God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Ruby dashed up the slope like a phantom.

Of course, their way up the slope wasn't free of disturbances.

Bullets, arrows and bolts of mana flew down the slope, intent on claiming their lives.

However, they all slammed into Ruby's flesh, causing little to no harm. Jenny viciously pulled back on the hammer of her rifle and took aim.

A bullet magically materialized, ready to be shot. With the slightest movement of her finger, the bullet tore through the air and through the head of a Pilgrim wearing a black mask.

Standing at the edge of the slope, Wulf gritted his teeth,

"Damn it! Shoot them down already?! Why aren't they dead?!"

"They deflect bullets and arrows like its nothing, Sir Wulf."

Wulf clicked his tongue,

"Then use something stronger."

Mumbling under his breath, he pulled something out of his inventory.

It was a strange looking trinket shaped like a black serpent trying to swallow a glowing green gem. The gem oozed with maliciousness.

Saying a few words under his breath, Wulf drew a few glyphs onto the surface of the green gem then cut the tip of his finger with a small knife.

A drop of glittering red blood fell onto the surface of the gem, seeping into it.

As he continued his indecipherable rambling, his eyes glowed green.

The charm in his hand vibrated before turning into ash, leaving nothing but a glittering green gem behind.

A moment later, the gem broke into pieces and the green light washed over them.

"W-what is this?!"

"I don't feel any different."

Under the mask, Wulf 's face was cold,

"The Belionxy. One of my better creations."

Mana Tech; despite its name, had little to do with technology, and was more of an innovative way to use mana within relying on traditional means of magic.

It a way, Mana Tech could come in the form of items, or glyphs that allowed one to use mana in peculiar ways.

In his case, Wulf Strungman was titled the Keeper of the Head Priests because of his high affinity with Mana Tech.

Not just his ability to craft Mana Tech items, but also his extraordinary memory and ability to draw glyphs and sigils to harness mana and the power of the world.

When it came solely to mana and affinity to this mystical energy, he was second to none.

He was very confident in his abilities.

The {Belionxy} was a Mana Tech items he had created. It was an enhancing item that granted a drastic increase in physical and magical prowess at the cost of increased energy expenditure.

However, it could only be used one.

Although it wasn't anything too precious, Wulf was still annoyed he was forced to use it.

Something changed almost immediately.

A Pilgrim wearing a brown mask drew back on his bowstring. Mana concentrated and turned into an arrow.

This time, the arrow traveled faster and with far more force than any he had fired before.

It headed straight for Ruby's head, aiming to deal serious injury.

"Not while I am here."

A magic barrier appeared in front of the charging Mutant Creature. Sue stared up haughtily.

In her head, her thoughts had changed,

'Something changed. Their attacks are more powerful.'

Her eyes narrowed, 'We have to be more careful.'

She quickly expanded the range of her shield to cover both she and Jenny as well.

Still, she was not very worried.

Because in a way, in this place, she believed there was not much that could harm her.

'After all...'

The sand before them came alive and an enormous creature of sand rose up.

It was fast, swimming in the sand to get ahead of both Ruby and a transformed Hunter.

"Crap! Get back, all of you!"

Watching the strange being of sand rise up and charge at them, Wulf felt intense apprehension.

He quickly pulled another item out of his inventory and began mumbling in a low tone of voice.

Sue clicked her tongue,

"Oi, aren't you going to stop him?!" She yelled angrily at Steve who stood up on Ruby's back not a single sign of negativity on his face.

In fact, he sported a relaxed smile, calmly looking at the rain of bullets and arrows.

He chuckled,

"What are you so tense about, dear Sue? Relax, would you?"

Hunter's gruff voice wormed its way into his head,

"Do something now, or I'll tear you off the Beast's back and kill you."

Steve clicked his tongue, "I hate when you do that. Entering someone's head without permission is so rude."

Even as he said that, his hands began moving.

His fingers danced in the air, etching down strange symbols and characters of light that didn't seem to make any sense.

However, any person even a bit sensitive to Mana would have been able to sense the changes that came of the Mana flow patterns around him.

Steve's lips parted to reveal a wide grin,

"In front of me, this bumbling idiot might as well be a comedian."

He clenched his fist,

"The Evil Hand, a heretical magic put to the test against parlor tricks. How embarrassing..."

Clearing his throat, Steve wrote down the last line,

"Let me show you what magic truly is."

"Inferno Infinerati."

His words were crisp and clear with a sinister, dark undertone.

Magic circles appeared in the sky above the edge of the slope and a torrent of flames poured down.

At the same time, Steve's lips were already moving again,

"Niflheim."

The world seemed to freeze over as icy shards shot out from the ground as well.

"At the same time, Wulf was done with his wm incantations as well."

"Come form, Morbidelus!"

He threw an object to the ground. It looked more like the egg of an unknown beast. The moment the egg hit the sand, it broke apart, and a torrent of black poured towards the sky.

A black hand reached for the sky, and another for the earth, attempting to push back both spells.

Wulf's eyes were filled with mirth,

"Morbidelus, black beast of the Sands, impervious to all forms of magic."

Wulf's eyes burned with dark madness and hatred,

"You bastard! You think you can undermine my authority?! Attack them! Let them know the wrath of my black flame."

Steve scoffed. He glared at the black hands holding his spells back,

"This is the best you could do? How embarrassing." He muttered to himself.

He cracked his neck,

"Still, not bad at all. Looks like I'll have to take this a bit more seriously..."

His eyes narrowed and an unnerving aura enveloped him, almost causing Ruby to stumble.

Sue gave him a strange look,

"What the hell?! What are you trying to do, bastard?"

Steve grinned and put his hand forward.

He began to engraved the strange characters into reality whilst chanting.

And the same time, his staff was pointed to the sky and a magic circle appeared about the giant gem inlaid into it.

Sucking in a deep breath, Steve began to chant darkly,

"Come forth, wicked demon of the vestitudes. I welcome you to this banquet of blood. Come forth malevolent spirits of madness and destroy the world before me."

As he continued to chant, Sue frowned,

'This... He isn't skipping any part of the chant? Not only that, but this chant sounds like.'

The frown on her face became deeper,

"This bastard..."

Unperturbed, Steve continued, his chanting becoming darker and darker,

"Consume, annihilate, devour wholly, as I give the souls of fools as offering."

His words suddenly became incomprehensible, and his complexion paled,

"Maledictus Opus, Sanguine Demitrui..."

A single ster smile appeared on his face. A singular, giant magic circle appeared in the sky.

"You call that power? Let me show you what the arm of a god looks like."

He stared at the magic circle he had conjured and chuckled,

"Looks like I've gotten a bit too excited."

Then he turned back and stared at the mage on the other side. No, not mage...

'You don't use magic, do you? Well, then allow me to introduce you...'

The magic circle expanded all of a sudden and morphed, turning into a dark gateway.

The night sky suddenly became many times darker.

Those in the vicinity looked up in pure horror as an arm of darkness covered in tumors, cists and devilish growths descended. Its dark claws seemed capable to tearing away the sky away from the world itself.

It crushed the dark arm trying to hold the flames at bay, and continued to descend on the rest of them.

Thunder struck and lightning crackled as the intense pressure brought by the arm of darkness continued to increase.

Under the influence of the dark arm, all the humans under the shade of its palm were brought to their knees.

"T-the arm of a god!" Wulf managed to stutter out, staring at it with borrow.

Steve laughed,

"Not quite."

Then he coughed up a mouthful of blood,

"But I can only manage this much."

The tear in the sky trembled. The owner of the arm seemed to sense something amiss and tried to put more power in, attempting to push through with pure strength.

However, it wasn't enough, and the arm slowly dissipated.

Sue gritted her teeth and glared at Steve,

"Are you trying to get us killed as well?! Are you stupid, huh?!"

Steve chuckled as he wiped the blood off his lips,

"Relax, it wasn't going to go that far. Besides..."

"We've achieved what we wanted."

They had gotten close enough to retaliate.

The {Sand Devil} Sue had summoned was the first to attack. It let out a sharp shriek and dove forward, its sharp claws of sand cutting into the throats of its first victims before diving back into the sand.