God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

'I lose...'

Cain knew he had lost this fight, fair and square...

He knew he had lost the fight because he couldn't feel any strength at all felt in his body. He couldn't move due to his drained stamina and his mana pool was almost empty and his previous wounds had opened up, causing him to lose a lot of blood, and therefore, a lot of health points.

Name: {Cain Lenosi}

Level: 17.

Strength: 82. (30).

Agility: 141. (20).

Stamina: 0/66.

Vitality: 34.

Defense: 24. (-5).

Control: 3.7. (0.2).

Perception: 2.7.

HP: 900/3,200.

MP: 100/2,100.

Magic: 64.

Resistance: Poison- 5%.

Skills: Golden Blood, Mana Blade, Lightening Edge, Blade Mastery Lvl. 2, Burst Step, Metal Creation Lvl.2, Golden Severance, Metal Manipulation, *Fear, *Bloodthirsty, Blood Ingestion Regeneration, Azure Burst.

Titles: Champion of Ashur (locked).

Free attribute points: 20.

System points: 2,000.

{Inventory}. {Shop}.

The mutant creature walked towards Cain's crumpled body, malice and rage burning in its eyes. There was a huge hole in place of its eye dripping with blood. The creature's ape-like facial features had morphed into a devilish expression.

Its single left eye shone even brighter, as it let out a menacing growl.

"HOWL!"

It leaned back and let out a bone-piercing howl filled with rage straight into the grey skies that were lacking any sort of illumination, as though releasing its pent-up emotions.

There were probably a lot of complicated emotions playing out within its mind.

How was it possible that the weakling had managed to last this long against it?

How was this weakling able to give it so many injuries?

How was this weakling strong enough to take its eye?!

It was confused about a lot of things, but there was one thing it was sure of...

It couldn't allow Cain to live any longer...

The {Devil-eyed White Primate} was just as intelligent as Teddy. Although it was very strong, its mind had developed at a more terrifying pace than its body.

What drove it forward, was Its burning emotions of rage, and the desire to grow stronger.

It had previously been eyeing the {Crimson Demon Bear}, intending on fighting it, then devouring it. If it had managed to do that, it would be many times more powerful than it was right now, and Cain wouldn't even stand a chance.

But it had hesitated when it saw from the shadows, Cain and the others fighting the {Crimson Demon Bear}. It had decided to wait until the {Crimson Demon Bear} killed them all but had exhausted its strength. By then it would have the opportunity to swoop in and devour the spoils.

Its plan would have been perfect if Cain and the others hadn't won the fight.

Now, the seed of doubt had been planted in its heart. It had to acknowledge Cain's strength, especially after it had seen the power of {Golden Severance} after it had ended the life of the {Crimson Demon Bear}.

But it couldn't stop its greed from blossoming when it saw the perfectly shaped, mouth-watering, ruby-red mana shard of the {Crimson Demon Bear}.

Because of its cautious nature, it decided to wait for the most opportune moment to strike. It was planned to attack Cain and the others in the middle of the night when they most likely would be in bed.

It would then be able to either steal the mana shard or just outright kill them one by one, then take it.

But Cain was one step ahead...

He had come for the {Devil-eyed White Primate} instead.

The mutant was curious as to what Cain was up to, so it followed him, only to be greeted with the sight of Cain feeding its precious mana shard to the {Mutant Black Bear} a.k.a, Teddy.

In its rage and hastiness, it rushed out to stop him, but it was too late. Before it could stop it, the mana shard was already within Teddy's belly.

Consumed by rage, it wanted to kill Teddy, hoping to try to salvage the mana shard but was convinced when it saw the signs of mana mutation happening to Teddy. Teddy had begun to digest the mana shard, and there was nothing it could do.

Hence, it transferred its rage to the real culprit, Cain.

Cain was really tough but to crack, but seeing him defenseless on the ground, just waiting to be eaten, brought the {Devil-eyed White Primate} a feeling of euphoria.

It opened its huge mouth wide, its jaw extending farther than normal, and its rows of jagged teeth glowing with a sinister silver light.

With malice in its eyes, it chomped down...

***

'I'm still too weak.'

The adrenaline in his blood had finally run out.

This was just his third strong opponent, and he already lay on the ground, defeated.

He wasn't sad, angry, or scared, even when he knew that the consequence of losing was potential death.

The only emotion he felt, was disappointment.

He felt disappointed with himself. He realized that he still had a long way to go. He wasn't as strong as he wanted to be.

His mind quickly flashed with images of the magnificent golden dragon, he had seen in his dreams, and the magnificent power he exuded. His every word contained traces of unadulterated power.

He was what Cain strove to be.

Strong...

'Welp, can't beat me up too much.'

Although Cain knew he was beaten, that didn't necessarily mean he would lose his life.

'Any moment now...'

ROAR!

Suddenly, a roar reverberated from the forest, the culprit approaching their direction swiftly.

"Good Teddy."

From within the dense undergrowth, a large black and crimson figure burst out like a bulldozer.

"Graah!"

The {Devil-eyed White Primate} bared its teeth and released a snarl of anger. It turned around quickly and dashed at the beast charging straight at him and his prey with glowing fangs and eyes.

A streak of black and white collided...

BOOM!

Both were launched back a few meters, but the one to recover first was surprisingly the black streak.

{Crimson Demon Black Bear} level 15 (deadly).

Strength: 200.

Agility: 180.

Defense: 30.

Mana: 60.

HP: 5,000/5,000.

MP: 3,000/3,000.

Skills: Blood Berserk, Blood Armor, Shockwave Stomp.

Cain's eyes widened in shock at how strong Teddy was after eating just that one mana shard.

'Is it just the mana shard, or something else?'

Once again, the two beasts clashed. The fight quickly escalated into a storm of brutality and absolute savagery. The beasts clashed for a little while longer, before separating to stare each other down.

'Right now, they are evenly matched. Because the {Devil-eyed White Primate} is wounded and exhausted from our fight, Teddy currently has a fighting chance.'

Snarls and growls were exchanged between the two beasts. There was some hesitation in the {Devil-eyed White Primate's} eyes. It paused for a while, before letting out a howl of dissatisfaction.

It turned to stare at Cain who was laying on the ground, immobilized, before it dashed into the dense undergrowth, vanishing away from sight like a ghost, leaving only a trail of white.

Cain breathed a sigh of relief, as all the pain and tension accumulated from the earlier fight washed over him like a tidal wave.

'I'm still alive, huh?'

Cain turned on his back to stare at the dark, lightless skies. The stars, moon, and any other celestial body that was supposed to supply Urbus with light were completely blocked out by the sky.

"Grunt... grunt..."

The image of a big black snout appeared in Cain's vision, as Teddy, the new {Crimson Demon Bear} stared down at Cain.

In all honesty, Cain didn't know if Teddy would get back in time to save him or not or not. Since the mana laws that governed them were compelling, there was no way for either of them to fight against them. So without fail, the beast would come back.

It was only a question of when, and if he would not turn on him when he got there.

Cain had to fight with the {Devil-eyed White Primate} because he believed he had what it took. But now, it was clear that he wasn't as capable as he thought.

'I'm still not out of the danger zone.'

Although Teddy had saved him now, that didn't necessarily mean he was in the safe zone. He still wasn't sure of the mutant creature's intentions.

Cain's doubts were cleared almost instantly, as the huge mutant bear collapsed to the ground beside him. There was a large gash on its lower abdomen leaking a steady stream of blood. The beast began panting heavily and a few crimson lines on its body began to glow.

The wound slowly began to close on its own.

'I guess I'm safe then.'

Cain felt a huge sense of relief fall on him as he relaxed his tense muscles. He retrieved a few HP and MP regen potions and chugged them down.

After he had recovered enough strength to move properly, he turned his body a bit to get into a good enough position to feed some of the potions to the wounded {Crimson Demon Bear}.

As Cain did this, the eyes of the {Crimson Demon Bear} flashed with intelligence, and before Cain could even react, Teddy placed its paw directly onto Cain's chest. A flood of violent energy instantly flooded Cain's body.

At the same time, grey specks of mana-abundant God Ash began to fall from the skies.

Unknown to everyone, God Ash falls onto the surface of Urbus by midnight, and coincidentally, the clock just happened to strike twelve at that exact moment.

These series of events, and coincidental occurrences, are the hands of fate and karma trying to steer destiny onto its premeditated path...

As soon as Teddy's paw made contact with him, Cain received a system prompt.

{Congratulations to the host... You have received the opportunity to create a Beast contract}.