God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The dim, undulating lights in the bar made for a rather unique atmosphere.

There was a mix of bubbling tension and hushed silence as Cain and Blaze stared down Jack and his two henchmen.

A few hidden henchmen had already begun stepping out of the crowd, revealing their weapons as well.

Jack looked around, then scratched his head and laughed awkwardly,

"Just joking, I was just joking. How about we keep things cordial?"

A sinister man...

Jack was known as a sinister man, although he didn't really think that way.

Yes, he had murdered man and beast in cold blood, but that wasn't who he was as a person.

He was just someone who followed orders.

And when he was not killing or torturing other living beings, he enjoyed a nice hearty meal with a cold drink to relax.

Before all this, however, he had worked in the city center as an analyst for a big tech company. While his job description was flashy and the pay was luxurious, he didn't have to do much thanks to all the progress society had made.

And so, he, like every other person had sunk into a period of rot.

For him especially, it had been terrible.

Almost to the point where he had been ready to end it all.

On the eve of the apocalypse, he had been standing on a ledge with a bottle in his hand.

Then the sky was filled with the falling lights and the sun disappeared.

From that moment on, everything changed.

From his high vantage point, he watched as the falling Stars slammed into buildings and cars.

What he had thought to be perhaps meteorites cracked open to reveal revolting abominations from the pits of hell.

The chaos that ensued was immediate.

The blood wetted streets and the terror he had felt had never left him, even to this day.

It was so much, it stopped him from ending his own life.

'Maybe I should be thanking those Devils from now...'

From there, it had been straightforward.

The world began to change.

He was one of the few lucky enough to receive the system.

He teamed up with a bunch of others and killed his first Devil and received weapons and a skill.

Eventually, after a lot of things happened, he found himself as the leader of a Hunter squad in Valestorm.

And then, he had been made an offer he wasn't inclined to refuse.

Thinking about all the things he had had to go through up until now, Jack couldn't help but chuckle.

Then he looked up at the man, or perhaps not, standing before him.

He was just as tall as he was, so they both stared right into each other's eyes.

He didn't seem very dangerous, despite the two horns jutting out of his head and the scar across his face.

For some reason, despite these features, he seemed a bit inviting. His features were a bit handsome and his smile was pleasant.

'What the heck? What a weird thing to feel...' Jack thought to himself.

His hand trembled lightly.

Cain rubbed his nose and sniffled,

"You have a terrible sense of humor then."

Then he shrugged,

"But I'm willing to let it slide if you lead me to your boss. I promise not to do anything too crazy, so you have my word."

Jack pondered.

He was already clear on a few things.

Everything he had said before was simply him running his mouth.

He was confident in his skills and swordsmanship, more than anyone else, in fact.

He had gone through a lot of terrible things to reach where he was, and as a Tier 1 human, his pride had some backing to it too.

But the moment Cain had spoken to him, he was convinced he was one person added to his 'do not fight ' list.

Jack knew himself well. He might have been called a lunatic and a Jackal, a mad dog that would bite anything, but above all else, he was rather cowardly.

In reality, his 'Boss' was someone he was contracted to. They shared a bit of history, and were rather close, which was why he trusted him so much.

However...

But contracts could be broken, and promises were nothing more than pretentious words.

His eyes shifted slightly. He looked into the crowd and locked eyes with a few people.

Seeing him shake his head, those who had been reaching for their weapons in the crowd took their hands off their waists and retreated back, acting like regular patrons.

Jack turned his gaze back to Cain,

"Alright, as long as you promise to just have a conversation and nothing more."

Cain grinned and raised his right hand,

"I swear..."

***

Leaving the bar and bystanders in confusion, Jack led them towards the back of the building.

There, he used a single hand to moved a huge iron grate in the ground to reveal a hidden passageway that led downward.

Jack gestured at the two huge frame henchmen,

"You two stay here."

Then he turned to Cain and Blaze,

"Let's go."

The three of them walked down the steps leading underground.

Cain turned to stare at Blaze who seemed a bit out of it. He frowned,

"Are you okay?"

Blaze shook his head,

"Hm? Yeah, sure. I'm fine."

Jack chuckled,

"He's definitely not fine. I told him to ease up on the drinks, didn't I? The stuff we serve here is quite potent. Enough to get a regular man seeing his great grandpa with a single sip." Your adventure continues at empire

Even in the darkness, Cain could tell that Blaze's face was rather flushed and he seemed drunk.

He sighed,

'I guess it can't be helped. I ordered the drinks after all. But his alcohol tolerance is quite low.'

Cain, who had barely drank anything, was oblivious to the fact that Blaze had indulged in quite a few more servings of drinks when he was not looking.

They continued on in silence, eventually arriving before a solid steel door.

Jack knocked on the door, but was met with only silence.

He sighed and knocked again, but there was only silence.

He scratched his head, then turned around,

"Looks like they really don't want you here, huh... Your reputation is terrible."

Cain shrugged then stepped right in front of the door,

"Now that is quite rude."

BANG! BANG! BANG!

'That felt quite nice...'

It had been a while since he had used his magic spells, so it felt quite nice and liberating.

The thick steel door crumpled like a piece of paper.

Storing it in his inventory, he walked into the room.

Unlike almost every other place, this room was lit rather well. The magic lamps were of high quality after all.

Cain briefly scanned the room.

Seated in the room were three men, one of which was masked, and a woman.

They were all seated around a round oak table and they had been wearing serious expressions before he had turned the door into scrap metal.

Now, there was terror on their faces.

There was an old man with a long white beard and a gruffy expression sitting at the head of the table.

The moment he, Jack and Blaze walked in, his eyes narrowed..

The old man turned his gaze to Jack, his expression cold yet simultaneously scalding furious,

"Jack. I thought I told you to send him away."

Jack smiled wryly,

"I'm sorry, Boss. He just refused to leave. On my word, I tried my hardest to convince him."

Cain cleared his throat,

"It's rude to send a visitor away without even offering a greeting first, don't you think..."

The old man was silent.

The other man seated on the table angrily stood up and slammed his hands on the table,

"You incompetent fool! If he insisted, then you should have cut off his arms and his legs! There is a reason we give you so many mana shards and resources, and yet here you are, offering these lame excuses?!"

Jack laughed,

"I don't think there's enough things you could give me to fight this man right here."

The old man Jack had referred to as Boss spoke with narrowed eyes,

"They are baseless rumors, Jack. I have confidence in your abilities. That is why I sent you up there to send him on his way." He said, even refusing to acknowledge Cain.

'How annoying...' Cain thought to himself.

Jack shook his head,

"I hate to break it to you, boss. But your confidence is misplaced. Killing a god might be a stretch, but he can definitely kill all of us in this room. That I have no doubt about."

The old man's brows furrowed, and for the first time, he glanced at Cain.

"I don't have any interest in whatever it is you are selling. I want nothing to do with you, Cain."

Cain smiled lightly, "So you do know who I am..."

The old man shrugged, "I do. But your status doesn't scare me. I do not know how you found this place, but..."

Cain scratched his head, "It was Gilead who told me to come here."

The old man's frown turned deeper.

The man who had stood up to yell suddenly sneered,

"That backstabbing snake? No wonder..."

He turned to the old man,

"I told you giving him your trust was a mistake. If the rest of the Chairs finds out about your connection to that bastard, it will be difficult to explain."

The old man closed his eyes, the frown still on his face.

When they opened, the anger was gone. He turned to Cain,

"Leave. I have no business with you."

The masked man and the woman simply stayed silent, as though it was not their place to speak.

Cain sighed and shook his head,

"If that is what you want, then that's alright. However, I'd like you to pass a message for me to the rest of your organization."

The old man remained silent.

Taking his silence as approval, Cain grinned,

"You've had your fun. I have plans for Valestorm, so I won't be needing any of you again. Disband quietly, and there will be no problems. You have a week..."