God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"Humans are fickle creatures..."

"Over a tossed stone, over a stolen morsel of food, over a falsely claimed piece of land, they murder one another."

Staring down from the clouds were two godly beings.

Creatures that stood at the pinnacle of power in the known universe and all the realms of existence.

Beings that were, in their own right, Gods...

Azazel hummed, then chuckled,

"They fight one another, they spill their blood, they rape themselves and foster malice and I'll will that span generations. In the end, they are an inherently vile race. Makes me truly wonder why my Lord decided to come back in this form."

His beautiful, angelic eyes were tinged with a hint of dark bitterness,

"Ah, the heavens are cruel. Was it a play of fate? Was it a choice he decided to make? I have no clue..."

The creature or rather the Eldritch being of mass darkness standing beside him snorted,

"You cannot deny the speed of his growth, Demon. It has been less than a year since the calamity befell his world, and yet, within such a short time, not jist him, but many other humans have managed to begin the ascension."

Azazel shrugged,

"You might be right, but even with the help of the system, the lifespan of a human is incredibly limited. They can only live for so long."

The being of darkness turned to Azazel,

"The boy is no longer human, from what I can tell. Neither is he fully a Demon. In fact, even the Celestial Bloodline within him has not been fully awakened."

Azazel frowned,

"You are right about that."

He looked down at the world plunged into darkness. Thick heavy clouds tinted scarlet had begun to cover the skies, covering the radiance of the moon.

Even still, the slaughter never stopped for even a moment.

Both sides of humans hacked, slashed, and stabbed at each other. It was as though they had been afflicted with a spell of madness, their bloodlust consuming them as they cut their toes down and watched as their comrades were slain in equal measure.

In war, there truly were no winners...

Azazel mumbled as he turned his eyes away from the slaughter,

"He is not fully human, nor is his blood, now tainted with Devilish power, mutating his body into that of a Demon. His Celestial heritage remains asleep as well."

He suddenly burst out in laughter,

"Then what do we call him?! What thing is he? What has fate turned my Lord into?! Hahaha!"

The being of darkness exhaled heavily. If not for certain enchantments in place, the skies of Urbus would have been blown away just by that simple action.

"Balangol Shou be aware of the Celestial Will hidden within the boy's soul. Taking measures to ensure word does not reach that bastard up there should be your priority, shouldn't it?"

Azazel sighed, then slumped down, resting his chin on his hand and lightly tapping his jaw with his fingers,

"The sandy bastard is dead. What does he want to do?"

A frown appeared on his face,

"If he tries to do something stupid, then I'll put the dead god in his place, but I don't think we should be worried. For now, I think we should watch the show."

His frown disappeared and was replaced with a smile,

"As it was in the past, history repeats itself once again. How ironic..."

The being of darkness grunted,

"Balangol is no small Celestial. The Remnants he left behind are bound to contain a lot of power. Will he be able to overcome this challenge?"

Azazel chuckled, His eyes narrowed as his smile widened,

"Cain... Let's see how you get yourself out of this one. How curious I am..."

***

Cain poured strength into his feet as he launched his body forward. Mana exploded from the soles of his feet rapidly, drastically increasing his speed.

At the same time, the {Lonely Dragon} Warblade in his hand roared as it cut through the air.

On the other hand, Kaelin dashed forward, his scythe cutting through the air without a single sound.

The moment they clashed, everybody around them was blown away. A large empty circle was created around them.

Letting go of the handle of his scythe with one hand, Kaelin lightly hit the bottom, and the wide blade suddenly changed directions, aimed right at Cain's throat.

Cain leaned back and used the flat of his blade to smack the shaft of the scythe, causing the attack to miss entirely.

Not even a second later, their weapons came clashing again.

Kaelin's scythe was a hurricane; fast and deadly, while Cain's Greatsword was a storm; heavy and destructive.

Both contained a lot of power, but Cain quickly came to an annoying realization.

'Damn it...'

He was fast, but so was his opponent. He was strong, but his opponent was strong as well.

In fact, it almost seemed as though they had exactly equal physical stats.

Which meant the one to come out on top in this battle, would be the one with the superior battle skills.

Kaelin's weapon was a scythe with a very long handle, much like that of a grim reaper. This meant its reach was incredibly wide. Its blade was sharp and deadly. Any strike could be fatal.

What was even worse, was the intense feeling of dread that overwhelmed him whenever he clashed with the blade. It was almost as if the moment that blade cut him, it would be the end.

They clashed dozens of times in the span of a second, their speed climbing as they pressed on, neither able to get the upper hand.

It was a deadly dance too. The power of the {Lonely Dragon} Warblade after having drunk the blood of so many Aether Beasts and humans wasn't little in the slightest.

The edge of the blade was sharper, and its blows had become even stronger.

Cain's control and dexterity, as well as his mastery over this time of weapon made it even harder for his opponent to get a hit in.

A stalemate...

They separated for a while, both silently observing their opponent.

No one was around them, meaning none would interfere with their fight. If anyone did, chances were they would get torn apart from the force of their clashes. Very few had the durability to withstand the danger of their weapons clashing.

Kaelin frowned,

"Not bad at all. For the Champion of a Celestial Beast, you are somewhat decent."

Cain replied coldly,

"I have no intentions of making small talk. Trying to buy time?"

Kaelin's frown turned even more vicious,

"Getting cocky, I see... In that case, I have no need to keep up this farce."

He tapped the butt of his weapon in the ground, and the sand below his feet gravitated up.

As they did, the stark white sand became a pure, pitch-black.

Cain frowned, 'What is he doing?'

The reason he had been hesitant to let the scythe make contact with anything but his weapon was because of these motes of black sand that flowed around the body of the weapon.

Now, the swirling black sand had increased even more. A twisted grin appeared on his opponent's face,

"You are smart."

He twirled the scythe between his fingers, causing the black sand to flow rapidly.

"I can only use a portion of its power, but do not be disillusioned. This is the weapon of a god. One who brings only death."

Cain watched as his foe casually swung his sword.

Cain felt a terrifying amount of danger envelop his body.

Putting as much strength as he possibly could into his legs, he jumped to the side.

Thanks to his heightened perception, he could see it. A thin line of black sand traveling at hypersonic speed.

He managed to dodge it, but the people in the way were not so lucky.

The first man it struck was cut right in two. Then his body dissolved into black sand which flowed back towards the scythe. Another followed in similar fashion until more than a dozen lives were claimed in the blink of an eye.

"Shit!" Cain exclaimed.

"Hehehe... The power to deliver death, and the power to absorb it. A truly majestic weapon if I do say so myself." Kaelin said with a grin.

'Isn't this too overpowered?! What kind of weapon is this?!'

"It doesn't matter how powerful you are. The moment the Sands of Kalistik come into contact with a living being, that life ends."

He gripped the shaft of the scythe harder and laughed uncontrollably,

"Dominion, total control over life and death. That is what true power is, bastard!"

He let out a sigh and looked down,

"But it still isn't enough. Because even with the power of death in his hands, Balangol was defeated. If I were to come face to face with a being like that, I would be destroyed in an instant."

He stared up, right into Cain's eyes. A sadistic smile spread across his face,

"But against you, it's more than enough. Do you know why?"

Cain said nothing, merely gripping his weapon tightly,

'If it's just sand, there are multiple ways I can counter it. The real headache comes on trying to contain this guy. If I run, he will simply keep attacking my mental until they are all dead. How did that bastard Arltzwalt plan on fight against this monster?!'

"Because your Celestial Will remains asleep."

Cain snapped out of his thoughts and focused his attention back onto his opponent.

'I can't afford to de distracted right now.'

He sucked in a deep breath, filling his lungs,

'The first thing I need to do is find a way to counter the black sand. If I can't, then I'll need to find a way to stop his attacks from killing me at the very least. Dodging is no longer an option.'

Although they were both champions of a god, Cain realized that the power Guy had was nothing in comparison to this. He could also tell this was not the only card this bastard had up his sleeve.

The battle had just begun and he was already backed into a corner. He almost couldn't believe it.

A thought wormed its way into his head,

'The moment you hesitate, even for a moment, your death has happened before you even die.'

In this fight, Cain had come to realize the hard way;

He would have to walk along the thin edge of the abyss to grasp a chance at winning...