God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Sitting silently, a few thoughts passed through Gilead's head.

In the end, he pushed them all away.

He looked up at the strange... man seated with a grin in front of him.

The man didn't look fully human, with the black horns growing out of his temples and his strange eyes filled with danger.

And yet, for some reason, he felt even more reassured of his decision.

He calmly closed the leather pouch,

"In that case, I have nothing else to say. When will they be moving over?"

Cain nodded. He had not been worried that his offer would be rejected. There was no chance it would have been.

After all, they wanted everything he had to offer but they had little to lose. Despite that, Cain didn't measure his gain from what could be seen immediately.

In the long run, the benefits of doing this would be far greater than expected, not just for him, but for all of them.

Thinking about how he had died in their quest to reach the Dome of Sands in the first place, Cain was even more certain of his decision.

"The move will begin today then." Cain said.

Gilead nodded then stood to his feet,

"You are welcome to stay, although our hospitality might be lacking."

Cain shook his head as he got up from his seat as well,

"The move will require all our manpower. I'm afraid I cannot impose any longer."

Gilead nodded, "In that case, I will ask Abigail to fetch you in an hour whilst we make a few preparations."

Cain nodded, "Alright. I will be waiting."

He then turned to Evangeline and the rest and gestured.

As they rose to their feet, there was an awkward slightly tense silence brewing.

The Pilgrims watched them as they made their cut through the dark corridors of the temple.

Once they were out of earshot, Jenny let out a deep sigh,

"That was tense..."

She gave Cain a strange look,

"Who knew you had such a devilish tongue? I almost couldn't recognize you."

Cain snorted then grinned,

"I have plenty other useful skills you have yet to see."

Then he gave Evangeline a glance,

"So? What do you think?"

Evangeline shrugged, "They are not bad. At least, they will be a useful addition in the long run."

Then she frowned, "Although their loyalty is still questionable, I suppose we can take things slowly like you suggested."

Cain smiled,

"I see. Then all is according to plan."

Evangeline shook her head,

"It should be."

Then she glanced at Hunter,

"How are the preparations coming along?"

Hunter, his face solemn and near emotionless,

"Gwendolyn is in good shape for now. We have managed to keep the Sea creatures at bay, and there aren't any Devils that far out from the City."

He gave Cain a glance,

"Although..."

Cain frowned, "What's wrong?"

Hunter pursed his lips,

"Well, maybe it is impossible to see it from here, at the center of the City itself. However, from outside, it is as though a cloud of howling darkness, a storm of malignant evil, is gather overhead."

Cain sighed, "Then that means the Devils must be planning something drastic. That is not good news."

Hunter looked ahead with a straight face,

"Of course, it could all be my imagination."

Cain chuckled, "It that was something you have just imagined, you wouldn't have bothered telling me, would you?"

Hunter remained silent.

Susan suddenly spoke,

"There is also the issue of the other humans outside the Dome of Sands."

Cain frowned. It had been a while since had had thought about that.

He shrugged, "I'll think about that later."

***

Exactly an hour later, Abigail had arrived in front of him.

She then brought him through the corridors of the Temple, going a bit further in that what he was familiar with.

The interior of the Temple was water huge.

With Balangol's grace departed, most of it looked lackluster now. There was no divine presence anymore, and the darkness within the Temple seemed deeper.

They walked until Cain believed they had arrived at the very center of the Temple.

The chamber they had arrived at was quite different. The walls of the room were covered with strange glyphs and runes, with mana coursing through the lines and geometrical shapes, giving the room an arcane yet almost futuristic feel about it.

There was an altar at the center of the room with what appeared to be the remnants of a statue of Balangol scattered around it. However, those didn't catch his eye.

What really stood out to him, was the phenomena floating above the altar.

'So that's the entrance to the other world...'

Abigail glanced back at him and saw him staring at it. She smiled,

"Are you curious?"

Cain shook his head,

"That should be the entrance to that strange Otherworld, am I correct?"

Abigail seemed surprised,

"Indeed it is. As for how it got here, I have no idea. I was not privy to information like this in the past. If you are curious, you can ask Gilead and the others."

Cain nodded.

They continued walking until they arrived at the opposite end of the white room.

Abigail stretched out her hand, and a flux of mana was generated by her spirit, influencing the surrounding mana flow patterns.

Cain watched as the wall receeded into itself like a scroll revealing what was on the other side.

In a room identical to thos one, he could see Gilead and the other Head Priests standing around a giant stele covered in all sorts of indecipherable ancient runes and glyphs.

Cain walked into the room and the hole in the wall behind him closed up.

Gilead turned around, his voice solemn,

"You are just in time..."

Cain walked forward and turned his gaze at the stele. The stele was lightly pulsing with light. However, with every pulse, said light was growing weaker.

Gilead's face was grim,

"The Dome of Sands will give out any moment from now."

Cain nodded. Light danced across his fingers, and immediately, the air was suffused with dense, yet incredibly pure mana.

Sucking in a deep breath, Seisha have a wide smile on her face,

"Truly incredible..."

There was now a huge pile of mana cores on the ground. Cain turned to Gilead,

"How long do you think this will last?"

Gilead thought about it for a moment, then raised his finger,

"About a month."

Cain frowned, "What?! Only a month? Can't you make it last longer?"

Gilead shook his head and crossed his arms,

"The Dome of Sands is stretched over a wide area. The barrier burns through a lot of energy because of this. At the very least, it will last a month."

Cain sighed to himself. Although the amount of mana cores wasn't a lot when he considered what he had on him, these small numbers could easily compound, and they would do so rather quickly, because the pile consisted of five hundred mana cores.

Eventually, Cain relented.

Gilead gathered the mana cores and passed them to Rain, the Seer. With calm and measured steps, she walked towards the stele. When she was close enough, she stopped. Cain watched her with intrigue.

The mana cores were in a leather bag this time. When she opened it, much to Cain's shock, they floated out by themselves and towards the Stele.

Cain had no idea who or what caused this. Was it the stele? Or was it a power Rain the Seer possessed.

Either way, he got to watch as the mana cores shattered the moment they made contact with the stele. Of course, all the mana that was violently released was silently absorbed by the stele.

As this continued, the flickering light surrounding the stele gradually regained its intensity and the flickers stopped.

When the last mana core was absorbed, the light receeded into the stele, and the runes and glyphs all lit up.

Cain took a quick moment to study them.

They were not only immensely complicated, but they were also incredibly dangerous.

Cain felt himself get lightheaded. He felt a wet sensation under his nose. With a sigh, he wiped the blood away, then frowned,

'As expected. Those runes are at the very least, Tier 4 runes. How frightening...'

Since he was still a Tier 1 being, the mystery of a Tier 4 runic language would remain as such until he could ascend to Tier 4. Although he was a bit unhappy, he wasn't discouraged.

Gilead let out a sigh of relief,

"It is done."

The dome was stabilized and the immediate danger was averted.

Seeing this, Cain turned around,

"Then I will be on my way..."

Gilead nodded. He paused for a moment before he curtly bowed his head,

"Thank you, honestly."

Cain raised a brow and gave him an odd look. Eventually, he shook his head and chuckled,

"Your thanks have been well accepted."

With that, he turned around and left the room with Abigail, leaving the remaining Head Priests on their own.

Seisha turned to Gilead, an odd smile on her face,

"He seems delightful."

Gilead glanced at her, then shrugged.

The Seer, who was usually quite had her face scrunched in a frown,

"There are too many intersecting lines about him. I don't know if he is dangerous, or if he will be the savior that drags us all out of this darkness."

Gilead began walking away,

"All that matters is that we can make use of him for the moment."

A hint of ambition burned in his eyes, but it was rather unnoticeable.

Seisha had a wry smile on her face as she glanced at Rain,

"These men... They truly do not understand the concept of serenity, do they..."

Then she chuckled, "That Cain is certainly an interesting character. I wonder what the future holds with him around."

A subtle smile appeared on Rain's face as well,

"Yeah. I wonder too..."