God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

He was very confused. One moment, he was on the very cusp of death. The next, he saw staring at this strange being of golden darkness.

The runes and lines that surrounded its body put his mind in a haze as he began circulating his Ki in the same manner.

The more he circulated it, the weaker he felt. It was as though all his life force was forcibly gathering to a particular spot in his body. However, there was nothing he could do about it, as he was now unable to stop it.

\'W-what is going on?!\'

Shock, dread, fear...

All these feelings came crashing down on him as he realized he was losing all sensation. Even the feeling of being suffocated from all sides.

\'I see...\' As he approached the darkness, he finally realized what was going on.

This feeling was a bit familiar...

\'I\'m dying. Again...\'

Yes, he was dying. But this death was something much different. As his Ki continued to circulate around his body, it converged to a certain spot in his chest.

More and more Ki began to accumulate, until the energy became so condensed, it turned physical.

As this continued, Cain felt his mind begin to change. All his desires, all his pain... Was being slowly transformed into something else.

Nirvana, a state of godly consciousness, was being achieved as he slipped further along the edge separating life and death.

***

As Lord Crimson prepared to use his blade to cut this false reality asunder, something made him stop in his tracks.

Defeating Cain hadn\'t been effortless, but he hadn\'t used his full power. As such, he still had a lot of juice left.

That was why he made the split second choice to swing his blade at the incoming threat.

BANG!

The resulting explosion caused the sub-space to warp violently, causing more cracks to appear all across it.

Lord Crimson had put a lot of power into the strike. That was why he was surprised when the feedback he got felt like he tried to cut down a mountain.

Staring through the undulations of their conflicting energies, Lord Crimson was able to see the changes that had come over Cain.

And what he saw made his blood freeze. The creature that stared right back at him with its hollow eyesockets that radiated a sharp golden glow wasn\'t human.

For a moment, he even doubted this was Cain. However, he could recognize the energy signatures. It was covered head to toe in pitch black scales with countless golden runes, as well as crimson veins all over the black scales.

The most peculiar thing about this creature, was the character engraved on its forehead.

\'Fate...\'

With just a single fist, this malevolent entity managed to stop his sword...

Lord Crimson frowned,\'Has he finally succumbed to devilish corruption?\'

The evil creature that Cain had become suddenly opened its maw, and let out a resounding roar that went straight to his soul.

For the first time since the beginning of their battle, Lord Crimson felt fear...

The creature turned into a blur. Lord Crimson could to nothing but watch as its fist slammed into his broadsword, causing cracks to appear on the metal.

Another blow came after the first, and that was all it took for the weapon to break apart.

A blade made from tempered Meteor Iron and Fiend Steel treated with Divine energy shattered like glass.

Although he saw shocked, Lord Crimson did not panic. He was a seasoned warrior for a reason.

Taking a few steps back, he tried to create distance between his and the malignant abberation, but the creature was quick. It followed him quicker than a shadow, bringing its fist down like a hammer on an anvil.

Very quickly, Lord Crimson found himself suppressed. The creature\'s blows were just too powerful.

A fist managed to make its way onto his chest, shattering his breastplate. Like a cannonball, he was launched away. The creature let out another roar and followed.

Lord Crimson let out a furious yell as well, as his power skyrocketed. As they exchanged blows, more and more cracks began to appear in the Sub-space. Both beings were incredibly powerful. It was only a matter of seconds before the Sub-space fell apart.

"Quickly! Pour more mana in!" The old man, Ian, urged his old companions.

"Damn it! What the hell happened to the kid?! Has he succumbed to corruption?!"

Ian sighed, his eyes dark, "I don\'t know. But I don\'t think so. These signs... aren\'t atypical of one that has fallen victim to the insidious energy. Look... Despite his appearance, he doesn\'t fight mindlessly."

The main reason Lord Crimson was struggling so much, was because this strange creature that Cain had become, was exactly like him, only with far greater physical capabilities.

One of the old men frowned, "You might have a point..."

Ian sighed, "We need to make sure this thing holds, or we might have far greater casualties on our hands."

As the three old men tried stabilizing the Sub-space, Lord Crimson and Cain, now turned Monster Cain, continued their heated battle.

Cain was buried within his own consciousness, and had been replaced by this monster that had taken full control of his body and abilities.

Orbs of compressed fire filled the air as they flew towards Lord Crimson who was already having a hard time finding off the increasingly more violent attacks thrown by Monster Cain.

\'Damn it!\'

Casting spells required a level of concentration. This creature was throwing a whole barrage of spells as it engaed in hand-to-hand combat.

\'What happened? There is no way he could have become like this in such a short time. There has to be an explanation.\'

As he suffered through the beating, Lord Crimson tried making sense of his situation. There was only one conclusion. This strange form Cain had taken was draining his very life energy.

That was dangerous. But if that was all, he should have died a good while ago. Instead, he seemed to be getting even stronger.

Staring into the hollow eyes of the monster, Lord Crimson was overcome with a strange feeling. He hadn\'t felt like this for years...

He steeled his mind, \'I have to make him snap out of it.\'

There was no way for him to know if Cain was still sane. However, he was willing to try. He hadn\'t know Cain for long, but he had left an impression on him.

And so, he called upon the power sealed within him...

The Crimson armor he donned crumbled into dust, and a handsome young man with a head full of brown hair was revealed. His appearance was the type countless ladies would swoon for. Right now, these gentle features were scrunched up hard as he struggled to keep the erupting power under control.

"Show me your conviction, Cain! Burn your very soul to show me you can survive this!"

Perhaps the strange consciousness could sense the abrupt ruse in power, as it took a step back in caution.

Lord Crimson paid it no mind as he gathered all the rampant power flowing within his body to his fist.

Seeing as there was no escape, the creature let out a shrill shriek as it gathered as much power as possible and threw a punch forward as well.

When the two fists met, the Sub-space couldn\'t handle it, and shattered into a billion pieces.

"Contain them!"

Three powerful auras flared to life as the old man and his comrades commanded powerful magic to seal the energy Cain and Lord Crimson released.

For all it was worth, these three were very powerful even though they were already past their prime. The potency of their magical energy had only gone up as they had gotten older and wiser.

Still, it was almost too much for them to contain Cain and Lord Crimson...

The rest of the Old Guard and Cain\'s companions were forced to stop their fighting and focus on protecting themselves as the energy bathed their immediate surroundings.

The growing mushroom of rampant energy spiralled upwards until it eventually faded away, leaving behind a large crater that devoured most of the street and a few nearby houses.

Luckily for the owners, they had been evacuated before hand, and they were wealthy enough that the loss of their noble property wouldn\'t do too much harm.

Silence...

The charred corpses of guards and the men Ian had brought with him littered the streets. The smell of burnt flesh filled nostrils as those still living struggled to their feet.

"My god..." One guard exclaimed as he took in the full extent of the destruction.

Steve struggling to his feet, his face a bit pale. Just before the explosion had occured, he felt the dramatic change in energy and reacting in time, created barriers strong enough to withstand the explosion around the others.

Although he had managed to save their lives, he was now almost completely drained of energy.

Through the smoke, he made out two figures standing right at the epicenter of the crater where the explosion had originated from...