God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Almost immediately, the sound of rocks collapsing assaulted his ears. The entire mountain shook violently.

\'He\'s angry. No... furious!\'

Cain could recognize rage anywhere. And this was no ordinary rage. It was the rage of a being that transcended planes. A being that was the primogenitor of an entire race of mighty creatures.

The rage of a Devil...

BOOM!

Cain collapsed backward as a fountain of blood erupted from his orifices. The Primordial Devil of Chaos was truly powerful beyond measure. Even though all that was left of it was a few organs, just the pressure it exerted was enough to kill Cain many times over.

The only reason he was still alive was due to the {Draconic Transfiguration}. Despite that, the injuries were steadily piling up. His body was being damaged faster than he could repair it.

\'Damn it!\'

Cain gritted his teeth as he forced himself to sit up. He could still see Evangeline on the other shore, still unconscious.

He began trying to crawl toward her. His vision was blurry, so he failed woefully.

His ears were filled with white noise as he struggled to maintain balance. Despite all these things, his hands had never stopped grasping the mana core in his hand.

\'This is it, huh... I was a fool to think I could contend with a Primordial devil.\'

Every Primordial devil he had faced possessed power beyond what he could fathom. Og-Solath, Lyx, and now, Bemethshal. All these beings had power that transcended his understanding. And this was them at their weakest!

Cain let out a shaking laugh,

"Seriously..."

He brought the spatial mana core to his face and stared at it for a while. This gem was still beautiful even though it was covered in cracks. Within it was a space that was still constantly expanding. He had turned a mana core into a storage device unknowingly. The magic circle had turned smaller, but he could still see the various parts of it rotating and revolving concentric to the mana core.

His eyes widened as he coughed up another mouthful of blood. The blood fell onto the surface of the mana core and seeped into it.

His eyes glazed over as he could feel the strength in his body bottom out. Just as the mana core was about to slip out of his hands, something strange happened,

The mana within the cave suddenly seemed to slow down. Bemethshal was also called the Devil of the Elements because of its ability to control all base elements. Its ability to control the elements was second to none.

And this was not a spell or a skill. Rather, it was an innate ability that manifested as a result of its status and authority as the Primordial Devil of Chaos. Just like how the innate ability of Lyx was her ability to absorb the devils that had met their death.

However, the Primordial Devil of Chaos had been reduced to a few organs. Its brain was intact, which meant it was still capable of thinking. That didn\'t change the fact that it was no longer what it had once been.

As such, the potency of its innate ability had reduced greatly. Cain\'s spell was simple. Yet, its strength was in its simplicity. It simply absorbed the abundant elemental mana in the cave that had been passively gathered over time by the organs of the Primordial Devil and stored it within the mana core, which was converted into a spatial container.

This meant there was logic behind the mechanisms that were taking place within the cave. That was why Cain was shocked when he noticed that all the mana in the cave was being sucked into the mana core violently.

Cain became even more shocked when the runes of the magic circle around the mana core began to change. The semi-transparent lines turned a vibrant crimson and contracted even further. All of a sudden, the mana core slammed into his chest violently.

However, it didn\'t break through his chest. Rather, it simply phased out of reality, leaving him stupefied. Despite that, the violent streams of mana kept running toward him.

\'Shit! His face paled. But there was no reason for him to be concerned, as the energy seemed to pass through 5he space before him and vanish.

A confused expression appeared on his face.

\'What is going on? What just happened?!\'

Meanwhile, Cain could feel the tremors within the cave become more and more violent as the Primordial Devil of Chaos fought fiercely to regain control.

Not wanting to push his luck too much, Cain rose to his feet. Cracking noises rang out as his bones rearranged themselves.

\'The invisible pressure is gone. Now\'s my chance...\'

Like a bat straight out of hell, Cain urged the ki within his body to flow within his veins. Feeling the raw power surging in him, he jumped forward. The walls of blood on both sides of the lake were already closing in and were going to converge in a few seconds.

Cain\'s feet scraped against the wet ground, leaving a trail of upturned earth. Cain crossed the basin in just a few seconds and was already standing beside Evangeline. Without wasting another second, he threw her across his shoulder and turned around.

\'By now, the walls of blood were already dangerously close. Cain could still see the eye of the remnants of the Primordial Devil of Chaos, gazing straight at him with unbridled bloodlust and rage.

Cain didn\'t blame it. After all, they were the thieves here. Despite all its years of hard work, two tiny ants had managed to ruin all of it. It also didn\'t help that Cain and Evangeline had also killed all the {Chaos Goblins}, {Chaos Trolls}, and even the {Chaos Orc} that it had been herding.

It had every right to feel rage...

But that was none of Cain\'s business. Rather, all he cared about was getting out of there. He could tell that the Primordial Devil of Chaos had a subtle connection with the lake of blood. If they were enclosed within, they would never escape.

As the walls closed around him, the energy racing into his chest never reduced for a second. Rather, it seemed to increase over time.

Suddenly, the sound of a system notification echoed in his ears.

\'This really isn\'t a good time for this.\'

Regardless, he quickly glanced through even as he sprinted like his life depended on it because it did...

***

{CONGRATULATIONS TO HOST!!!}

***

Cain was shocked...

Never had the system greeted him with this much fanfare before.

\'Did I do something incredible again?\' He was more than a bit perplexed...

He continued reading regardless.

***

{You have engineered a feat that should be impossible for a creature of your Tier and level}.

{You have created the ability, {Elemental Vault}.

{+500 to Spirit}.

{+1000 to Mana}.

{Your skill, Neophyte Mage has evolved to Acolyte Mage}.

{Elemental Vault}: A tunnel between the spiritual and physical has been created. The host can now store elemental energy in a part of his spirit to be used at will. Elemental energy stored here can be called upon at any time and can be used to boost the efficiency of an elemental spell. This increase is proportional to the amount of the corresponding elemental energy within the vault.

***

\'This is... complicated.\'

Just a quick skim told Cain that the ability he had just created was very different from any other thing he had seen. The system had called it an ability, not a skill or a spell for one.

He had no more time to ponder the mysteries of the {Elemental Vault} because he had already reached the other shore once again.

Cain was ready to make a mad dash for his life. However, the Primordial Devil of Chaos seemed adamant about keeping both him and Evangeline there forever.

He watched the lake of blood surge violently towards the roof of the cave.

\'It\'s trying to seal the exit.\'

Cain\'s eyes burned fervently as he continued to run, trying to get to the tunnel before the streams of blood. He had no idea what had possessed the Primordial Devil of Chaos, but it seemed to have decided to finally get out of its comfort zone and take back what was stolen before it was too late.

\'Unfortunately for you, it is too late...\'

Cain noticed that the mana cire in his chest had stopped absorbing the violent energy in the cave. The degree of disorderliness in the cave had increased once again. If he were to activate a skill or a spell now, he would be condemning himself to death.

However, things were slightly different now. Although he didn\'t understand his new ability very well, what he did know, was that he could now activate spells respective on how rampant the energy surrounding him was.

His eyes burned with a piercing light as he willed the energy within the {Elemental Vault} forth.

The change happened immediately.

The element he had willed forward, was the wind element. His hair fluttered wildly as more and more wind-elemental energy poured out of his being.

Immediately, he activated {Wind Weaver}...

Time seemed to slow down greatly. The air surrounding him turned into a tunnel. His eyes took on a green hue as he controlled the element of wind.

\'Go.\'

Cain moved so fast, that it was almost as though he teleported. The wind before him parted to make way for him, while the wind behind him propelled him forward at the same time, forming a tunnel that prevented him from making contact with physical obstacles.

In the blink of an eye, Cain had left the cave behind and was now flying through the tunnel with immense speed. The blood lake didn\'t relent as it continued chasing after him.

All Cain could see around him were blurring objects as he flew by. He passed the cavern where he had battled the {Chaos Orc} and continued. He passed through the collapsed corridors, breaking through the rocks that had collapsed as a result of the {Black Egg}.

\'This is faster than Azure Burst or the Wind Enchantment.\'

Because he was moving so fast, Cain had little to no control over his trajectory. He could only barely maneuver his body as he raced through the corridors of the cavernous mountain. Even though, the blood lake continued to expand as it chased after him.

Soon after, he broke free from the darkness of the mountain\'s interior...

The familiar lighting of the surface greeted him. He had no time to appreciate it, as he realized that he was mid-air. He was also gradually descending. Perhaps it was a last-ditch effort, but the lake of blood chasing after him threw a large amount of blood elemental mana his way.

The blood mana manifested as sharp hooks of coagulated blood. It wanted to catch him and clip his wings.

However, the amount of wind in his sails was enough for him to outrun them. In the blink of an eye, he had gotten out of the range of the blood lake.

Soon, he left the surroundings of the Evil Mountains and was back in the valley. Sometime after, the Evil Mountains had become a mere object in the distance.

Cain heaved a heavy sigh of relief...

"We did it."