God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 549: Slaughter City (3).

What does it mean to kill a man?

The art of murder is a delicate one, and most of the time, those who commit to it end up beneath the moral, social, and literal guillotine...

However, in a lawless land, where the only rule of law that exists is survival of the fittest...

Where he with the biggest fist or stick gets to make the rules, the scape and scale of the game changes...

In this case, murder can now be defined in multiple, colourful ways...

Add in a sprinkle of magic and mysticism, and you have yourself something very confusing yet authentic.

For example, the question arises...

Is it possible to kill something that is already dead?

Cain pondered hard about this as he emptied a cartridge. Retrieving another from the {Armament Armory}, he clicked it back in place and bang firing anew...

'What is dead is dead, so is it killing if it is already dead in the first place?'

Was it the right place and time to be having such thoughts? Absolutely not.

Still, he couldn't stop himself. There was something profound about it after all...

Staring around the battlefield, Cain made certain observations.

For one, he could finally conclusively categorize the various powers of those around him.

Before, he had been grossly unsure. After all, a single person couldn't be restricted witj the type and nature of skills and spells he or she possessed. Theoretically...

Reality was a whole different ballgame.

For example, someone like Manny, who excelled in close range combat, yet has little to no means of long range attacks could be very certainly classified as a warrior. His use of blades as his choice of weapon further solidified this.

However, what kind of warrior he was, was up for debate.

An assassin was quick, yet silent. Unfortunately, there was nothing silent about Manny. He was more like a storm; unbound, unfettered, deadly, and exceptionally loud.

Watching him vigorously dance within the sea of bodies, rotting blood, arms, legs, and organs swirling all around him, creating a ghastly scene, Cain decided the best way to refer to Manny, woild be to call him a 'Storm Warrior'. This name was very fitting, considering that his major elemental affinity was Wind.

The same could be said about others, but things took a turn when his case was brought forward.

With a wave of his hand, the front door of a nearby derailed trailer broke off and smashed into the midsection of five or so {Zombies}, separating them all cleanly.

Their bodies dropped to the ground, but they still crawled forward, their groans of hunger unrelenting. This was because despite the severity of his attack, he hadn't harmed their heads at all.

With a wave of his hand, five golden, hiltless, and star-tipped blades manifested, puncturing holes in the heads of the crawling abominations a split second later.

'Range, lethality, durability, and utility...'

One could broadly group all skills, abilities, and spells within the scope of these four classifications.

For range, Cain could confidently say that his range was better than most, although it varied depending of what skills and spells he was willing to use, given the circumstances.

With his guns, he could reach a range of about a thousand meters, or a kilometer. With how much his perception skill had increased, perhaps he would be able to hit a target from farther away. However, the lethality of his shots would drop severely.

And then, there were his attack spells, most of which could be considered within all ranges.

There was no doubting the lethality of his abilities. In that matter, even he knew just how danger this skills and spells were, as he had been the one to create them.

Sometimes, he even saw it as over kill. However, when he considered the type of creatures he would soon be facing, he realized it wasn't even nearly enough.

Hoa durability was also decent. Compared to someone like Floki though, it wasn't really up to par. Despite the nature of {Divine Essence of Metallurgy} skill, he didn't apply its defensive properties much. Not only that, but he also rarely used the metal enchantment of {Burning Spirit} as well, since it severely limited his mobility.

His defensive spells, {Golden Halo} and {Infernal Wings} were also very important when in a clutch. Still, it wasn't the best.

However, his extreme stat points made up for his lack of defense...

And then, there was utility...

His mind occupied with these thoughts, Cain, and the nine others continued pushing forward again and entire horde of rabid, flesh hungry {Zombies}.

Standing up on the skull of the dead collosal bovine, was a strange creature.

Yes, a strange one indeed...

With his perception, Cain could see its features quite clearly.

Not only was this creature incredibly bold and confident, it also didn't seem to take them seriously, as it stared down at them without moving.

'So that's what they look like now.'

This {Miasma Devil} looked quite different to the one he had encountered many months back.

For one, its skin was still a deep shade of oily, tar-like black.

However, it appeared more humanoid. At least, as humanoid as a Devil could be.

From what he could see, Cain realized that this Devil was incredibly huge, at least three times bigger than he was, and maybe twice as large as Floki, which was quite scary to think about.

It was surrounding with a haze.of dark energy, what Cain could only assume was Devil Essence.

'For it to be so intense, it oozes out of its body...' Cain frowned to himself.

It also had large tentacles sprouting out of its body from numerous locations, resembling some sort of Eldritch horror. Its eyes were a deey shade of green, and a few arts of its body were covered in what seemed to be incredibly tough exoskeleton.

All in all, the creature, the Devil possessed a subtle beauty in its harrowing madness...

It was strange, really...

'Not going to do anything, huh... Perhaps I should role him up?'

With nothing better to do, seeing as the rest were taking very good care of the horde of {Zombies}, Cain switched his guns out for his bow, {Maelstrom}.

This weapon, when compared to most of his other weapons, was quite unique to say the least. It was damaged, just like the {Scale of the Abyssal Flame} had been when he had first gotten it.

However, there were no signs of damages. Cain had concluded a long time ago, that these damages were most likely internal.

The nature and origins of the weapon was also peculiar. Upon drawing the bowstring back, a torrent of Cosmic water, a form of water that possesses enchanted traits, would gather and condensed itself into the bow, already notched and ready to be fired.

This didn't mean he couldn't fire regular arrows from the bow, only that the weapon didn't need arrows to work properly.

These arrows of compressed and condensed water was so intense, it could break through the carapace of a creature from a thousand meters away.

By far, it was the weapon with the most range in his possession. It was also incredibly deadly.

Pulling back on the bowstring, Cain casually aimed...

While his aim wasn't the best, hitting a target so close was just a bit harder than cutting his toenails.

The shot was calculated and merciless. It took him less than a second to draw the bowstring back and let the arrow of compressed water go loose.

The arrow tore through the air, and with minimal displacement, arrived before the Devil.

At this point, surprisingly, the {Miasma Devil} tilted its head just a little bit, allowing the arrow to glide right by.

Cain frowned. At the same time, the lazy eyes of the {Miasma Devil} met him.

In that moment, Cain felt a strange sensation unlike anything he had ever felt.

At the same time, the facial expression of the {Miasma Devil} contorted strangely.

This was due to one thing. Cain had forgotten about this, but he possessed a title called {Devil Hunter}. This title, was one he had acquired after slaughtering his way through a whole small army of lesser Devils, as well as the True Devil, Forza.

Because of this, perhaps this particular Devil could smell the heavy stench of the blood of its kin on Cain.

It hadn't noticed him first, but the moment it did, it was impossible to take its eyes off.

Bloodlust rolling off its body in waves, the horde below surged accordingly.

The {Miasma Devil} opened its mouth,

"Human..."

Cain frowned. Despite being very far away, he could hear the Devil quote clearly.

The boundless, near senseless rage was also transmitter clearly...

"Die."

The horde split open, and several strange looking {Zombies} broke free, charging at them.

At the same time, The {Miasma Devil} finally disengaged from its passive position. Lifting itself off the bones with its tentacles, it spared into the sky.

Not one to dally, Cain fired a round of arrows at the creature.

However, they were all stopped by its thick tentacles. Despite their power, they were simply unable to even nick the thick, muscular tentacles, not to talk of harming the Devil itself.

When its spoke, Cain could sense the inhumanity dripping off the creature. It stared at him like one would stare at his mortal nemesis, a side effect of {Devil Hunter}. Although it gave him an edge against Devils, it also earned him their ire...

"I'll break your bones, tear your flesh from your skin, and turn you into my slave, human." The Devil said with a rage filled calm as it approached.

Cain snorted, "Let's see you try."

Waving its hand, the evolved {Zombies} dashed forward alongside their master, eager to tear these humans to shreds and featt on their succulent flesh.