God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 672: As the light fades (1).

Cain wouldn't have any problems locating anyone or anything with {Eye of Clairvoyance}.

With a single scan, he was able filter all the useless information being fed into his brain by the skill, locating both Khan and General Arltzwalt in a few seconds.

He placed a hand on Boulder's shoulder and the space around them caved in, dragging them in.

A moment later, they appeared in a different space entirely.

This space was enclosed in a dark room. However, with their high perception stats, both Cain and Boulder could see just fine.

There, General Arltzwalt was chained in similar fashion to how Boulder had been, his back rested against the wall.

On the other side of the room, was a figure facing the open balcony attached to the room.

The chilling night wind cut through the darkness, carrying strands of their hair along its path.

The figure turned around. On its face was an eerie mask with deep unsettling darkness nestled in the slits of its eyes and mouth.

When the masked figure spoke, Cain easily recognized the voice,

"That was a wonderful battle you fought, Cain. I never doubted you'd beat Kaelin for a moment."

Cain remembered the conversation they had had on their way to Valestorm so many nights, or rather evernights ago.

Cain replied, his voice as cold as sharpened steel,

"So you were the rat. But it wasn't that old bastard you were working for."

His eyes widened as his tone became sharper,

"I should kill you where you stand."

Khan shrugged, the mask hiding his expression,

"I'm sure you can. But I'd like to chat a bit first."

Boulder had already knocked an arrow onto his bow and was taking aim,

"You lost the right to make demands a long time ago. Now, there is nothing left to be said."

With those words leaving his mouth, he let the arrow fly.

Khan made no move to dodge, and the arrow struck his mask. However, it didn't pierce through. Rather, it glanced off without leaving a single scratch.

Cain frowned. Boulder's arrows could inflict injury upon, and even kill powerful Tier 1 Mutant Beasts and Aether Creatures. And yet, it hadn't left even a single scratch on Khan.

Khan tilted his head slightly, the voice coming from the behind the mask a bit off-putting,

"Boulder. I am sure we have already had our conversation. There is nothing left to be said between us."

Boulder growled through gritted teeth,

"Shut the hell up!"

Khan sighed and turned back to Cain,

"Forgive me, but I don't think we can have a conversation if he is in the room."

Cain gently put a hand on Boulder's shoulder,

"Don't lose your composure. Calm down, for their sakes."

Boulder trembled, "They are already dead! What use is there in hearing what he has to say?"

Cain smiled coldly,

"Well, we are about to find out, aren't we..."

Khan nodded, "Indeed. Although I have no intentions of apologizing for what I have done. It was all bound to happen after all. The future cannot be changed."

Cain's smile disappeared as he took a step forward,

"Your foresight ability is indeed quite powerful."

Khan sighed, "I wouldn't call it an ability. It is a curse most of the time."

He paused for a moment,

"You see, Cain... There is something quite peculiar about time and the way we interact with it."

He lightly touched his mask and turned around, looking towards the balcony being kissed with silver strands of radiance from the moon.

"Time isn't just a singular entity. Rather, it is a continuum, with a bunch of branches that set off from the main streamline. It is rather haphazard, and most of it doesn't make sense. However..."

He turned around, the eerie dark slits visible even in the darkness,

"It is what makes Fate so impossible to break. Because at the end of the stream, at the end of every branch, no matter what you do, there can only be one end."

He traced a pattern in the air,

"And then history repeats itself. Over and over and over again. It never changes, it never ends. For all of eternity."

He turned to Boulder,

"You might resent me. But their deaths were set in stone. If I hadn't done it, someone else probably would have. So there is no need to cry, Boulder. Rather, the more reasonable question to ask would have been why did I let you live."

"You despicable piece of crap!" Boulder muttered. He took a step forward and summoned a pair of daggers.

"Don't try to stop me, Cain." He said, before dashing forward, blinded with rage.

Cain didn't say anything, his eyes fixed on the man standing before him.

He mulled over his words.

'Despite all he has said, he has given no reason for his actions. Was all this unprovoked? Surely not. There has to be a reason."

Cain's frown deepened even more.

Khan had put up an impenetrable facade that even he had.been unable to see through. Because of that, his betrayal was the last thing he had suspected.

In fact, he had considered him a friend alongside Lucia, Gloria, and the others.

But in a shocking twist of fate, he had killed them all, sparing only Boulder.

Which revealed two bits of vital information. One being that Khan was much stronger than he had initially let on. He didn't think he would be stronger than Kaelin though,.but he was definitely powerful.

The second piece of information that bounced around in his head, werebthe implications of the words Khan had said to him back then in the Sea of Sands.

"An Ember either withers away after the flames have died out, or is used to begin the fire anew. The question is, Cain... Just what kind of ember are you? Are you going to die out, or will you create a new flame..."

A thought suddenly appeared in Cain's mind.

'Could it be...'

It seemed unlikely, and the more he thought about it, the colder his heart became.

As his thoughts spiralled, however, Boulder was already clashing with the masked Khan.

His daggers turned into blurs, mixing in with the darkness like flickering shadows.

He swung, hacked, slashed and stabbed with every ounce of might he could muster.

On the other hand, Khan slipped through them all, carefully dodging all of them.

"Boulder, in the time we spent together, I really came to respect you. Your mind and heart are strong. And you could have served as a pillar for humanity. However, you lack the glow of an ember."

"Shut up!" Boulder roared as the floorboards beneath his feet shattered and the walls began to crack.

His blade traveled with such speed and ferocity, that Khan could no longer afford to dodge.

And so, he pulled out his curved silver blade to parry it.

The blade clashed, producing a deafening ring that reverberated through the room, causing the cracks to rise from the walls to the ceiling.

Like a mad beast, Boulder continued to cut and stab at Khan, trying to pierce his heart or slash his throat with the black daggers.

However, Khan was too quick and experienced, knowing exactly when and how to move optimally to avoid the blades.

"Because you do not glow, you do not have what it takes to change it. To rend the chains that bind us."

As the clash turned more heated, the entire room suddenly collapsed into rubble.

They were in the third floor of a building that had somehow managed to retain its integrity so far.

Because of their battle, the room in the floor above them was unable to handle the tremors, and thus collapsed in on them.

The walls and ceiling broke apart, but even the debris was blown away by the intensity of their duel.

The silver moonlight streamed in.

With a sudden movement of his feet, Khan shifted abruptly, making Boulder lean into an attack too much, throwing him off balance.

The next moment, his word was striking down towards Boulder's neck,

"Because of that, you are unable to keep the ones you love the most alive. Because of that, you are weak."

CLANG!

The crisp sound of metal striking metal reverberated through what was left of the room.

A soft golden light streamed into Boulder's eyes, snapping him out of his engaged trance.

Cain coldly called out,

"That's enough."

Boulder turned around, his fists tightly gripping the hilts of his blades,

"I said not to interfere, Cain!"

Cain growled, "Shut the hell up, would you? He nearly almost killed you just now. If not for me, you wouldn't have a head on your shoulders."

His eyes fixed on Khan, Boulder responded without turning around,

"It doesn't matter if I die. I'll drag her m down with me."

Cain's eyes flashed and he appeared behind Boulder in an instant.

There was a touch of sadness in his enraged eyes. A metal bat manifested in his hands, and he brought it down, striking Boulder hard against the back of his head, knocking him out clean.

With a thud, Boulder fell to the floor, a pool of blood already forming beneath his head. Although the injury wouldn't kill him, it was more than enough to give him a concussion and put him out for a while.

Cain turned his focus to Khan. His eyes were grim, and a look of disbelief was on his face,

"Why? Why did you do it?"

There was a moment of silence.

Khan's head slowly tilted up towards the majestic moon that engulfed half the sky,

"I think you already have your answer, Cain. You just refuse to accept it yet."

Cain felt his rage explode like a geyser.

Khan chuckled,

"Yes, Cain. Only when the fire dies, only then do the embers glow the brightest."