God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 430: Small talk with a Demon.

Cain stared at the dull grey sky...

The wind was cold, the light and heat from the sun a long gone memory. About three days had passed. Three days since he had been visited by Luke and the other 'Lightslayers', something they called themselves.

'Seriously...'

He had been deep in thought during these days. Although work had continued as usual, he was burdened by a few things.

Rubbing the plush fur of Ruby who lay down beside him, hisind wandered away...

'These relics of the dead gods left behind truly provided incredible power. The Vitality Corals are weak if compared to whatever those bastards acquired from that Blood God. However...'

He had learned a few things during the past few days...

Nothing was every gotten for free. Especially power, power granted by a Celestial Being. According to what he had learned, just like how those granted power benefited, those that grated the power also got something in return. A trade, if you will...

However, this trade was anything but even. In fact, it was somewhat predatory. The dead gods required something called Divinity to be reborn back to reality with their Divine powers.

Divinity was present in every living thing. However, the only creatures that could actually use it, were the Celestial Beings. This energy was so special and precious.

However, it was a limited resource. Living Celestials gathered it to increase their power, while dead ones required it to revive themselves. In a sense, this unique characteristic made Celestials Immortal.

To some extent...

Divinity was essence embedded in a living thing, quite similar to the soul. Once it was gone, it can never be required. No one, apart from the Celestials knew its true purpose. However, one thing to know was that the life of those that offered their Divinities to a Celestial was grasped by that Celestial.

If the Celestial was killed when revived, they would be greatly affected by it as well. If the Celestial wanted them dead, they would find it hard escaping the fate of death.

In other words, their lives were tied together. The one thing Celestials couldn't do, was force others to give up their Divinity. However, their methods of persuasion might as well be forceful.

Still, one couldn't deny the power even dead Celestials held. Depending on the Celestials power, it could be enough to raise a rat and turn it into a king.

'This is a disaster. However, this disaster can be managed. It isn't very urgent. It's effects are quite catastrophic.'

Power was a scary thing when it landed in the wrong hands. But could he really judge? Was he the one who possessed the moral ability to determine where the line started and where it ended?

No. He didn't think so... If he was truthful, he was a mad man in the eyes of some people as well. However, he didn't care. He couldn't change his goals. That didn't mean he was scared of clashing with madmen.

On the contrary, he welcomed it a bit. He was a little curious about the power these other madmen held.

His heart stirred as he pulled something out of his inventory. A curved sword, quite similar in length and appearance to a traditional katana with a white leather sheath adorned with different runes and a single green gem appeared in his hand.

This was {Platinum Genesis}. The sheath had been made by Susan, and it even possessed magical properties of its own. Cain caressed the blade with a smile.

'Whatever. No need to lose hair over this stuff.'

Just as he was about to place the sword back into his inventory, he realized, much to his amazement and horror, that the blade was no longer in his hands.

"Ohoho! This is quite the surprise!" A familiar voice pierced through his ears and into his mind, turning him into a statue.

Sensing Cain's panic, Ruby stirred up from her drowsy sleep. Cain turned back as fast as lightning. There, sitting midair and fiddling with {Platinum Genesis}, was the demon, Azazel.

Without even wasting a breath, Ruby turned into a blurring shadow as she launched herself at Azazel.

'Master! Don't worry! I'll take care of-'

Although Ruby was strong and smart, she was still a beast. And a beast was, in a way, a slave to its instincts. Almost immediately, Ruby abruptly skidded to a halt, all the hairs on her furry coat standing on end.

She dared not take a single step forward. That was what her instincts told her. If she did, she would be in danger.

Cain sucked in a depe breath. Azazel was the last person he expected to see here. He thought the bladed Demon had totally forgotten about him.

"Hm? Of course I didn't forget about you."

Cain's back was immediately filled with cold sweat, 'This bastard...'

Cain sighed, "Did you come to take me back?"

Azazel stopped fiddling with the sword. A smile stretched across his handsome face. Cain finally took a good look at the Demon. His eyes twitched,

"Also, why aren't you wearing anything?!"

Much to his horror, he realized that the blasted Demon was dressed in nothing more than a pair of very short and tight briefs. The only part of his body covered were his nether regions. Everything else was revealed to the world. Even those that were covered still managed to burn their gnarly shapes into his eyes.

Azazel chuckled lightly, "Don't be so serious. I was relaxing on the beach not too long ago. As for your first question, I didn't come to carry you away. I'm not that type of Demon." Azazel waved his hand dismissively.

Then he stared at Cain, his eyes burning with interest,

"Although your skill in forging is good, your leadership skills are subpar at best."

Cain's face became dark, "What?"

Azazel snickered, "Are you offended?"

Cain's eyes narrowed. He knew Azazel wasn't wrong. He knew that. However, he knew the Demon wasn't here to criticize him.

"So why did you come if not to take away."

Azazel hummed, "At first, I came to get you. However, I decided against it. This is valuable time to be used training. However, the situation of your world is absolutely terrible. These dead bastards latch themselves on prey any chance they get. You also have to deal with more than ten times the usual amount of Devils.

You guys are way too unlucky!"

Cain gritted his teeth, "You are strong. Can't you just clear the Devils away."

Azazel chuckled, "Everything in existence requires process. Things that disturb the natural process are removed swiftly. Don't be stupid."

"If you aren't going to help, then leave..."

Azazel shrugged, "No! Although you lot are on the brink of destruction, you are too interesting to be left alone."

Cain was getting more and more frustrated. He had no idea what this Demon wanted.

'Calm down...' Cain took a deep breath. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that this Demon didn't have bad intentions. At least not yet. He even seemed to want to assist him.

'Still... He's one annoying bastard!'

Cain walked over to Ruby, then stroked her head to calm her down.

"What do you want?" Cain asked, this time with more force in his voice.

The annoying smirk on Azazel's face slowly faded away. He threw {Platinum Genesis} at Cain.

A genuine expression surfaced on the Demon's face,

"It's a good weapon for a novice. You really have talent. However, you can't hone this talent if you don't sort out your affairs."

Cain frowned, "You said something about lacking leadership skills..."

Azazel nodded, "Honestly, it has been very difficult to watch. I nearly died from secondhand embarrassment a few times."

Cain rolled his eyes. Azazel continued regardless,

"If you want to be a leader, don't half ass it. If I were you, I'd conquer this portion of the world as fast as I can and deal with the forming threats all around as fast as possible. Regardless of what you might have heard, the situation of your world is worse than you think."

Cain sighed, "I can tell. It's gotten worse."

The system was knowledgeable and resourceful. However, it wasn't a hundred percent accurate. There were some things it couldn't account for. Things like changes that happened in real time.

Azazel nodded, then fell silent for a while, as though he was hesitant to speak. Eventually, he gave in,

"Indeed. Let me give you some advice... Your focus right now should be getting your people in order. Expanding your influence should be next on the list. If you want to battle these Devils and whatever might come at you, you'll need a lot of helping hands. Also, advance to Tier 1 as quickly as possible.

That's all I can say."

Cain heaved a deep breath. He stared at Azazel for a while before nodding. The Demon was right. He was being too complacent. He was focused on the wrong things. He just recieved a wake up call.

Seeing the realization set in Cain's eyes, Azazel nodded,

"Good. You can forge new weapons later. By the way, I'll be here for a while. Don't worry. I won't be interfering with your little activities. When you've settled all your business, come find me.

Till then..."

And just as quickly as he appeared, the Demon disappeared.

Cain stood there, the cold wind picking upz lifting strands of his hair into the air. He let out a cloudy breath.

The world was still the dull, near lightless orb of dirt and rocks. However, there was a change somewhere. This small change, as small as a crack on an oceanbed, would either remain insignificant, or become the harbinger of a force to be reckoned with.