God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 414: Punishment (2).

'Survive for one minute, huh... I can manage that much! Hehe! I'll make you regret this someday, Cain!'

Although his heart burned with rage and humiliation, Galip suppressed it and launched himself at Cain.

'It would be a bad idea to engage in close combat with him. It would be best to maintain as much distance as possible. Although those flame attacks are dangerous, I can still dodge them.'

His body turned into a blur as he suddenly changed the direction of his motion. Running around the circle created by the crowd, he kept his eyes locked on Cain.

Although he was a coward, Galip was still very observant. He had a good idea of what abilities Cain had from just observing him in battle a few times.

Know yourself, and your enemies, and you will find yourself winning a hundred battles. Even now, he dared not be complacent. He was gathering information on Cain, from his every movement to the changes in energy around him.

This would have been very useful against someone who wasn't Cain. Just as he was about to put some more distance between himself and Cain, he realized something rather terrifying.

'I... I...'

Cain's grinning face was all he could see.

"What? Why don't you run some more?"

Galip's heart turned cold.

'I can't move!'

At some point, without him realizing it, chains of gold had wrapped themselves around his limbs, rendering him completely incapable of moving a single inch forward.

"When..." Galip said with a blank stare.

Cain's grin widened, "You don't need to worry about that."

Clearing his throat, Cain turned around he stared straight into Roselle's eyes. The Beastwoman was simply too shocked to react.

'How did he do that? He immediately predicted where that bastard would go and manifested the chains a split second ahead of him.'

She glared back at Cain but didn't say anything. The person she was seeing right now was not the same one she had fought against. He was far more terrifying.

Cain then turned his attention to Leah,

"I have one thing to ask. If I take care of those that did wrong, what will you do?" He asked.

Leah was silent for a few seconds before answering resolutely,

"I'll do what you want."

"Leah!"

"Big sis Leah!"

Kai and Lin Lin tried to protest, but Leah didn't even look at them. The only thing in her field of vision was Cain.

Cain nodded, "In that case..."

...then turned around to face Galip who was desperately struggling against the chains.

Seven magic circles appeared around him. A shiny golden blade manifested itself from each magic circle and shot straight at Galip, piercing through his limbs.

A shrill cry of pain rang out, filling every single observer with fear. Cain watched him squirm coldly for a few seconds before raising his right hand to the sky. His fingers moved rapidly to form numerous hand signs.

The number of magic circles doubled, then tripled until they numbered a total of forty-nine. The shape of the blades also changed as well. They no longer had hilts. Instead, they became a bit shorter, with their tips being in the shape of stars. They were also much more slender. However, the density of metal elements in them increased greatly.

***

{Congratulations to Host... Your spell, Seven Golden Stars, has evolved to the spell, Fallen Stars of Orion lvl 1}.

***

All forty-nine blades shot at Galip with speeds that tore through the sound barrier.

"No..."

He wanted to plead for his life again. He didn't want to die. There was so much of this world he had yet to see.

He had so much power, yet he had been defeated so easily. There was no way he would die like this!

In the end, it was futile. The difference in power was just too much.

'How... Just how did it end up like this?!'

Before the words could come out of his mouth, his body was torn to shreds...

Galip died a miserable death...

***

Cain let out a sigh...

Staring at the pool of blood, torn flesh, and broken bones, which was all that was left of Galip, he couldn't stop a bitter feeling from rising into his throat.

Although he considered Galip as an eyesore, that didn't make killing him any easier.

'I just killed a person.'

He originally thought it wouldn't be a big deal to him. However, just thinking about it made bile rise from his stomach.

A bitter smile hung from his lips, 'Looks like I'm still very much human.'

Cain then turned to Roselle,

"Show me the others."

Without any hesitation, She pointed towards ten other Beastmen who had tried to remain hidden in the crowd.

Cain's eyes flashed as ten of the blades orbiting his body flew into the crowd to reap lives.

A second later, screams echoed out in the crowd of Beastmen, and ten bodies dropped to the ground.

All the Beastmen had looks of horror on their faces as they stared at Cain.

The victim of their stares glanced at them with a calm gaze,

"This is a warning..." He began.

"Anyone that thinks it will be a good idea to act like a rabid animal, will be put down like one."

He couldn't afford to treat this like he had been anymore. Now that there was no rule of law anymore in this broken world, humans would begin to give in to their dark thoughts and desires.

'If that were to happen we would have no chance of defeating the Devils and any other invasive species that may appear in the future...'

Seeing that the crowd was silent, he turned back to the Beastwomen,

"Now that I've kept my end of the deal..."

Leah sighed as she walked forward,

"Let's take this somewhere more private..."

***

Leaving the others behind to clean up the mess of the battle, Cain and a few others moved into the forest of broken-down buildings.

Seated in a dark room in a dilapidated building were six people. Leah and Roselle were seated on two wooden chairs that had a thick layer of dust on them, while Cain was seated on another chair facing them with Steve, Susan, and Jenny standing behind him.

There was a heavy wooden desk in between them that was badly damaged. However, no one seemed to mind as it was still standing.

Cain had {Eye of Clairvoyance} active as he started at Leah. However, he couldn't see anything out of the norm.

According to Steve, the enchantment had become a part of her, so he thought its effects would be more noticeable.

Seeing as they had been silent for some time now, Cain cleared his throat,

"Please, tell us everything you know from the start. Don't leave anything out." He wanted to gather information to properly understand the current situation.

Leah stared at him silently for a few seconds before speaking calmly,

"Before that, I want to know what your intentions are."

"My intentions?"

Roselle chimed in as she stared at Cain with eyes full of distrust,

"What do you want from us? Why exactly did you come here?"

"Ah..." Cain finally had a look of understanding.

He was silent for a while before answering,

"I want to save the world."

Silence...

Leah frowned, "I was being serious."

Cain shrugged, "So was I..."

Steve couldn't help but chuckle, "That's the first I've heard of this. Hahaha!"

Jenny stared at him with worried eyes, "Did you hit your head somewhere?"

Susan just rolled her eyes and huffed a sigh. Seeing that not even his teammates believed him, Cain couldn't help but feel a bit wronged.

He clicked his tongue, "That might not be my ultimate goal. However, it is still one of the things I must achieve along the way."

"And what is this ultimate goal you speak of?" Leah asked.

"That, I'm afraid, is classified information." Cain siad with a grin.

Then his face turned serious, "In case you are unaware, this planet is facing two major problems... The inception of the god Ash, and god Remnants, and the invasion of the Devils."

"The god Ash? Why would that he a bad thing? They give us a fighting chance against the Devils and Mutant Beasts." Leah looked a bit confused. It was as though she couldn't thing of one way God Ash and the god Remnants would be a bad thing."

Cain explained, "Think of this world like a balloon..."

"Before the arrival of mana and inception of god Ash, it was completely deflated. Now, it is being filled with air rather slowly. However, eventually, this balloon will reach its limits. And when that happens..."

Some people had ashen faces, while others looked like this wasn't new information. Staring at Leah who looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing, he continued,

"But the stop gap to this, is the Devils..."

"The Devils? What do you mean?"

""If Urbus is a balloon, and the god Ash is an air pump with mana being the air, then the Devil's become tiny holes that allow this air to escape."

Leah had a deep frown on her face, "So you are saying without these holes, the balloon will pop much faster?"

Cain nodded, "Correct..."

Leah let out a tired sigh, "I see..."

Then her eyes became sharp again, apparently waiting for Cain to continue. He chuckled,

"Although these holes might be helpful for now, they are damaging the world with the appearance of more and more. This will eventually continue until the unavoidable happens."

"So, both options are just as bad..."

Cain nodded, "That's why we need to get rid of the Devils as fast as we can."

Leah nodded as though she agreed, "But what about the god Ash?"

Cain shrugged, "We'll find a way. What I do know is that mending the holes take precedence. Some holes might be easier to fix. However, some are irreparable."

"I see... You've thought this through."

Cain nodded calmly, "In order for me to save this planet, I can't work alone. I need the help of powerful comrades. Besides, I believe no sane person wants to live in a dying world..."

Roselle who had been seared quietly sighed. Then she stared straight at Cain,

"What is it you want to know?"

Cain grinned...