God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"He might be trapped inside here, but once you enter, your fate will be sealed. He\'ll get the heart one way or another." Cain said seriously.

\'Also, I won\'t have anything to bargain with if you enter...\' Cain thought to himself.

Although he said he wouldn\'t take the heart from her, that didn\'t mean he was stupid, or he wanted to be nice. Rather, it was a methodological process he had thought of.

Rather than forcing the Heart away from her, Cain wanted to turn her into a bargaining chip. He had long since been suspicious of Og-solath, so there was no way he was going to deliver what he wanted straight to him. Rather, he was going to have to deal the cards. Evangeline was his joker. His ace in the hole...

He absolutely couldn\'t let anything happen to her...

Evangeline seemed taken aback by what Cain said,

"How do you intend to save them?"

Cain stopped in his tracks and turned around. A mischievous smile stretched across his face, creasing the scar he had. This smile didn\'t make him look ferocious. Rather, it made him look absolutely dangerous. Like a viper staring down at another viper with the intention to devour it.

Evangeline felt something stir in her chest...

Cain\'s smile stretched even further across his face,

"I\'m going to gamble. I might have shitty luck. But what I do have, are a few tricks hidden up my sleeve." Cain said casually. Turning around, he continued his walk.

Although he was a little concerned about what actions Evangeline would take, he was self-confident she wouldn\'t enter the forest. She wasn\'t dumb, neither was she a Saint after all...

Soon, he crossed the imaginary boundary that marked the circumference of the forest.

Cain instinctively knew that he had crossed the line of no return.

The darkness of the forest was the first thing that greeted him. The lighting of the fragmented lands was very dim, so if that was obstructed by a canopy of thick leaves, then one can only imagine just how dark it was.

\'I did not miss this.\' Cain thought to himself. The creepy trees with handprints and the leaves made it seem as though he was stuck in an endless trance in his head.

Cain walked around for some time, trying to find his way to the small pond at the center of the forest where he met Og-solath.

All this time, he couldn\'t help but worry about Susan, Jenny, and Ignis. He had left them here for a long time now. Although he knew they were plenty strong, strong enough for him not to be so worried, he still felt very guilty about putting them in danger.

As such, he was going to try to do everything in his power to make sure they were relatively unharmed.

He continued through the darkness, his senses on high alert. A few creatures of the darkness lunged out to attack him every once in a while, but he cut them down swiftly and graciously. His eyes glowed red in the inky black, revealing a mind filled with tumultuous thoughts.

He suddenly came to a halt. His body tensed up as beads of sweat began building up on his forehead. His muscles and bones trembled, as he stood transfixed to the spot.

He could perceive that a presence had appeared behind him. He could already tell who it was...

"Where is it?!"

An eerily familiar voice called out to him from the darkness. Cain remained silent...

The voice didn\'t speak for a while, but when it did, there was a hint of annoyance,

"Answer, you damned mortal. Where is my heart?!"

When Cain heard this, his palpitating heart gradually calmed down. His tense muscles relaxed, and the heat in his eyes subsided. Cain turned around with a patronizing smile on his face,

"Oh great Devil of Madness. I\'m afraid to inform you that I do not have the Heart of Chaos."

Standing behind him, clad in a pitch-black robe, was Cain, or rather, Og-solath, who had taken on the mundane form of Cain. His eyes were like pools of darkness as he stared at Cain with a solemn expression.

"Don\'t play games with me. Do you think I won\'t kill you?"

Cain could sense that the Primordial Devil of Madness was far stronger than he had been since their last encounter. Cain presumed that the moment Og-solath had taken his form, the threat he posed to his life had risen exponentially.

"Sure. However, if you kill me, then you will be stuck here for eternity."

Seeing that Og-solath didn\'t want to play games, he got right to business.

Og-solath sneered, "You sure have a lot of guys to think you can negotiate with a Primordial Devil."

Cain snorted, "What are you going to do, beat me up?"

The creepy replica smiled, "If I have to."

Cain felt a chill run down his spine. Clearing his throat, Cain shrugged, "If you beat me up, you better get ready to stay here forever, as you\'ll have to kill me. Then you\'ll never be able to get the heart."

Og-solath fell silent for a while before answering,

"What do you want?"

\'Now we are getting somewhere...\'

Cain grinned, "I want reassurance."

The mirror image shrugged, "So you want to let those girls go, right?"

Cain\'s eyes narrowed dangerously, "If anything has happened to them, I\'ll make you regret it."

"Relax. Fortunately for them, they haven\'t faced any creatures within the forest they couldn\'t defeat. However, that might change depending on the next words that come out of your mouth."

Cain let out a long exhale. He was relieved, but now was not the time to be complacent. He stared at his mirror image, the creature that had decided to use his identity for its benefit, his face full of resolve,

"If you let them leave, I\'ll give you the heart."

Og-solath let out a laugh,

"You are very funny, human. Although I can sense traces of Bemethshal from you, I know you aren\'t with the heart."

Cain clenched and unclenched his gloved fists,

"I am not with it. But that doesn\'t mean it isn\'t in my possession."

Og-solath threw a strange glance at Cain, a hint of anger and madness welling up in the depths of his eyes. Cain took a step forward,

"I know you understand what I am saying. I have the heart with me, but it isn\'t in the forest. That can change, depending on your willingness to agree to my terms."

The most powerful hand Og-solath could play against Cain was the existence of Susan, Jenny, and Ignis. As long as they remained in the forest, Cain would be constantly dealt the losing hand.

As such, he had to even the playing field...

Og-solath desired the Heart of Bemethshal. But he couldn\'t tea h it without Cain, regardless of how much he wanted to kill him.

Silence reigned between the two for a while. Then Og-solath spoke, his voice filled with unwillingness,

"Fine. I will release them. However, you must show me proof of my possession first."

\'Shit! Did he really need to ask for proof?! Isn\'t my word enough?!\'

Cain secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He didn\'t know if the next part of this insane part would work, but he had to try. If not, then he was as good as dead.

Without saying another word, Cain pulled a small vial from his inventory. Within the vial was a viscous red liquid that could only be blood. As soon as Cain opened it, a sweet aroma flooded the air. Og-solath\'s eyes shot open.

\'Thank goodness I thought about this possibility.\' Seeing Og-solath\'s reaction, Cain knew he made the right choice.

"Hmmm... Blood from his heart, huh."

Og-solath nodded, "It seems you aren\'t full of just hot air. Since remade an agreement, it is only right I fulfill my part of the bargain."

Og-solath clapped his hands together. Space around them collapsed for a split second, before returning to normal. Standing between the two of them were the three girls, looking extremely confused.

Cain heaved a sigh...

\'Thank goodness.\'

"They can\'t see or hear us now. As you can see with your eyes, they are unharmed." Og-solath said dryly.

Cain nodded, "Send them out."

Cain could tell that Og-solath had gotten way more powerful than he had been when he first encountered him for reasons unknown to him. As such, he reasoned taking the three girls out of the forest wouldn\'t be too much of a big deal for the powerful devil.

A dangerous light flashed on Og-solath\'s eyes when he heard Cain, but he said nothing and began to chant.

Space trembled around the three girls. As they couldn\'t understand what was going on, expressions of anger, confusion, and dread appeared on their faces.

Cain watched all this happen from yeh sidelines without saying a word...

Eventually, all three girls blinked out of existence. Cleaning a film of sweat from his forehead, Og-solath turned and looked at Cain, mad fury and a hint of exhaustion in his eyes,

"Your conditions have been met. I will ask you only once more..."

His voice dropped by several octaves. A tsunami of energy pushed down on Cain, driving him face-first into the dirt and keeping him there. Og-solath walked calmly until the tip of his toes brushed against Cain\'s hair. Then, he spoke, venom and malice in his voice,

"Where is my heart?!"