God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

In other words...

They were not friends, merely teammates. Acquaintances brought together by a common goal.

Although Hunter ignored him, Blaze didn\'t seem to let it affect him. Instead, he continued talking,

He started with a self-depreciating scoff, "David\'s death just reminded me just how human we remain. To think he would die so easily."

Hunter\'s mouth seemed to move without him knowing,

"Death is a part of existing. He was destined to go one way or the other. Besides, he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. What did you expect?"

Blaze laughed, "I don\'t know... Seems like a tall dream tonwant everybody to live untill all this is over, I guess."

Hunter stared straight ahead,"It is indeed..."

The wind picked up in that moment, carrying lingering sentiments...

The world as they knew it had changed greatly. If they didn\'t follow suit, they would be left behind.

Hunter turned his head a little to glance at Blaze,

\'He seems different from before. More mature...\' Compared to when they had fought one another, Blaze didn\'t seem as impulsive. However, he was much stronger now. Perhaps he had accepted that he wouldn\'t be as strong as Cain anytime soon. That, or he was just bidding his time...

Hunter shook his head,

"Why did you come here?"

Blaze sighed, "Don\'t you think fighting right now is a bad idea?"

Hunter raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

Blaze had a grim look on his face, "I get that Cain wants to avenge David, but we can use this moment when they are distracted by the Beast horde and are too busy killing each other to slip away from here. Don\'t you think its about time our journey went on?"

Hunter could understand the undertones...

There was no reason to kill and endanger the lives of those still living.

Blaze\'s face was steely, "I think Cain is making a big mistake. I want to talk some sense into him."

Hunter scratched his head, wonderi6why he was feeling so talkative today,

"I\'d rather not if I were you."

Blaze raised a brow, "I\'m not as weak as you think..."

Hunter shook his head, "You aren\'t weak. I can tell. Taking you on would probably be a pain I\'m the ass. But..."

Blaze frowned, "But what?"

Hunter seemed a bit hesitant, "That Cain is something else... I think if he isn\'t contained, he\'ll wipe everyone out."

Blaze snorted, "Don\'t you think you are exaggerating a bit?"

Hunter shook his head, "The last time I saw him engage in direct battle was in that Fragmented World. He... managed to surprise me a lot. And then there was recently with the Trial."

Blaze shook his head, "He isn\'t unbeatable. Besides, I just want to get my point across. It won\'t be a battle to the death."

Hunter shrugged, "Fine. Do what you want. However, keep me out of it."

Blaze nodded, "I just wanted to make sure you weren\'t going to get involved."

Hunter\'s lips trembled as he nearly broke into a smile,

"Ypu seem quite confident... Do you have some secret strategy or something?"

Blaze shook his head, "You and Cain aren\'t the only ones that have been improving."

Hunter nodded, "Good luck."

Blaze turned and jumped off the building, leaving Hunter alone. A voice was carried over to his earsby the wind,

"He\'s being stupid. Why didn\'t you stop him?."

Hunter snorted, "Why would I? Isn\'t it better for him to see for himself?"

Dan sighed as he dispelled his invincibility,

"Cain... Just what is he?"

Hunter shook his head, "I\'d tell you if I knew.... Also, don\'t worry. Cain knows how to hold back. I think..."

Dan rolled his eyes.

Hunter suddenly became solemn,

"But his words do hold some truth in them. I don\'t really know why we\'ve spent so much time here. It feels like some mysterious, inexplicable force has kept us away from the Main City for so long for some purpose..."

Dan nodded as well, "That\'s true. It\'s strange. Perhaps that is just fate telling us we haven\'t been ready for whatever it is we are going to meet in the future."

"Maybe... Guess we\'ll have to see." Hunter said with a bit of uncertainty. There was no telling where things would go from now.

***

The Central Island was busy...

The Beastwomen had all been given numerous jobs. Because the blessings of the Beast God was more prominent in the makes than the females, they were grossly unfit for battle. Although Leah, Roselle, and the other stronger Beastwomen were exceptions, that didn\'t change the fact.

Still, they were far more physically capable than regular humans. As such, they had been given odd jobs to carry out. This includes treating Mutant Beast leather to create armor, preparing food, and keeping things clean.

Although there had been differences between the Beastmen and Beastwomen at the beginning due to previous grudges, those had been settles quickly and they were now a much more cohesive group. One might argue that they were now too cohesive...

As for the Beastmen, most of them had now cultivated Ki to a level where they could easily hold their own against Level 10 to 50 creatures, from Normal grade to elite grade, and even Special grade as a team.

They were much stronger than before. The people that had followed them from the Northern Island were also faring well, although they were few in number. They had manage to make the most of their blessings. Most of them had even managed to grasp the basics of mana control, and we\'re well on their way to creating water attribute spells and skills without the system\'s assistance.

Still, this upcoming battle would most likely take a lot of lives...

"Leah... What should we do?" Lin Lin said.

Their lives had been permanently altered by 5he Blessing, or curse of the Beast God, Pluto. They were no longer human anymore. Rather, they were semi-mutants. Creatures that carried a trace of the Beast God within them.

Leah sighed and spoke in a low tone, "What else can we do? If we don\'t get rid of that Guy bastard, he\'ll come seek us out once he\'s destroyed those Light... whatever they call themselves."

Roselle\'s brows furrowed slightly, "Leah is right. We can capitalize on the situation and get rid of everything at once."

"But after that, what then?" Sisi seemed uncharacteristically solemn as she gazed at her friends.

They all fell silent. Eventually, Roselle spoke up,

"I... I\'ll follow Cain. Once we\'re done, I\'ll follow him wherever he goes." She said with her head down. A trace of redness flushed on her cheeks.

Leah was absolutely flabbergasted, \'This girl... When did this happen?!\'

Roselle continued after calming down a bit,

"Once we have cleared the surrounding area of hostiles, the others won\'t have anything threatening their safety. We can leave them to grow on their own."

Leah rubbed her head, "You do have a point. Still..."

Roselle shook her head, "I\'ve already decided. You can stay behind if you want to."

Kai who had remained silent sudden grinned,

"I\'ll follow you, Rosy! That Cain fellow seems quite interesting!"

Leah shot her a glare, "If you are so bored why not just go pick some bricks?"

Kai snorted arrogantly, "With my strength, why would I be picking bricks? I\'d be picking whole buildings!"

Leah sighed, then threw Roselle a meaningful glance,

"Rosy... Sometimes, the matters of the heart are complicated. He already had so many beautiful women surrounding him."

Roselle\'s beautiful face flushed red as her rarely seen beast ears popped up,

"So what?! That doesn\'t mean anything. Besides, I\'m not inferior to them whatsoever!". Rosell6said with determination.

\'She\'s hopeless...\' The itehr girls thought in unison.

She cleared her throat, and her face fell back to its normal passive look,

"Besides, I feel like I can grow around him. For all we know, this is just the beginning. If we don\'t continue to grow, we might face something we canno6deal with in the future."

Kai nodded, "Totally agree. We are just slightly less than useless in the Trial. I plan to change that in what\'s to come." She said with a savage grin.

Lin Lin sighed, "In case you all have forgotten, the possibility of death is all too real. If we die, it is game over. This is no joke."

Lin Lin\'s words pulled them all back to the ground.

Roselle still looked determined,

"I\'m not scared."

Kai grinned, "Me neither."

Sisi sighed, "If they are going, they\'ll need protection."

Staring at the girls she considered sisters, Leah felt a wave of complex emotions run over her heart.

She turned to Lin Lin, a small smile playing in her lips,

"We don\'t really have a choice, do we?"

Lin Lin sighed lazily, "It appears so..."

***

The hours quickly flew by. During this time, everyone was hard at work. Precious materials were being gathered up, swords were being sharpened, and arrows were being crafted.

Some trained some more so their could fight for their lives, while others prayed to whatever god they believed existed to protect them.

Some couldn\'t handle the fear and anxiety, and killed themselves. Such was the human mind. If it couldn\'t handle the stimuli, it would force a response that would terminate this stimuli to reduce the suffering.

In a few hours, the final clash would begin...

The sea churned violently, as countless aquatic abominations rose from the inky depths to lay waste to the humans, painting the inky black expanse crimson in the process...

Lukas stared into the surging horizon calmly...

"It has begun..."