God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 451: To each their own.

Manny rocketed off like a sniper bullet...

Two pitch-black devilish arms appeared from the ether by his sides, pulling two of the four blades attached to his back. His real hands grabbed the other two.

His target was the swordsman in the blue armor.

The Blue Guard snorted, "A fool who doesn't know how limits."

The Blue Guard responded with a forward dash of his own. A streak of energy trailed behind him.

"Hahaha!" Manny let out a sinister laugh as he crossed his blades before him,

"Four-sword style, First Form: Bladeless Wind!"

His blades released streaks of turbulent energy. The Blue Guard responded with a violent attack of his own.

"Sonic Blade!"

The resulting clash caused the ground to shatter like a dream. A loud explosion rocked the world as Manny was launched back. Meanwhile, the Blue Guard only retreated a few steps.

"Heh. Is that all?" The Blue Guard deftly flourished his blades, pointing them at Manny who had gotten back on his feet.

"Hehe!" Manny said nothing, but with a grin, he dashed forward once again. His speed more than doubled mid-charge. His body began to glow with a light green hue as he activated {Memory of the Phantom Phase}.

The two swordsmen clashed again and again, neither giving the other any leverage.

Manny's skills with the blade were nothing extraordinary. The Blue Guard, on the other hand, was a proper swordsman. What Manny did have over him, was speed, and extra limbs.

His four swords streaked through the air, sending an endless stream of sword lights toward the Blue Guard. In response, the Blue Guard slashed forward with a chilling calm.

None of Manny's attacks managed to reach him...

"If this is the best you can do..." The eyes hidden within the helm flashed with an electric blue light. With one step, he rocketed forward, immediately exceeding the speed of sound.

"You might as well die now!" The Blue Guard's sword crashed down on Manny, flashing past his defenses and digging into his flesh.

Luckily for him, Steve had been paying close attention to the fight and had erected a defensive spell for him before the damage became too severe.

"Fuck! This guy is strong!" Manny said as he sat out a mouthful of blood. Clenching his fists, he realized that his hands were trembling slightly.

'What is this?'

It was a feeling he had never experienced before...

Standing before him like a nightmare was the Blue Guard. His two-sword style was fairly simplistic, but each blade struck with lethal force and a tsunami of killing intent. His attack speed was also frightening.

Manny realized that if this kept up, he might be the one dead at the end.

'This is is no mutant beast...' For the first time since the battle began, Manny's smile faded away as his eyes hardened.

Clenching his fists harder, he stopped the trembling and dashed forward again.

***

The others rushed forward to meet their opponents as well...

Cain locked in on the Crimson Lord. His body suddenly combusted into a deluge of golden flames. He had activated the Metal Enchantment of the {Burning Spirit}.

Lord Crimson was scary because his attacks ignored almost all sorts of defenses, especially inherent defense. But {Burning Spirit} was not a regular skill.

As the blades in their hands clashed, Cain felt a powerful force race up his arms. But he held. Gritting his teeth, Cain chuckled darkly.

The {Heart of Scourge} ignited with power as the passive skill, {Riding Tempest}, was activated. At the same time, he activated {Azure Burst}.

The major drawback of the Metal Enchantment was its effect on his movement speed. This could be fixed by relying on his armor, and {Azure Burst}. Suddenly, he became as fast as a specter, bearing down upon the Crimson Lord with the edge of his blade.

They clashed a hundred times in a few seconds.

Cain quickly realized that his sword skills were not even worth mentioning in front of Lord Crimson. His blade seemed to be an extension of his body as he struck. Cain felt like a small canoe stranded in the eye of an apocalyptic storm with no shelter in sight as he was forced to defend against his attacks.

"You have potential, but you are still too green to fight against me." Lord Crimson's words were like mountains as they crashed into his mind.

Cain said nothing. The runes on his blade came to life. He swung his blade, summoning a ray of sharp sword light. Lord Crimson countered by sending a sword ray of his own forward as well.

A loud explosion was the result, forcing them both back. Cain quickly sheathed his blade and pulled the guns hanging on his hips out of their holsters.

Without wasting a single breath, he began shooting at Lord Crimson. An endless stream of golden bullets shot out, but they ricocheted off Lord Crimson's armor without doing much damage. However, it still served to slow him down.

***

Blaze had long since launched his attack at the Orange Guard. Both drew their spears, thrusting, cutting, and slashing at one another with the obvious intent to kill.

As their spears clashed, the air surrounding them began to heat up rapidly, leading to miniature explosions surrounding them. At the same time, the ground beneath their feet cracked and turned red due to the heat.

Still, neither relented. On the other hand, they only became more and more ferocious. Blaze felt power rush through his arms and into his spear as he swung it over and over again.

He moved with the ferocity of a tiger and the nimbleness of a serpent as he rushed forward. Still, his opponent was better.

The runes on his spear flashed brightly as a column of flames poured out of the shaft and into the spearhead. The Orange Guard paid it no mind. Instead, he struck the center of Blaze's spear with the tip of his.

In a panic, Blaze realized he no longer had control of his weapon as the pillar of flames he summoned shot up into the sky.

The Orange Guard scoffed, "Useless..."

Blaze gritted his teeth as he took a few steps back. Brandishing his spear, he dashed forward again.

***

Meanwhile, both Steve and the Black Guard were at the rearlines, providing support for their teammates, and throwing attacks at their enemies frequently.

Steve's face was calm as he spoke up,

"Vince. You need to take care of that guy quickly."

Vincent engaged the Violet Guard, both trading long-ranged attacks. Gritting his teeth, he yelled back at Steve,

"What does it look like I'm doing?!"

He turned back to focus on the archer,

"This guy probably has some sort of spatial awareness skill. He isn't going to attack the others for now because doesn't want to hit his colorful teammates. However, once he sees his chance, he is going to take it there is only so much I can do."

Steve frowned. Currently, as far as he could see it, their chances of victory were less than thirty percent. The Old Guard was just too strong. And from the look of things, they probably weren't going all out yet.

As Vincent said, the moment the Violet Guard saw a chance, the battle was going to change.

"Concentrate. Who is going to be his most likely target?" Steve asked.

Vincent's eyes shone with blue light as he activated his {Devil Eye}.

Vincent sighed, "I don't know..." An arrow whizzed towards Vincent's head, but he shot it down with a bullet.

He fired another shot at the Violent Guard, but he struck nothing.

"Damn it." Despite the difficult circumstances, he remained calm, albeit a bit frustrated. The Violet Guard was extremely slippery. The moment he let an arrow loose, he slid into the darkness. Even with his {Devil Eye}, Vincent was unable to on him down.

"For now, just put some pressure on him." Steve sighed.

Vincent threw him a side glance,

"You have a plan?"

Steve grinned, "If I am not mistaken, our success here will depend heavily on Cain. If he can overpower Lord Crimson, we will have the upper hand. We don't need to win. We just need to survive long enough."

Vincent looked all around, but couldn't see it. On this chaotic battlefield, how could one person influence it so greatly?

'This idiot sure is full of hot air.' Despite his thoughts, Vincent gave Steve a nod.

'Now then...' Steve turned his attention back to the battle between Cain and Lord Crimson.

***

As time went on, their clashes became more and more powerful. They had begun to understand one another more and more every time their blades met.

Cain reeled backward as a blade smashed into his armor. At the same time, Lord Crimson forcibly deflected {Platinum Genesis} with his gauntlet.

Both men separated for a few seconds. Without saying a word, they both heated the swords in their hands and reached towards the one on their backs.

Cain drew the {Scale of the Abyssal Flame}, and Lord Crimson drew the mighty broadsword on his back,

They were done testing the waters. The real battle was about to begin...