God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Standing in front of the den, a large burrow in the earth, Cain wore a strange expression on his face.

It had not taken him a lot of time to find the den of the creature. Steve's directions coupled with his own senses had pointed him right to the creature's den.

It was a wide burrow in the ground and from it leaked an air of mystiscm.

"How odd..."

.

He took once quick look at himself before nodding.

Because of his circumstances, he had decided not to make use of any weapons, instead relying on only his own body.

And for good reason too.

Although a good fight would most likely help in clearing his thoughts, he also figured it was good to test his physical limits as well.

With his most recent evolution to {Devil Wyvern: Akuma}, he had no idea what his physical limits were.

So what would be the best way to check it out of not a messy, brawl of teeth and fist?

The thought excited him a bit.

Only a bit...

He walked towards the entrance of the burrow.

However, before he could reach it, his eyes widened.

In the tiniest fraction of a second, he snapped his neck to the side.

A moment later, the crowns of all the trees behind him exploding into a rain of leaves and sawdust.

Cain's brows shot up.

Just before the projectile had flashed past him, he had caught a glimpse of it; a javelin made of sharpened darkwood.

Normally, something like that would have made a mediocre, maybe decent weapon with the right durability enchantments. However, he could sense that it was made from ordinary mana infused wood.

The main cause of the destruction, had been the force and power behind the throw.

It was an incredible throw.

He took two steps back.

From the depths of the burrow, he could see a set of glowing orbs.

The ground shook lightly as the orbs glowing like bright embers came closer and closer.

Cain held his ground and waited patiently.

Suddenly, a deep guttural sound came from the depths of the burrow.

Cain raised a brow.

'Is that...'

Very soon, four arms grabbed onto the side of the burrow as the creature pulled itself out of the hole in the ground.

It revealed itself in all its twisted glory.

Cain's expression fell.

Not because the creature was so terribly ugly. Or staring into its face could corrupt his soul.

No.

It was none of that.

With four burning eyes on its face, sharp fangs jutting out from its large lips like tusks and two curved horns on its forehead, this ape-like creature would have been terrifying if it didn't have a stupidly large grin on its face.

Yes. The {Blackfist Ape} was grinning at him.

No.

It was laughing at him.

His brows creased.

No wonder Blaze had looked at him with such pity.

However, he still had no idea the trouble he was in for.

The {Blackfist Ape} smashed two out of it four fists into its chest as it began rocking its large hill-like body back and forth.

The ground shook with each bounce with every hop.

Cain tilted his head. Was this a welcome dance?

The creature was indeed very large. But not titanic. It was not bigger than the large trees. Instead, its body was a bit lithe and its muscles compact under its black hide.

Its fists on the other hand, had a metallic sheen to them.

After some time, it stopped and stared down at him curiously.

Cain ruffled his hair, not sure what to do.

The smile on the face of the {Blackfist Ape} widened.

Faster than the eye could follow, one of its four arms shot out. It's fingers wrapped around a tree.

"Its arms can extend?!"

This was a feature he had never seen in another Mutant Beast.

Just as he was wallowing in the surprise, a large shadow descended on him.

His eyes darted up.

A large, shiny, black fist was aimed right at his head.

'I didn't even sense any bloodlust.'

Although the beast had intended to catch him by surprise, hos paranormic view made it impossible for such a thing to happen.

He calmly stepped past the fist.

A second and third fist came flying from both sides. As he moved to side step them, Cain noticed that there were more fists flying his way.

'What?'

No. That wasn't it.

It was not that there were more fists.

Rather, the ape was swinging its arms at him so fast, that even if he dodged them, they came back full circle an instant later.

A mad, unending barrage.

The ground caved in with hundreds of fist-shaped craters forming in seconds. The air sizzled and burned as the creature laughed madly, wildly swinging its fists.

Cain continued to dodge while he observed, but it seemed the {Blackfist Ape} was unsatisfied with his performance.

Cain watched as its body tensed up.

The surrounding trees all snapped back and exploded at their trunks as the beast shot at him at breakneck speed.

Cain took a step to dodge, but at that moment, something strange happened.

He raised a brow and looked down.

The ground beneath his feet had turned into quicksand.

'Earth elemental ability.'

A powerful one at that.

Even if he freed himself, he would be unable to avoid the strike from the ape's fist.

'In that case...'

Since he was no longer able to dodge, the only other choice would be to meet the beast head on.

And since he was here to test himself, he wouldn't have had it any other way.

Time seemed to slow down.

The first fist came crashing down on him.

Cain sucked in a deep breath.

Then his body began to transform.

Scales, horns,a tail, and a pair of wings.

He no longer looked human. Not a single bit.

Instead, he looked every bit of Demon as could be.

Like a malevolent entity birthed by evil itself.

Or a glorious divine punished, destined to scourge everything under the heavens.

He paused for a moment, then decided to retract the wings.

There would be no need for them in this fight.

Taking a stance, he stretched his hand out.

The enormous fist of the {Blackfist Ape}, larger than his body, was stopped in its tracks.

There was a slight delay.

Then an explosion that ripped through the world itself.

Violent and terrible.

The bushes and trees bent back furiously, some uprooted completely.

The burning eyes of the {Blackfist Ape} seemed to light up, their glow becoming even more furious.

The lips of the creature stretched out even wore as it let out another guttural laugh.