God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

A world of darkness...

Obegrin sat up on the rotting body of his undead steed, flying high up in the sky, a few miles above the Devil Spire.

His cold, unfeeling eyes scanned the entirety of the City with a single glance.

The expansion has already begun.

"Just as he promised, it has finally begun." The Devil said to himself, his eyes flashing with an ominous glow.

He stared down at his fist.

The Devil race did infact progress quickly.

He had already ascended to the second Tier, and had evolved from a {Sky Devil} to a {Sky Corpse Rider}. This was because the bloodlines of Mormon, the Devil of Gluttony, and Gorgoth the Devil of Violence, had begun the awakening process within him.

Normally, {Sky Devils} were much like {Blade Devils}, possessing just a tiny strain of the blood of Gorgoth. However, with the bloodline awakening, its effects become much more powerful and predominant especially physically.

His body had changed.

He had become more powerful.

Much stronger.

His claws were strong enough to grind bones to dust, and his command over the essence had grown even stronger.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

With the blood of Mormon awakening in him, he now had the ability to corrupt the bodies and souls of creatures he had defeated or slaughtered, turning them into the living undead, their souls forever trapped in the hell he had created, forced to serve him for eternity.

With this bloodline ability awakening, he had the power to create a small army of his own.

One that could ride in the skies with him and impale the hearts of the opposers of Devilkin.

His eyes flashed,

"What is it you want, Dyrog? I am on guard duty." Obegrin suddenly said.

The flapping of wings was loud, and the force behind them was enough to create a small cyclone.

An enormous creature with the dark body of a Devil, but with enormous bat-like wings covered in thick muscles and black cartilage flew towards Obegrin at breakneck speed.

If came to a complete standstill just before it could run into the Corpse Rider, its huge body towering over the much smaller Obegrin.

Despite that, Obegrin showed no fear or concern.

"The Raids on the other human settlements are going smoothly. We expect to see results in a few weeks."

Obegrin raised a brow,

"Good. What about the ground forces?"

"The Mothers have been diligent, and several dozen more brothers and sisters born with the power of chaos have come to this world. We have thousands upon thousands of troops ready to.turn this place into rubble." Dyrog said, his gaze traveling to a semi-transluscent dome of light in the distance.

"The elder says we require patience. There is no reason to rush." Obegrin said calmly.

Dyrog growled menacing, the wind around him becoming volatile,

"Bullshit! These humans are weak and powerless! We can crush them to death now! Why wait?! Why hesitate?!"

Obegrin shot him a glare,

"No matter how you feel, humans are a rather valuable resource. Not only do they serve as good nourishment, their corpses can also be repurposed."

Dyrog sneered, "So that's what this is about? Finding stronger puppets to add to your little 'army' is it?"

Obegrin shook his head,

"I don't have the time to argue with you. Regardless of how strong you have become, do not neglect your duties. Sending you back to the Othershore would be child's play for him."

Dyrog frowned, although this time, there was a bit of hesitancy behind it.

Eventually, he snorted.

Then his body vanished.

A moment later, an incredibly loud sonic boom sent shockwaves rippling all around Obegrin.

The Devil remained unmoved.

The undead creature beneath him let out an ear piercing shriek, but other than that, it seemed fine.

"A Hellsky Rider, huh..."

Dyrog had also attained the second Tier, and had evolved into a {Sky Devil} variant called the {Hellsky Riders}.

In terms of utility, thanks to the number of undead creatures he could tame, he was very useful to the collective power as a whole, although he couldn't compete with the Devils that spewed miasma. However, the combat power of a {Sky Corpse Rider} was much greater than that of {Miasma Devils}.

On the other hand, the {Hellsky Rider} variant was a {Sky Devil} that had a high concentration of the blood of violence in its veins.

A creature built for war, with incredibly high combat power and potential.

In a straight up battle, he would be torn apart by Dyrog.

Fortunately, battles were never straightforward, and his combined might was far greater than that of the foolish Devil.

Obegrin let out a sigh.

His Devilish gaze swept across the broken city once again.

Buried under all the rubble and destruction, were the lives of countless humans and beasts.

Most of which had been felled by their hands.

Obegrin's face contorted,

"They are so... fragile."

Devils could never truly die.

It was both their gift, and their curse.

The net number of Devils that existed in this reality, was forever constant.

Devils that had their bodies destroyed beyond rejuvenation would have their souls thrown into Reol, where they would walk through the waters and arrive at the other side of the shore before making the journey through the Levont.

Once they did, a new body would be created for them, and they would be reborn once again.

A never ending cycle.

A terrifying reality.

But such was their nature.

A cancer that the universe could never be rid of.

"Such is the nature of things. Our souls do not break. But the souls of these... beasts, is as fragile as glass." Obegrin thought to himself.

In a way, he was almost envious.

Almost...

He sighed, then gave a mental command to his steed.

The abominable creature that looked like an enormous lizard with the wings of a moth and a twisted face with an enormous gaping maw and no other organs on its head.

It was rather ugly.

But Obegrin didn't mind.

It got the job done.

It didn't matter how many times he died and was forced to reincarnate.

Because at the end of the day, all that mattered, was the end goal.

He clenched his fist.

The greatest hope of every Devil...

To ascend to the highest possible level of power.

And break the cursed chains that bound their very existence.

Salvation was what they sought.

Salvation from the nightmare they had become.

However, to pursue their hope, they would become a scourge to the rest of existence.

They would devour and consume, all in search of greater power.

Until it was enough...

Obegrin was not the most optimistic of Devils, but even he held that hope in his core.

'Perhaps one day...'

Whatever emotions risingin the depths of his eyes died rather quickly as a group of {Sky Devils] flew towards him.

The Devil at the head of the flock, a spindle-looking Devil with two bullhorns jutting out of its temples, growled then spoke,

"Commander Greotes seeks you."

***

As one with Sky Devil blood running in his veins, Obegrin didn't like staying in the ground.

It was as though one of his greatest weapons had been robbed from him.

There were numerous strange black structures erected around the Devil Spire.

These were the relay camps the Devils engaged in hunting and combat all around the City and its outskirts made use of. From here ,their spoils would be taken into the spire by the working Devils.

Since the hive mind that linked all the Devils together was so powerful, the coordination was seamless.

The relay stations acted as a hub of sorts, to make sorting and transferringnof resources much easier, as well as general coordination as well.

Obegrin walked into one of these relay stations.

The inside was dark, there was only a single glowing orb with flunctuating luminosity, floating above a central platform made of the same material as the walls around him.

Standing around the platform were a few other Devils of high rank.

Obegrin stared at the Devil standing right before him in the other side of the platform with a dark, murderous look.

Greotes had committed a few sins in the past, but had ultimately been forgiven, mostly due to a sudden jump in his potential, which in turn increased his power, making him one of theost powerful Devils within the camp.

He had evolved from {Miasma Devil}, to the {Plague Horror} variant.

Greotes turned towards the door. He raised a brow,

"You are late, Commander Obegrin."

Obegrin swallowed the urge to spit,

"I came as soon as I heard. What is the matter?"

His keen eyes briefly scanned the room.

There were three other Devils within besides himself and Greotes; Dyrog whom he had just spoken with a few moments ago, Inixth, a powerful Devil with the potential of a Half-god, who had recently evolved into a {Chaos Reaper Imp}.

And the final one, an {Earth Devil}, Maero, who had also reached the second Tier, evolving into a {Chaos Earthspawn}.

She was the only female Devil amongst the gathered.

Since most female Devils usually possessed the blood of Inixi, it was rather rare to see female Devils with other bloodlines.

The reoccurring theme amongst those gathered here was not only their strength, but also their usefulness within the Devil army.

After all, not only had they all achieved the Second Tier, they had also gained a significant amount of levels and were firmly grounded in their power.

They were valuable assets.

"I will get to the point. Thanks to the Hadalspawns, we know that the humans are unprepared. If we strike at them now, we will take their hearts with no issues whatsoever."

Inixth grinned, then let out an obnoxious chuckle,

"Is that so? Then why are we still here? The first one is being handled so easily, I don't think this should be any different. They have even lost the support of their patron god. The fact you are not saying we immediately start a massacre means you still have a lot to say. Isn't that so?"

Greotes snorted, the tentacles behind him undulating strangely,

"I have received his approval. We can begin in earnest now. However, he did give me a warning."

Inixth raised a brow,

" A warning?"

Greotes nodded, a distant expression on his face,

"He saw a vision. Apparently, "Calamity and a headless death awaits those who do not see the creature of blackened gold.""

"Those were his words, although I do not know exactly what they mean."