God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Hands black like death, the {Blackfist Ape} lunged at Cain with its palms wide open.

The aim of the spear he had thrown had been true, but unfortunately, the {Blackfist Ape} was a rather dexterous beast.

The spear had shattered against its hard skull instead of piercing through its eye, doing little to no damage.

The beast had used that moment to close the distance.

'Here is comes.'

The beast had come back to him just as he had planned. It chose to take its chances in a melee. Cain had figured that a creature as intelligent as it was would take that course of action, so he wasn't surprised in the slightest.

This was because its advantages were way more pronounced in a brawl. At range, the battle could go either way.

And what was its advantage?

It had already determined that it packed in the power and speed department, so its only other advantages were its skills and dexterity, as well as its multiple limbs.

Not only that, but it would be able to maneuver far better amongst the trees and branches than he could.

Knowing this, Cain immediately decided to take the environmental advantage away.

He dropped to his hands and twisted his body until he was hanging off the branch he had been standing on.

Then he let go.

As he fell towards the ground, he felt a powerful gust of wind chase after him.

He didn't have to look up to know what it was.

His body seemed to ride the wind like a leaf as he narrowly avoided a blow from a black fist without looking back.

Mere moments later, he slammed into the ground.

A split second later, the {Blackfist Ape} followed, each consecutive impact widening the crater that had formed in the ground.

The nearby trees were uprooted and blown away by the concussive forces, leaving only them in the clearing.

Seeing the spittle dripping from the maw of the grinning beast, Cain had a slight grin on his face as well.

He took a step forward.

The beast took a step forward.

Feeling the energy within his body become excited, Cain stifled a roar as he punched forward.

Every bone, every muscle fibers, every tendon and ligament trembled like plucked guitar strings as he poured his strength into his fist.

There was a loud bang, then a spark born at the epicenter of their collision.

The spark seemed to ignite the surrounding air as it suddenly exploded violently, pushing both fighters back.

However, the momentum didn't take them far.

The arms of the {Bllackfist Ape} stretched out towards Cain, trying to grab at him. With practiced steps, Cain took a step forward and ducked below the first blow.

The arm twisted around swiftly, headed towards his head again.

This time, he didn't dodge. Instead, he grabbed at its arm and pulled.

The Ape lost its balance for only a fraction of a second as Cain jerked it forward.

His legs shuffling across the ground, Cain closed the gap moments later.

Despite the difference in size, Cain was not any less menacing that the lumbering beast before him.

The air seemed to split open around his clenched fist as he threw a powerful left jab. The {Blackfist Ape} blocked with the open palm of one of its lower limbs.

Then it kicked off the ground, throwing a spinning kick at Cain's head, using his body as a fulcrum.

Cain's eyes widened.

That was certainly unexpected.

Because it could manipulate its weight so seamlessly, the {Blackfist Ape} could perform sure bizarre moves without any problems. Although the first clenched around his wrist was tight, it felt weightless still, not weighing him down at all.

Instead of standing still, he leaned his upper body down, causing the kick to miss completely.

The movements of the {Blackfist Ape} were without pause. Its back rolled against the ground and it pressed its palms into the muddy earth, delivering a forward kick with the flat of its feet.

Should the kick connect, a shattered jaw would be the least of his problems if his brain didn't outright fly out of his head.

He crossed his arms to block against the kick, but severely underestimated the power behind it.

His eyes widened as he left his body become weightless before soaring into the air with a loud boom.

The {Blackfist Ape} began to hoot wildly as it smashed its fists into its chest whilst dancing erratically.

The ground beneath it shattered as it pushed against it, sending the beast into the sky in pursuit of Cain's body.

Tumbling skyward, Cain felt a strange sensation course through his body.

He recalled that engaging in strenuous activities could excite the flow of Ki in his body.

He briefly looked inward before realizing there was something abnormal going on. The Kinwithin his veins was bubbling and frothing wildly. Like the surface of the sea during a storm.

'Could it be...'

This was not the consequence of an active decision he made. Rather, it was happening simply because of the nature of his body and Ki.

He frowned. This wasn't what he wanted at all.

And so, he tried to supress this violent of churning.

Before he could, however, a shadow was cast upon him.

He looked up.

The {Blackfist Ape} was above him, both fists clenched together. Without hesitation, it drove them down towards Cain's unguarded chest.

Reacting quickly, he crossed both arms above his chest to guard.

The impact of pushed all the air out of his lungs, leaving him feeling dizzy.

His body was sent careening back into the ground, creating a large impact crater.

A dull pain spreading through his back, Cain winced as he tried to get up.

However, the{Blackfist Ape} had no intentions of letting go.

Cain felt the earth around him wrap around his limbs and hardened, just enough that he couldn't instantly break away from the confinement.

And that was more than enough.

The body of the {Blackfist Ape} was instantly surrounded by a thick layer of dark brown earth elemental mana.

The dark sheen of itself fists became even darker, like they were cut out of enchanted obsidian.

With a loud cry, all four fists smashed into the ground...