God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Once they had finished their conversation, Cain immediately requested for an empty space to begin his work.

As Legarde led him over, he was able to see what was left of the humans that had managed to survive until now in this portion of City Z.

It didn't look good at all.

Especially for those without combat abilities and useful skills.

The regular 'mundane' humans.

There were a lot of them with injuries range from light and minor wounds, to missing limbs and life-changing deformities as a result of the injuries.

He passed by one room and the entire place reeked of blood and healing magic.

What was even worse was the look of hopelessness in their eyes. The news that possible salvation has come was kept under wraps just in case he was unable to pull through.

If he failed, it was better they all died without experiencing one last disappointment.

Sensing something, Legarde turned around slightly,

"It seems like you are used to this. A kid your age... Such a shame."

Cain raised a brow, a humorous smile playing in his lips,

"What do you mean by that?"

The old warrior shrugged,

"Kids like you should be in school, no?"

Cain smiled wryly,

"In case you didn't notice, there are no school around here any more. Most of them have been burnt to the ground or turned into rubble."

Legarde snorted, "You get what I mean..."

Then he sighed,

"Honestly... These people are better off dead anyways."

Cain raised a brow.

Those words were certainly... unexpected.

Legarde's demeanor was as sharp and ruthless as steel,

"Right now, they are nothing but burdens. Feeding them. Making sure they don't die from the cold. Maintaining the roof over their heads so the crimson moon doesn't bleed them dry. The wise choice would be to abandon them."

Cain was silent for a moment.

"But you wouldn't actually abandon them, would you?"

Legarde raised a brow as they walked down the dark hallway.

Light from a lot torch washed over their faces, casting shadows on the walls and ceiling.

The incessant sound of footsteps going back and forth through the hallways both above and below them streamed into Cain's ears, creating a mental image in his head.

The vitality within this building was sickly.

But it was also persistent.

Like a flame within a hearth.

"Of course we won't. For one, Mira is far too kind to do that. As for me, I am of the opinion that man sometimes does things that go against logic."

He sighed,

"Although the logical choice would be to prioritize those that will be useful, humans have an inclination to desire dependence."

Cain was perplexed,

"An inclination to desire dependence?"

Legarde nodded,

"Yes. Put more simply, we all crave a feeling of importance. Subconsciously or otherwise. The feeling that we are above others. A god-complex..."

Cain stopped walking for a moment.

As though failing to even notice him, Legarde continued,

"And so, a man will take on a burden he realizes might cause his own end. Simply to feed his own ego."

Turning around, a strange, vicious grin was plastered on his face.

The shadows in the hallway danced with the flames in a strange rhythm,

"You and I are both such men, Cain. We have egos the size of freaking oceans, don't we?"

Cain chuckled bitterly,

"You... might be right."

Did he have a god-complex? An overarching compulsion to be viewed as greater than?

To have the masses stretch their hands at him in reverence and gaze at him with hopeful eyes?

He wasn't quite sure.

When the image was fully formed, it didn't really incite any excitement in him.

Then perhaps it was something else...

He was curious to find out what it was.

They finally reached the last room at the end of the hallway.

Twisting the keys, Legarde opened the room to reveal a spacious, relatively empty room with just a few empty cardboard boxes stacked at a corner.

Legarde heaved a deep sigh,

"If you need anything, just knock on the door."

Cain nodded and walked forward.

Suddenly, he stopped and turned around,

"You seem different from earlier. Finally at ease now that you know I don't have eyes for your daughter?"

Legarde paused for a moment before responding,

"Mira... She is a delicate child. But she also has a god-complex much like you and I. The actively seeks to bear the burden and worries of others. So much so that she completely neglects the state of her work shoulders. That is why I worry for her so much. She is a rare dewdrop in a grief stricken world."

Cain fell silent for a moment,

"In other words, she is a selfless, but arrogant and stubborn girl."

Legarde chuckled,

"I guess you could say that."

Then he closed the door.

Cain stood there in silence for a moment.

Legarde had misunderstood one thing about him...

He had no particular desire to appear the masses. The salvation he offered them was merely a ruse. It fed towards a specific intent.

Well, there were two of them.

One was his general goal in unifying the human species once again, and the other was for his own personal gratification.

He chuckled, 'Maybe I do have a god-complex...'

Still, he wasn't going to worry about that for now.

That was because he had some serious work to do.

He had handed Mira a few mana cores earlier, but he still had a decent portion on his person.

'I will need probably a few. There could be a few spatial disruptions due to the turbulence in the city, but that's nothing a little output bump up can't fix."

He quickly began setting everything up.

A huge jar of thick, black ichor appeared in the ground, followed by his magic brush and a few mana cores.

To make sure he didn't expend a ridiculous amount of mana, the Devil's Blood was an absolute necessity. He had prepared some in advance as it was fundamental on his plan to produce the Magic Resonance needed to power and create a stable anchor.

Dipping the magic brush into the jar of blood, he huffed,

"Here goes nothing..."