of the rift with hundreds of golden chains attached to its body. She had never seen such a thing in her life.

"What the hell?" Everyone was speechless.

However, after close inspection, it became obvious that something about the creature was off.

The aura it gave off, was empty. It was as though they were staring at an inanimate object that had suddenly been granted the ability to move.

The eyes of one of the Beastwomen glowed as she spoke,

"B-big sis Leah! Look! On the chains!"

Leah furrowed her brows as the feeling of things slipping out of her control dawned on her even further.

The other Beastwomen were also at a loss for words,

'How... How did they come back? What happened to Angel?'

A loud, shrill noise that sounded like a dying banshee brought her straight out of her daze.

Not even three seconds had passed since Sisi had retracted her barrier before things began going bad.

An overwhelming amount of killing intent suddenly slammed into her from behind.

'The Rift...'

She turned her body around to face the austere tear in space...

"Fuck! I never thought we'd have to deal with a traitor and all this bullshit at the same time." Lin Lin spat out as she glared at Sisi and Steve. It was obvious she was incredibly flustered.

First, a giant flying snake surrounded by hundreds of golden chains carrying hundreds of Beastmen had rushed out of the Rift behind them. Now, even more, figures cloaked in menacing and cold darkness were slowly crawling out of the Rift as well.

Things just couldn't get any worse...

Li and Stan on the other hand had shit-eating grins on their faces as they stuck their tongues out at the enraged Beastwomen.

They had managed to get rid of the chains, as well as put some distance between them and the Beastwomen in a matter of seconds thanks to Sisi. Although she could create barriers, that was not the only thing she could do.

Her combat powers weren't anything impressive, but she was still blessed with access to the system and had a plethora of special abilities, such as teleporting herself and people around her almost instantaneously.

Kai on the other hand seemed worried about other things,

She turned to Leah, who was staring at Sisi with bleak eyes,

"What's the move, Boss?"

Leah sighed, "Ignore them. Get ready to battle..."

One of the other five Beastwomen stared at Leah nervously,

"W-what are those things?!"

Leah gritted her teeth, "Those are {Abyssal Realm Walkers}. Beings that dwell in the void. They usually remain there unprovoked, but they invade worlds through rifts from time to time."

Another one couldn't help but tremble. She was scared. The Realm Walkers were creatures pulled straight from nightmares. As they had been created from the most evil race in existence, it was only natural for their very presence to introduce malevolence itself...

"Form two lines. Get ready to intercept them. Keep an eye on them, Lin Lin." Leah said as she turned to face the Rift.

"I'm really disappointed in you, Sisi. As for you idiots, move, and I'll cut your heads open to look for your brains."

Now that they were no longer restrained, they could have made a move, either attacking the Beastwomen or fleeing. However, the three men didn't move an inch from where they stood.

Steve snorted, "The only reason we haven't made a move yet, is because we obviously have a common enemy to face right now."

'Let's see how this situation is going to develop...' He thought to himself.

It seemed that Li and Stan also had similar ideas as they pulled their weapons out of their inventories, but refrained from doing anything immediately.

"Now then..." Steve said with a wide grin as he gazed up,

"Looks like the main player has finally resurfaced."

***

Vincent who had been observing all these things from afar couldn't help but scratch his head,

"Uhm... I think the situation has changed a fair bit."

Blaze rolled his eyes, "You think?"

The marksman shrugged, "What do you expect me to say? This situation is simply too messy. What the hell is that Dragon thin-... Wait!"

Looking into the distance, Vincent's facial muscles cramped up...

A loud roar came from behind them. Ruby, who had been docile and mostly inactive except when she was gone on a hunt suddenly stood at attention and was roaring loudly at the huge serpentine creature flying in the distance.

It was clear she was agitated. She was one step away from jumping down the building, it seemed...

Sue had a frown on her face, "Fatty... What's going on?"

Vincent had a strange look on his face,

"They are back."

There was confusion on the faces of everyone. Calio asked carefully,

"Who's... back?"

"Cain, damn it! The freaking bastard is back! Him, the two girls, and that other bastard, Hunter! And they brought friends. A bunch of them! Goodness gracious!

They are the ones riding the freaking dragon!"

Everyone exclaimed, "What!"

A series of unbelievable and unlikely events was unfolding in real-time...

"I can't make this up..." Vincent shook his head, finding it hard to believe despite seeing it with his own eyes.

There was no need to hesitate anymore. A grim look of determination fell on Sue's face,

"I'd love to play mind games, but I don't think now's the time."

With a wave of her hand, a torrent of sand particles appeared in the air, and a massive creature of the earth appeared behind her. With a single command, the streams of sand wrapped around her body,

"I'll see you guys at the bottom."

With those words, she was gone in the blink of an eye as the streams of sand carried her away.

Blaze walked to the edge of the building indifferently and jumped down. With a loud howl, Ruby slammed her feet against the roof, causing the concrete to crack as she leaped off the roof of the building.

All the members of the group left one by one until the only people left were Vincent, Old Man Ling, Maya, and the rest of the humans who had been blessed by the Remnant of the Sea God, Levron.

"Ha... These people just don't think, am I right?"

Seeing that he had gotten no answers apart from awkward stares, Vincent sighed, then shrugged. Light flashed in his hands, and a heavy rifle set appeared in them. The murals of storm clouds and rolling waves on the stock and barrel of the firearm made it look regal and imposing.

He carefully and diligently began setting it up while whistling to himself. Whilst he did so, he spoke up,

"You guys have gotten smarter, you know... Going over there would have gotten you all killed."

Old Manning stroked his beard, "That much is obvious, I think..."

Maya rolled her eyes, "Weakness does not equate to lack of common sense you know..."

Vincent snorted, "Is that so..."

Aiming the muzzle of the gun into the distance while resting the stock of the gun on his shoulder as he lay flat on his belly, he let out a hollow chuckle.

"What a gloriously shitty time to be alive..."

***

Staring down at the situation progressing down below, Cain's mind processed the information around him at speeds a normal human couldn't hope to imagine.

Another bone-chilling shriek came from the Rift as more and more Realm Walkers continued to pour out.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed...

Evangeline took a deep breath as she stared at the Rift with bleak eyes

"It's coming."

Sure enough, the moment the last of the {Abyssal Realm Walkers} crawled out of the Rift, the Rift suddenly expanded to make way for the mighty shadow pushing its way through.

The revelation of the head of the creature that pushed its way through was enough for the breaths of every human and Beastman to get caught in their throat. The moment its body was revealed, their faces paled and their bodies trembled.

Even Cain couldn't help but feel a spine-crawling terror infiltrate his soul...

Cain glanced at Evangeline like she was a monster,

'She managed to hold this thing off for that long?!'

The shock was dispersed in a split second, as in the next, the {Abyssal Realm Walkers} charged at living creatures nearby with the intent to drain them of life.

Cain controlled the Astral Avatar to fly closer to the ground. He immediately undid the magic creating the chains, releasing the Beastmen onto the ground.

The moment their feet touched the ground, the Beastmen charged forward with loud warcries. No one had to tell them that the battle wasn't over yet.

With a sigh, Cain dismissed the Astral Avatar. The body of the gigantic illusory creature dispersed into streams of shadowy Devil Essence and Ki before vanishing completely.

A fat pink worm-like creature landed on the ground the moment the Golden Devil Wyrm Astral Avatar disappeared. However, it burrowed into the ground before anyone could spot it...

Susan, Evangeline, Cain, and Jenny landed on their feet, or at least tried to. Probably underestimating the severity of her injuries, Evangeline lost her balance and fell towards the ground.

Cain reached out a hand and grabbed onto her tightly, stopping her from falling. Perhaps it was because she didn't expect it, but her eyes were wide like a deer caught in headlights.

Cain let out a sigh. Susan moved swiftly. Placing her hands on Evangeline's back, streams of light left her palms, passing through skin, flesh, and bones, to burrow staring into her lifeforce.

"Both of you should go. I'll take care of her." Susan said firmly.

Cain nodded then glanced at Jenny who just smiled softly. Taking a deep breath, he stared at the creature that swam through the air like it was water whilst making strange noises.

Terror gripped his heart. However, this terror was a familiar companion...

'It's not as strong as the {Amethyst Silkworm}. But it is still far stronger than the current me.'

If he was at full strength, he would probably have been able to take this thing down if he gave it his all. However, he was not at his best currently. His mana reserves were very low, and his Ki and Devil Essence had been completely consumed.

This meant he would have to rely on other means to take this creature down. This was one of the reasons he had decided to throw away the loner status and give this teamwork thing a shot...

Suddenly, a loud roar caught his attention...