God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Just moments before he was pulverized, Cain decided not to inhibit the flow of his Ki anymore.

A viscous layering of crimson and black energy burst out of him wildly.

The energy coiled around the black fists of the {Blackfist Ape} was dispersed, and the force behind the blow dampened.

Moments later, the fists landed.

The ground cracked beneath him, but he didn't move an inch.

Cain let his feet sink into the earth. Dust shot up in a ring around him, but he stayed rooted in place, his shoulders hunched and arms crossed in front of his face. Deep fist-shaped indentations appeared on his body; a testament to the sheer power of the creature before him.

The beast stared down and let out a puff of hot air from its flared nostrils.

All four of its eyes twitched slightly. A hint of confusion.

But confusion was not the same as hesitation.

The {Blackfist Ape} was a creature of high intelligence. A terrible, aggressive, and insidious beast.

The energy within its body boiled as its weight ballooned.

Cain dropped his guard.

Steam hissed from his shoulders as he bore the rapidly increasing weight of the beast.

His muscles bulged and his bones groaned.

Then he stepped forward.

The {Blackfist Ape} recoiled, but it was too late to retreat. Cain's hand shot up, grabbed it by the wrist, and with all the force he could muster, plus the weight of the beast itself, he pulled.

The strike came down with it. Hard and fast.

Cain's elbow met the beast's wrist with a snap. The connection between the bones at the joint was immediately terminated.

If there was a word to describe a severing worse that shattered, that was what the wrist of the {Blackfist Ape} would be.

The creature screamed and flailed with its remaining arms, its grin long gone by now.

In its fury, it delivered a backhand strike that came from the left. Cain ducked past it, but another jab came from the right in the exact same moment.

He leaned just enough for it to scrape past his ear.

Feeling his blood boiling through his body, Cain finally couldn't contain his excitement. Even more steam rose from his shoulders as he stepped in closer.

At this moment, his blood was literally boiling in his veins.

His physical might suddenly increased exponentially, and the intensity of his physique magnified several times over.

It was apparent. He had just broken through the bottleneck that had been holding him back.

A soft later of crimson flames wrapped around his body, so soft, it could only be considered an outline.

Tth next moment, two fists hit the ape's chest, one after the other in quick succession.

The body of the giant beast curved in like the bend of a bow fully drawn.

'It's hot.' Cain thought to himself.

The world seemed to slow down as the speed of the punches flying out increased.

Every strike was well placed, striking the beast where it was most vulnerable.

As he did, the intensity of the speed his blood boiled increased even more.

The crimson flames surrounding him were suddenly tinged gold.

The beast staggered, knees buckling as all the wind in its lungs was knocked out. Blood poured down its gasping maw in rivers as it tried to stumble back.

Cain grabbed its lower jaw and yanked its face forward. Then he slammed his forehead into the center of its brow.

A deep, wet crack followed.

The arms of {Blackfist Ape} went limp for half a second as it was dazed for only a moment.

Cain turned and with a guttural growl, flipped the enormous beast over his shoulder. A feat of unprecedented might.

The ground beneath his feet sank in instantly.

With a bang, he launched it by the face right into a tree.

The enormous darkwood tree didn't stand a chance. Its bark burst into a hail of splinters and sawdust as the trunk exploded.

The beast tumbled through several more before it rolled into a final one and came to a stop after breaking through it partially.

Cain walked toward it, wiping blood from his temple.

His chest heaved violently, but he didn't speak.

He looked down at his arms, wondering if they were the familiar ones he knew.

Most of the time, he had to rely on the boost provided by his skills, spells and abilities to achieve those fears of superhuman strength.

However, this was all him. Without the magic.

Sure, he made use of {Devil Wyvern: Akuma}, and his Ki had activated on its own.

However, the state of the {Devil Wyvern} was what he truly was. It couldn't really be considered an active or passive skill. Instead, it was more like an unchangeable, ever-changing characteristic of him.

A true contradiction...

The creature twitched, tried to stand, then dropped to all six, sprawled out there on the muddy forest floor.

Its fur was patchy with blood now. One arm dangled uselessly. It chest heaved so hard, Cain almost swore he could hear the thing's beating heart, its shoulders rose and fell with every breath.

Cain couldn't help but chuckle.

For some reason, the burden he had carried into the battle was all gone.

The battle had not been overly difficult, and the {Blackfist Ape} was a powerful foe.

However, it was not the most powerful one he had ever faced.

However, it's cunning, combined with itself unique abilities made for quite the interesting one.

So much so, he nearly almost didn't want to finish the job.

He stopped chuckled.

He could see it in its eyes.

A beast like this could not be fettered or chained down, regardless of how hard he tried to hold it down.

It was a wild one.

With a wild spirit.

It looked up at him, its gaze unyielding, but filled with fear, and what looked like... acknowledgment.

An understanding between two hunters. Kindred spirits.

Only the stronger would survive. The weaker would be devoured.

The law of the land.

And the nature of battle.

Cain smiled softly,

"You fought well."

He paused for a moment, then shook his head,

"Also, thank you."

He pulled his fist back then exhaled sharply.

There was a loud bang, then a crack.

Finally, there was silence...