God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Cain met up with Hunter, Susan and Roselle a half hour later.

Dismounting from the back of the {Argent Amphithere}, he sent it back into the {Beastmaster's Subspace}.

"Most of the {Black-mouth Crawlers} in the vicinity have been killed. What's left is to take down the main lair. Did you manage to locate it?" Hunter said.

Cain nodded, "Yeah, although it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be."

Susan nodded, "That makes sense. After all, these creatures are rather intelligent. They wouldn't be so stupid as to lead us to their brood."

"Where is it?" Roselle asked curiously.

Cain pointed at the ruins of a tall building, one of the tallest around, with about sixteen stories, that was still standing.

It was rather rare to see something so tall and huge retain its integrity especially with all the chaos that had occurred a while back within the Sandsea territory.

Susan clicked her tongue,

"Well, I can see why they would chose there."

Hunter nodded, "It is... rather ominous."

The tall sky piercer had been a few stories taller in its prime.

The top half had been broken off, its remnants nowhere to be found. What was left was still rather tall, especially compared to the rest of the ruins.

It's surface coating had been washed away by erosion, and it had a slight tilt from its foundations being shaken a few times.

Despite that, it sstood firmly still, like a broken sword planted into the ground.

Cain clicked in his tongue. It was still a bit far, but covering such a distance was child's play to them. It would only take a few minutes at most.

"Quite frankly, I'll have to admit that those things are rather sneaky. They kept throwing out bait after bait to lead me off. I wonder if they have a trap prepared for us."

Roselle shrugged, "Does it matter either way?"

Cain raised a brow, then chuckled,

"Of course it doesn't. But exercising caution is not a bad thing. I also want to make sure we get them all at once."

Susan turned and gave him a skeptical gaze,

"What do you have in mind?"

Cain shrugged, "Cage them in. Keep their hands tied."

Hunter hummed, "That's certainly one way. But how?"

Cain grinned, "Like this..."

He raised his hand.

An enormous magic circle appeared in the sky. The sky was tinted golden.

The hairs on Hunter's body stood up and his eyes widened,

"What is—"

Cain's smile turned sinister as he let out a devious cackle,

***

The night was young.

No, it was eternal. So it would be young forever.

The beings that had been dragged into Sandsea against their will were forced to undergo changes when the sand disappeared.

However, the {Black-mouth Crawlers} were not the same.

They were hunters.

Beings that prioritized survival over every other thing.

Because of this, they made quick adjustments.

The {Black-mouth Crawler} infested building was filled with them. Some used a strange black tar produced from the bulbous bud on their backs to reinforce the structure of the building, making it more strain resistant.

The black tar solidified after a while, developing a glassy sheen. Once that happened, it became twenty times stronger than steel.

The others dragged the creatures they had hunted deeper into the building to feed the young crawlers and the crawler wombs.

The wombs were {Black-mouth Crawlers} that had taken a different path in physical development, essentially the 'female' counterparts of the more aggressive 'male' {Black-mouth Crawlers}.

Using the crawler wombs was the main way the {Black-mouth Crawlers} propagated their seed, but the vile creatures could also copulate with beings of other species, overwriting their genes with theirs and producing more abominable offspring.

The building was teeming with this beings, more than a thousand of them.

Standing at the very top of the building was a rather large {Black-mouth Crawler} it was at least twice as huge as the regular ones, with six eyes instead of four, and two set of long forelimbs that looked like they could crush a man's skull with even the slightest pressure.

The {Black-mouth Crawlers} were intelligent, but the light of intelligence in the eye of this one was brighter.

It was rather obvious that this creature was special.

It wielded a large bone with of fashioned from the spine of an unknown creature.

On its neck hung the tusks of another, or perhaps it was the same.

The creature's black muscles spasmed, each thread and fiber hiding incredible strength and might.

It had been looking up at the sky for a while now.

Rumble...

The sound of thunder filled its ears, jolting it awake.

It let out a grunt, annoyed its pleasant rest had been interrupted.

Once again, a peal of thunder cracked across the sky, further dampening its mood.

And then, a blue bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.

The {Black-mouth Crawler} snorted and tried to go back to sleep, but another rumble from the skies and crackle of lightning forced it awake.

Suddenly, it felt danger.

Danger coming from everywhere.

Its mouth opened up wide and it let out a screech. Pulling its bone blade up, it swung the weapon violently, creating sparks as the blade's edge strucked the solidified Crawler Tar on the roof of the building.

A moment later, the danger disappeared, fading away like a storm.

The {Black-mouth Crawler} stopped then screeched at the skies once more, almost as though it was daring it to disturb its sleep again.

Two enormous magic circles suddenly spread out, covering an entire stretch of the sky, completely covering the building and its surrounding area.

One magic circle was a rich golden hue, while the other was an electric blue.

The {Black-mouth Crawler} did not understand magic, but it did know that something was about to happen.

The first golden magic circle manifested enormous bars of golden metal that stretched and shot down into the ground at frightening speed.

In mere moments, an enormous cgae had been created.

The feeling of danger suddenly returned.

The {Black-mouth Crawler} readied its bone sword.

A moment later, the blue magic circle disappeared.

There was another crackled of lightning in the sky.

Less than a moment later, it fell.

The bolt of {Heavenly Blue Lightning} fell from the depths of the heavens like the divine judgement of a god.

The {Black-mouth Crawler} roared furiously as it swung its sword at the beam of concentrated lightning.

The bone sword disintegrated into dust the moment the lightning struck.

The body of the {Black-mouth Crawler} followed very soon after.

The bolt of lightning continued to travel, blowing away a huge portion of the second and third floors while completely destroying the first.

The change was immediate.

The {Black-mouth Crawlers} let out ghastly screeches as they poured out of the building.

They already knew something was coming. Their survival instincts kicked in and they chose to fight.

Staring down at the black tide approaching, Cain glanced around.

The golden cgae he had created was rather strong and would endure quite a few heavy blows before giving in. These creatures would not be able to tear through it quickly.

Which would give him plenty time to mow through them like they were weed.

Sure enough, while most of the {Black-mouth Crawlers} shot at him and the others, a few of them scattered in other directions, slamming into the golden bars in an attempt to break through it.

"Are you sure the cage will hold?" Hunter couldn't help but ask.

Cain grinned, "It will. Unless there is a Tier 2 being sleeping within that building, the cage will stand so long as I have the mana to maintain it."

Hunter nodded then turned to face forward. His expression soured,

"That's a lot of them."

Cain shrugged, "That means this won't end quickly."

He considered his options.

There were many ways to make this uneventful. Like making use of magic to mow them down.

However, that would just ruin all the fun.

So instead...

'Get out here, you lazy sacks of flesh!'

Cain reached into the {Beastmaster's Subspace}, pulling Ruby, the {Argent Amphithere}, and the Dark Diver out.

The {Dark Soul} melded into the shadow he cast into the ground.

Ruby's crimson eyes shone with incredible bloodlust as she let out a roar,

"Master! How do you want them done?!"

Cain chuckled, "Go as wild as you wish."

The {Argent Amphithere} hissed as it soared into the sky with a flap of its wings.

Cain summoned the {Lonely Dragon} Warblade before mounting Ruby.

He turned to Hunter and Roselle, "You both can go as wild as you want."

Reaching down, he grabbed Susan by her waist and pulled her up onto Ruby's back.

Her face blushes as she lightly hit his arm,

"Let go, you deviant! I can handle myself."

Cain shrugged then grinned at her,

"I'd rather have you with me here. Please focus on healing the beasts."

Susan could only pursue her lips the look of false dissatisfaction on her face unconvincing to anyone.

Cain nodded in satisfaction,

Ruby dug her claws into the ground, and the next moment, shot forward faster than a bullet, leaving behind a sonic boom.

Roselle silently mumbled to herself as she drew her rapiers,

"Why does it have to be her? Can't you see I'm right here as well?!"

Hunter pretended not to here her. Summoning two blood red daggers into his hands, his body slowly changed until he had grown a few feet taller and was now more beast than man.

The daggers became bigger as well, settling into his grip comfortably.

A moment later, they both shot forward as well, leaving behind lingering afterimages.