God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.
Chapter 948 948: The New World (2).

Cain leaned back into the chair, eyes flicking over the canvas map spread out on the table with furrowed brows.

He didn't speak for a while, but Gilead remained silent as he didn't want to rush him.

The material was creased with some of the edges curled, probably from its frequent usage, but the markings were sharp. It went to show just how much effort Gilead had put into it. He couldn't help but feel his respect for the older man grow.

The black ink traced out what was meant to be broken roads and mountain ranges.

'As expected. The rest of the world has expanded significantly...'

On the map, City Z was no bigger than a grape in terms of diameter. Although he could see the details just fine with his eyes.

The same was true for the rest of the cities. Despite how big they were, they just couldn't compare to what the rest of the world has turned into.

There were multiple strange things highlighted that he knew hadn't existed before. Some of them even had question marks above them, meaning the person who drew the map, had no idea what they were...

Cain swallowed hard and chuckled nervously.

'How exciting does that sound...'

The red X's cut like wounds into the surface of the map, each one stamped across a city's name.

Cain exhaled slowly through his nose.

"So. Five cities left standing," he muttered.

Gilead paused for a moment, then nodded,

"Actually, all of them are still standing, in that sense. But the ones that still seem to have human presence are our focus here."

Cain couldn't help but ask,

"How did you figure out there are still humans in these ones? I don't imagine it being very obvious."

Gilead shook his head,

"No. It's more obvious than you think..."

He paused to gather his thoughts,

"There are actually two different ways. One is through energy signatures as you know. However, that isn't very accurate."

Indeed, Cain had asked Gilead to do this for him with the {Demon's Eye}. And the {Demon's Eye} were able to pick up energy signatures rather well.

However, the downside of this, was that they picked up energy signatures too well. Because of this, there was a lot of negative feedback and noise that the human mind, regardless of how enhanced it was, seemed to have trouble with processing.

"The other method is simple. Not making use of the energy detectors."

Cain raised a brow,

"Then wouldn't that..."

Gilead smiled,

"Sometimes, the simplest answers are the most accurate ones. Humans always leave traces behind. These traces are also best understood by other humans."

Cain hummed, "I guess you are right."

Then he tapped a spot on the edge of the map. It was a strange black marking with the question mark indicator,

"And these markings here?"

Gilead's brows tensed up.

"I don't know. They appeared to be rifts, but the energy readings coming from them are rather violent so it is hard to tell."

Cain's eyes narrowed,

"Rifts?" He seemed to recall something.

Gilead frowned, a look of suspicion on his face,

"You know what they are?"

Cain shrugged,

"I might have an idea. But I can't be too certain."

"Is that so..." Gilead seemed a bit curious, but decided to let it go for the moment.

They spent a few more minutes in silence. Cain, his fingers trailing over the map suddenlypaused.

"And about the Devils?"

"If you'd like to hear that there aren't a lot of them, then I hate to break it to you, but you'd be wrong." Gilead said as he rubbed his temples.

"In fact, there's lots of them scattered across the wastelands with some occupying entire towns and a few cities. Thankfully, none have noticed the {Demon's Eye} yet."

Cain clicked his tongue.

"Well, that's not good."

Gilead chuckled,

"I'm surprised you can stay calm after hearing that."

Cain shrugged,

"What did your expect me to do? I suspected as much."

Gilead's smile slowly faded away,

"No. I believe their numbers exceed your expectations."

Cain frowned,

"How do?"

"When I said they are scattered through the wastelands, I meant it. There's entire armies of them marching across the plains and mountain, seething the land with their wicked essence and devouring all life they come across. A real tide of death is flowing across this world."

Cain went silent.

But Gilead wasn't done,

"I'd say there are numerous Aether Beasts and Mutant Beasts battling against them, but they aren't going to be able to do much. If anything, they'll just end up feeding the Devils even more."

Cain couldn't help but chuckle bitterly,

"You mean to tell me there are whole wars breaking out across the continent?"

Gilead nodded,

"And those wars are already on their way here. It's just a matter of time."

Cain sighed,

"I see."

The maps were rather expansive, with all the little details etched in small, fine print, making it unreadable to regular human eyes. He was able to see them all just fine, of course.

However, being able to read the map just meant he could get a clear grasp of their problems, in very very sharp detail.

In a way, it was almost like the more problems he put behind him, the clearer he could see the ones ahead.

And the more frightening those ones looked.

He could almost see it himself.

An ocean of black, far mightier, much greater than anything he had ever seen. A black scourge that could consume the world.

From what Gilead had told him, their circumstances had not gotten any better. In fact, they had gotten a lot worse.

It was no wonder entire worlds and civilizations with contained beings far stronger and much more populous than Urbus were destroyed and consumed.

"This isn't a battle we can fight ourselves." He was more sure of this than ever before.

Gilead nodded, "Like you said, our best bet is to rally all the humans, and possibly, demi-humans together and pray that it will be enough."