God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"Jenny!"

"Sister Jenny, what are you saying?! Why would you want to move alone with this scar-faced bastard!"

\'Hey, hey...\' Cain had a flat expression when he heard the undeserved insult.

Li moved quickly and held her by her arm, "No. This won\'t do at all." he said in a low voice. He lowered his voice to a pitch only both of them could hear,

"It is obvious what their plan is. They want to divide us so it will be easier to take us out. I don\'t trust any of them one bit. Remember what you told us that night? With the way things have become, we can trust nobody!"

"You don\'t understand, Li..."

Before Jenny could say a word more, Li had let go of her. He then turned to Cain and said in a cold voice,

"Why can\'t you guys go yourselves? Why do you have to include us in this madness?! Going into a forest with tens of thousands of man-eating devils? I think we\'ll pass on that one."

"No one is forcing you to go ahead with the plan. Besides, she was the one who volunteered. No one forced her..." Cain said with a cold expression.

"Ignore him, boss. This brother is deluded." Vincent said with a mocking sneer on his face.

"At least I don\'t look like a tree stomp." Li clapped back mercilessly...

"I\'ll turn you into a sieve, you bastard!" Vincent said, his words dripping with bloodlust.

"Enough!" Cain yelled.

The two of them fell quiet immediately. Cain turned to Jenny,

"I agree to your conditions. However, I want to see what you are capable of beforehand. Can you tell me more about this ability of yours? Is it a skill, or a spell? What does it do, and how will it make us go unnoticed by the enemies?"

Jenny took a deep look at Cain before she spoke, "You do realize this is sensitive information, right?"

"If I don\'t know this at the very least, how do you expect me to trust you with my life

"You do have a point. Fine! I\'ll show you first."

Taking a deep breath, Jenny activated her skill.

"Stealth Cloak!"

With a gust of the wind, Jenny\'s figure faded into thin air...

Thanks to Cain\'s high perception stat, he could still see a faint outline of her body, but that was all. Her aura, her scent, and even her footprints had almost completely disappeared, making her stealth skill borderline frightening.

Turning to face the invincible Jenny, Cain had an approving expression, "Not bad, not bad at all..."

\'He can see me?!\' Jenny was shocked beyond belief. She immediately released the skill with a gloomy expression on her face.

"The skill is called {Stealth Cloak}. It is a light and darkness paraelemental skill that conceals my presence by 50%. One activation of the skill lasts for ten minutes, and the cooldown is five minutes, but thanks to a certain passive skill of mine, the cooldown is reduced to two minutes."

"Alright... I agree with your conditions. However, while I do have a concealment spell, I doubt it is as effective as yours. However, since I can also use this skill on allies, it will boost the effects of your concealment skill even further."

The spell Cain was referring to was the {Dark Cloak} spell he had acquired alongside the {Elemental Body} physique skill.

***

{Dark Cloak}: Conceal your movements and hide within a blanket of darkness, evading the senses of your foes. Reduces the perception of enemies towards you by 40%. This skill can be used on allies as well, has a duration of 5 minutes, and a cooldown of 10 minutes.

Cost: 500MP peruse.

Note: Cooldown of this skill reduced to 5 minutes, while its cost has been reduced to 250MP per user due to the effects of {Mana Heart}...

***

"Alright... It\'s settled then. Jenny and I will look around. In the meantime, everyone else is free to do whatever. Vincent, I need you to be on the lookout for any sudden changes in the enemy camp." Cain said as he gazed into the forest that seemed to be growing bigger, yet it appeared stagnant at the same time.

"Roger that, boss. Nothing can escape my eyes..." Vincent said, beating his chest with pride.

\'Ruby, you will follow me.\'

\'Okay, master!\' The huge black bear wagged its tail at full force.

"If that will be all, then we can be on our way," Cain said to Jenny.

"Hold up."

Suddenly, the environment darkened a bit, and shadows began to creep up out of nowhere. Out of one of the creeping shadows, Evangeline walked out. Her pale porcelain skin and snow-white hair were a direct contrast to the shadows she created, and her blood-red lips looked like drops of blood splattered on freshly fallen snow, creating a sort of forbidden beauty that none could crave after.

Just like last time, Cain was unable to sense when she had arrived...

"Who are you?" Jenny asked with a raised brow.

However, she was completely ignored by Evangeline who turned to Cain and spoke in her signature crisp voice, "I\'m going as well. Don\'t get in my way." she said in a tone that showed she wasn\'t making an argument.

Seeing she was ignored, Jenny simply narrowed her eyes but didn\'t say anything more...

Cain stared at the beauty standing directly before him with a stunned expression before letting out a frown.

\'This complicates things a whole lot more...\'

"Sure. I can\'t stop you if you want to come anyways..."

"Hmm." With that, She disappeared into the shadows she had created once again.

\'She is very... unique\' Cain had run out of words to describe the beauty\'s eccentricity.

"First Order, Halo of light!"

Cain felt a palm press against his back. This palm was soft, and produced a sense of comfort he still wasn\'t familiar with.

"Susan?"

Cain still wasn\'t sure what had happened...

Before the start of the apocalypse, this former class monitor of his was someone he figured was in a completely different world than his. His world was a world of shadow, whereas hers was full of light.

He had held no animosity towards her, nor did he believe she was an important factor in his life. However, since the start of all the madness, she had stayed alive and had somehow managed to come this far alongside him. Even when all their classmates had died at the hands of the {Miasma Devil}, she still pushed on.

He didn\'t know to what extent her powers reached, but what he did know, was that she was certainly capable enough to survive for so long in a world filled with insanity.

And now, he had found himself drawn to the light she gave off. Something about it was just so comforting. It made him want to sink into it and bury himself in its warmth. He had never felt that way in his before, so it was a first for him to be so drawn to someone.

He had no idea how it happened, or the circumstances it grew under...

\'I guess there are somethings we just can\'t understand no matter how hard we try...\'

{Host is under the effects of the spell, Halo of Light...}

{Halo of Light}: Defense and Magic stats temporarily boosted by 30% for 6 hours...

A golden sheen of light instantly wrapped around his body. A strange rune made of light the shape of an inverted wing appeared on his chest at the same time.

\'So powerful!\' Cain was shocked when he saw the effects of the speed Susan had cast on him.

"The spell doesn\'t last too long, but it should still be of some use," Susan said, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks even though she tried to keep a straight face.

\'Shit! What is wrong with me?!\' Susan said to herself.

She didn\'t know when it started...

She had never once had any strong feelings towards anyone in particular. She had grown up in a traditional and rich family, so regardless of whether she wanted to or not, her upbringing made her look down on people like Cain. Even before the apocalypse, the only reason she interacted with Cain was that it was her duty as well as the class monitor to make sure all her peers could meet up.

\'It is the responsibility of the strong to help the weak, and the capability to assist the inept...\'

She had been taught that at an early age, and it had stuck with her up until now...

However, the strings of fate were sadistic, and she had found herself increasingly drawn to Cain after the apocalypse. It could just be because he is the only person she found familiar amongst those still alive, or that she was doing it out of a sense of duty. She couldn\'t tell exactly.

What she could tell, was that there was something within her, whispering to her to spread her light onto the dark soul standing before her...

Light and dark...

These two were opposites of one another, yet one would lose its purpose in the absence of the other...

"I see. Thank you." Cain said, his back still facing her.

"Don\'t mention it. Just make sure you come back in one piece." Saying that Susan withdrew her hands from his back and stepped aside.

"Hm! Alright. Let\'s go..." Cain nodded his head firmly at Susan before turning to Jenny who was staring at him with a raised eyebrow, much like everyone else who had witnessed his interaction with Susan.

"Dark Cloak!"

Cain stretched his palm out wide as a dark magic circle appeared above it. Like a blanket, the magic circle expanded and covered both himself and Jenny who stood beside him.

\'Don\'t be stupid. I have a plan... Focus on leveling up and wait for me to return before you make any big moves...\' Li stared at the dissapearing Jenny in shock when he heard her voice echo in his mind...

They slowly faded away from the scenes of those standing around. Although it wasn\'t as effective as Jenny\'s, it would still be of great use inside the dark forest.

Applying some force to the soles of his feet, the now near-invincible Cain as well as Jenny dashed straight into the dark maw of the devil-infested forest.

There was a brief moment of silence before it was shattered to pieces by Vincent.

"At least he\'s got game..."

If Cain was there, he certainly would have made the fatty cough up some blood...