God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"By the way, why are you even here? Don't you have something better to do? Like distribute rations or something..." Steve remarked in annoyance.

Abigail chuckled grimly as she said,

"Our situation is way too volatile and can change at any moment. Besides, we need to put our heads together and find a way to stop this crimson moonlight, no?"

Steve winced as an enormous ball of flames was blocked by a translucent shield in front of him.

Then he snorted,

"You've done nothing but stand there like furniture. That in no way constitutes as 'putting heads together' does it?"

Abigail glared at him,

"For one, I have figured something out..."

Steve raised a brow even as his fingers danced through the air, drawing runic patterns and glyphs,

"Really? And what could that possibly be?"

Their conversation was briefly interrupted by a screech that tore through the skies above as a winged Devil dove right at a gathering of spear-wielding Hunters, only to be blown apart mid-air by a flash of cerulean lightning.

Witnessing such a gruesome sight, they both didn't seem surprised at all.

Abigail pointed up to the sky, particularly at the blood moon,

"That moon isn't real."

Steve frowned then turned to glance at her,

"That's an interesting way of looking at it, I'd say..."

His eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed as he spoke quickly,

"But it doesn't make sense. Why on Urbus would a fake moon need to be created? To take over a single city?"

Abigail's frown deepened,

"That might truly be the answer."

Steve raised a brow.

Abigail explained,

"A Celestial and their sovereignty, their authority, and their domain are one and the same. Balangol was a god of Sands and Death. So he brought Sands and Death, both encroaching on our world until a portion of it had literally been transformed by Divine Providence."

Steve hummed as he muttered, his hands never stopping,

"I see... So in essence, what you are trying to say is that the Celestial Deity of Blood and the Moon created this false moon for the sole purpose of claiming the entire city and turning it into a part of her Celestial Territory?"

Abigail shook her head,

"There's no need to limit how far the conspiracy stretches. Why not our entire world?"

Steve nodded, "That certainly seems plausible."

Abigail couldn't help but be curious,

"Tell me, beyond the veil of storms on the Black Sea, did you see any moons or stars in the night sky?"

He didn't even need to think about it,

"There are none. Everything is hidden behind the veil of pearly blankets of grey."

Abigail nodded in satisfaction,

"Then that means we must be close to the truth. If this 'moon' exists only within the bounds and borders of the city, then it must be a fake."

"Still, how much magical energy would you need to create an illusion of this magnitude?" Steve said with a frown.

Suddenly, his eyes widened,

"A fake doesn't have to be an illusion, does it? It might as well just be a fake moon, right?"

Abigail chuckled coldly,

"As much as I'd hate to believe it, that does seem like the most plausible scenario."

Steve let out a sigh,

"So? What do we do now?"

He looked down.

The battle that had begun in full swing had already reached the climax.

Rotting corpses filled the ground, their blackened blood staining the earth forever.

The Devils still living fought ferociously, but were quickly mowed down by the hot-blooded humans.

In minutes, the rest were all wiped out.

"Raghhhhhh!"

The cries of thousands upon thousands of humans rose into the crimson-stained skies like prayers to a dark god.

The humans had come out victorious in the first clash.

Looking down at the human army cutting down the final stragglers, her face remained grim,

"Usually, identifying the nature of a problem is half the battle won. In this case, we are back to square one. Even if we know what it is, there's nothing we can do," she said.

Steve clicked his tongue,

"Damn it."

"The exhaustion will keep building up. Gradually, until it is impossible to bear the drain. We will have the life sucked out of us, fueling the Divine domain of the goddess until dried-up husks filled with agony and terror are all that's left."

Steve grimaced. That didn't sound fun at all.

'I have to find a way to stop this. Quick...'

But the magic of a mortal could do nothing against celestial mysteries.

In the first place, how does one even create a false moon? And one so enormous at that. It all just seemed over the top.

Abigail sighed,

"The first wave has been dealt with. Soon, we'll leave Valestorm's former borders. From here on out, our fates are in the hands of the gods."

Saying that, she turned around and began walking away towards the smoldering battlefield, trembling with the roars and cheers of the bloodstained.

A gentle breeze passed, carrying the burnt stench of chaos and charred blood over Steve.

He watched the moon again, letting his gaze drink in every detail.

He could feel his very vitality and mana being slowly siphoned out of his being. It was as though he was being preyed upon by an invincible parasite.

The glow.

The hue.

The deathly stillness.

Something about it itched at his brain, like a song he almost remembered.

He sat there, drawing dozens upon dozens of intricate glyphs and runes every passing second into the fabric of reality with the {Evil Hand}.

The runes hummed faintly. A soft vibration prickled the air.

His brows furrowed.

'An object to anchor a domain. It doesn't seem like we will be experiencing another second coming though.'

Instead of expecting another celestial rebirth, Steve saw this as Divine Providence reshaping the very laws of nature to facilitate something.

'Yes... That's it.'

His eyes widened as understanding hit him,

"Then, the only way to stop this, would be to strike at the source!"

He stopped drawing the runes. The subtle glow on his fingertips faded away.

Scrambling to his feet, he rushed down the outpost building.

One of the downsides of having terrifying magic and spirit stats was terrible physical stats. There were also the curses inflicted on him because of the {Evil Hand} and the several beings he had made deals with and...

Running as fast as he could, he finally spotted Hunter surrounded by a number of Beastkin humans harvesting valuable materials from the corpses of surrounding {Zombies} and Devils.

"Hunter, you dog bastard!"

Having his train of thought interrupted, Hunter turned around with a deeply annoyed look on his otherwise impassive face,

"You are supposed to be on the lookout. What the hell are you doing down here? Right now is a—"

"None of that crap matters now! Our problems have just gotten a whole lot bigger!" Steve said, his expression grim, slightly panicked even.

Sensing the severity in Steve's tone, Hunter frowned,

"Speak quickly..."

Steve wasted no time. He immediately pointed at the sky,

"I might not know what that thing is, but I certainly know what we are."

Hunter's frown deepened,

"Get to the point."

"Sacrifices..." Steve said, his tone low and dark.

Sensing Hunter on the verge of losing his patience, Steve dropped the pretense of mystery and explained,

"This false moon is a conduit for a large-scale sacrifice. Think of it as an altar. And we are the lambs being led to the slaughter."

"But that doesn't make any sense, does it?" Hunter said, doubt written all over his face.

Steve raised his hands in exasperation,

"Look around you, damn it! There is nothing reasonable about anything anymore! Either way, I reckon the effect of the crimson moonlight will only keep getting worse until not just us, but also the Devils have been drained of all mana and life. A rather insidious, but brilliant thing."

Hunter's eyes narrowed,

"I see."

He went silent for a moment, calmly closing his eyes.

After a few minutes went by, just when Steve thought he had fallen asleep while standing, his eyes snapped open.

He glanced at him,

"What do we do now?"

"We need to strike at the source. Quite frankly, there is nothing much we can do about it right now. I can make potions that can slow down the rate at which the mana and life force is being lost, but that's about it."

Hunter nodded,

"In that case, get on with it then. You don't need to worry about anything else but that."

Steve raised a brow,

"Are you sure?"

After all, he was an integral part of their fighting force, especially after reaching the second tier. He was practically a walking nuclear warhead.

Hunter nodded.

Looking up, the entire path forward was rather desolate.

Besides the initial wave of Devils, there were none to be seen.

"There's been a change of plans. We'll move slow until you're done with the potions."

He paused for a moment then added,

"I don't think the Devils anticipated this move as well, so we might not be completely disadvantaged here I believe..."

Steve nodded.

Looking into the distance, his expression changed,

"No, that's not right... We are definitely fucked."

A line of black had already appeared at the edge of his vision and was quickly making its way towards them.