God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 61: Central Island (2). [Deleted]

"That... That should have done her in, right?" Manny said with uncertainty.

"I think so-" Before he had the time to blink, Vincent saw a shadow break through the smoldering air.

"Watch-" The warning was unable to meet Manny in time.

Despite his attempts to parry Kai's strikes, the red and white aura on the huntress seemed to boost her power and speed even more.

Very quickly, Manny was pelted with more than a dozen blows. Stretching her hand out, the bone-white spear shot out of the smoke and landed in her hand. With a horizontal swing, she sent the bleeding and disoriented Manny into a distant building.

His body flew like a cannonball and smashed against the wall of the building.

Vincent stared with wide eyes. However, there wasn't enough time for him to think as the huntress was quickly descending on him.

'Think, dammit!'

He noticed that the huntress had suffered some damage from the {Leviathan's Roar}, but the more serious ones were already being healed by the blood-red aura that surrounded her.

Realizing that he wouldn't be able to win a battle of power or endurance against her, Vincent racked his brain for ideas that could preserve his life.

However, in battle, a second spent thinking is a second lost...

Before he could think about anything else, Kai was already upon him, swinging a claw at him. Jumping back, he managed to get away without any severe injuries.

He flicked his wrist, and a short, unassuming saber immediately replaced his rifle. Although he was a marksman, he was also extremely deadly with a blade...

However, before the might of Kai, he was quickly outmatched. A swipe of the spear left him with a wide wound that cut through his torso.

Taking advantage of his momentary disorientation, she smashed her fist deep into his chest, causing bits of blood and pulverized flesh to fly up into the air.

The pain made him shudder, but he was used to it. He was able to buy himself the time he needed to think, so he wasn't too unhappy about it.

Taking a few steps back, he avoided a flying fist from the huntress and glanced at Dan and Calio who seemed to be having just as hard of a time as he and Manny.

Letting out a curse, he quickly sidestepped another blow and ran toward the two of them.

"Idiot! Throw me a string!" Vincent yelled at the top of his voice.

"Don't call me idiot!" Calio said as he launched a string at Vincent.

Lin Lin looked at the two of them with indifferent dark eyes and simply waved her hands at Calio who was momentarily distracted,

"Rend!"

The space before him was slashed open, and a stream of blood painted the air before him crimson.

Stifling a cry of pain, Calio really jumped back and threw a few threads at Lin Lin. However, she didn't even make an attempt to dodge as the threads simply vanished before they could reach her.

'This... This is bad! Why are they even attacking me anyways? I thought we were on the same team!'

"Focus!" Dan yelled to Calio. A wall of Ice rose from the ground to protect him and buy him some time to recover.

Looking behind her, Lin Lin couldn't see anyone. However, she was certain Dan was somewhere nearby.

Light flashed in her vision all of a sudden. A slender blade of ice appeared before her eyes but were stopped right in their tracks.

Gritting his teeth, Dan let go of the ice blade

However, it was too late.

Clenching her fist, the blade of ice exploded into tens of sharp shards and embedded its way into Dan's flesh right before he could disappear.

Bleeding profusely from where a particularly large shard had penetrated, the {Ice Assasin Armor} that encased his body shimmered for a while before he finally became invincible again.

'How are they so powerful?!' A bead of sweat rolled down his face as he exclaimed in anger.

"Dan!"

Hearing Vincent's voice, Dan snapped his head sideways and saw the fatty running at him at full speed while trying to avoid the rain of attacks being thrown at him by the barbarian girl.

"Catch!" Raising his hand, Dan immediately caught what Vincent had thrown at him. However, that immediately ruined the purpose of his invincibility.

"Gotcha!" A wicked smile made its way onto Lin Lin's face as she swiped her hand forward.

'Crap!' Shifting his body, Dan attempted to dodge but was a second too late. The sound of flesh being torn apart echoed in his ears and a scalding pain quickly followed. However, he had no time to dwell on that.

Feeling the thing in his hand for a moment, he quickly looked to Calio who had a similar String tied to his wrist. His bloodied body lay on the ground. It was obvious he was just barely clinging on to consciousness.

'If this continues, we... we might really die here!'

Gritting his teeth, Dan created a few ice daggers and threw them at Lin Lin. However, there was an invincible barrier that completely nullified his magic.

'Why are their abilities so much stronger?!' Dan yelled in his mind.

He suddenly glanced up to look at the state of the other two...

Vincent and Manny who had crawled out of the wall Kai had slammed him into not too long ago raced around the huntress, both trying their best to evade her attacks, completely focused on defense.

"Tch! Stop running around, you worm."

'Damn it! Why the hell are you so prideful?!' Vincent cursed in his mind.

Luckily, his plan was just about complete. Nodding to Manny who had a bloodless look on his handsome face, he turned to Dan and yelled as loudly as he could.

"Run to me!"

Without even waiting for him to respond, Manny and Vincent ran at their fastest speeds toward the ice bridge.

'I hope this works!'

With Kai in violent pursuit, the two ran the risk of being punctured from behind at any time.

Suddenly, a low growl echoed from the depths of Manny's lungs.

His eyes lashed with a ghostly green light, and his already insane speed immediately multiplied. He suddenly dragged Vincejt forward in his burst of speed, leaving the annoyed Kai in his dust.

An almost invincible string that was produced by Calio connected all of them together. As soon as any burst forward with incredible speed, the bodies of the rest followed him.

Despite his stature, Mamny had more than a few strength points to support the weight of the other three before he fell into exhaustion. A few seconds at most...

However, these seconds were what Vibcemt was after. Light flashed in his hand, and a strange-looking compass immediately appeared in it.

The compass had no needle, and rather than looking flat, was shaped like a sphere.

Inside it, there were north, south, east, west, as well as up and down directional arrows. In short, it was a 3D compass...

Pouring his mana into it violently, a small needle of mana immediately appeared and began spinning.

'Come on!'

The item took a bit of time to be activated, so Vincent had to ensure they stayed alive till then. They were so close to the bridge as well...

Holding the compass in one hand, and his wife in the other, Vincent fired a few shots to try slowing the huntress down.

These shots slammed against her but did little to nothing as the wounds were healed shortly after they appeared.

Just beside him, the figures of Dan and Calio flew through the air as well. With their mana, they were able to maintain a steady forward movement without impeding Manny. However, he would begin to slow down very soon, as while he was capable, he still had his limits.

Just that small burst of speed had eaten into his mana reserves and his body was on the verge of falling apart due to the strain of carrying three other humans as well.

Suddenly, the spinning arrow of the compass stopped and pointed toward the ice bridge.

'Please work!'

It was as though the gods finally decided to look upon them...

With a flash of light, all four disappeared and appeared on the ice bridge, far away from the Central Island...

They had escaped.

Barely...

***

"And that's how we escaped..." Dan said with a grimace.

Turning to Calio who seemed to be in the worst shape of all, Dan said, "This is Calio. He was also on the central island, but we captured him after defeating him."

"Then why was he attacked?" Cain asked with a frown.

Calio answered for himself, "Why?! Because they are crazy bitches, that's why!" Thick malice seeped through his voice as he suddenly coughed up some blood.

'So they were attacked by...'

"Yes... We were attacked by a bunch of insane girls. Well, calling them girls would be slightly incorrect. More like beast ladies..." Vincent said through painful pants.

"I think you all should get some treatment and rest before we discuss." Looking at their terrible state, Cain couldn't help but begin to wonder how strong the culprits were.

"No... We can't wait. Hunter needs our assistance! He...

He's taking those things on by himself!" Dan said through gritted teeth.

"He'll get that assistance. However, you all are in no shape to provide that. That's why I and the others will be going."

"Finally! Something to do!" Li exclaimed with a sigh of relief.

"But-" As Dan was about to object, Cain's chilling gaze pierced through him.

"Rest."

Letting out a sigh, Dan shook his head, "Okay. But you have to hurry."

Cain nodded his head and turned around,

"Sue, can you stay behind and tend to their wounds?" Cain said.

"Hmph... I don't really mind. However, I want adequate compensation." The doll-like girl said with a toothy grin.

Turning to Blaze who was sitting on the ice bridge with closed eyes, Cain let out a sigh. Blaze had not moved a single inch since he came back. It was as though the other was stuck in a meditative trance.

However, since he didn't seem to be in immediate danger, Cain decided to leave him be.

Turning back to Sue with a grim look in his eyes, he thought to himself,

'Damn! Why do I feel like I'm making a deal with the devil?'

"Fine." Once he was done, Cain gestured at the others.

Behind him, Steve, Susan, Li, Jenny and Stan stood. They all wore different expressions, but none of them showed a single hint of fear. Turning back to Dan, Cain spoke darkly,

"Is there anything you think I should know of?"

Dan was silent for a while before he gazed into Cain's eyes and muttered seriously,

"They are strong. Really strong... The Island and the areas surrounding it are also very strange. You'll understand when you get there."

"Okay." With a nod, Cain strode forward. The others soon followed suit...