God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"The plan is simple..." Her eyes were filled with a maniacal glow.

"However, I have to see the place they are gathered in. This way, I will be able to form a better picture." The glow disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.

Cain fell silent. While he wanted to work together with her, he was still a bit suspicious. After all, there was no way in hell she wasn\'t considering what she would gain from the operation.

Eventually, he made a decision...

"Follow me..."

Cain quickly got up from the ground. His eyes seemed to become a part of the darkness as he connected his senses with that of the {Dark Soul}. Perhaps because of her affinity with the shadow element, but Evangeline had no problem following him through the darkness.

After a long time, they had traveled into the depths of the mountain. Cain could finally see the bit of light that came from the roof of the cavern after traveling through the darkness for a while. He threw a hand sign at Evangeline, then crept closer to the familiar boulder he had made his hiding place during the few days he had been on the Evil Mountains.

"Incredible..."

Cain glanced at his side to see Evangeline crouching very close to him, their bodies almost touching. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, he adjusted his body to give her a bit more space.

\'Better...\'

Cain spoke, "So what are you seeing?"

Evangeline murmured something inaudible under her breath. Although there was an entire network of caves and tunnels within the mountain, there were only three entrances, well two exits, and one entrance to this place. The rest had all been sealed, most likely deliberately.

One of the two exits was where Cakn and Evangeline were at. Perhaps it was because of the boulder blocking it, but the Chaos creatures didn\'t seem to know of its existence at all.

The other one was crawling with the {Chaos Goblin} scouts. If they so much as set foot there, the entire community would be notified and hell would immediately be rained down upon their heads.

The entrance was the tunnel that led into the belly of the mountain. No matter how he looked with {Eye of Clairvoyance}, he was unable to spot any other entrance.

Cain was quite curious to hear what Evangeline had to suggest...

"One entrance, two exits. A lot of monsters, and very few options. If we were to try drilling a hole through to the other side, we would be noticed instantly, and our plans would be ruined."

Her brows were furrowed as she continued, "However, they have no idea that we are here, which means we have the element of surprise. The only unknown variable is the big guy..."

\'The Chaos Chief, huh...\'

Cain sensed that the creature was far more harrowing and powerful than the mere Three-headed {Chaos Troll}. And there was also the group of five Four-headed {Chaos Trolls} to deal with. They were the only ones within the entire camp, and judging by the number of heads they possessed, as well as how big they were, Cain was inclined to believe they were also physically more powerful.

"Not just the chief. We also have to deal with his personal guard." Cain whispered.

"True... However, if the plan goes accordingly, then we won\'t have to face them all at once. They will be forced to fight on our terms." Evangeline replied confidently.

Cain couldn\'t help but ask at this point, "What exactly do you plan on doing?"

The same smile that had just a touch of madness appeared on her face again,

"Like I said, we are flushing them out. I have a certain skill that can be amplified using water elemental mana shards. If we get enough on hand, I will be able to create enough water to flush every single one of these pests into the vast network of tunnels. That is where we will fight.

By breaking them into small groups and attacking them one by one, we will be able to achieve the same thing you have been doing all this time. However, it will be less dangerous and will consume less time."

Cain was shocked, "Is there a spell like that?"

Evangeline gave him a weird look. Realizing the irony of his statement, Cain simply dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

"Fine. However, what about the Chief and his personal guard?" He asked.

"We will find a way to deal with them eventually."

Cain was still unconvinced, "But these tunnels have been their home for what I think might be centuries. It is basically their backyard. They can just find their way back, no?"

There was a sly expression on her face,

"That is where you come in."

Cain shot her a strange look, "Me? What the hell do you expect me to do?"

She shrugged, "I don\'t know. Figure something out as well..."

Cain massaged his temples...

"There are so many things that could go wrong in your plan."

But then, a grin appeared on his face, "However, I like it. I like it a lot!"

"Hahaha! I knew you would understand!" Evangeline nearly burst out laughing at that moment, but Cain was quick on the uptake and quickly clamped his palm over her mouth.

\'Damn it! Are you trying to get us killed?!\'

Cain looked through the eyes of the {Dark Soul}. Luckily, they hadn\'t been noticed. An inaudible sigh escaped his lips.

"Let\'s head back..." Cain whispered.

Nodding her head, Evangeline followed closely behind. Cain felt his heart thump with excitement. He could already envision how many ways he could attack his part of the operation.

\'Damn! This is so exciting!\'

Once they arrived back at the campsite, they immediately began discussing the details of the operation.

"First things first. How many water elemental mana shards will you need to completely flood that place?"

When Cain saw her five fingers spread wide, his brows shot up,

"Five, no fifty mana shards? That\'s quite a lot, but I think it is doable. However, we-"

"Fifty? No... Not fifty."

Cain felt something wrong with her answer. Her next words confirmed his ill feelings.

"What?! Five hundred?! Five hundred mana shard of a specific element?! That\'s simply insane!"

"Oi, don\'t yell..." Evangeline said with her white, dainty hands covering her ears.

"What kind of skill needs such a terrifying condition?"

"Technically, it doesn\'t need that much mana shards. However, the amount of mana I will need to create enough water is tremendous."

Cain calmed down once he heard her explanation.

\'System, with my current system points, how many mana shards will I be able to get?\'

{Replying to host: The host will be able to acquire a maximum of fifty Grade 9 mana shards, or ten Grade 8 mana shards}.

Cain broke out into a cold sweat...

"Erm.. What Grade do they have to be?" Cain knew that the difference in the amount of mana within a Grade 9 and Grade 8 was exponential. However, he could only hope that the mana shares she needed were Grade 9 and not Grade 8.

His hopes were shattered immediately,

"Grade 8..." Evangeline said with a small angelic smile.

"Shit!" Cain cursed.

They were sitting adjacent to one another around the fire pit they had dug. The fire had been out for a long time, so they had been sitting in darkness all this time.

"This... This complicates things a bit." Cain said as he massaged his temples.

Evangeline shrugged, "What is the problem? We just need to acquire more system points, don\'t we?"

Cain felt a sudden urge to lift the she-devil before him from the ground and shake her senseless.

He gritted his teeth, "You make it seem as though we will be able to find so many system points so casually!"

A sly glint appeared in her eyes, "But what if I say we can?"

Cain immediately sighed, "What is it this time?"

"There is an incredibly powerful creature that is located on the path I took to get here. It isn\'t a Tier 1. However, its strength is quite close. It is very scary..."

Seeing Cain\'s eyes glinting in the darkness, a smirk appeared on her face,

"Killing that thing will earn us a bunch of system points. I can guarantee it. The risk is also less than facing a genuine Tier 1 creature."

Cain thought about it. What she was proposing was wild and dangerous, but it was also within reason, regardless of how flawed said reason was...

He had no real reason to decline her offer. If they accumulate enough system points, they will be able to buy enough mana shards. They could complete the first phase of the plan.

Cain felt like he was descending into madness and the culprit of this descent was sitting not too far away from him with a small smile on her face.

\'This is madness... Madness, I say!\'

"Fine. Let\'s just get this over with."

"Smart choice..." Evangeline said with a nod.

Cain shook his head with a wry smile.

\'Seriously, what did I just get myself into?\'

It hadn\'t even been a day since they were reunited and yet, she had managed to convince him to go down the crazy slope...

At first, he thought she was just a bit enigmatic, but now, he knew the truth. She was simply insane. However, she was a good type of insane. One he could appreciate.

\'What have I gotten myself into?\'