God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"The scent of blood lingers..."

"It draws in the scavenging birds and flies."

"It is a vile odor. I do not like it very much..."

"And yet..."

"For some reason..."

"It does not leave me."

"It clings to me."

"Like a dying lover"

"Like my sins."

"And so, I must continue."

"I must bathe everything in blood."

"So I shall not suffer this madness alone."

"I loathe it."

"I loathe the scent of blood."

Cain's eyes snapped open.

The moment it did, he fell to his knees, a terrible pain assaulting his mind.

'Shit! Where am I?!'

The last thing he could remember was the water and–

The last thing he could remember was...

The last thing he...

Cain shivered and his lips trembled,

"I..."

The scent of blood assailed his nose.

"I can't remember!"

He looked down at his body.

He was covered in armor. However, he didn't recognize it.

There was a blade in his hand, yet he didn't recognize it.

His body shook violently.

There was an explosion right beside him and the earth turned inside out.

However, he stood there, unmoving, absolutely oblivious to the pandemonium.

But the world was cruel regardless.

It did not give him any more time.

"Rrahhhh!"

His head instinctively snapped to the side just in time to see an enormous creature with horns like a bovine smashing its hooves against the ground, headed straight for him.

His eyes widened and he immediately dodged to the side.

The Bovine creature slammed into a large spider-like creature that had been trying to sneak up on him from behind.

The two tangled together for a moment.

The spider-like creature sank its venomous mandibles into the bovine's body, while the enraged bovine tore it apart with its teeth and horns.

A moment later, both collapsed to the ground, deader that could be, their corpses painted crimson with their own blood.

Cain fell to the ground and tumbled back in a fright. However, he was forced to rise to his feet when he noticed something rushing at him.

He gripped his sword.

BANG!

Steel clashed against steel as this smaller, humanoid with grey skin and black eyes smashed the edge of its weapon against his.

Their eyes met.

The being in front of him growled then smashed its saber at his head again. However, he took a step back, dodging it cleanly.

The being pulled back in that immediately, taking another step forward and stabbing at his stomach.

Cain took another step backward and tried to say something,

"Stop! Wait a moment!"

The creature was dead to his words.

Rather, it became more agitated.

Cain gritted his teeth as he blocked again.

Then, he felt a presence appear behind him almost a moment too late.

He was able to bring his blade up at the last moment, blocking a metal-tipped appendage aimed at his back.

Nonetheless, the force of the attack sent him flying forward.

Cain rolled on the ground.

In that moment, he placed his hands over his ears, trying hard to block out all the sounds.

Yes, Cain finally knew where he was.

The sky above him was filled with dark, stormy clouds.

A light drizzle fell from the dark clouds, but it did nothing to rid the world of the perpetual scent of blood.

It was everywhere.

And then, there were the sounds.

The sounds coming from this place were enough to drive any man mad.

Cain's bloodshot eyes snapped open.

'I'm at war!'

He roared furiously. He swung his blade forward, blocking the incoming strike from the grey-skinned, black eyed creature.

Then he slammed his gauntleted fist against its midsection, blowing it open with one clean blow.

Several heavy strikes fell against his back, denting his armor and breaking a few ribs.

However, Cain didn't care.

Because he was ta war.

He didn't know why he was fighting though.

All he knew, was that he had to fight..

He had to fight for as long as he could, until he could fight no more.

The grey-skinned humanoid had not fallen despite having most of its internal organs blown out of its back. However, it was well on its way to hell.

With a swift swing of his hand, Cain took its head off.

Then he swiftly turned and sliced off the legs of the creature attacking him from behind.

The creature launched a flurry of wild attacks, catching him in the face and chest a few times, drawing blood.

However, it was still cut down by him.

And yet, this as just the beginning.

Cain's red eyes caught sight of even more creatures rushing in at him from every direction.

No, they weren't rushing at him.

No, they were rushing at each other,. breaking, biting, and tearing themselves to pieces.

It was a mad slaughter.

And he, was just a part of it.

His eyes glowed red.

He was under a spell.

This maddening scent of blood.

It drove him insane.

He dashed forward, dragging his sword behind him like it was weightless.

His speed and power increased.

A creature with flesh of steel was cut down from its right side down to its left.

It retaliated by throwing a furious punch against him, knocking him back and off his feet.

A flying beast choose that moment to dive down from midair towards him.

It sunk its claws into his chest and bit into his shoulders, trying to rip his arm off.
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"Fuck off!"

Cain roared furiously as he grabbed onto the flying beast's neck and pulled it off.

With one swift motion, he drew his blade across its neck.

A fountain of blood splattered all over his damaged armor, but Cain couldn't care less.

Instead, he threw the dying body away and dodged to the other side.

The fist of the steel-skinned creature he had attacked led first smashed into the ground.

However, the next moment a giant fist smashed into the steel-skinned creature's face, throwing it off its feet and sending it to the ground with an incredibly loud thud.

The creature let out a scream of main as two scaly fingers slammed into its eyeballs, turning them into bloody paste.

The owner of the scaly fingers ignored the shrill screams and pushed even further, until its finger had punctured through its skull and into its brain, completely destroying it.

With an arrogant snort, the even more enormous creature threw the steel-skinned creature to the side.

Then, its gaze fell onto Cain and the many other critters below.

Its gaze was also filled with the same mad bloodlust that plagued them all.

Cain could see the beast, just as it could see him.

The air was pervaded by a terrible chill due to the weather.

But it didn't seem so in this moment.

Cain felt his heart beats speed up drastically.

His body— no, not just his body. Even his soul ached to cut this thing down right in the moment.

And so, Cain kicked against the puddle of bloody mud beneath him.

All around him, various beings of different shapes and sizes, engaged in raw, primal combat, using everything from their bare hands, claws, fangs, and wings, to weapons like swords, clubs, spears, and sabers, to bows and guns and explosives.

There was no discrimination against the means.

There was no sense to it either.

It was just that.

A senseless slaughter.

He and the enormous creature covered in scales exchanged a barrage of blows in quick succession.

His mind was filled only with cold thoughts on how best to kill the creature as fast as possible.

His sword didn't seem to be doing the trick.

It was simply not enough.

It was not sharp enough, not strong enough.

So he threw it away.

The enormous creature grinned.

Then it clawed down.

Cain deftly moved to the side, and in a single fluid motion, avoiding the creatiresoother claw with just an inch to spare..

He instinctively stretched his arm out.

For some reason, he felt his fingers coil around the hilt of a sword.

He grinned ferociously.

He had no idea where this blade had come from, but it seemed to fit perfectly in his hands.

Like it had been made just for him.

"Much better!"

This blade was far sharper, far heavier than the other sword.

It was perfect.

He swung with all his might.

His muscles bulged as the black blade in his hand drew a thin line.

A moment later, there was an explosion as the air was forcibly compressed and then released all at once around the edge of his blade.

The entire arm of the creature blew apart.

With another slash, its other arm was gone.

The creature fell to its knees, and Cain drive his sword into its chest, ending its life immediately.

Then without looking back, he went for the next kill, strands of his midnight black hair fluttering with the wind.

The wind blew...

The world was slowly descending into a thicker darkness.

And yet, the slaughter continued without end. On the contrary, it intensified.

It continued for a long time.

A day, a year, a millennium...

Time seemed to stand still and flow forever all at once.

The vast plain it took place in stretched on for as far as the eye could see.

This was the site of the first trial, the Trial of Slaughter.

An endless plain filled with madness.

In here, nothing existed by the concept of slaughter and murder.

There was only killing.

There was only death.

A place of no rest.

It was insanity.

It was War.