God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain felt himself jolt awake. There he was, lying still on the ground. His body was mostly numb with slight hints of pain.

He was still momentarily confused, however, there was one thing he was sure of.

\'I did it!\' He was so elated, he simply wanted to jump up and scream with joy. However, his happiness was short-lived.

As he was lying on his back, he got to see the darkness that had brought him into this underground space conclude and contract disgustingly.

At the same time, the pool of rotting flesh and degrading bones swam quickly into the roots of the tree.

Since his body was numb and unresponsive, he could only lie down and watch all these things unfold.

With the thing acting as the roof of the underground space collapsing, light, regardless of how dim it was, flooded into the underground space.

\'Ha... Just how did I reach this point?\'

Thinking back to the wish he had once made, he couldn\'t help but laugh at his naivety. Like the young fledgling he once was, he had longed for adventure, and action, like any teenage boy would. Unfortunately for him, his prayers had been answered.

However, he had no regrets. If he had the opportunity to go back in time, he would gladly do it all over again. There was no reason not to.

Losing a limb? He had regrown them multiple times...

Dying? Been there, done that...

What else was there to be scared of? What was the worst that could happen that hadn\'t already? He had no clue...

\'It\'s so random nowadays, to be honest...\' Cain thought with a shrug. He had come to terms with his fate and had decided to take whatever life threatened him with his entire chest. Even if it was a giant beastly arm or the sword of an insane beast-lady...

Regaining some sensation in his body, he decided to sit up and lean against a tree root. Upon doing so, he got to witness as the entire place collapsed noisily...

\'Such a shame...\'

Heaving a sigh, he tried circulating his Ki, but realized, much to his dismay, that even the slightest movement of Ki or devil essence within his body was agonizing.

It was then he noticed. thing strange about his body. His body... There was something different about it.

\'What the hell?!\' He felt his blood run cold.

At the same time, the trunk of the tree and its branches began collapsing inwards. Leaving the strangeness of how body, he focused on the collapsing tree.

This thing was massive. Its base was as wide as three buses, and while it wasn\'t very tall, it was still quite the sight to look at.

As he was looking at it, he noticed something. A huge hole had opened up within the roots. It was not very large, but it was large enough that a regular-sized human would fit through it perfectly.

Although this caught his attention, he wasn\'t surprised by it, as the entire three was collapsing, and a hole forming in its trunk wasn\'t very suspicious.

In the next moment, his body suddenly froze up as a terrifying pressure that seemed to freeze the heavens and the earth ore down on him.

The darkness covering the hole above suddenly swam down like a river, towards the hole that had just been created. Cain finally saw a long, slender arm stretch out from the hole. This arm was lithe and graceful. However, it wasn\'t human. There were sharp, spikes on the sides of the arm, and it was pitch black. The arm\'s fingernails were also very long.

Cain\'s face paled significantly as he watched the creature that had been lurking within the hole step forward. Its entire body was revealed to him.

\'It\'s... It\'s her!\'

There, standing just a few meters away from him, was the true Primordial devil of Death.

Cain was shocked by the first word that came out of his mouth,

"Small..."

Not knowing what he was referring to, the female devil quickly put her hands up and covered her exposed chest,

"The least you could do is not stare, you know..."

"I swear on my dead parents, I wasn\'t looking!" Cain lied through his teeth.

From another perspective, the body of the Primordial devil of Death could be deemed as very attractive. However, attractive was the last word that came into his mind when he thought of her. The word that appeared most was,

\'Dangerous...\'

She could kill him with a breath if she wanted to. Cain knew this as a fact. Letting out a sigh, the female devil put her hands down and approached him,

"You have kept your end of the bargain, so I will spare you."

Cain subconsciously let out a sigh of relief. He felt tears build up at the corners of his eyes. Just as he was about to thank her, Lyx put up a hand. Staring at him indifferently with her white and red eyes, she continued,

"However, most of my energy had been drained, so I cannot properly thank you."

\'Thank me?! Leaving here alive is more than enough thanks!\' Of course, Cajn kept these thoughts to himself...

"To make up for it, I\'ll leave you with a little... Gift. To be honest, I don\'t really know what this gift does. I planned on using it to take over your body. Now, it is all yours. Do with it as you see fit, as it will certainly help you one way or the other."

Cain was completely blindsided by her words, "Thank you?"

He felt that compared to the {Broodmother}, who was also a female devil, the Primordial Devil of Death was very cordial with him for some reason. The way she looked at him was also a bit... unsettling.

"In any case, this will be the limit of our engagement. I will need to recuperate here." Lyx said, almost as though she was trying to chase Cain away.

Cain nodded his head as he tried to stand up. However, he failed miserably once again. Looking down at him, the Primordial devil\'s face changed. With a sigh, he pointed a finger at Cain. A single stream of energy shot out of her finger and into his body, piercing through his chest and into his heart.

Cain had already concluded she had changed her mind. However, the warm current flowing through his body the next moment chased those thoughts away.

Cain glanced down at his body, "What is this?"

"Helping you jump-start the process. You\'d normally have to wait for a while before you can even begin walking again after all that. This will speed it up significantly."

Cain felt the heat travel into all parts of his body through his veins. Soon, most sensation was returned to his body and he didn\'t feel numb anymore.

Seeing the questioning look on Cain\'s face, Lyx hesitated for a while, then spoke,

"That thing that you touched was a piece of my original body before I was sealed by Tian. It contains my essence and was originally intended to fulfill my goals. Now, it\'s useless to me. As it is the first of its kind in the universe, as far as I\'m considered, its effects will be unique in their own right."

"So what you are trying to say, is I absorbed a portion of your body through a complicated process, and now, it is modifying my body?"

Cain asked just to be sure.

Lyx nodded dryly, "Yes. From what I can tell, your heart and veins are what have been modified."

Cain stared at his body, half in disbelief.

"So that means I am part devil?" Cain said with a pale face.

Lyx\'s expression changed, "Are you trying to imply that being a devil is a bad thing?"

Cain rapidly shook his head, "Of course not!"

Snorting, Lyx continued, "The veins are called the Nirvanic circle. I think you will be able to realize what they are for as you grow stronger." She said. Hesitating for a second, she spoke again,

"I would like to ask something of you..."

At this point, Cin knew he couldn\'t afford to refuse anything that was asked of him.

"Of course, Your Grace." Even though she was no longer big, she was still just as scary.

Cain suddenly felt the invincible pressure that had been holding him down wash away,

Lyx spoke calmly, "I would like to ask you to discard your inhibitions about my race."

Before Cain could even respond, she continued,

"While that may seem like a tall task, just remember that we are living creatures as well. Not all of us are warmongers who know only violence and destruction. Most of us simply fight for a place to call home..."

Cain stared at the sublime creature befire him with a strange expression, his heart racing in his chest. For some reason, the worried and slightly sad expression on the face of the Primordial devil standing before him looked incredibly human, and beautiful...

Cain responded with utmost sincerity, "I will take that to heart."

He didn\'t respond with totality, but let her know that he had taken her words to heart. She seemed satisfied with that as with a nod, she turned around and headed back toward the hole in the tree stump. At this time, all the darkness that initially covered the pit had been sucked into the dark hole in the tree trunk.

Cain heaved a heavy sigh as he bowed toward the departing Lyx,

"Thank you for everything... I will never forget your grace."

Suddenly, a head peered down the edge of the pit,

"What the hell are you doing?" A voice suddenly called out to him.

Anger simmered within his chest as he yelled back at the owner of the voice,

"You could at least have asked if I was alright first!"

Evangeline stared at Cain like as though she was starting down a unicorn,

"I\'m even shocked that you are alive..."

Suddenly, her eyes turned serious,

"The {Golden Spine Gorilla}?"

Cain shrugged, "It\'s dead..."

"Good..." Evangeline nodded..."In that case, let\'s head back. I got what I came for." Evangeline said as she held onto something that glowed with a striking red luster.

Cain wanted to scream obscenities at her but held himself back.

\'Soon... Soon enough.\' Letting out a tired sigh, he simply nodded,

"Let\'s go back."