God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

A head of a larger version of the black bear broke through the canopy of trees. Blood-red eyes stared at the group on the ground. The mutant beast let out two streams of air from its nostrils, causing a storm of leaves to rain down onto the group.

The monster looked even more malevolent that the smaller ones. Rows of razor-sharp fangs jutted out from its salivating mouth. From where he was, Cain could see rows of the protruding spinal cord. Its razor-sharp claws glinted even in the barely illuminated forest.

Thick blood-red lines formed tattoos on the surface of the mutant\'s fur, resembling the runes that dropped when monsters were killed. These lines glowed with a devilish light, painting the forest around it a light shade of crimson.

Cain let out an audible gulp...

\'Finally, some actual prey.\'

Cain was extremely eager to try out his newly acquired skills, and the humongous monster before him was just right for the job.

{Crimson Demon Bear} level 20 (special).

Strength: 200.

Agility: 150.

Defense: 30.

Mana: 40.

HP: 4000/4000.

MP: 1200/1200.

Skills: Destructive stomp, Bloodlust, Blood Berserk.

"Everyone, regroup! This one is going to be tough." David said while narrowing his eyes, the hands holding his weapons clenching them even tighter.

Cain let his hand drop onto the hilt of his blade, intending to draw it, however...

"This one is mine!"

"Hell naw! I saw it first!"

"Come on Dan! Let\'s get that thing!"

"What a marvelous beast. I shall vanquish it!"

The guys in the group turned into rabid dogs as soon as they laid eyes on the mutant. One would expect them to be frightened, or cautious when facing such a strong enemy. However, when Cain looked at the group, he saw nothing like that.

Instead, all he saw was excitement, as well as the element he thought was long lost in his peaceful world.

Battle lust...

"Yah!!!!"

They all charged at the monster, guns blazing. Even those who were calm most of the time charged at the monster, leaving only Blaze, Evangeline, David, and Cain behind.

\'On second thoughts...\'

Cain just let his hand rest on the hilt of his blade without doing anything. Not yet at least...

"Sigh... These kids don\'t know how to be careful!" David complained to Cain.

"Haha... Let\'s see what happens."

"I guess. But we go in immediately if anything seems wrong."

Cain couldn\'t lie to himself. He was intrigued by this crazy bunch.

With that, the battle began...

***

Although the members of Cain\'s group were strong, the monster they were engaged with was no pushover.

The mutant was slightly more powerful than the {Miasma Devil}. Its strength stat was higher than its agility, but that didn\'t change the fact that it was still fat. It also had a lot of skills, earning it the title of the strongest mutant or devil Cain had come across.

Growl!!!

Cain looked at the mutant beside him that was still wrapped in chains created by him. The monster let out menacing growls at Cain, as though threatening him to release it. Its mother had appeared, giving it the courage it had once lost.

"Don\'t get cocky yet, Teddy. Just watch."

Cain let out a laugh as he observed the mutant. At the same time, he was also worried.

\'They seem to be getting more and more intelligent.\'

The only thing worse than a strong enemy was an intelligent one, a smart one. If these beasts that were once dumb animals, began to grow intelligent, becoming more sentient, things wouldn\'t look pretty for humans...

Manny closed in on the monster, activating a skill as well

"Chaotic wind!"

Like the turbulent wind, Manny\'s body was wrapped in the wind elements, propelling him forward like a bullet. His speed which was already very high increased even more. He turned into a green shadow as he flashed into attacking range.

His swords also turned into shadows, aiming to rain down a hell of metal onto the mutant, however...

CLANG!

The mutant bear had blocked it. It had reacted fast enough, blocking Manny\'s super-fast attack.

The monster let out a roar, as though mocking Manny because it was just as fast as he was.

"Ha! Do you think you are fast?! You ain\'t seen nothing yet!"

The two began trading blows. However, this only lasted briefly, as the mutant used its overwhelming strength to push Manny back, delivering a blow that sent him flying. Although he managed to block it in time, a trickle of blood still escaped his lips.

Cleaning the blood off, a grin appeared on his face as he went back into the fight.

"Elemental Snipe: Water bolt."

BANG!

Shot after shot was fired by Vincent onto the body of the monster, from behind a tree, but they barely did any damage

"Fuck! This thing is tough."

"Rapid Shot!"

The speed at which he fired the bolts of condensed mana drastically. He was firing at least two of them each second, blasting off patches of fur with every bombardment.

The others were also trying their best to attack the monster, but due to the thing\'s high defense, they could barely harm it. The attack speed of the monster also made them extra cautious as well.

\'Seems like the increase isn\'t that simple.\'

Cain had noticed that every monster he encountered that had the \'special\' tag was always stronger than the ordinary. They were not only stronger than the weaker ones, but they were also smarter.

The mutant knew it had strong defenses. Hence, it was relying on its superior defense to just tank all the blows given to it. This was working in its favor, as the group of Manny, Vincent, Steve, Hunter, and Dan, were struggling against it.

"You know, a little help would be appreciated," Hunter said with the same stoic expression he always had on his face.

"This is what I was telling you guys. C\'mon, let\'s join in before something bad happens to those rascals."

"Alright."

Blaze agreed to go with David, while Susan, Cain, and Evangeline kept quiet.

David and Blaze sprinted off toward the group of rascals to help them. Meanwhile...

"Why aren\'t you joining in?" Stepping right to his side, Susan initiated a conversation.

"Hmm?"

"Why aren\'t you joining them to fight?" Susan repeated herself, this time, a little more aggressively.

"Haha... No reason in particular. I\'m just waiting."

They hadn\'t spoken to each other since the awkward events of the morning. Although Cain wasn\'t trying to avoid her, Susan tried her best to limit contact with him for the better part of the day. She probably was too embarrassed, but the embarrassment had worn off after some time.

She was back to her old self...

"Waiting for what?"

"You\'ll see."

Cai responded with a half smile, his thoughts unreadable through his expression alone.

"You know, you\'ve changed."

Cain turned his head to the person beside him, a bit confused.

"Changed? In what way?"

He hadn\'t thought he had changed, not even the slightest bit.

"You seem to smile more," Susan said, her cheeks turning red once more. Apparently, she wasn\'t fully back to her old self.

"Smile?"

Cain touched his face and noticed that his lips were actually extended into a smile. It was a faint one, but a smile nonetheless.

"I guess I do, huh?"

Cain turned his eyes to stare at the girl beside him. Long waist-length brown hair, with deep black eyes and a slender shoulder. Her skin was like porcelain, and her nose was angled perfectly.

She was beautiful by every metric and coupled with her blushing cheeks, her beauty shone even with the cacophony of yells and roars in the background. She even managed to keep herself clean even in these sorts of conditions.

Cain found himself starting her far longer than he usually would.

\'I wonder what the hell was that."

Cain was someone out of touch with his feelings, so he couldn\'t even name the feelings floating in his chest at that point.

"Ahhhh! Fuck... My butt."

He stopped staring at her when the huge butt of a certain fatty obstructed his view for a split second.

"Boss! You\'ve gotta help us." The fatty lay with his face on the ground, so his words came out a little funny.

"This is what I was waiting for," Cain said to Susan as he stomped on the fatty\'s butt, causing him to let out a yelp of pain.

Susan fought back laughter as she drew her bow into a full moon, beginning her attack on the mutant beast in an attempt to help the others.

"Guess that\'s my cue, huh?"

Cain turned to the now confused bear who was still bound by the chains of iron.

"Watch closely, Teddy. I\'m about to put your mama to sleep."