God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

\'How the hell did this happen?!\' Vincent could only lament as he shot devil after devil down.

Slamming the trigger down with his index finger, he accurately drove his bullets into the heads of his targets.

Since the devils were very tough targets, with the higher-leveled ones like the {Devil Fighters} and {Miasma Devils} having high defenses, he couldn\'t take them down with a single bullet.

However, he more than made up for his lack of attack power with his terrifying attack speed...

The bullets flew like a stream of water, all hitting the same spot on the heads of his targets until their tough exoskeleton was brittle enough for the bullets to break through and penetrate their flesh.

"Rapid Fire." The already disgusting attack speed increased even more as even more bullets were spewed out of the nozzle of the gun even more rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, the bodies of the devils before him were instantly turned into sieves. The nozzle of the gun was smoking hot as he lowered it to his side, an angry expression flitting across his face.

{Level up!}

Despite his gains, Vincent\'s expression didn\'t change one bit as he stared at the absolute carnage before him.

"You insane bastard! I told you to stay in the bubble!" Vincent yelled at the top of his lungs to a figure clad in all red.

"The bubble is way too small. I won\'t be able to use my blades well..." Manny, coated in the blood of the slain devils had an excited light in his eyes as he fought against a huge {Hulking Behemoth}.

***

{Hulking Behemoth}: level 30 (Deadly)

Strength: 500.

Agility: 500.

Defense: 100.

Magic: 50.

HP: 10,000/10,000.

MP: 5,000/5,000

Skills: Stone barrage, Body Hardening level 2, Stone Skin.

***

The devil he currently engaged in battle with possessed the earth element, capable of controlling rocks and hardening its body with the earth element. However, before Manny\'s insanity, its skin of stone might as well have been butter.

Dancing around it like a leaf in the wind, Manny avoided its heavy blows as he dashed out his as well, cutting deep into the creature\'s flesh and drawing blood.

"Grahh! Curse you, Human!" The devil roared out in pain as its attacks became even more frenzied as time went on.

"Tempest Blade." The attack speed of Manny doubled in response to the devil\'s violent attacks.

The sharp claws of the devil passed over his head as he rushed forward, evading the attack cleanly.

"You talk too much, devil," Manny said coldly as he prepared his finishing move.

The wind element in the air stirred violently as he calmed his breathing...

From a gentle breeze to a powerful gale...

"Devil Eyes: Blindspot." His eyes glowed an ethereal green as a profound rune appeared in its depths.

In Manny\'s eyes, the entire body of the mutant glowed green, except for a single part.

\'There!\'

It was as quick as it was ruthless...

"Blade Paradox."

The two swords in Manny\'s hands seemed to phase out of existence alongside his body.

Appearing behind the devil, plumes of white escaped from his body into the air...

In one smooth motion, his blades were returned to their sheaths.

CLICK.

With the click, the pieces of the now dead {<Hulking Behemoth} fell apart.

"Tch! Too easy." Manny grumbled as he wiped the blood off the surface of his blade.

\'T-this guy is crazy!\' Vincent could feel his eyelids twitch as he gazed at the absolute carnage, his mind reeling as he thought of the consequences that would soon follow.

"You do realize that another swarm will come very soon, right?!" Vincent said as he massaged his temples.

"So? We\'ll just cut them down like last time. What are you so scared of anyway. Look at you... Your clothes are spotless, which means you barely killed any!" Manny said as he poked his finger into Vincent\'s fatty cheek.

"That\'s because I\'m using a ranged weapon! It\'s only natural I wouldn\'t have any blood on me, you dimwit." Vincent couldn\'t help but roll his eyes.

They had defeated 5 batches of devils that consisted of over 50 devils per batch. Because the devils had grown stronger, the difficulty of every fight rose huger with each wave. The only plus to the situation in Vincent\'s opinion was because of the sheer quantity of devils, they were both able to raise their levels by one.

"Hehe... Let\'s just gather what\'s useful and get ready for the next one." Manny said with a sly smile as he continued about his business.

\'Why do I feel like this was his intention all along?\' Since he couldn\'t read minds, Vincent just had to go with speculation.

Bending the two began carving the devil cores away from their hosts...

"Same as before. I don\'t want anything other than the wind element devil cores." Manny said as he speedily performed what could only be referred to as unauthorized surgical operations.

The blade in his hands was as delicate as a feather, yet as tough as a steel blade. This got Vincent curious...

"Where did you learn how to handle a blade like that?"

"Hm? You mean this?" Manny asked with a blank expression as he twirled the blade in his hand around like it was a pencil.

"Yeah..."

"From my dad. He worked in the military, but is now a retired general too tired to even move around the house, that old geezer." Manny said as he continued his work.

\'Military background, huh? But the words do not match the skills. Is he lying?\'

"What part of the military?" Vincent said, getting a bit deeper into the subject.

A subject Manny wasn\'t willing to touch upon...

"I\'m kinda busy right now, so if you won\'t mind?..." Manny said, his tone a bit sharper...

\'I see...\' Vincent thought with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, I understand..." Vincent said as he dropped the topic without hesitation.

There was a chill moment of silence before they heard the sound of heavy footsteps approaching from the distance.

\'Devils!\' they both thought simultaneously.

"Gathering the devil cores can wait. Let\'s get ready for the second wave."

"Kekeke... Well."

Saying this, Manny pulled his second sword out from its sheath and got into an attacking stance.

His aura changed from chaotic to wild, to gentle, to completely non-existent.

\'Hm?\' Vincent was a bit shocked to witness this transformation when he saw that Manny had his eyes shut.

\'I\'ll end them all with this attack!\' Manny thought as he tightened his grip on the hilt of the blades.

***

Meanwhile...

Cain sprinted at top speed as he hurried back to the school gymnasium.

\'So the Broodmother wants me?\'

{Replying to host: Affirmative...}

\'Can I beat the Broodmother as I am right now?\' Cain curiously.

{Replying to host: Should the host attempt to fight against the Broodmother currently, he will die immediately...}

\'Well, that\'s not good...\'

Turning to look at Ruby who was lying on his shoulders "unconscious", he yelled at her through their shared telepathic connection.

\'I know you are awake, you lazy bear!\'

\'Wha-?!\' Extremely shocked that she had been found out, Ruby couldn\'t help but give herself away.

\'Get down!\' Cain yelled at the lazy bear.

\'But Master is soooo comfortable.\' Ruby said as she gazed at him with what were supposed to be cute eyes. Although she was very cute, unfortunately, Cain was immune to that sort of stuff...

\'Down...\' Cain said, unfazed.

\'It was fun while it lasted...\' the bear said as it jumped from Cain\'s neck with questionable agility and landed on all four. Without pausing or breaking a sweat, it followed after Cain with incredible speed.

\'Master, why did you allow yourself to be defeated by that woman?\' Ruby said after they had run a bit longer.

\'Hm?\' Cain acted a fool.

\'You could dodge, it, but you chose not to at the last second.\' An innocent expression on the clueless animal\'s face.

\'Had to go hit where it hurts, huh?\' Cain said with a chuckle as he picked up his speed leaving the frustrated bear behind...

\'Master! Wait for me!\' The bear tried to keep up but was grossly unsuccessful.

\'Phew...\'

Breaking through a section of shrubbery, Cain was immensely shocked when instead of space, what filled his vision, was the edge of a very fast, and very sharp blade...

***

The moment the section of bushes before him began to tremble a little bit, Manny released his attack.

The element of wind usually had something to do with increased movement and attack speed, as well as high attack damage.

"Blade Paradox." Holding his blades perpendicular to one another, they seemed to disappear alongside his entire body. However, he was not done yet...

"Devil eyes: Blindspot!"

The wind in the air seemed to be still at that moment, almost as though time had stopped due to the extraordinary speed he and his blades moved at.

However, even with an attack that could put a {Hulking Behemoth} to eternal rest, he wasn\'t done yet...

At that moment between seconds, Manny exhaled a breath of white before sparks appeared all over his body.

Once that happened, time seemed to move again...

"Windblade Arte: Shooting Star, Burning Wind!\'

His target burst out of the curtain of bushes. By now, it was already too late to stop the attack.

BOOM!

Manny\'s blades seemed to be set ablaze as they raced toward Cain with the intention to kill.

***

Seeing his life flash before his eyes, Cain knew he had to take action immediately. Almost instinctively, he summoned his blade from his inventory.

Before the blade couldn\'t even materialize, Cain had already activated his life-saving skill...

"Golden Blood!"

Because he had just used {Seal} recently, it was still on cooldown. So his only other option was to use the strongest skill in his possession because he only had time to activate one skill.

Golden light streamed across his body as a violent surge of mana quickly rushed into his body, causing him tremendous pain.

As soon as the skill, {Golden Blood} had been completely activated, Manny\'s blazing blade fell upon him. Within a fraction of a second, he was quick enough to bring his blade up to block.

BANG!!!

Cain instantly felt like he had been hit by a moving bus. A mouthful of blood escaped from his mouth as he was forced to bear the recoil generated by such a powerful clash...

Manny\'s fate was no different as he too spat out a mouthful of blood.

Despite this, they both managed to stand their ground as neither was willing to be pushed back.

"What the hell is wrong with you fuckers?!" Vincent who was now a victim of the intense shockwaves of the blast couldn\'t help but cry out in anger.

All the trees and shrubbery in their surroundings had been completely blown away by the attack, causing the entire area to look like a bald spot in the forest.

"Hahaha! That was intense!" Manny said as he applied more pressure on his blade, the light of excitement flashing in his eyes.

Cain didn\'t say anything, but the smile creeping onto his face was enough to show what he felt.

Applying more force, he shoved Manny away. With a flip, Manny managed to land on his legs steadily.

"Let\'s fight!" He said as he readied his blades once again.

"Haha... I would love to, but, unfortunately, we have bigger problems on our hands." Cain said as he massaged his wrists.

\'Damn! This guy is no joke!\' Cain couldn\'t help but think to himself.

"Tch!" Manny clicked his tongue as he sheathed his blades.

"Boss! What happened?" Vincent said as he came up to the duo.

"I think we\'ve found the main players in this game..." Cain said, his body emitting a thick hunger for blood.