God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain gulped in huge gasps of air frantically...

'Damn it...'

He clutched at his chest. The fire within it had begun to subside, and he could tell his life was no longer in danger of ending.

Still, that had been a rather terrifying experience. Most of the events leading to his previous deaths had been fairly instantaneous.

The feeling of being burned to death from the inside out was beyond traumatic.

He sighed, then slowly sat up.

Watching from a distance, Vincent couldn't help but plop down to the ground as well,

"This insane bastard... What the hell was that?"

Although he heard him, Cain chose not to reply. After all, he was just to tired to speak.

He frowned, 'A new passive skill?'

With his mind, he opened his status screen and scanned through the details.

***

{Blood Toxin Fire Refinement}: Blood that constantly destroys itself has taken root within the host's blood vessels. A cycle of destruction and creation has been established.

***

Cain's frown deepened, 'A side effect from the toxin? And there isn't much of a description about the skill's details. But if I had to guess, then I'd say the toxin isn't completely gone. Instead, it has taken root in my blood stream.'

He slowly got up,

'But my body is adapting to it. I should be dead, but instead, the cycle of destruction and healing is refining my blood.'

It was a rather peculiar and unexpected boon.

Vincent called out,

"Boss, are you okay over there?"

Cain waved slightly,

"I'm alright."

Then he sucked in a deep breath of air, kept it in his lungs for a moment, then exhaled sharply.

His gaze went cold,

"It will take a bit more than that to kill me."

Vincent chuckled wryly, "I certainly hope so..."

At the entrance to the cove, only darkness could be seen. So Cain sent the {Dark Soul} ahead first before he followed.

Although it was dark, with the help of the Dark Diver and his perception, he was able to see with incredible detail despite the lack of lighting.

A stream ran from the ocean to the entrance of the cove, leading all the way to the dark depths of the cove. With a single look, he was deeply amazed by just how arge the cove was. Its ceiling was littered with luminescent rocks that glowed a subtle neon, making it seem even more beautiful.

However, for some reason, the neon glow of these rocks didn't cut through the thick darkness. Instead, the soft radiance clung to the surface of ceiling.

'That's not a good sign.'

Abnormal phenomenon like this usually suggested the presence of something as their cause.

Cain didn't like encountering 'things' in the wild like this...

Thanks to Hunter linking their minds, Cain could communicate with Vincent despite not being able to see him,

'Vince, can you hear me?'

A voice came back after a second's delay,

'Loud and clear. Have you found anything?'

Cain answered as he cautiously looked around,

'Not yet. The cove is pretty big. I wonder where the {Blood Skyrays} come from.'

The moment he thought that, a series of familiar shrieks echoed from the depths of the cove.

A huge swarm of {Blood Skyrays} were rushing towards the entrance from the depths of the cove.

On other words, they were headed right for him.

'Get ready...' Cain thought out loud before summoning the {Lonely Dragon} Warblade.

Normally, one would not even think about engaging these things in close quarter combat.

However, he was different now. He had gained some immunity to their toxin.

And so, in the overwhelming darkness of the cove, all he felt was a desire to cut these things down.

His lungs expanded as he inhaled sharply before bursting into a sprint.

He couldn't use any of his skills or spells

But that didn't matter.

Because he had his weapons.

The {Blood Skyrays} that had noticed him swiftly dove down, their giant abyssal maws ready to devour him.

Coming to a abrupt halt, Cain kicked against the ground with his left feet, lunging himself the opposite way and avoiding the first beast.

At the same time, the {Lonely Dragon} Warblade came crashing down onto its pectoral fin, cutting off in one clean slash.

The creature stumbled to the ground, and Cain used the gun in his other hand to fire two bullets into its head, ending its life swiftly.

He didn't even wait to admire the results of his hard work as the rest of the flock was already descending upon him.

They tore and but at him violently, their minds filled only with deranged bloodlust.

Cain responded in kind, his own bloodlust rising to match theirs.

The skin of the {Blood Skyrays} was coarse and rough, so every contact with them caused a rain of sparks to fly as the scratched up his armor.

These beasts were still Tier 1 creatures. Powerful beings in their own right. So he didn't have as much of an overwhelming advantage, and he still ran the risk of getting overrun by thwir sheeer numbers and exhaustion

As he fell more and more of them, even more rushed out of the depths of the cove, with some flying out. Enjoy more content from empire

This was where Vincent came in, as he would calmly pick off the ones that ignored Cain to head towards the entrance.

The stream of water that linked the cove to the ocean had long since turned a deep shade of scarlet, carrying with it the tereible toxins of the beasts, forcing Vincent to retreat even further away.

A loud bang rolled over the silent shore, and a frantic {Blood Skyray} trying to escape from the dark cove fell to the ground, a huge portion of its chest and back missing from the corpse by the time it hit the sand.

Feeling the urge to massage his sore muscles,

'Cain, are you still there?'

There was silence on the other end...

He frowned, 'Damn it! Is he dead?!'

Just as he was about to panic, he saw movement at the entrance to the cove.

With his perception, he was able to see all the way to the entrance despite being so far away.

And when he saw what was stepping out, his blood ran cold with fear.

He took a step back and nearly dropped the {Silver Sea Serpent} to the ground.

It was Cain. However, he looked very different from how he had entered.

His armor... No, his entire body, his sword, his hair, everything, was covered in blood.

His eyes glowed crimson in the eternal darkness of the Evernight as well. The horns on his head see to have grown a bit as well.

All together, what had come out of that cove, was not Cain. Rather, it was a demon. A rather terrifying one at that...

'Damn it!' Fighting the urge to attack or immediately run away, Vincent tried reaching out to Cain with his mind again.

This time, there was an answer.

Cain's voice that entered into his mind was calm, but a bit cold and off-putting.

"The difference between us and the beasts, is our limitations. A beast's potential is limitless. It can become as twisted and as terrifying as possible, if it means rising up in the order of life. But we humans, we are held.back by our humanity. By our souls. As such, we cannot grow as fast as these beasts."

Vincent was taken back. He spoke hesitantly,

"If this is a joke, I think you are taking it too far, Cain."

The Cain he was looking at through the scope came to a halt.

For a moment, the world came to a standstill.

His blood soaked hair was carried in the wind. Cain left out a sigh.

He clenched his fists, feeling the surge of power almost overwhelm him.

"The blood of gods, the blood of beasts, and the blood of devils. One similar between these three, is their unlimited potential for growth. To break the natural limitations, one must become a beast, a god, or a Devil..."

***

"That was scary! If you do that again, I'll burn your ship!"

His face crumpled up into an ugly expression, Vincent stared at Cain viciously.

Cain merely chuckled, shaking his hair to get rid of the excess moisture.

It had taken him sometime, but he had slaughtered most of the {Blood Skyrays} within the cove.

Simultaneously, he had also managed to hit Level 190.

'Only nine more levels to go.'

Gathering experience points was not that hard to do. The more dangerous and terrifying the beast was, the greater the amount of experience points.

After almost eradicating an entire nest of so many strong Tier 1 beasts, he had been pushed up several levels at once.

Now, it was only a matter of time before he reached t he requirements necessary to ascend to Tier 2.

And it seemed like Vincent had also gone up a few levels because he could sense that his rage was a mere front.

'Still...'

He was a bit worried for himself.

Back in that cove, as he cut the mutant beasts down, he had been thrown into the throws of chaos and blood, almost losing himself in the process.

Also, for some reason, the {Blood Toxin Fire Refinement} passive skill had changed.

***

{Congratulations to Host... Your external passive skill, {Blood Toxin Fire Refinement} has evolved into the external passive skill, {Bloodflame}.

***

After being drenched in that much blood, just a bit of contact with him would undoubtedly kill Vincent, so he quickly washed himself up.

He turned to Vincent with a strange expression,

"Did I look that scary?"

Vincent nodded vigorously,

"Of course you did! Like a Demon fresh out of hell! No better description than that!"

Cain shrugged, "Is that so..."

"You were also saying a whole bunch of nonsense again." Vincent casually added..

With a chuckle, Cain shook his head and stared towards the sky,

"Nonsense? Maybe..."

Or perhaps it was a while new exciting revelation that would give him a bit more direction in this chaotic world.