God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.-Chapter 873: Mutual Benefit (1).

To err, is to be human...

In his daze, Cain did realize...

He had messed up.

Granted, this error was not entirely his fault. He had no idea the boost provided by the {Black Warrior} ability would be so drastic.

In his mind— no. He had already imagined it. And it shoiihave been this was.

The damage to his body far surpassed what was expected.

It was so bad, he had ended up unconscious.

As his consciousness fizzled back into his body, Cain let out a dreary groan.

Still, he kept his eyes shut.

Ultimately, not knowing his own limits was what put him in his current state.

If his body was stronger, tougher, more resilient...

Maybe he wouldn't have knocked himself out after delivering one blow.

Suddenly, he remembered...

'It was also like that. Back then...'

He had also defeated the {Flame Devil, Forza} in such a manner.

Well, not exactly...

But it was similar.

Back then, he had also put all his strength into a single blow to defeat a powerful adversary.

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself,

"And I thought Devils grew exponentially. Could it be I'm impressive, or these fiends have been overexaggerated?"

No other human would be able to speak the way he had. After all, he was quite the anomaly. Still, he was somewhat oblivious to the fact...

Sitting up, he shook his still groggy head, forcing himself awake.

He immediately noticed the two seated at the foot of the bed he was resting on.

Julio leaned against the bedframe, a thread of drool linking his face to the bedspread. Meanwhile, Enoch, the Steel Herald sat down on the other end, its limbs limp like a puppet with its strings cut.

Seeing this, Cain couldn't help but chuckle.

Then he fell back onto the bed.

A few minutes passed as he just lay there on silence.

With a groan, Julio stirred from his sleep.

Cain sat back up.

Julio rubbed his eyes. Then he stared at Cain.

He paused for a moment.

Then he sighed,

"You aren't dead. I was worried there for a second."

Cain grinned, "It takes way more than that to kill me."

Substantially more...

Julio chuckled,

"Is that so..."

Suddenly, a knock came from the door.

Cain frowned then turned to Julio with a raised brow.

Julio gave him a nodded before responding,

"Come in."

The door handle twisted and a whole entourage poured into the room.

The first person Cain noticed was a rather beautiful woman with blazing red hair. Not only that, but her irises were also strangely shaped.

'A Devil Eye? No... Something different. Magic Eyes?'

He raised a brow. This lady was definitely not simple.

The next person to catch his eye was a large man with eyes that might as well have been torches and a long black spear in his hand. The man wore a crimson heavy armor set with flaming motifs and runes all over, making him look like a flaming general.

When their eyes met, the huge man's eyes narrowed, seemingly glaring at him.

Cain raised a brow. Why the sudden hostility?

He glanced at the rest. They seemed to be the regular rank and file soldiers as well as a few more that gave off a more scholarly air as well as others with a think layer of spot on the scent of fire on their shoulders.

This didn't surprise him at all. After all, Mljorra was both a beast of Flames and the Forge.

The red haired lady walked over to his bedside.

Then she slowly bowed her head,

"Welcome."

Cain felt a wave of embarrassment hit him.

He lightly bowed his head,

"It is a pleasure to meet you..."

The red-haired lady smiled at him,

"Mira. Call me Mira..."

Cain felt the gaze of the man with the spear burn into him even more intensely.

Julio stood up and faced Mira with a look of tender reverence in his eyes,

"Mira, this is Cain. He is our way out of this man."

The man with the spear snorted coldly,

"I find that hard to believe, Julio. Are you sure you didn't just pluck some random off the streets?"

Mira glared at him,

"Legarde, your manners."

The intensity within this fierce warriors eyes seemed to die a bit. Still, he kept his glare fixed on Cain.

Mira sighed. Then she turned back to Cain with a wry smile hanging from her lips,

"This... Pay him no mind."

Cain waved dismissively,

"I don't have the time to engage in meaningless banter. I've taken no offense."

Mira breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she turned to Julio,

"There is much to discuss, but I assume you would want to rest after such a long and arduous journey."

Cain shook his head as he threw the bedspread to the side,

"No. We've rested enough."

He glanced around the room, particularly at the men still wearing armor. They looked worse for wear, their armors covered in dents, scratches, gashes and dried up blood.

It was clear they had gone through rather terrible struggles only recently

Sensing Cain's urgency, Mira nodded. Then she took a deep breath,

"We've... lost a lot of men. And so we've decided to pull away from the battle completely."

Cain raised a brow,

"Then..."

Mira's expression darkened,

"We tried to leave. To head to the Dome of Sands, but we realized we were surrounded on all sides, completely boxed in. Leaving was be impossible."

Cain huffed. It seemed his decision to take the dome down back then.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Mira continued,

"Right now, the only thing between us and the death at our doorsteps is a few mana shards. And they will be used up in a few hours"

Julio breathed a sigh of relief,

"Looks like we came at the perfect time then." He glanced at Cain with hopeful eyes.

Cain couldn't find the heart to look away.

He grimaced and groaned internally whilst keeping a calm smile on his face.

Luckily, he had brought a small stash of mana cores with him. freewebnøvel.coɱ

He clicked his tongue then turned to Mira,

"To tell you the truth, we will need a day— no, perhaps even more than that, to complete the preparations."

Mira's eyes widened,

"So you can save us?"

Seeing the fire of hope burning in her eyes, Cain couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.

'Save, huh...'

Maybe what he wanted to do could be considered saving.

Or maybe it was just carrying them from the frying pan directly into the flames.

Still, now was not the time to air out the details.

He nodded,

"I can. But I will like to discuss the rest of the details in private."