God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 548: Slaughter City (2).

Zombies...

Creatures risen from the grave by the malevolent powers of Devilish nature. In their unrest, they hunger for human flesh.

The first time Cain had come in contact with Zombies, was also his first life or death experience with a {Miasma Devil}.

{Miasma Devils} are creatures that infect human corpses with the deadly venom that turns them into zombies.

Thinking about just how many dead people were in the city filled Cain with shivers. Imagining all those corpses as zombies truly unsettled him.

Smashing a zombie to pulp with his shield, Floki flung it trying to get the blood and gore off,

"That's the last of them."

Staring at the now still corpses, Cain sighed,

"Let's keep going."

Holstering his gun, Cain's mind drifted.

What kind of things would they get to meet once they arrived at the city, or at least, what was left of it? He had no idea...

One thing was for certain thought. Out there, on the Black Sea, the Devil's had been defeated, so they hadn't had the chance to grow.

As for here...

Perhaps it would be difficult for him to even defeat a single Devil on his lonesome now...

Trying not to think about it, Cain pulled the fur coat covering his body even closer. Despite wearing armor, the perpetual chill still managed to burrow through the metal.

'Even with my superhuman endurance, I can't handle this. What would become of regular humans?'

He sighed...

That was another thing to think about. How were the regular humans supposed to live through this sort of extreme conditions.

'Nothing magic can't solve, hopefully. Perhaps a charm, or a runoc enchantment.'

Lost in his thoughts, Cain was promptly dragged away from the mist when he heard a loud crash.

Turning his head, he saw Manny stabbing a zombie through the side of a semi-destroyed car.

Twisting his blade, Manny split the zombie in half from the torso up, causing a fountain of fetid blood to spray out.

With a subtle frown, Manny handled his blade skillfully and gently pulled a sparkling gem like stone from the chest of the corpse.

Cain walked closer, "What is that?"

Manny turned, "A mana shards, from the looks of it?"

Cain's eyes widened in surprise, "A mana shards? How can that be?"

Manny looked a bit confused, "But it looks a bit different from a regular one."

"Let me see."

Grabbing the mana shards, Cain observed it.

'I see...'

The reason it looked so different, was because it was different to most. Something about the existence of human zombies allowed for the existence of attributeless mana shards.

'Mana shards without an elemental affinity. Meaning it contains nothing but mana. Is it useable?'

Staring at the clear, light blue gemstone, Cain had no reason to believe it wasn't.

Tossing the mana shards back up Manny, he nodded,

"Let's move on."

Their journey continued with regular interruptions from small groups of wandering Zombies.

"Damn it! This is the tenth one already!" Luke couldn't help but curse after a while.

Roselle sighed coldly, then turned to Cain,

"He's right. We'll never get anywhere like this. Also..."

She sheathed her blade and rubbed her shoulders,

"Is it me, or is it getting colder?"

Before anyone could say anything, Hunter suddenly yelled,

"Get ready! A big one is headed this way!"

Cain frowned, "Something isn't right. Can they sense us?"

Lukas drew his sword, "Probably. Either way, it doesn't matter. We'll cut through them all."

Smashing his war axe against his shield, Floki charged forward.

The subtle frost surrounding them seemed to gravitate towards him, creating another layer of solid ice over the shield.

"Frost Aegis!"

The shield of frost continued to expand, turning the abandoned cars on the wayside into scrap metal.

The horde of {Zombies} charged at him, their rabid mouths frothing with black, putrid saliva.

With a grunt, Floki smashed into them. Almost immediately, the ice shield was covered with a layer of black blood that ate right through the shield.

"What?!" Floki's eyes widened.

His shield was broken through in a mere second, and the rest of the hungry horde charged forward.

Waving his axe, he split through the heads of three at once, putting them down forever.

However, the tide was too much for a single person...

Steeling his mind, Floki prepared to charge ahead, but before he could, Luke, Manny and Rollo had already come to assist.

Waving his blade, Rollo tore through the bodies of the {Zombies}. Although the {Zombies} were physically strong and fast, their defense was horrible. With layers of rotting flesh upon bones, there was nothing protecting them for his blade.

With a wave of him hand, a magic circle appeared within his palm and below the area before him.

With a squeeze, all the {Zombies within that area were crushed to death...

Paying no mind to the puddles of sizzling black blood under his boots, he charged forward.

Manny and Luke tore through the crowd of rotting flesh their own way.

Summoning his blades, Manny rushed into the horde. Because of the nature of the enemies, fighting up close and personal wasn't a very good idea. However, he could even the playing field by making it impossible to reach him.

A faint green aura enveloped his body, filling him with the power of wind.

With a cackle, he turned into a haze, his speed reaching incredible heights, such that even his after images were left behind.

The edge of his blade sheared through flesh and bone in equal measures, and the waves of black blood that shot to the ground and sky didn't reach him.

Luke drew his blade, and with a wave, the {Zombies} were split in half. His entire right arm was engulfed in a layer of Devil Essence, mutating its very nature.

The {Black Obsidian} blade in his hand further magnified the properties of his attack.

Moving like a spectre, unseen and unheard, he danced through the stumbling bodies. Everywhere he went, severed limbs and head fell, viscera and purplish organs fell to the coarse sand.

To put it bluntly, it was a very ugly and gnarly sight to behold...

With the four of them working together, the horde was taken care of in a few minutes.

Sheathing his blade, Luke calmly walked back,

"I think it is fair to say that there's something behind these zombies."

Cain nodded, "You mean someone controlling them? I figured as much..."

Luke raised a brow, "How did you know?"

Cain smiled, "Well, I had a run in with zombies during the earlier period of the apocalypse. They were controlled by a Devil, a {Miasma Devil}..."

"I see... Then you think a {Miasma Devil} is also behind this?"

Cain nodded again, "And it is probably going to be many times more powerful too. Last time, I nearly lost my life..."

Remembering that bitter event made him thing of how far things had progressed since then.

He sighed, "Hopefully, it shouldn't be too far away. The fact that things are getting tougher means we're getting closer."

Lukas shrugged as he continued to walk forward,

"In that case, let's move on. Things can only get worse, so why waste some more time?"

As they walked on, Cain began to become even more conscious of the terrible chill assaulting them.

Looking up at the moon, he frowned,

'Is this why?'

The sun is the major source of life, heat and energy for Urbus. Without it, there would be no life, only endless chill...

Although the light of the moon originates from the sun, it doesn't bring its heat as well.

Instead, the night is always chilly...

They had no idea how long it had been night in this place, but perhaps the Evernight was the main reason why it was so cold.

Cain sighed and closed his eyes.

A sudden warmth enveloped him, making his open his shut eyes.

Turning around, he noticed Susan mumbling a chant under her breath.

The light coming from the staff in her hands seemed to spread from her to the rest of them. With it came a warmth that soothes the body and soul.

Cain was amused, "Just how many spells do you have?"

Susan smiled, "While they are numerous, most of them, like this one, are more useful in certain circumstances than most. Besides, it isn't a complete spell. More of a derivative..."

Cain chuckled, "I see..."

They walked on, occasionally fighting off wave after wave of {Zombies} and the occasional Mutant Beast.

Stabbing his sword into the eye of a struggling {Zombie}, Cain stared forward.

There, just a few miles ahead, was a giant skeleton. From what creature this thing has come, he had no idea...

Seated on the black stone sand, the collosal remains were as mysterious as they were frightening. Looking at the structure, it was obviouslya bovine's skeleton, with its peculiar bone density and horns sticking from its skull.

And to crown it all off, lurking beneath the bones, was an army of the Undead...