God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

"In other words, the codex is a blueprint, or manuscript that helps one to triangulate the type of Devils that have spawned on your world." Cain said, snapping the pages shut with a deep breath.

Steve tiredly rubbed his eyes and nodded as he yawned,

"That's basically all it is. The only 'True' Devils are the Primordial seven. The rest are merely diluted, mixed up versions."

Then he paused,

"Although, depends on how the future plays out, really...""

Cain sighed, "Yeah. If normal beings like us can possibly ascend into godhood, there's no way the Devils do not have their own path."

Steve nodded, then sighed,

"But that's rather far off into the future, so we don't have anything to worry about for now."

Cain had spent a decent amount of time mulling over the contents of the codex.

Although his reading and retention speed was simply inhuman, he had barely scratched the surface of what there was to read within the pages of the codex.

However, he had learned a few important things.

And that was that the Devil race was an ever changing one.

Sure, there were a few constants; a few normal Devils, at least according to Devilish standards, like the {Blade Devils} and all the other types of elemental Devils.

However, even those creatures would experience drastic changes the further they ascended the ladder of power.

Whatever hidden bloodlines they possessed would awaken, making them several times more deadly and menacing.

If they had no hidden bloodlines, the full potential of their bloodline would be slowly unlocked, unleashing the primordial horrors sealed within their veins.

Both options were equally as terrible, and no matter how much he wished, it was going to come.

In fact, chances were it was already happening as they spoke.

'The foot soldiers will still be the regular Devils, but we can expect the upper ranks to be terrifying, city-leveling horrors at best.'

He let out a tired sigh.

"In the end, we humans can only act reactively for now. When the time comes, we will take the initiative. Hopefully, we live to see those times." Steve said with a grim smile.

Cain snorted, "What are you talking about? Of course we live to see that long. I don't plan on dying anytime soon."

Steve chuckled. Just as he was about to say something, the door to the room swung open with a loud bang.

Wearing a deep greeting oversized coat and a pair of googles, a man with messy hair rushed in panting heavily.

Steve and Cain immediately rushed to their feet,

"What happened?" Steve said, his demeanor changing instantly.

The man paused for a moment to catch his breath,

"T-there's someone out there looking for you!" He said, addressing Steve.

Steve frowned, "Who? Friend or foe?"

The man finally caught his breath and explained,

"It's Blaze. He seemed frantic. He said we should all stop our business and focus on locating you as fast as possible, posthaste."

Steve's brows shot up and he turned to Cain who seemed equally confused,

"Is that so. That bastard, going about causing a panic in my lab."

He waved at the man,

"Alright, good work. You can tell everyone to resume their work. Don't worry about the spear-wielding buffoon. We'll deal with him." Steve said, his face twisted in an annoyed frown.

The man nodded, then rushed out of the room.

Cain cleared his throat,

"This... seems serious. Don't you think we should go look for him?"

Steve snorted, "He'll be here soon enough."

Then he frowned, "I am a bit curious about why he's so frantic though."

Seconds later, Blaze barged into the room with Calio in tow, nearly blasting the doors off their hinges.

"A simple 'Hey' or 'Good day' would have been nice, you know?" Steve said sarcastically..

Blaze growled,

"Now is not the time for antics."

His eyes quickly shot to Cain..

He let out a relieved sigh,

"Good. You're here."

Cain frowned and walked forward,

"What's the matter? You look like you've just witnessed an entire battalion of ghosts."

Calio chuckled bitterly,

"Well, it's even worse than that. Far worse."

Cain raised a brow, "I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been?"

Calio shrugged, "Up and about, you know. Leveling up and dealing with my fair share of woes. And all that..."

Blaze slammed his fist against the table, nearly shattering it into sawdust,

"This isn't the time to exchange pleasantries, damn it!"

His glare shot to Calio, who shifted uncomfortably,

"Give him the damned reports!"

"Oh, yeah! Shit, I almost forgot!" Calio said as he pulled the bundle of papers out of his inventory, handinf them over to Cain.

Blaze turned to Steve, his expression dark and serious,

"There's trouble. Big ones. Or small ones, depending on how you see it."

Steve massaged his brows,

"What's this about? The Sandsea? Unholy creatures crawling out of the Aether once more?"

"Shit!" Cain cursed all of a sudden.

Steve turned to Cain, now even more confused than ever,

"Hey, what the hell is going on?"

Cain dropped the papers onto the table and massaged his forehead,

"The Devils have already begun infiltration."

Steve's brows shot up,

"What?! But we haven't taken the Dome down yet, have we?"

Cain shook his head bitterly,

"A new type, {Hadalspawn Devils}. Apparently, they have negative energy and possess the bloodline of Lurpith. Barriers of energy might as well be paper bags to them."

Steve silently cursed,

"So what? The war's already begun?"

Cain shook his head, his brows furrowed as he turned to Calio,

"Who gave you this?*

Calio scratched his head, "The queen in the shadows..."

'Eva? Why didn't she bring it to me?' Cain thought to himself, his frown deepening.

Something was definitely off here.

But he would have to think about it later.

He handed the stack of papers to Steve and allowed him skin through them as well.

"I see. So they are not combat oriented Devils." Steve muttered after some time.

Calio shook his head, "According to what is written there, they are rather easy to kill. But that's only if you can find them. Not only do they have the ability to move through space, they also have high affinity for darkness and shadow elements. Searching for them will be a nightmare. An impossible one too."

Steve fell silent, his brows furrowed as though he was deep in thought.

Blaze let out a sigh,

"What makes this worse, is that they act as recon for the Devils. Any plans we make, any strategies, counterattacks too, are all potentially sabotaged before they are even made with these things around."

Cain created a mental image of the {Hadalspawn Devil} Evangeline had drawn.

They were rather ugly things, resembling two flat bugs squashed together.

They had numerous short feelers on their upper carapace, and dozens of legs underneath for movement.

They were elusive and lived mostly in the shadows, making their existence a mystery up until now.

About three feet in height and five feet long, although they weren't very huge compared to other Devils, staring at a bug-like Devil that big was bound to bring nightmares.

Cain shivered...

Steve tapped against the edge of the table, creating a crack,

"Searching for all of them will take a lot of time, and it would be meaningless either way as since the Dome doesn't stop them, they will just send more. Although their existence is bothersome, they aren't the biggest threat here." Steve said.

He shivered as he stared at the bundle of papers dejectedly.

Cain's frown turned to a grimace.

Calio sighed,

"If what she said is true, then fighting against the Devils would be the least of our worries since we would have daggers lodged deep in our backs before then."

Steve let out another curse. Then he chuckled bitterly,

"It's our fault for thinking those bastards would fight fair."

"Soul sorcery, similar to the {Phantasm}, only its abilities are many times stronger. Another descendant of Og-solath." Cain muttered.

"There aren't many details on these ones. All we know for now, is that they attach themselves physically to the central nervous system of the victim. Once that happens, it's all over." Calio said.

"Luckily for us, they should be a relatively new species. They shouldn't have had the time to spread too much."

"Still, these {Parasyte Soulfiends} are a much bigger danger than the {Hadalspawn Devils} regardless. What do we do now?"

Cain took in a deep breath to steel his nerves,

"All is not lost, probably."

"Probably?" Blaze said with a grimace.

Cain nodded, "Yes. Although these two creatures might be the main reason we all die, it doesn't have to be this way."

Cain turned to Steve,

"The main characteristic of Devils that have awakened Lurpith's bloodline, is their sensitivity to Spatial vibrations and changes. This is both their ultimate blessing and weakness."

Blaze frowned, "How is that a weakness?"

Cain grinned, "I suspect that the organs that make them sensitive to spatial vibrations are just like speech receptors. Bombard them with enough noise, and they will be in for a while lot of pain."

Calio placed his index finger on his chin,

"How can you be so sure?" He asked.

Cain shrugged, "We'll just have to catch a few and see."

His expression turned dark,

"As for the Parasyte's, the first thing we need to do is catch someone that has already been infected."