God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.
Chapter 889 - 889: The Inception of War (2).

Cain tilted his head.

He carefully watched the creature in front of him.

"This... Are you sure this thing is intelligent, Cain?" Like asked with a suspicious frown.

"For all we know, it might be some new type of Devil, right?" Sue said, poking at the head of the {Golden Steel Herald}.

Cain sighed and shook his head,

"No. It definitely isn't Devil-made. As for whether it is an ally or not..."

The wind picked up.

His hair whipped to the side, but Cain paid it no mind.

Instead, he stared right at the Steel Herald — no, Enoch.

The Metal Elemental tilted its head.

After a moment, it spoke,

"Are you here to fulfill your end of the agreement?"

Its voice was as eerie and robotic as always.

However, for some reason, there was a light touch of clarity that wasn't there before.

Cain chuckled,

"I guess you could say that."

"What deal?" Hunter asked with a frown.

Cain turned his head up to stare at Hunter.

He was fully decked out in battle gear.

He barely had any armor on. Just a pair of shoulder paldrons, braces, and a pair of black gauntlets.

"I promised I would give it a soul if it helped me."

Jenny stared at him incredulously,

"And where did you plan on getting one?"

Cain chuckled wryly,

"Apparently, it wants my own."

Sue clicked her tongue,

"That might be a bit difficult, it seems."

Laying in a rock to the side, Leah burst out laughing,

"Now that is funny."

Roselle frowned at her,

"Stop it, Leah."

Kai chuckled,

"She isn't wrong though. It seems like even the boss man has some promises he can't fulfill."

"I am still worried about how this thing came to be. It is too suspicious." Ignis said said with a frown.

She glanced at Cain who was seated opposite to the metal elemental.

"Elementals aren't things that just pop up at random. The conditions for their birth are rather stringent, one of them being a high concentration of mana."

Cain clicked his tongue.

He was absolutely determined not to tell the truth.

He decided to deflect quickly.

He turned to Enoch,

"For a creature to truly be considered 'living' in the physical plane, it must possess a soul."

When he looked at and observed Enoch, he was more and more convinced that this elemental was more of a machine, than a living creature.

Like a machine powered by an artificial intelligence.

It had spirit, but possessed no soul.

It had no life.

And so, that was exactly what it sought the most.

If it could acquire a compatible soul, then perhaps it would truly become alive.

His soul was very compatible with the Steel Herald, seeing as he had a hand in its creation.

However, there was a huge problem.

If he gave up his soul, he would die.

There was no way around it.

He looked up,

"I can't give you my soul, Enoch."

Enoch tilted its head,

"Are you going back on your word?"

Cain paused for a moment then shook his head,

"No, not really."

He steeled his expression,

"I can't give you my soul. But that doesn't mean I can't give you life."

The shrill sound of a blade cutting through the air was carried with an echo, bouncing with the tumultuous wind.

Everyone recolied in shock for a moment. Then their hands immediately went for their weapons.

One of the Steel Herald's arms had turned into a long blade that was now pressed against Cain's neck.

A burst of blinding light spread out from its Metallic body, forcing the others back.

"If you won't give me your soul, I will attempt to extract it myself."

Cain was silent for a moment.

Then he sighed,

"And how sure are you it will work? If you kill me and can't extract my soul, that means your efforts will go to waste, no?"

The Steel Herald responded immediately,

"It matters not. If I do not make the attempt, the change remains at zero. If I do, it rises to fifty percent. I succeed or not."

Cain grinned,

"Are you sure about that?"

Enoch was silent.

Cain chuckled again,

"See? I knew you were special."

He gently leaned back, but the sharp blade followed his neck.

He glanced around. The others were watching him nervously. If they made any sudden movements, it was more likely than not that his head would be sent flying before they could do anything.

'What a pain.' He thought to himself.

Although he couldn't give his soul to the Steel Herald, he had already thought of a way to give the tinhead what it wanted, or at the very least, delay its retaliation.

And that was...

"Instead of taking a shot in the dark, why don't we make a deal?"

Enoch tilted its head and responded in the same cold monotone,

"A deal? On what basis?"

Cain explained slowly,

"A [Body and Soul] contract to be precise. I assume you know what that is."

Seeing that the Elemental didn't respond, Cain continued.

"If you make one with me, there is a chance I can give you what you want. With odds much higher than you will get from just killing me."

And he wasn't just bluffing.

He had noticed that after some time, the creatures bound to him became more aware.

Not intelligent or human-like, no. It was nothing like that.

Instead, it felt as though their souls had been upgraded.

Ruby had learned to speak, the {Dark Soul} had become more expressive, and even the {Argent Amphithere} had accepted its name and was no longer just a bloodthirsty beast.

Pudding had become more quite, although it always seems to be hungry.

And Ignis had slowly gotten rid of their hot-headed temper. In fact, it was completely gone.

He had little doubt that all these changes might have come from him.

If they did come from him, then he was banking on the hope that something would change in the Steel Herald if they made a contract.

In other words, it was still a complete shot in the dark.

However, this one did not involve him losing his life.

If anything, it made sure he would be more firmly tied to this strange, but useful elemental creature.

The question now was...

'Will it take the bait?'

"You say I shouldn't leave things to fate, but you ask that I trust you blindly."

The force of the blade pressed against his neck increased.

Cain went silent, staring at the Steel Herald.

"Well, I gave you a name, didn't I?" Cain said after a moment.

Enoch tilted its head.

It couldn't understand what Cain was driving at.

It was this confusion, the slightest of pauses and hesitation, that gave Cain the confidence he had to pull it off.

'This creature is certainly intriguing.'

Watching from the sidelines, Ignis stared at the Metal Elemental with narrowed eyes.

"What does a name have to do with a soul?"

Cain laughed,

"Well, names and souls are very much intertwined. In fact, I don't think one can exist without the other. If you ha e a name, then you are well on the path to owning your own soul."

"I do not believe you." Enoch flat out said.

Cain sighed and brushed the blade on his neck to the side.

"You don't have a choice. Instead of coveting a soul that belongs to another, why not grow one yourself? That seems much more fun."

'And who knows... Maybe we might find out more interesting things along the way.' He thought.

But that could only be if they survived what was to come.

Staring at what was happening, Hunter massaged the bridge of his nose.

Jenny smiled wryly,

"What a perplexing situation, I must say." Sue said as she shook her head in disbelief.

Floki nodded,

"He managed to trick his way out of it. Impressive."

"Hey! I can hear you!" Cain bit at him.

Then he sighed as he turned back to the Steel Herald.

He stretched his hand out.

The Steel Herald hesitated again.

Because it had no face, Cain had no way to know what was going on in its mind.

But he was certain about one thing.

The creature was tempted.

'It already has more soul than it thinks. But then again, I guess something as abstract as that is subjective.'

Truly, who could say what a soul was and wasn't.

Or where the limits of life were drawn.

In this strange, complex world and all the realms beyond, reason and normalcy were quick to break apart.

The best they could do was keep an open mind.

***

{Congratulations to the host... You have received the opportunity to create a [Body and Soul] contract}.

{Elemental Contract}: Form a [body and soul] contract with an Elemental of Metal. This contract allows the target Elemental and the host to forge a bond that is governed by the following set of rules;

{Condition 1}: The Elemental's and Human's involvement in the [body and soul] contract shall be bound by the laws of magic as long as both parties may live.

{Condition 2}: This contract can be initiated by either one of the parties involved, but can only be concluded if and only if the other party fully agrees upon the conditions involved wholeheartedly.

{Condition 3}: The agreement is built upon the law of equivalent exchange. A trade deemed to be of equal proportions by the system must be made for the contract to be enabled.

{Condition 4}: This contract is based upon the universal laws of mana, and cannot be broken.

{Does the host agree to all these conditions?}

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