God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

The rain was violent...

Like the divine judgement of some storm god displeased at the arrogance of the mortals below.

Only in this case, the storm was contained within this portion of sky.

There has been no rain on the mountain. Instead, the moment they had broken through the ocean of white clouds, they had arrived in this strange place filled with bloodthirsty creatures of the storm and lots of rain.

While Cain knew the mountain was still there and could vaguely feel its presence, he didn't know where it was. It was as though there was something within the storm screwing with his perception of distance and direction.

Itw as incredibly off-putting.

So much so, he began misfiring a couple times. A few times, his arrows failed to pierce a vital organ, allowing the creature in question to live.

The aerial battle was a delicate balance.

The Silver Serpent was threading a fine line, taking advantage of the reckless streams of winds blowing in all directions to be as unpredictable as possible while in its flight.

The {Thunder Newts} on the other hand were rather persistent bastards. They followed the Silver Serpent like bugs drawn to honey, snapping at its tail with their inverted jaws filled with jagged teeth.

As they did, they continuously called down bolts of lightning to strike at the flying serpent. The {Argent Amphithere}, under Cain's command didn't make any attempts to dodge any of them.

Instead, Cain absorbed them all with {Lightning Thief} and continued firing his arrows.

Regardless, the number of {Thunder Newts} continued to climb indiscriminately, attacking them from all directions. With every passing second, they continued flying closer and closer.

Evangeline and Roselle cut down as many as they could that got closer.

However, they couldn't kill them all.

Cain gritted his teeth as he let another arrow fly from {Maelstrom}. He didn't even know how many he had let loose at this point. However, drawing the bowstring back was proving to be tiring.

He suddenly felt something hit his leg. He glanced back,

"Cain! Look!" Susan suddenly called out, her voice somehow able to overpower the storm.

Cain wiped the rainwater away from his face with one hand and squinted.

There, right above them, in the direction the {Argent Amphithere} was headed, was a fierce battle.

Cain suddenly heard a loud explosive bang, and a shockwave that nearly blasted them out of the sky spread a moment later.

"Shit!" He exclaimed.

The rain around them cleared for a moment. He was able to catch a glimpse of what was happening.

The {Wind Drake}, {Giantess}, and {Cynogryph} were locked in aerial combat with thousands of {Thunder Newts}.

It was incredible...

It was horrible...

It was glorious...

It was vile...

Bodies fell like the rain, turning it a crimson hue.

Cain was finally able to understand why the {Wind Drake} was named such.

The enormous beast had no wings. Rather, it was able to gallop through the sky by creating and manipulating the surrounding air into high density streams.

Like this, it could easily move through the sky just like it was walking in land.

However, that wasn't what was scary about the way the beast fought.

Cain had thought that from the creature's enormous body, its main weapons would be its fangs and claws.

But he was wrong.

Instead, the {Wind Drake} used the wind as its blade.

It only took Cain a moment to process all this information. His experience with magic made him understand the basics of the mana flow patterns around the creature in a moment.

It was the same concern that allowed the {Wind Drake} to soar into the sky.

It compressed the air, but this time, not around its body.

No, it compressed it what Cain could only assume was a special organ within the creature's body.

And then, it opened its jaws and let out the most deadly air cannon to ever exist.

BANG!

Shattered body parts and loose meat fell from the sky like crimson rain. It was gruesome, yet beautiful.

The {Wond Drake} cut through the swarm like a hot knife, its form difficult to follow.

It also made use of its claws and jaws, but didn't seem to like the taste of the {Thunder Newts}, as it would spit them out moments later.

The {Giant} fought even more terrifyingly.

Since the Titan-blooded creature didn't have any means of flight naturally, she made use of a special armor that allowed her to store up her momentum so it was never lost.

By kicking up against the air, she was able to keep herself moving, never losing momentum for a single second.

Then, with nothing but her bare hands, she tore the {Thunder Newts} apart, ripping their wings off and scarfing them down by the dozen.

Hee eyes glowed a deep red as she drowned in the blood frenzy.

As a creature of the storms itself, the {Cynogryph} was just as devastating as its accomplices, perhaps even more so.

For some reason, the golden bolts of lightning wreathed around the Griffin like creature was incredibly harmful to the {Thunder Newts}, despite their apparent immunity to the lightning element.

The creatures that deciding to attack him were burnt to a crisp and turned into ash that mixed into the rainwater and fell as black rain.

Cain had never seen something like this. It was violent and unlike he had ever witnessed or imagined.

As they approached, the {Argent Amphithere} had to maneuver around the falling corpses to make sure they weren't shot out of the air by friendly fire.

Because of the raw disaster occuring around the three beasts, the ferocity of the storm around them was significantly lesser.

Finally, his sight wasn't obscured by the rain.

Cain knelt and tapped the Silver Serpent,

'Fly us closer.'

The Silver Serpent hesitated. It still felt incredibly uneasy about being in the presence of the {Wind Drake} and other beasts with Celestial lineage.

Cain smiled and mentally reassured the Silver Serpent.

With that, it surged forward, flying towards the three beasts.

The {Cynogryph} looked down,

"Hm? There's something other than these wretched worms flying at us."

Thern, the Giantess grinned ferociously and licked her lips,

"We should kill it too."

Asteron's voice rumbled,

"Don't be rash. It is the humans."

Thern growled, "My stance doesn't change."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously,

"Asteron, why do you insist we use worthless things like this? It is beneath us!"

Avalon, the {Cynogryph} cawed,

"Rare as it may seem, I agree with her. What use will a bunch of humans be anyway?"

Asteron let out a blast of highly compressed air from his open maw and turned to the other two.

"Are you telling me you both didn't notice?"

Thern smashed a fist into a {Thunder Newt}, tossing its lifeless corpse, it smashed into another {Thunder Newt}, sending both careening down.

"Notice what? What is there to notice on the ground when our heads have been placed in the skies?"

She snorted, "I have always known you have a thing for the lesser races, but this is an important mission, Asteron."

The {Wind Drake} paused for a moment, then sighed tiredly. It didn't seem like this was their first conversation about this.

Avalon on the other hand turned absentminded for a moment. Then he answered,

"You mean the human with the horns?"

Asteron nodded, "Yes, that one."

Avalon spread his wings wide. A net of golden sparks spread out, electrocuting tens of {Thunder Newts} to their deaths..

"While I agree his look was peculiar, he didn't seem very special. Of anything, the other human, the female one, seemed more interesting. She could stop this brute in her tracks, even if it was for a moment."

Thern gritted her teeth,

"I don't think I would mind taking those wings home with me after all."

Avalon shivered slightly. Despite his words, he was still a bit terrified of the Giantess.

"That human, is no regular human." Asteron said, his voice a bit strange.

Thern narrowed her eyes,

"A hybrid? What's so special about a hybrid?"

Asteron shook his head again,

"If I had to guess, he might be a Demon. Probably..."

The eyes of the {Cynogryph} widened and he almost fell out of the sky,

"What?! A Demon?! And what do you mean by probably?"

Asteron hummed, "Well, I can't be so sure."

Thern shook her head,

"That's impossible. You do know how rare Demons are, right? And even if we did encounter one, why would it be with a bunch of humans?"

Asteron sighed, "Like I said, I am not sure."

Avalon couldn't help but ask,

"What made you think that?"

Asteron remained silent for a moment. Plucking a {Thunder Newt} from the air by its head, he squeezed down and crushed its skull.
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Letting the dead creature go, he shook his claws to get the brain matter off and continued apathetically,

"I'd say his smell, but that isn't convincing enough. It was mostly his eyes. Those aren't the eyes of a human."

His eyes narrowed, "There was also something else. Something I can't quite put a claw on."

Thern snorted, "You are overthinking things then. Even if he is a Demon, there shouldn't be anything to worry about. Those creatures died out for a reason."

Asteron shook his body, getting rid of the water pooling up between his scales.

"Indeed..." There was something dark in his demeanor.

Avalon sighed,

"It does matter for now. We can discuss this extensively later. For now, we should focus on carving a way out of here. Killing all these things is proving to be tiresome."

Asteron nodded, then looked up. Ahead of them, was a small opening in the dark clouds overhead. At this distance, it was the side of a bottle's opening. However, it was there.

Without hesitation, Asteron took off towards it, leaving the other two to follow.