God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 441: Plans.

"Boss Cain! You finally decided to swoop in to the rescue!" Steve said with a wide smile.

Cain wanted to throw him away with a kick, but held back,

"You idiots. Right now, there are prison guards looking for us."

Kai frowned, "Why would prison guards be looking for us?"

Cain sighed, "Let's just say we had a little... altercation with them earlier today."

Kai shrugged, "Then isn't that a you problem?"

Cain also wanted to kick the huge Mutant human, but held back,

"That might be true, but you three look shady as all hell. I won't be surprised if they apprehended you and took you in for questioning, especially now that this has happened."

Steve and Kai looked around. Indeed, the scene around them was like what to expect from the innards of a giant beast that consumed half a city.

Body parts and viscera all lay asunder on the ground and walls, painting a rather uniquely macabre picture. Sisi tried everything she could not to hurl, but failed woefully as the coppery smell of fresh blood filtered into her nostrils.

"Help! Help!" The thug leader had been listening on the ground. The moment he understood their precarious situation, he decided his best course of action to take was to implicate them.

"Shut it, you freaking dog!" Kai roared in anger as she kicked at the thug leader. This one was aimed towards his head.

"Stop." A single command from Cain forced her to stop on her tracks.

"What?! Why?!" Kai shot him a displeased look.

Cain shot her a tired glance, "Don't just go killing everything."

Then he turned to the thug leader who was already sweating buckets,

"Besides, no one is coming. Since I'm here, the guards won't notice a thing."

Steve nodded, "Quick thinking, boss."

Cain glared at him, "But leavings these bodies here might leave traces."

His hands shot up as he began chanting. Orbs of flames gently appeared on a magic circle floating above his palm. With a gentle push, they flew out to the torn up bodies, which were immediately engulfed in flames.

In seconds, all that was left was crispy ash. Cain's eyes were cold as he activated another spell. The blood on the he ground gravitated towards him. Once he gathered everything, the blood shot towards him, disappearing a second later.

"What the hell?!" Kai couldn't help but take another glance at Cain.

This enigmatic leader that had come out of nowhere a few weeks ago. At first, she was hesitant, just like every other female mutant. She had come to accept it.

She now realized there was more to him than the eye met. It was fascinating, but also scary at the same time.

"Now let's erase the traces completely." Steve said with a grin. After he was done, there was not a single trace of what happened here just a few minutes ago. Cain had to admire his work. But only for a few seconds

"Let's go. I'll explain on the way."

***

Steve had a frown on his face, much different from the jovial expression he usually wore,

"Cain, trusting Devils?"

When he heard it from another month, even he knew it sounded absolutely outlandish. Through experience, they had learned that these Devils were evil, chaos-inflicting monsters that killed without a second thought.

Then he thought back...

Was that really the truth? Was it that every single Devil he had encountered had tried to kill or devour him?

Cain's mind wandered back to the memory of his encounter with Lyx, the Primordial Devil of Life and Death.

She was an enigma, an anomaly. But he remembered her words very well.

'Not all Devils are the same'. That was the message she had given him. There were bad Devils, and these Devils created stereotypes. These stereotypes affected the Devils that had control over themselves, which in turn led to a cycle of hatred and loss.

He remembered what the old man told him. This time, he finally understood the meaning of his words.

So the real question was, what Devils were they going to encounter. Bloodthirsty mongrels, or creatures lost from glory, looking for the only source of light they could grasp unto.

"Right now, we have no other choice. The bastards of the kingdom won't listen to a word we have to say before cutting us down. I figured if there are two ways to solve a problem, why not take the less deadly route..."

Sisi had a hesitant look on her face. Cain saw this,

"You want to say something?"

She finally let out what was bothering her,

"You said the guards are out looking for us, right?"

Cain nodded. His eyes suddenly widened. A chill raced up his spine.

"How come we haven't seen a single guard since we left the alley."

Cain grit his teeth as an unsettling darkness fell upon him,

"We've been caught."

Although he had been observing their surrounding, he hadn't noticed it untill it was too late. A rain of bullet-fast arrows rained down on them like the end of days.

There was absolutely nowhere to escape. At the same time, hundreds of people wearing civilian clothing ran at them with their weapons drawn.

'They must have somehow figured how to see through {Emblem of Darkness}.'

Although their stealth had been broken, that didn't mean they were out of it yet.

With a chant, Sisi erected a barrier that blocked all the arrows aimed at them.

"Hold onto me." Cain said as he began chanting as well.

The guards kept pouring in like flies that smelled rotten flesh.

Cain looked up and saw Vivane, his former jailer. She looked straight down at him with a sadistic smile on her face.

Since Cain was sure she could see him, he thought for a moment before a grin appeared on his face.

Something seemed to click in her head as she began to yell hysterically,

"Stop them! Stop them now!"

It was too late.

Cain had one of the most convenient escape skills out there. {Spatial Jump} allowed his to put a lot of distance between his pursuers. The only downside was its relatively slow casting time.

Thanks to Sisi, there was more than enough time to finish casting the spell.

With a wave of his hand, the space around them tore open. Cain and his comrades jumped through, leaving Vivane and the squadron of guards behind.

***

When Cain and the others reappeared, they were very close to the he new hideout. It was an abandoned manor, most likely belonging to a noble family in the past. Now, it was a mere shell of its former self.

'This will do fine.' The place was big, meaning there were plenty of places to hide. It would take the guards some time to find them again. By then, they would have been long gone.

Slipping into the manor, Cain informed Hunter of their arrival.

A few minutes later, there team of four met up with the initial team, boosting their numbers to a total of nine. With one of them dead, they only had ten more comrades to find or liberate.

Seeing Cain's ugly expression, Hunter knew something must have gone wrong.

However, Cain wasn't in the mood to do any explaining. He retold his encounter with the old man and explained what they had to do to complete the trial.

Blaze frowned, "Those Devils are never a good thing, Cain. Don't forget what they have done..."

Cain shook his head, "I think they are no better than we humans. Throughout human history, we have done a lot of messed up stuff. We are in no place to place judgement on anybody."

Steve seemed to agree as well, "We shouldn't blame what some of them have done on the rest."

"I get it, I get it..." Blaze iterated with a sigh.

"So what's the plan?"

Cain cleared his throat, "Now that they've found a way to see through my cloaking spell, we are going to take advantage of that. The first thing we need to do it regroup with the others."

"You mean...

Cain nodded, "We are going to pay the temples a visit."

Vincent chortled, "Boss, that is not a very good idea. We might be lucky to escape with our lives."

Cain raised a brow, "Then what do you suggest?"

Vincent grinned, "How about we deliver the others a message?"

Cain seemed a bit confused for a second before his eyes widened in realization,

"That... That could work. However, it will also give our location away."

Vincent smiled, "Boss, you need to put some faith in the rest of us sometimes, no?"

Cain fell silent. Steve looked back and forth between the two,

"Erm... Could someone explain to me..."

Vincent chuckled such that the layers of blubber in his midsection jiggled,

"Basically, rather than going through the stress of trying to locate the others, why not give them a signal. A single they can see, so they come to us instead?"

"Not a bad idea." Blaze said while nodding.

"I agree. It saves us time, and we won't need to sneak into the most protected place on the planet."

"What if they can't come? What if they are trapped like you had been?" Sisi suddenly asked.

The others fell silent.

Cain's expression turned steely, "Then we'll just break into the temples. That will be our last resort."

And so it had been decided. They were going to send a message that will make their presence and location known to everyone in the royal capital. If that didn't work, they were going to put their lives on the line and charge into the temples...

'That shouldn't be too hard, right?'