God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Melech grinned,

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves now. You have nothing of value I desire."

The old Devil let go of his hand. Assuming a relaxed posture, he spoke calmly,

"However, there is something I would like you to do."

Cain frowned, "And what could that be?"

"Become one of us."

Cain froze. He wasn't quite sure what he had just heard.

"You seem surprised, but you really shouldn't be. I can see the signs. Your body should have underwent a transformation process a long time ago. Unfortunately, there have been a few misshaps."

Cain trembled. He of all people knew about all the changes his body had experienced since he had received the Devil veins from Lyx. His current transformation state, {Devil Wyrm: Asura}, was a direct consequence of this.

Still, he hadn't expected the old Devil could see even that too.

He couldn't help but feel a bit naked.

"With me here, a complete transformation can be facilitated." Melech said, lightly tapping the wooden table with his razor sharp claws.

Cain couldn't help but laugh,

"Why would you ever think I would want to become a Devil?"

This entire ordeal was strange, but by far, the strangest thing so far were those words uttered by this old Devil.

He understood what they meant clearly. There was no room for misinterpretation.

Melech smiled, "Why wouldn't you want to join the winning side? Then again, you must be unaware of the whole picture, completely embraced by ignorance. Explaining things to you now would be a waste of time and effort."

Melech stared right at him, his dark eyes sparkling with a hint of curiosity,

"The veins implanted into your body by the Devil Goddess of Death herself should have been more than enough to alter both your physiology and nature of your sou, turning you into a Devil."

"For any other creature this process would end in a gruesome death of both body and soul. It should be impossible. After all, you are no Devil. As a human, your limits should end at becoming a corrupted. And yet, this case is different. You have a very piece of a primordial being within you; the origins of the Devil race. That should have been more than enough..."

Melech's brow furrowed slightly,

"But you ended up as an inferior being. A Demon. Demons are altered offspring. They might have the powerful bodies and spirits inherited, but they lack the soul of a Devil. We simply cannot be compared. I do not know the wishes of the Goddess, but I can only conclude that such couldn't have been her desire. And so, I will take it as my duty to correct whatever error might have arisen. Should you accept the rune, then I will begin the procedure anew. Don't worry. I will not touch your body or soul. I will mere create a catalyst for—"

"I refuse." Cain said sternly.

Melech seemed surprised.

Cain grimaced,

"I knew I shouldn't have tried to make a deal with a Devil. Thanks to you, I will be careful not to make the same mistake in the future."

"There exists only one Astral Seeker rune set. If you disagree, you will never complete it." Melech said calmly.

Can shrugged, "I am ready to make that sacrifice."

Melech urged, "Didn't you say you need to access your Sea of Consciousness? I am making things infinitely easier for you. All you have to do is accept a little Devil Essence and—"

"A no is a no. I won't be changing my mind." Cain said stubbornly.

Melech sighed.

With a wave of his hand, the most floating above the table disappeared alongside the ethereal serpentine figure.

"I see. Your hatred of the Devil race isn't feigned, is it. Well, I suppose that much is to be expected."

Cain sighed quietly.

Although he had said all that, he still desperately wanted the second piece of the Astral Seeker runic set.

Such a thing was incredibly precious.

The {Scar of the Astral Seeker} had only been incredibly useful to him once in making the journey through from that strange dimension back to Urbus through the rift in space.

Had it not been for the enormous black serpent he conjured, they would have been unable to save so many Beastmen and bring them back alive.

If the first one had been so useful, then the ability the second would grant was to be even more incredible.

But regardless of how enticing the temptation, he absolutely could not abandon what he was.

Suggesting exchanging his human soul for a single rune, regardless of how powerful it was, was an insult, regardless of the intentions.

Cain sighed, "While turning into a Devil is none negotiable, I still believe the business between us is not over yet."

Melech raised a brow and sneered,

"Is that so? Well, you don't expect me to just hand this to you, do you?"

Cain shook his head,

"I am willing to offer a hundred mana cores for them."

Melech burst out laughing,

"How amusing. I am sorry, Cain. But that isn't nearly enough. I have no need for mana cores."

Cain frowned, "Then what do you want?"

Melech fell silent, his expression as though he was in deep thought.

Suddenly, Cain had a bad feeling.

'Convincing this guy was far too easy...'

Unfortunately, he had no time to dwell on that thought as Melech opened his mouth.

"I might be in need of some entertainment."

Cain's face paled, "Entertainment?"

Melech grinned sinisterly,

"Yes. Entertain me."

Cain shook his head,

"How do you expect me to do that? You want to watch me juggle pebbles?"

Melech chuckled as he shook his head.

'For a Devil, he does laugh a lot.'

Melech raised his hands, stretching them above his head.

As though showing the immense grandeur of this empty world.

"This place is my Sea of Consciousness. I am the sole god within this space. Because of it, I was able to pull your soul out of the shared consciousness."

The Devil's countenance shifted,

The waves churned once again. This time, a bit more violently.

"Within those waters is a strange beast, one I have been cultivating within my soul for a century. If you can survive its pursuit for five hours, I will give you the rune."

Cain's eyes narrowed,

"And what if I can't?"

"Do I need to spell it out?" Melech said darkly.

Cain went silent.

On one hand, this was a golden opportunity. If he missed it, chances were he would never be able to complete the runic set.

The only other way he would be able to acquire this piece, would be to take if forcefully from Melech.

Since that was impossible for the foreseeable future, he decided not to even bother thinking about it.

But he was still cautious.

What exactly was this creature, that he didn't even have to kill it.

He went over the words Melech had used again.

'Survive its pursuit...'

He couldn't help but feel he was walking right into a trap.

In fact, he couldn't help but feel all this was orchestrated right from the beginning.

He frowned, a bad feeling bubbling in the depths of his stomach.

He looked up and stared at Melech. The Devil had a small smile hanging from its lips. It was insidious and mischievous, but it bore no ill will.

That meant this creature still had plans for him. There was no way it would let him go so easily now that he had him dancing in his palm.

"I agree."

While Cain didn't know how powerful this Devil was, he knew for a fact it was significantly more powerful than he was. But that wasn't enough to frighten him. It was not enough at all.

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

Then he opened his status window.

'I can use all my skills and spells in here although this place isn't technically real. I can also use my weapons, but I can't summon any contracted beasts from the {Beastmaster's Subspace}.

Since the limitations were not great, he believed he still had a fair chance at the very least.

Melech chuckled, "Prepare yourself then. Here it comes."

Cain felt the danger the moment those words left the Devil's mouth.

Without even thinking, he activated {Hell Step}.

The sands beneath his feet were scorched black as he moved so quickly, he left an after image behind.

BANG!

A small crater appeared where he had been previously sat, completely destroying the table.

Melech calmly floated into the air his legs still crossed, his Devilish features making an expression that showed he was already amused by the scene below.

Cain immediately jumped to his feet after rolling to a stop.

His eyes scanned everything around him. With his senses, he could easily see, hear and smell every single thing present on the island and a few miles into the surroundings waters easily.

His face turned ugly.

'There's nothing here.'

He quickly corrected himself.

'No, I can't sense anything.'

The nature of this challenge immediately changed for him.

Even with the {Beholder's Eye}, he couldn't sense anything at all.

He turned to Melech about to say something.

Then suddenly, he felt his senses tingle once again.

His body flew back like a broken kite, the golden shield he had summoned turning into countless shards of fractured light.

He came to a stop just before he could roll off the island.

He gritted his teeth.

'Is it too fast that I can't see it? No, that can't be. I just can't see it.'

His mind worked quickly. Right now, his goal was to make sure this thing didn't catch and kill him.

But how was he supposed to run from an invincible creature?

His eyes took on a golden glow.

Countless hiltless, star-tipped blades manifested into existence all around him.

They revolved about his body like stars around a galaxy's center. Their golden radiance was so sharp, it could slit a man's throat.

A deep growl escaped from his throat as he let his mana run wild.

The blades began moving recklessly with wild abandon, turning into a whirlwind of death and chaos.

The small island was quickly torn into pieces.

Floating above the chaos, Melech raised a brow and asked,

'He destroyed his only foothold? How intriguing...'

Activating {Hell Step}, Cain glided smoothly above the waves.

His pupils shrank until they were smaller than pintips. All his senses were on high alert.

Then he saw it. The slightest disturbances in the churning waters that weren't caused by him.

He grinned.

The water beneath his feet exploded into a mist as he burst forward. A golden blade manifested in his grip.

Quicker than lightning, he struck right at the target position.

'I got you!'

And he hit...

Nothing.