God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

\'That damned rat must have said something. I really should have just killed him.\'

Just the thought of Nolan\'s rat face made Cain regret not stabbing him through the jaw earlier.

With a sigh, he straightened his body.

The two men stared each other down for a while minute, neither saying a word.

Eventually, the red masked Pilgrim spoke,

"How did you know I was tailing you?"

Cain shrugged, "You were trying to hide it?"

The masked Pilgrim nodded slowly.

There was another moment of silence.

\'So awkward.\'

Eventually, when he couldn\'t take it anymore, he decided to quickly get to the bottom of it.

He spoke up,

"So, why were you tailing me? Do I have something of yours?"

The masked Pilgrim shook his head. He then pointed at Cain,

"You come from outside the Dome, don\'t you?"

Cain frowned, but nodded,

"Yes, I do."

There was no point denying it.

The masked Pilgrim continued,

"Those like you, who have not offered their loyalty and Divinity to the Lord of the Sands are heretics. You shall make a choice; follow me to the temple now, or submit your life here and now."

Cain wanted to laugh, \'So straightforward.\'

He knew a confrontation like this would happen eventually. He has witnessed something similar during the Trial of the First Order.

Humans that become fanatics, loyal to their Patron Celestial were a dime a dozen, mostly because of the subtle influence said Celestial\'s will exerts on their psyche. In a way, it was a compulsion they were unable to control.

However, it did differ from person to person depending on the strength of their will power, as well as their willingness to submit to said Celestial.

Cain scratched his head,

"This... Can\'t you be patient? I just got here. I want to take a look around."

The masked Pilgrim shook his head,

"We had a few like you be brought in here not too long ago. If you do not want to share the same fate as them, you\'ll do as I say."

Cain\'s mind immediately froze.

He stared blankly at the Pilgrim,

"You... What do you mean by that?"

\'There\'s no way. They wouldn\'t have killed them yet, right? That should be impossible.\'

The masked Pilgrim ignored his words,

"I\'ll give you a moment to make your decision."

Cain gritted his teeth as he glared at the Pilgrim,

"I thought I asked you a question, bastard!"

The masked Pilgrim sighed, "Time\'s up."

Without any warning, the Pilgrim reached to his back and unsheathed his long, black blade.

The moment he pointed it at Cain, it became enveloped in flames. As it that was not enough, as he walked towards Cain, a pair of pitch black wings sprouted from his back.

The raven-black feathers were beautiful and stunning, reflecting the moonlight slightly, which gave them a metallic sheen.

The wings moved, creating a gust of wind that pushed the Pilgrim\'s feet off the ground, allowing his body to levitate.

Saying nothing, Cain stretched out his hands, and a giant Greatsword appeared in his grasp.

The runes covering the {Scale of the Abyssal Flame} lit up with unholy crimson light.

His feet began burning with azure flames as he prepared to dash forward.

Both men stared each other down for a few seconds before their bodies disappeared.

In reality, they didn\'t vanish. Rather, their speed was simply to great for their moving forms to be captured with anything less than superhuman eyesight.

Just before they could clash, Cain dismissed his blade.

"What?!" The Winged Pilgrim was taken aback by this wild move.

Although he had given Cain the option to follow him or die, he didn\'t truly intend on killing him. He just wanted to knock him out so he wouldn\'t make too much of a fuss.

That, and he was also very curious...

What he hadn\'t expected, was for his target to be suicidal.

The blade vanished from his hands. However, Cain didn\'t show a single sign of panic. Instead a pair of gauntlets wrapped themselves around his arms.

To stunned to react on time, the Winged Pilgrim was unable to stop Cain from wrapping his fingers around his throat and slamming him to the wall.

Chains tinted with a golden aura spouted from the wall, binding the Pilgrim\'s wings, legs and hands tightly, preventing him from moving an inch.

Gripping his throat tightly, Cain could barely control his rage as he stared into the slits on the mask of the Pilgrim.

"If you don\'t start talking now, I\'ll flood your body with so much Hellflame, your soul will melt and leak out your fucking corpse!"

Hearing the Pilgrim even insinuate that Hunter and the others were dead was enough for him to lose most of his composure. He held back just at the last moment. If they had clashed swords, there was no doubt in his mind that the entire block would be turned to dust and gravel.

To prevent that from happening, he forcibly restrained this Pilgrim.

"D-do y-you have any i-idea what y-you are doing, ahk?!"

The Pilgrim said in a raspy voice. Cain\'s grip prevented air from flowing into his lungs. Although he wouldn\'t faint or die immediately, it was still incredibly uncomfortable not to breathe.

Cain squeezed even tighter, "Talk. Or die."

He didn\'t have time to play any games. If they were already dead, then he didn\'t have any business here again. He would simply reduce the entire Valestorm to ashes before leaving.

The Pilgrim struggled silently for a moment before relenting,

"T-they aren\'t d-dead! They are s-till alive!"

Cain let out a relieved sigh before letting go of his neck. At the same time, the chains that bound the Pilgrim became undone.

The moment he did that, a flaming sword was already swinging his way. Cain\'s eyes widened as he quickly dodged out of the way.

"Wait a moment!" He cried desperately whilst dashing backwards, but the Pilgrim was having none of it.

"H-how dare you?!" The Pilgrim\'s wings spread to their full glory as he launched into the air, moving so fast, the air around him couldn\'t catch up.

The sword of flames trailed behind him like a shooting star, headed straight for Cain\'s throat.

\'Crap! I can\'t let this idiot ruin things for me! Should I just kill him here?!\'

The thought was only in his head for a fraction of a second before he shut it down.

The Mana within him boiled furious as he dismissed his gauntlets and summoned a wooden staff.

Chains burst out from the walls and ground, snaking their way towards the flying Pilgrim. With insane dexterity, all of them were dodged, some even cut down.

\'He\'s good.\'

Cain knew the only reason he had managed to incapacitate the Pilgrim so easily, was because he had surprised him. If he hadn\'t pulled that stunt, it would have been a bit more difficult.

The Pilgrim\'s voice burned with hot vengeance as he flames on his sword burned even brighter. Cain could immediately sense a spoke in his Ki output.

The flames were so hot, the surrounding walls were starting to crack and melt.

Clicking his tongue, Cain poured even more mana into his attacks. The chains became even faster, thicker, and more durable.

The flying Pilgrim cut them down as fast as he could, but Cain\'s Mana pool was almost inexhaustible.

Eventually, his left leg was wrapped up. Then his right.

Both wings were held down, stopping him in his tracks. The rest of the chains slithered around his body, binding him up properly this time.

Coming to a halt, Cain let out a sigh,

"Damn. Were you trying to kill me?!"

The Pilgrim struggled violently, almost breaking the chains. Seeing this, Cain poured even more mana into them.

Cain wiped the seat off his brows before glaring at him,

"First, you stalk me. Then you threaten me. Then you chase and try to kill me. What the hell is your deal?!"

The Pilgrim was speechless,

"You... Bastard! This wouldn\'t have happened if you had just followed me quietly!"

Cain snorted as he approached the bound Pilgrim,

"Well, what did you expect? You didn\'t even introduce yourself. Why wouldn\'t I think you are a kidnapper?"

Cain could hear the sound of teeth grinding behind the mask.

\'Ha... I\'ve done it now.\'

Still thinking of how to resolve this issue, he noticed the Pilgrim had stopped struggling.

There was a sudden flux in the mana flow around him.

Within a single breath, Cain summoned his blade from the {Armament Armory} and swung behind him, parrying the sword strike that came from behind.

Sliding backwards, he created some distance between him and his assailant.

"That was unexpected..."

The figure of the masked Pilgrim bound with chains suddenly disappeared into wisps of black smoke. The one now in front of Cain brandished his sword.

Straightening his posture, Cain stared right back at the Pilgrim.

\'A skill that allows him escape from any bindings. The runes etched onto my chains are supposed to stop the flow of mana. How did he do it?\' Cain thought to himself.

At the same time;

\'Whs kind of magic is this? Most spells don\'t have the power to hinder me so greatly. Just what kind of magic is this?!\'

Just as Cain thought the masked Pilgrim would attack him again, the winged man sighed. With a single flourish, he sheathed his blade behind him again and turned around. His wings also receeded, eventually disappearing.

Cain blinked, a bit confused.

"What? Why are you standing there like an imbecile?!"

Cain scratched his head, "Go where?"

The masked Pilgrim continued walking,

"Your friends are not Dead, that I\'ll assure you. However, I am not certain of their state of being. If you want more answers, follow me."

Cain let out a sigh. Dismissing his weapon as well, he cautiously followed.

The masked Pilgrim suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"By the way, my name is of no importance. You can simply call me Sky Ward."

And with that, he continued walking...