God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The old man chuckled, "If you think about it, then yes. We indeed are an insignificant pebble of dirt floating in an infinitely large pool. However, each planet a god possesses under their influence is a huge power boon. Most gods don\'t even have any mortal realm planets under their command. However, they might not come themselves. Even the lowest of their attendants will be enough to wipe us all out."

Cain sighed, "So these gods coming here is a bad idea. Got it."

The old man chortled, "If we can invade the temples and destroy these alters, we can wrestle power from that stupid figurehead sitting on the throne."

Cain casped his hands together and closed his eyes. There was a lot to think about. If this truly was the conflict of the trial, then he couldn\'t rush to make any conclusions.

\'Thinking about it... There are two ways to complete this trial. Two sides to play from...\'

His eyes opened to reveal a cold but carefully hidden glint.

\'Helping this geezer willean working on the side of the Devils and against the gods. However, the opposite is also possible. However, the system makes following this route difficult. Does it want the trial to be harder, or is it pushing us towards the other side...\'

Try as he may, he wouldn\'t be able to understand the working of an abstract entity such as the system.

"So you want us to sneak into the temple and destroy the alters. What stops you from doing that?"

The old man answered, "We members of the rebellion can\'t step into the temples once we bear a seed of doubt. Many have died when they realize they were suddenly unable to enter the temple anymore."

Cain shivered. He could vividly imagine something like that happening. A young man questioning his faith a little suddenly realizing he is unable to enter the temple. Captured and tried as a Heretic, he is put to death.

Cain frowned, "Well, that\'s dumb."

The old man smiled bitterly, "Indeed it is. But that is what my world has come to. That is why we need your help. You and your companions are not from this world. You are the only ones that can help."

Cain didn\'t think about it too much, "Okay. I agree. However, you can\'t just send us to our deaths."

The old man nodded, "We have been in contact with the Devils. The devil horde attacks have been to divert the attention of Lord Crimson and the Silver King from us laying down the framework of rebellion under their noses."

Cain\'s expression turned dark, "Are you sure you can trust these Devils? They truly are agents of darkness and chaos."

The old man sighed and shook his head, "Young man, not everything in existence is black and white. There exists a multitude of colours on the spectrum, so it can be difficult to distinguish what is good or bad, or whatever it is that lay between them."

Cain didn\'t understand what the old man was trying to say. He could understand the words, but not their intent.

"In any case. It doesn\'t really matter."

He looked at the small wolf pup on his shoulder,

"If that is all, then I\'ll be going."

The old man nodded, "We plan to proceed the day after tomorrow. That means you do not have a lot of time to prepare."

Cain stood up, "I\'ll make due." He walked towards the entrance.

The old man watched as Cain stepped through the door and disappeared. He let out a tired sigh.

The kind looking oldwoman stepped through the doorframe that led to the other parts of the humble home. She directed a worried gaze at her elderly husband,

"Hunny... Are you sure he can be trusted?"

The old man gave her a weary smile, "We don\'t have any choice, hunny. This is our last chance if we want to liberate our world from those cruel dictators."

The old woman sighed and moved closer to the old man. They both shared a hug. It was obvious that the years had done nothing to kill the love between these two.

The old man smiled, "When all this has been settled, let\'s go on vacation to the beaches. You\'ve always been telling me how you\'d love to try out the Devil Sea Turtles."

The old woman let out a peal of bright laughter...

***

Wrapped in a cloak of impenetrable darkness, Cain moved through the streets of the capital city, Duskmore. With the {Emblem of Darkness} activated, he could avoid most eyes.

Not only that, he also made sure to move through the back alleys, keeping his eyes peeled as well. If there was someone like the old man on the opposing team, he had no doubts he would be found out even with the help of the {Emblem of Darkness}.

\'How\'s it going?\' Cain sent a mental message through the white wolf on his shoulder.

Hunter answered from the other side,

\'We\'ve found somewhere. It is secluded and I doubt they would think to look for us here as long as we keep things down.\'

Cain nodded, \'By the way... This ability of yours is quite neat.\'

Hunter sighed, \'You of all people shouldn\'t be saying that.\'

Cain chuckled, \'I\'m being serious. If it improves in the future, not only will we have a bunch of cuties, we might be able to build a proper communications system for when we are out in the fields.\'

Hunter shrugged, \'Probably. Enough idle talk. Get your ass back here quickly. I\'ll send the location to you through White.\'

The white wolf was incredibly useful. Not only was it used to scout, it possessed the ability to become invincible, it could also connect two or more minds together. That way, distance wouldn\'t be a problem for communication.

It was an incredible support summon. However, its combat power was disgustingly low. One hit would be enough to put it down. That was why it had a large repertoire of escape and evasive skills.

Cain nodded once he got the mental map.

\'I\'m not going to come now. I want to see if I can find some of the others first.\'

Hunter spoke languidly, \'Sure. The more the merrier, I guess...\'

Cain chuckled before breathing the communication between them. Suddenly, the sounds of conflict entered his ears.

A frown appeared on his face.

The streets of the capital city varied depending on the he area. The commercial district had broad streets that stretched from city gate to city gate. The residential districts had more narrow streets and backalleys. The streets surrounding the royal palace were wide and heavily guarded.

Right now, he was in the residential area. No matter how glorious a place was, there was bound to be crime. Such was human nature. Wether in plenty or lack, emotions like greed still existed. That was why the rich desire to be richer and the poor desire to take the place of the rich.

Cain moved quickly like the wind. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the alleyway where the confrontation was taking place.

Already, there was a thug laying on the ground. However, more of them surrounded a group of three from all sides.

One of them had his hands up in the air,

"Gentlemen of this fine city... Is this a way to treat people?"

Cain rolled his eyes. He could recognize that voice in a hurricane.

The leader of the group of thugs glowered menacingly at the person speaking,

"You\'ve got a grit for a bundle of twigs. I can respect that. However, harming one of my ment is a slap to my face."

Thebrute was huge. Very huge. He was almost as huge as Floki. His body was covered in blood red markings. He recognized them as runes.

\'Definetly not a simple character.\'

A person that could endure the application of do many runes was not simple at all. Not only that, these runes were array runes. Meaning they had been applied numerous times. That was why they were so visible.

This meant this man would be able to go blow for blow even with someone blessed with access to the system.

However, the thin handsome man standing before him with his hands in the air didn\'t seem bothered at all.

"My good sir. Your man was the aggressor in this case. He tried to inappropriately touch one of my ladies. Surely, that should earn him a well deserved scolding or two, no?"

The brute nodded, "I agree. But I should be the one doing the scolding, not you. So as punishment, I demand you give me those two."

A lecherous and sadistic light appeared in the thug leader\'s eyes. Someone with half a head would realize what he wanted to do,

"Is there a need to say all this? Why can\'t we just kill them?" Kai, who was one of the women behind Steve grumbled.

Sisi also seemed at a loss.

Steve threw them a smile, "Girls. There is no need for violence when this misunderstanding can be resolved with words. Am I right gentlemen?"

The thug boss seemed to have finally run out of patience,

"Attacks, boys! Kill the man, but leave those two alive. I\'m going to enjoy myself today!"

Steve\'s eyelids twitched. He let out a tired sigh,

"So much for trying to help you preserve your lives."

Without wasting a breath, Kai launched out like a bullet, bone spear in hand. In a split second, she was in front of the thug leader, the tip of her spear crashing forward like a train.

Steve chuckled as his index fingers moved in the air. Golden light poured from his fingertips to create words that couldn\'t be understood.

The ground and the walls rumbled as earthen spears protruded from them, impaling the thugs. Their lives were snuffed out in an instant.

Seeing his men die like flies, the thug leader realized immediately that he had messed up. He had messed up big time. He tried to turn around and flee, but Kai\'s spear was many times faster.

A streak of white was all he saw as his legs were separated from his body.

A loud shout rang out from the alleyway. The thug leader collapsed in a pool of his own blood.

Brandishing her spear, Kai looked down on him coldly then turned towards the entrance of the alley,

"Come out now, or I\'ll turn you into a skewer."

Steve\'s eyes were also looking towards the entrance of the alley.

Cain sighed then stepped forward,

"Impressive."

Despite his words, a frown hung from his lips as he looked around.

\'These idiots!\'