God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.-Chapter 857: Will of the World.

Cain had not come to know of the existence of the world's will through his own deductions or reasoning.

Instead , he had been informed of it by the system, completely unprompted.

Although those kinds of prompts were rare, it didn't raise any alarms in his head.

He glanced at Julio, his smile turning more and more strange,

"There's no time to waste, Julio. Get to work."

Julio grimaced, a look of confusion spread on his face,

"This... I have no idea what you want from me."

Cain sighed.

Then he pointed at the ground,

"In this universe, there are multiple planes of existences or realms. The physical and spiritual realms share borders, but beings of the physical realm for the most part, cannot cross over to the spiritual realm."

"However, the same cannot be said about the creatures of the spiritual realm. Those things are just like mana. They can come and go in and out of our world as they please."

"I know all that already, but what does that have to do with this 'Will of the World's crap?" Julio asked.

Cain frowned,

"This is news to me too, but according to the system, the nature of worlds are governed by different laws and principles. With the inception of mana, these laws become even more apparent, causing the planet go gain... life, in a sense. But not the kind of life you and I both have. It's something closer to being a spirit."

Julio's eyes widened,

"That is..."

"And that similarity isn't just theoretical. According to the system, the spirits can communicate with the world itself, the same way th world can be influenced by mana." Cain said.

"I see. So? You want me to speak to the spirits on our behalf?"

Cain nodded seriously,

"I'm asking for safe passage through to the other side of the city. It might be difficult, but I'm willing to hear if there are any conditions that can make this possible."

Julio furrowed his brows as he hesitated for a moment,

"How sure are you that this is even possible?"

Cain sighed and folded his arms. Leaning against a wall, he answered,

"Not at all. But I've checked with th system and it said it is theoretically possible. So don't worry. Just give it a try."

{Replying to Host: It was explicitly specified to the host that the chances of the attempt being successful are approximately five percent}.

Cain grimaced,

'He doesn't need to know that, does he?'

His frown deepened,

'Besides, if it doesn't work, we'll just think of something else, won't we? It's just an attempt, right?'

Julio went silent for a moment. Then he nodded,

"Alright. I'll try it out."

He paused, "Just give me a sec."

Cain smiled, "Take all the time you need."

Julio sucked in a deep breath.

Then he closed his eyes.

Left alone in the silence, Cain let his mind wander a bit.

'It's been about two weeks now, hasn't it? There is close to no devil activity around these parts, so the possibility of running into danger is rather small.'

He frowned,

'But that isn't really the case, is it?'

A mental image of the map of the city appears in his mind.

Currently, he and Julio were somewhere along the mid way point between the Devil Spire and what was formerly the Dome of Sands.

On the other hand, most of the battles were taking place behind them.

'There should be another army of devils up ahead closer to the Dome of Fire, but I can't worry about that now, can I? Still, we will soon get closer to the Devil Spire.'

Although he had seen it from afar, Cain had no idea how the spire truly looked. The space around it was constantly distorted, and any time he tried gazing upon it with his Devil Eye, he would only perceive darkness.

It screamed danger and unholiness.

Like mirth and all things evil.

He had the option to circumvent it totally, but that would take too much time.

Considering how much time they had already wasted hiding out here, he would rather not do that.

'Still, marching on straight is nothing but a suicide attempt. If we are discovered, we can say goodbye to our lives.'

He sighed, his thoughts muddled.

"I've got it!" Julio suddenly exclaimed.

Cain's head snapped towards him,

"Really?"

Julio's eyes snapped open and he looked at Cain with a grin,

"Yeah. It isn't as complicated as I thought. Although we cannot interact with this so called 'Will', the spirits can do so easily."

"Well, what did they say?" Cain urged him.

Julio's expression suddenly changed drastically.

"Eh?"

Cain frowned, sensing something amiss,

"What? What's wrong?"

Julio chuckled nervously,

"Well, I'm not sure I heard correctly. Let me confirm it."

Julio went silent again. Then his expression fell drastically,

"What the hell?!"

He turned to look at Cain, a suspicious look on his face.

Cain grimaced,

"Damn it, tell me what's going on already!"

Julio sucked in a deep breath then pointed his index finger at Cain's nose,

"The Spirits told me the Will of the World that governs the confines of this city wants only one thing..."

Cain raised his brows, "And that would be?"

"Your life." Julio said darkly.

Cain sighed then closed his eyes.

"Well, what did I do to deserve death?"

Julio pursed his lips,

"Something about you birthing something into this world that should not exist. That thing has now caused the Will of Zoan, as it calls itself, to weaken."

Cain shook his head,

"I don't recall doing something like that."

Julio frowned, "Maybe it has the wrong pers— nope. They are pretty sure it's you."

"Damn it!" He cursed under his breath.

Then he sighed,

"Now that that option is out of the way, we need to figure something out."

Julio chuckled nervously,

"That might not be possible anymore."

Cain raised a brow,

"What do you mean?"

Suddenly, he felt it.

A sinister chill crawl up his spine.

The hairs on his body stood up on end as an incredible sense of danger unlike he had ever seen before descended upon him.

He shot to his feet and Julio did the same looking around with fearful eyes.

He glanced at Cain,

"Cain, this is bad. This is really bad. Even the spirits are scared."

'What do I do now? Perhaps this Will of the World has been looking or me for a while now. I gave myself away.'

What he felt was unreal. It was unnatural.

A visceral rejection, as though reality was trying to forcefully expunge him, causing the mana flow patterns to turn violent and unstable.

But there were no real physical consequences. Other than him feeling as though he had been marked.

Now, no matter how fast he ran or how well he hid himself, he would never be able to escape.

"For now, let's ca down. There is no real danger yet. Even the crimson moonlight is still being held at bay."

Julio grimaced,

"You might be right, but I don't like this. Even though I should be invincible right now I feel like there are thousands of eyes on me. It feels gross."

Cain sighed,

"We should get out of here. I don't like this feeling."

The intensity of the crimson moonlight had remained the same. It didn't grow any brighter.

Despite the red glare, there seemed to be even more darkness.

"Grab on." Cain said coldly.

Julio quickly reached out and grabbed onto his arm.

Ignoring the awkwardness, Cain sighed then activated {Spatial Jump}.

***

In what had once been a small, yet luxurious home with an underground shelter, now turned into a part of the ruined city with blood splattered on the walls, space seemed to become volatile, shifting strangely.

Inside the underground shelter, space suddenly ripped open.

"Damn it!" Julio cursed as he rolled onto the ground.

Walking out of the rift, Cain calmly observed their environment. He had calculated where the jump would lead him and it was pretty accurate.

Although this place was a bit closer to the Devil Spire compared to their former location, it was still rather far away, about a few days journey at running speed.

The underground shelter was completely safe from the crimson moonlight for the time being so they should have been fine, but if anything, Cain felt even more uneasy.

Julio glanced at him, a terrified expression on his face.

Cain clicked his tongue,

"Something is after us."

"Shut! Damn it...!" Julio let out a stream of obscene curses, pulling at his short black hair.

Cain frowned, "Calm down! Let me think!"

Having something chase them was bad news, especially since their goal was to be as quiet as possible, preferably not to get caught until they arrived at the Dome of Fire.

'Looks like I have to make a few changes to our plan.'

He plopped down on the ground, a grumpy look on his face.

Julio's eyes widened,

"W-what the hell are you doing?! Shouldn't we be running?"

Cain snorted, "There's no where we can run to. It will just chase us even more. Let's confront it as soon as possible. Something tells me this is going to get ugly, so I'd rather not drag anyone else into this."

He paused for a moment,

"You can go on ahead. I'll take care of this and meet you up."

Julio grimaced. Just as he was about to say something, a loud crash sound forced him to swallow his words.

He froze in fear.

Cain's frowned then looked up,

The underground shelter was secure from the crimson moonlight, but against the creatures that now roamed the world, its walls and ceiling might as well have been made from tin foil.

Cain watched as the thick metal ceiling began to groan and deform.

"That was quick."

He sighed then summoned his weapon.