God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

What is it like to feel pure terror gnaw away at your very soul?

It was a unique feeling.

Like stepping into the bosom of madness.

The swirling fog was not filled with voices and eerie whispers, neither was it like a shattered mirror that caught unlucky souls in its grotesque abyss.

No, it was nothing like that.

There was no desolation.

There was no despair.

It was a subtle itch in the mind.

Like the buzzing of an ever present, nearly immortal fly.

The host of madness itself.

With a single roar, Asteron blew the fog in the surrounding area away.

With a grimace on his face, Cain looked around.

Something indeed was not right.

They had been transported somewhere within a strange forest. The forest floor was damp and filled with fallen wet leaves. However, there was no undergrowth.

Instead, the forest was filled with the exact same type of tree, evenly spaced out and continuously reoccurring in all directions.

'It's like a freaking maze...' Cain thought to himself.

Maybe it was.

Asteron's reptilian eyes scanned the crowd. Despite there being hundreds of creatures present, he could still mentally account for all of them.

He frowned, "Grignard and his Orcs are missing."

Midread nodded solemnly,

"It is as you say."

The Wind Drake turned to his Cynogryph companion.

Avalon fluffed his feathers,

"To be honest, I would rather not fly into this fog in search of anything."

Thern snorted, "Coward..."

Avalon glared at her,

"I have wings. Doesn't mean I can't be killed."

Then he sighed and turned back to Asteron,

"Those screams were most likely from them. We should try finding some traces left behind."

Suddenly, murmurs began spreading from the rear of the crowd.

Asteron growled, "What's the matter thos time?" He said, his voice growing impatient.

A Gnat that looked very much like Midread walked up to him and whispered into his ear.

Midread nodded periodically.

A few seconds later, Midread turned to face Asteron, his ugly face turning even uglier,

"Lord Asteron, I believe that won't be necessary."

The crowd parted and Cain saw what he could only describe as horror made manifest he pulled across the dark forest soil before being dumped on the ground unceremoniously.

"What in the hells?!" He muttered out of disbelief.

His stomach turned queasy.

He has spilled and shed a lot of blood. And he had not done so in a pretty manner. In fact, he believed the many times he had taken lives, he had done so quite brutally.

And yet, none could compare to the terror he was forced to witness, completely against his will.

On the ground just a few meters away, were the corpses of the Orcs that had gone missing.

However, it was rather difficult to tell if they were corpses or not.

They had been... rearranged, for lack of better words.

Asteron huffed a deep breath, the air from his nostrils creating a huge updraft that blew the once again encroaching fog back a bit.

"What sort of thing could have done this?"

The bodies of the Orcs has not been mutilated. Rather, they had been turned inside out and upside down.

All the internal organs of the Orcs had been devoured, and their flesh and skin were stripped off their bones before being turned the other way around and worn back onto the bones.

Cain could clearly see the contours of the skull showing through the bloody, pink flesh.

To make matters worse, it didn't seem like the corpses were hollow.

For whatever reason, the corpses seemed to be full of something besides bones.

Something he was sure he didn't want to know about.

"According to the information from my clansman, they were the only ones missing. As for what could have done something like this, I unfortunately have no clue, Lord Asteron. And I am not sure I want to know..." The Gnat said.

Asteron nodded, "Don't touch the bodies just leave them there."

He looked up at the sky. It was completely covered by fog. Luckily, it seemed like there was still some light reaching through the fog. What exactly was that light? He has no clue.

"What are your suggestions?" Asteron said as he looked around.

"I think going into that thing is madness. We should try keeping it at bay for as long as possible while we think of what to do." One of the stronger godly realm creatures said.

The Dwarf that had spectated Evangeline and Olirod's match spoke up,

"We go into the dog and kill whatever damned thing did this. What reasydo we have to fear?"

His eyes narrowed as he placed his enormous battle axe on his shoulder with a thump,

"Doing nothing here like sitting ducks is one of the best ways to dig ya own grave." He said in his gruff voice.

"It doesn't matter of we act or not, we will all die here!"

"Don't go placing hexes on all of us, you damned witch beast!"

Soon, the entire place descended into chaos.

Cain couldn't help but smile wryly. For some reason, this scene reminded him of something.

'Turns out they aren't that different from humans at all.'

He turned to look up again at Asteron, who had a contemplative look on his face as he discussed with Avalon and Thern, all three wearing grim expressions.

The opinions of the creatures were as different as how they appeared.

Some were inclined towards a more cowardly approach and exercising caution, while others seemed almost desperate to show how sharp their fangs and claws were.

With that much conflict of interest, it was surprising how the idea of coming together to form a coalition had even been possible.

Cain let out a sigh.

Suddenly, a piercing scream reached his ears.

He turned his head andbl managed to catch what had happened just before it disappeared into the fog.

He wished he didn't.

Immediately, Cain let out a curse and fell to the ground, blood streaming down his eyes and nose.

"Cain!"

The rowdy crowd silent.

The scream had alerted all of them. Weapons were drawn, fangs and claws were bared.

All eyes drifted into the fog, searching for something, for anything.

"I thought there was no one close to the fog?" Asteron said, his eyes glowing as he glared at Midread.

Midread trembled,

"Lord Asteron. That didn't come from anyone here."

The crowd fell silent.

The silence allowed them to hear what was happening from within the fog.

The sound was subtle.

However, if one listened close enough, it would be heard. The sound of bones being cracked. The sound of flesh being ripped off apart, and the quiet sobs and cries filled with anguish, terror and despair.

There was no doubt in anyone's mind now.

There was something in the fog. Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire

It knew they were there, and it was mocking them, taunting them, daring them, to come find it within the fog.

"Prepare yourselves." Asteron said, his voice bold and menacing.

Cain knew the {Wind Drake} had had enough of being toyed with.

Although it wasn't impulsive, cowering here was perhaps as terrible of a choice as running headfirst into the fog without making any preparations whatsoever.

'This is bad.' He thought to himself.

Even with {Eye of Clairvoyance}, he couldn't peer through the fog. It was like he was shrouded in darkness.

They all silently clenched their fingers around the weapons.

Asteron let his chest swell once again. This time, the currents of wind absorbed into his mouth were far more powerful, almost lifting the lighter creatures off the ground. Cain had to struggle to keep himself grounded.

In his mind, he couldn't help but think,

'I was wrong. There is no way the strength of {Flameskin Troll} can be compared to that of this monstrosity.'

A moment later, the breath of compressed air came, scattering the fog and pushing it back greatly. A few trees were shattered into sawdust, their roots pulled out forcibly by the raw power behind the Drake's Breath.

With the fog clearing out, they were able to see more of the forest ahead.

Suddenly, an enormous tension fell over the entourage of beings and beasts.

Standing rather far away, within another clearing with a few trees just like the clearing they were currently in, Cain could see a mass of creatures gathered. With the fog gone, he could see clearly what those were.

They were the creatures of the Godless Realm that had entered into the trial with them.

A terrifying wave of bloodlust and killing intent rushed over with the fog gone.

Asteron growled, his claws digging into the soft earth. However, he didn't make a move yet. It was as though he was still hesitant about something.

Luckily, the decision to attack wasn't made by him.

THUNK!

A dark arrow made from the blackened bones of some nightmarish creature suddenly shot through the forest and accurately pierced through the head of a large Beastman. Half his head was blaster through, leaving behind a bloody mess and a falling corpse.

Asteron's doubts faded away as he charged forward with a furious roar.

The rest followed right behind him, burning fury in their gazes. In response, a furious roar came from the Godless Creatures as they surged forward as well.

The first true battle in the trial was about to begin...