God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

With a sigh, he stopped struggling and observed his surroundings. There was nothing noteworthy around him. All he could see were grassy plains and a few trees here and there.

He frowned, \'Yep. I\'m no longer in the forest.\'

The pressing question he had to ask himself was, \'Where am I?\' or \'How did I get here?\'. Unfortunately, there was no one around to answer these questions.

What made him the most uncomfortable, was that he couldn\'t sense his mana at all. It was as though his body had been sealed. He couldn\'t move, and he couldn\'t feel any energy around or within him, which meant he couldn\'t activate any skills or spells.

He couldn\'t even feel the {Dark Soul}. This bothered him a lot...

\'Have I been kidnapped?\' The thought came to him, but he quickly dispelled it.

With a sigh, he opened his status window to find out what was happening with his body.

***

{Warning: The host is in extremely critical condition. All stats are reduced by 99%}.

{The host has ingested the Mortal realm Epic grade medicine, Soothing Radiant Fruit. Symptoms are reduced by 10%. Effects of the drugs will last for a day}.

{All energy points in the host\'s body have been damaged, and as such, the host has temporarily lost access to all energy sources within his body}.

***

Cain\'s eyes twitched when he saw this. He was immediately reminded of the day he had met Azazel. That day, he had also seen a system notice quite similar to this. The only difference is that it was far worse this time around.

\'I\'ve been given medicine? Could it be I have really been kidnapped?\' Although he questioned the motives of his kidnapper, he couldn\'t help but feel a little bit grateful.

If not for the Epic-grade medicine, he would be in a world of pain. From what he could tell, the damage his body had been forced to take far surpassed what could be healed with HP regen potions.

Cain had been fed a Mortal realm Legendary grade Medicine by Azazel when this happened in the past. Medicine and medicinal plants, just like weapons and tools, had grades. However, the products of alchemy also had tiers. In both instances, the medicine he was given were both of the Mortal Realm grade.

HP and MP regen potions were a type of medicine and could be created by alchemists. However, they didn\'t have grades or tiers. This meant their uses were extremely limited, and they would cease to matter the higher one progressed up the food chain.

The only benefit of this was that they were relatively easy to prepare. All one needed was a recipe and basic instructions to follow.

\'Still...\'

Despite the medicine he was given, which was more potent than HP regen potions, he was rendered bedridden.

"Stop moving all around. You\'ll hurt yourself even more."

Cain heard a voice coming from beside him. Almost immediately, he calmed down...

"Where am I?"

"We are on the adjacent island. This place is devoid of stronger aether beasts, so we are safe." Jenny said with a serene expression on her face.

"Haha... I thought I was kidnapped for a second. It\'s just you guys." Cain said with an awkward expression on his face.

Jenny rolled her eyes, "Did you expect us to abandon you?" She said, her eyes narrowed dangerously.

Since he couldn\'t move, Cain was forced to bear the brunt of her glare headfirst,

"Not quite. I didn\'t expect that he would keep his word."

Jenny\'s face fell, "You mean the other you?"

Cain\'s eyes shot up, his face filled with unspoken questions,

"So you met him, huh."

Jenny\'s voice fell into a whisper as she leaned in, "Who was that? Do you know him? He gave me the creeps."

Being so close to such an attractive female made Cain squirm a little. His gaze fell towards her bountiful cleavage almost instantly.

\'Damn it! Stop starting, you dog!\'

Reprimanding himself in his head, Cain cleared his throat and whispered back,

"You might find it hard to believe, but that guy... Was a Primordial Devil!"

Jenny was silent, but it was apparent from her suspicious gaze that she didn\'t believe a word of what he said.

Cain gritted his teeth, "Why would I lie?! He is Og-solath. The Primordial Devil of Madness. He created a replica of my body when I stared into a pong in the middle of the forest.

"Okay. I believe you. I think you should rest some more." She didn\'t look convinced one bit.

Cain\'s face flushed red, "Argh! I don\'t want to rest anymore!"

Jenny threw him an unsympathetic glance. Another voice suddenly entered his head,

"Hmph! This is what you get for being an idiot!"

Cain could recognize that voice anywhere. Gritting his teeth, he shot back,

"Oi... Is that any way to speak to your master?!"

Ignis snorted and answered with venom in her tone,

"If that master wasn\'t laying down on the ground handicapped, then sure..."

Cain\'s face paled. Glaring daggers at Ignis, he began grumbling,

"So ungrateful! After all that I\'ve done, they are still so ungrateful. I should have left you with that deranged devil! Maybe you would have liked it better!"

"What you did was reckless..."

Although Cain couldn\'t see her, he undoubtedly knew who the owner of that magnetic voice was.

His already motionless body stiffened...

Stepping into view, Susan glared down at Cain. However, a second later, her glare softened, and she let out a relieved sigh,

"Thank you."

Cain was a bit taken aback...

Seeing his confusion, Susan explained further,

"Evangeline told us about everything. You really didn\'t need to go that far for us."

Cain tried to shrug, but gave up when he realized he couldn\'t move his shoulders,

"I did. If it wasn\'t for me you thr3e wouldn\'t be here. It is my responsibility to make sure you make it back to Urbus alive. Even if you don\'t, then your deaths should at least have meaning and purpose." Cain said with a grim voice.

Seeing that the three girls, even Ignis, all had remorseful expressions, he couldn\'t help but soften his tone,

"Besides, it all worked out fine, didn\'t it?"

Silence...

Cain\'s heart fell to his stomach when he saw the dark looks on their faces,

After a few seconds of silence, it was Susan who spoke,

"I don\'t think we should continue with this mission."

"I agree with her. This last experience has been eye-opening. I was stuck in that volcano for so long, that I forgot about the myriad horrors that inhabit this vast, endless universe. This place is dangerous. The further in we go, the less our chances of returning alive." Ignis said, her grey skin turning even paler.

Even Evangeline agreed with them with a nod.

Cain was silent for a while. Then he turned to Jenny,

"Do you think so too?"

Jenny stared straight into his eyes, "I do. You\'ve done more than enough already. I think it\'s time to raise the flag."

Cain took in a deep breath. Then he shook his head,

"I\'m not giving up yet. We can still find them."

Susan frowned, "For all we know they are already dead. Including Hunter. Besides, how do we even fight against that thing? You saw what it is capable of, right?"

"Even though... It doesn\'t matter." Cain could be stubborn when he wanted to.

"Unfortunately for you, that decision is no longer in your hands."

It took Cain a few seconds to realize what she was implying. His face fell, and his glare turned cold,

"So you all are kidnapping me?"

Jenny turned away in shame. Ignis shrugged,

"Call it what you will. We are doing this for your good."

Susan nodded, "We might seem callous right now, but I know you will see reason eventually."

Cain turned to face Evangeline,

"You too?"

She stared at him unfazed, "I don\'t care either way. However, I am not going to interfere if they want to cart you away. Besides, it aligns more with my interests if we all head back now. They are right in saying going deeper into this godforsaken place is a bad idea."

Cain\'s face turned bitter. He couldn\'t move, which meant he couldn\'t fight or even run away. He was completely at their mercy. As such, he could only try reasoning with them.

"Hunter is a part of our team. We can\'t just abandon him."

Susan had a dark look on her face, but she refused to budge,

"Leaving a teammate behind might seem cruel. However, you said it yourself. You shouldn\'t be forced to forfeit your life due to the incapabilities of another."

When Cain heard this his heart fell even further...

"That was then, and this is now. They are two different circumstances."

Seeing Susan shake her head again, Cain knew he wouldn\'t be able to convince her.

\'Ha...\'

Although he tried his best, it ended up not being enough. By the time he recovered, it would already be too late. They might have already left the fragmented lands by then.

Seeing Cain fall silent, they all took it as a sign of his agreement.

Letting out a sigh, Susan took a step forward,

"That-"

Before she could speak another word, a piercing howl broke through the sky and reached their eardrums.

Cain\'s eyes widened as he looked towards the origin of the sky-splitting howl. There, on a very distant island, close to the center of fragmented lands, was a rather large mountain. Although Cain had lost ninety-nine percent of his stats, the mountain was still visible to him. Considering how far away it was, he was able to deduce that the mountain was bigger than the Evil Mountains.

"What was that?" Cain said, his glare as cold as steel.

Jenny\'s eyes let off a purple glow as she also gazed at the mountain,

"It\'s... It\'s a wolf. A white wolf..."

It was ni secret that Jenny\'s perception stats was greater than everyone else\'s. As such, Cain had no reason to doubt her words,

\'A white wolf... Could it be?\'

Cain could feel it. There was no logic behind what he felt. It was more of an intuitive feeling. However, he knew he was right. There was no doubt about it...

"Girls... I– I think we\'ve found him. I think we\'ve found Hunter."