God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"And here I thought there were some truly strange forces at play here. Turns out it was just some idiot..." Luke couldn\'t help the disappointed look on his face as he stared at the hooded figure standing before him.

"Hmph! You\'ve got a lot of nerve for someone who\'s about to die." A glint was seen from beneath the hood as the figure bared its teeth into a toothy grin at Luke.

"Ah, whatever. I\'ll give you a head start. Go on, attack me." Luke said with a sigh.

\'Is this person mental? Does he not realize how much danger he is in right now.\' The hooded figure was taken aback by Luke\'s carefree attitude.

\'What does it matter... Eliminating small fry like this should be a piece of cak-\'

SHLICK...

THUMP!

A hand fell to the ground...

"Ha... If you keep wasting my time, you won\'t even have enough limbs left to attack." Luke said as he stared into the now-revealed eyes of his attacker.

A regular female face that wasn\'t ugly or drop-dead gorgeous. However, her face was as pale as sheets as she stared at the place where her hand used to be.

"I..."

SHLICK!

"See? You\'ve lost your other hand. Two legs and a head to go..." Luke said coldly. He spoke like he was talking about casually butchering and dismembering a chicken.

\'I... I can\'t even attack. My... My arms!\'

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

A brief scream of pain escaped from her mouth before it stopped abruptly. A head spouting a stream of blood was sent flying through the air the next second...

"This is a stealth mission. I prefer silence." Sheathing his blade, Luke turned around to the sight of his men staring at him in shock.

"Luke, what is going on?! One moment you were here, the next, you were gone. Now, you are here again. What\'s going on?!" Reginald had a look of confusion on his face as he stared at Luke.

"An illusion trap set by someone to guard this border of the western Island. Seems like someone is expecting our arrival." Winifred said while adjusting his glasses.

"No... We aren\'t being expected. Even if we are, the enemy has no idea how strong we are now that this guy is dead." Luke said to the group.

Chatter burst out from the group of men...

"But how are you so sure?" Winifred asked. However, the next second, his eyes fell upon the decapitated body on the ground.

"If they knew how strong we are, they wouldn\'t have sent such an incompetent welcome party," Luke said with a sinister grin.

"Seems so. However..." Winifred said with a cold look in his eyes.

"Hm? What is it?" Luke said, staring intensely at Winifred.

"Isn\'t that guy supposed to be dead?" Winifred said, pointing at the headless \'corpse\' that was now standing on two feet.

"What?" Surprised, Luke turned around to be greeted with a very strange, nearly frightening sight.

Standing behind him without a head, was the robed figure he had just decapitated. Her hands crawled back on their own toward her and positioned themselves back in place.

Suddenly, the robed figure stooped down to the ground and grabbed the head that was sitting in the sand. Once it was in her hands, she placed it back on her neck. Threads of light burst out from the place of severance in bother neck and head, connecting both of them back together.

In just a few seconds, her head and body were attached back together...

"I\'m so glad. I almost died over there..." The girl breathed a sigh of relief. The men on Luke\'s team stared at her with horror in their eyes.

"W-what the hell is this?!" Reginald\'s eyes were wide open as he stared at her.

Still facing Luke, the girl spoke in an eerie voice, "I won\'t be able to defeat you alone. However, now that you have come here, be prepared to give up your life. With the power of the god of light, you will never be able to defeat us..."

Raising her hands toward the sky, a ball of light appeared and was then fired upward.

BANG!

"There... I just alerted the entire Island. In just a few minutes, the army of the light god will fall upon your heads." The robed girl said, satisfaction etched onto her face.

"Luke, I have a bad feeling about this," Winifred whispered to Luke with a disturbed look.

"What do you suggest?" Luke whispered back. He was also shaken by the strange power of the girl standing before him.

"Let\'s retreat!"

"Not a bad idea!" Luke said with a wide smile.

"Men, retreat!" Luke yelled out. Since they were not too far from the shore, it would take them just a few steps to leave the Island and get to their speedboats.

However, the moment they turned around, they were all greeted with a surprise. Behind them was the ocean. However, their speedboats were no longer present on the ocean.

"Oi, what\'s going on?!"

"Where did the boats go?!"

"Did that bitch do something again?! Let\'s go kill her!"

Luke\'s men had varying responses ranging from confusion to panic, to outright violence. However, Luke had a serene expression on his face.

"Quiet..." With one word, all the chatter surrounding him died down. Turning back to the girl who still had a creepy smile on her face, he spoke calmly,

"It wasn\'t you, was it..."

"Yes, it wasn\'t her. It was me..." A voice that seemed to leak from the void echoed in all their ears.

"And you are?" Luke said, immediately drawing his blade. A bead of sweat dripped down his brow, and his grip on the weapon tightened.

\'Damn! What the hell is this aura?! Does this mana even belong to a human?!\' Luke thought to himself as he felt a heavy force pulling down on him. However, this force wasn\'t caused by anything physical. Instead, it was all just pure magical power...

"Who am I?" The owner of the voice said, before letting a chuckle loose.

"My name is Lukas, and I am but a humble servant of the light god, Yagani," Lukas said with a smile on his face.

Feeling a grave amount of danger behind him, Luke turned around slowly to see Lukas standing behind him with a wide smile on his face. Behind him, all the members of his team, including Winifred and Reginald, lay on the ground completely unconscious.

"You!"

"Relax... They are only sleeping after all." Lukas said.

"If you are looking for a fight, I will gladly give you one," Luke said with a sneer as he pointed his blade at the man standing before him.

"Hm? A fight? Quite the contrary... Why would I want to duke it out with the infamous Luke, the Spectre?" Lukas said, his smile turning even wider.

"What?! Who are you?" Luke said, this time a bit surprised.

"What? You don\'t expect me to know you?" Lukas said teasingly.

"If you know that name, then you should be an integral part of the underworld. Not just any lackey or hitman can get their hands on my name." Luke said with narrowed eyes.

"Well, that\'s because I am not a part of the underworld you know of," Lukas said, the smile on his face turning a bit strange. The contrast of his white clothes with the dark skies and the even darker ocean made him even more strange.

"Tell you what..." Lukas said, "Why don\'t I welcome you over, and we can discuss this over a cup of tea?"

A frown settled over Luke\'s features as he contemplated the offer.

\'This man is certainly dangerous. Someone that can come so close without me noticing is a threat. However, fighting, especially with all my men down, and on enemy turf, would do us no good."

"Alright fine. Let\'s go..." Luke said, keeping a staring face to hide his inner thoughts.

"Good..." A smile that would have been more if not for all the intentions it hid was plastered on Lukas\'s face as he escorted Luke forward.

"Marq... Provide adequate treatment for these men over here. Make sure they are properly taken care of." Lukas said as he passed by the girl who had attacked Luke.

"Yes, my Lord!" Without any hesitation, the girl acted in an instant. A few people dressed in tattered clothing, wearing and carrying all sorts of weapons began to appear. They gathered around Luke\'s men and began to carry them away.

Staring at his men being carted away, a cloudy look appeared on Luke\'s face.

***

The Western island was shaped like a crescent moon. There were a few dilapidated buildings, but overall, the situation wasn\'t too bad.

Looking around, Luke was able to see many destitute people who didn\'t seem to be doing too bad. Despite that, there was an eerie quiet amongst them, apart from the occasional chatter.

There weren\'t wasn\'t a lot of vegetation nearby, just the occasional shrubbery that grew out of the broken buildings.

"Where are you expecting me?" Luke said to Lukas who led him deeper into the island.

"Yes." Lukas\'s reply was short and curt.

"What? Nothing else?" Luke rolled his eyes.

A smile made its way onto Lukas\'s face,

"You see... Both of us are joined together by fate." Lukas said.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"I know there is something your heart desires..." The smile on Lukas\'s face became even deeper.

A strained expression appeared on Luke\'s face as he fell silent. Turning around, Lukas stared straight into Luke\'s eyes,

"If you know anything about the strange practice called magic, you should know a few of the characteristics of the light element. I can see things that you can\'t. With this sight, I was able to predict your arrival. I also know that without me, your plans and goals are all doomed to failure."

Luke\'s expression turned even more serious by the second,

A mad light shone within Lukas\'s eyes,

"For the sake of the predetermined future, join me..."