God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

\'It\'s about time we wrapped things up.\'

To both sides stood the rest of the team. They only had one thing to do...

\'Infiltrate the two temples and destroy the alters used to summon the Celestials.\'

A breath of cloudy air escaped from his lungs as he stared at the distant temples and palace.

They were divided into three groups. Each group had its own goal to achieve.

Two groups were to infiltrate the two temples. The last group would hold the doors down.

"Can we really trust that old man?"

Cain nodded, his eyes a bit cold, "Once the Devil Horde begins their attack, we will as well."

Floki stood, steel armor covering most of his grizzly body,

"And how do we know when that happens?"

They had been told that they should begin their assault on the temples once the Devil Horde attacked the city. Would they blare their horns to signify their arrival, or would there be an explosion?

"Holy shit!" Someone exclaimed.

Cain\'d brows shut up. All of a sudden, he felt it. An overbearing presence that washed over the realm. Cain turned around...

The horizon had been consumed by a black line. From earth to sky, a horde of darkness approached.

"It\'s starting." Hunter\'s voice was heavy.

The city began to move like clockwork. A heavy air descended on the city, but they didn\'t seem bothered. After all, the Devils had attacked them for centuries, yet their walls had held strong.

From the lowest commoners to the highest of nobles, they had faith in the soldiers of the realm.

Although the majority of the realm\'s armies were stationed at the borders, a very large amount were also stationed in the capital city.

Duskmore as the capital city boasted very heavy protections. Before the Devil Horde could break them, they might very well find themselves surrounded.

This didn\'t mean that the Devil Horde was not mighty on the contrary, the might of this Devil Horde was greater than any other they had witnessed in the past.

A thousand meters separated the Devil Horde from the city walls.

On the walls, four figures surrounded by heavily armored soldiers stood tall.

T\'jane, Vivane, Vulture, and the assassin faced the Devil Horde with hard glares.

Vivane sighed, a bitter look on her face,

"At the end of the day, we were unable to find them."

T\'jane spoke, his voice distorted under his armor,

"Don\'t worry. Lord Crimson has summoned the old guard. The heretics have no chance against them."

The enigmatic Vulture\'s voice flowed out,

"What do you think their goal is?"

Vivane shrugged, "I have no idea. However, I believe this Devil Horde is definitely related to it."

T\'jane nodded, "We haven\'t received any news from the garrisons at the borders. These filthy Devils didn\'t fight to reach here. It is almost like they..."

"They were allowed to pass through our borders." Vulture completed.

Silence reigned amongst the commanders...

"Whatever the case may be, we must make sure we hold our line. T\'jane, how many battalions of soldiers are deployable?"

"We currently have fifty battalions of ground soldiers ready for battle. A thousand airships, three hundred magic cannons, seventy defensive turrets, and a hundred companies worth of special soldiers from the temples."

A single battalion contained a thousand men. This meant they had fifty thousand fully armored soldiers ready for war.

The airships were powered by the power contained within mana shards and mana cores. Their weapons were powerful enough to kill a Level 100, Special-grade creature with a single shot. Extremely powerful!

Then, there were the magic cannons. These weapons, handed down to them from the gods, were incredibly powerful. One shot was all it would need to level a small mountain. They required a lot of energy to activate, but if there was something the land of Duskmore lacked, it certainly wasn\'t energy.

The same could be said about the defensive turrets. These things created a some of energy that could deflect most attacks while allowing attacks to pass from the inside. What made them so dangerous, was that they were portable. They would allow a large group of soldiers to move unhindered around the battlefield, dealing massive damage to the enemies.

The special soldiers were those individuals who had been selected by the temples for their special gifts. They could use magic...

With their training, most of them would be able to defeat a single Level 100, Elite-grade Devil with relative ease.

With all this, coupled with superior armor and weapons, the army of humans were more than enough to hold this deluge of Devils back.

Saladin knew this.

The commanders knew this as well.

But such was war. The Devils also had their own trump cards as well. As such, the might leader of the Devil Horde lifted his armored hand to the sky,

"Charge!"

***

"Move out."

The time had arrived. Their group split into three...

Cain, Steve, Blaze, Manny, and Vincent moved ahead of the other two. They knew very well that their path to the temples was not going to be unimpeded. They were going to be in charge of making sure the other two groups got through the city and into the temples.

Dashing through the streets, they took care of the guards on patrol. Luckily for them, due to the imminent attack of the Devil Horde, all the citizens were forced to hole up within their homes until the fighting was over.

The guards were quick to mount a resistance, but against this group of powerhouses, they couldn\'t do much to slow them down, much less stop them.

They approached the temple rapidly. However, they were soon forced to halt in their tracks.

"Cain. These guards are different from the other grunts." Jenny said, her eyes narrowed.

Cain nodded, "I know. We are going to hold them off. Jenny, take your team into the Temple of light. Hunter, you\'ll handle the other one."

For the other two groups, Hunter and Jenny were tasked with leading them to the alters to destroy them.

A rain of enchanted arrows fell towards them like a storm, but Sisi was quick to erect a shield of flowing light to block it.

Her face faltered under toe strain, "These ones are stronger!"

They pushed forward, albeit slower than before. Suddenly, an intense pressure bore down on them from all sides,

"You heretics shall not take a single step further!"

Cain snorted, "We\'ll see about that."

Mana rumbled through the air, manifesting into a spatial gate. Jenny and her group quickly ran through it. At the same time, Steve finished a chant, causing Hunter and his group to phase out of reality. Both groups had been deposited directly in from of both temples.

All that was left was for them to break in and destroy the alters.

Cain watched as the guards standing before them parted to reveal five figures, all of them wearing unique pieces of armor.

Black, Blue, Orange, Violet, and Crimson...

These five monsters were the most powerful warriors in the land. The Old Guard...

Cain stared at the Crimson Behemoth standing not too far away.

\'Lord Crimson...\'

He was certain they would get their rematch soon. Fate had not disappointed him.

"Crimson. Are these the warriors you spoke of? They don\'t seem special at all." The warrior in the Violet armor said. There was a gigantic warbow on his back, so Cain figured this was the archer of the group.

"Heh. If you ask me, there is nothing special about these brats. Watch as I decorate these streets with their organs." The figure in the dazzling orange said. He sported a massive red spear that looked like it could split the heavens open with a single thrust.

Lord Crimson had a giant broad sword on his back with two bastard swords attached to his waist. He didn\'t seem impressed,

"Is this all you could come up with?"

Cain couldn\'t see his expression, but he was certain he was talking to him.

He smiled, "What? You don\'t think this is enough?"

Lord Crimson shook his head, "Why did you get rid of your other friends? You all could have stoof a chance if you came together."

Cain waved his hands dismissively, "They have important things to take care of. Don\'t worry. We will keep you company for now."

A dangerous light flashed in his eyes, "Who knows? We might be able to teach you a thing or two..."

The figure in blue took a step forward. Two curved blades hung on his back. He reached out to pull them out, revealing the beautifully carved masterpieces,

"Crimson, this isn\'t the time for dialogue. Our mistress wants this down quickly. We can\'t keep her waiting."

On the other hand, Vibcent stared at their opponents with his small eyes. He turned to Cain and spoke calmly,

"We are screwed. Fucked. Dead. It\'s over."

Blaze snorted, "Will you shut it? When was the last time you got to stretch your legs? The exercise will do you some good."

Flames burned in Blaze\'s eyes as he set his sights on his opponent, the Orange Guard,

"I\'ll deal with this one."

A leopard couldn\'t change spots. At the end of the day, Blaze was still the same young man that burned with intense fighting spirit.

Manny let out a loud cackle,

"Come on, you bastards! If its a fight they want, lets give them a flipping fight!"

Steve sighed, "Victory is far away, but your courage is to be admired."

Cain grinned. His fighting spirit soared into the sky. He pulled {Platinum Genesis} from its sheath, his eyes fixed on Lord Crimson.

There was no longer a need for words. Each man had his eyes on his target. . The surrounding soldiers slowly backed away as they felt the air become thicker, making it difficult to breathe.

Cain and Lord Crimson broke the stalemate with a single command,

"Attack!"

"Attack!"