Nameless King

Wain was shocked by what he saw. The silhouette's movements were quick and strong. One blow was enough to turn the beetle into a bloody cake.

The silhouette turned, and they met each other's eyes.

"Osvald...?!"

He grinned, and an energy platform appeared beneath him, from which he pushed off and approached Wain.

"Young man, what are you doing here?"

"I wish I knew the answer to that question."

Osvald nodded, and together with Wain, they landed next to a massive tree.

"What is this place, and why weren't you in your Void?"

"Well... I don't know myself. I was training and about to go on a trip, but suddenly the Space Bugs yanked me out of my Void." Osvald shrugged.

"Space Bugs? Is that one of them you just crushed?"

"Yes, they're one of those special creatures that can be out in the open despite their lack of strength."

"But, why did they attack you?"

"I don't know. Perhaps my training was too intense, and a large amount of energy attracted them. Anyway, now we're here, and we have to get out of here somehow. Oh yeah, sorry I killed that bug, I didn't see you right away."

"Don't be. The bug that dragged me in here almost killed me, I'm not sure I could have handled such a powerful creature." Wain shook his head.

"Hmm? What are you talking about? Given your strength, you would have easily beaten it."

"Ah?"

Wain thought about it and felt something strange. Osvald's aura was not as strong as before. It was only slightly superior to Wain's aura.

"Osvald, what's wrong with your aura? It used to give me goosebumps, but now..."

"It's because of this place. Those assholes pulled us into the Purgatory Zone, and a very powerful one at that, since the zone was able to limit even my power to Second Chronicle. What's more, I can't open a passage into the spatial rift no matter how much I try." Osvald waved his hands to the side.

'Is this the Purgatory Zone? Now I see why Osvald has such an aura.' Wain pondered.

"By the way, Wain, why did you come to my Void? Did you need something?"

"Yeah, I wanted to ask you to teach me how to lower my power level."

"Huh, that's a pretty useful trick, as soon as we get out of here, I'll be sure to teach you, it won't be hard for you, I'm sure you'll be up to it in no time."

Wain nodded.

"What's the plan?"

"I don't know. I got in here a few minutes ago and was getting rid of bugs, they're pretty annoying, but this is definitely not the usual Purgatory Zone."

"Why?"

"This is the Second Chronicle zone, and it was able to lower my power to this level, normally, that should be impossible, but this zone has enough energy to do that and block the ability to open portals. I'm leading up to the fact that there's more than one Soul Pearl here."

Crackle.

"Oh, it looks like we have company." Osvald said, looking at the bugs approaching them. They were coming from all directions and were extremely aggressive.

"Is this their territory?"

"Yes, it looks like it. From what I understand, their nest is there." Osvald pointed to a hill in the distance from which many beetles were flying out. They had their own tasks, but some were headed toward Wain and Osvald, and they were powerful and had sturdy armor.

Wain nodded and prepared for battle. He activated his fifth form, and several of the bugs attacked him. Osvald also rushed into battle. He didn't use any skills, only physical strength. One powerful punch of his fist was enough to crumple the beetles' chitin like a sheet of paper and tear their bodies apart.

The bugs surrounded Wain and attacked him. He swung his sword, and spiky vines burst from the ground.

"What?!"

The vines could not penetrate the beetles' armor as Wain had hoped, and the beetles' attacks came down on him like hail.

Wain defended himself and blocked the attacks, but he was alone against a group of enemies and missed several attacks. The bugs attacked at every point they could reach, and gradually Wain went into defense mode.

"Fuck, you guys are annoying!"

Wain swung his sword and released a bloody blade that sliced several bugs in two, but several more came in to replace them.

Whooooooosh.

One of the bugs flew forward, and head rammed into Wain and threw him aside. Wain hit the tree trunk with his back, and while he still didn't realize what had happened, the beetle attacked again, and the tree broke in two under pressure.

Wain quickly regained consciousness and got to his feet. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, the beetle's chitin was very hard, and only Wain's sturdy body saved him from serious injury.

"What a bastard. I can't penetrate your armor, but that's no problem." Wain muttered and plunged his sword into the ground.

Tremble.

The ground trembled, and many spiky vines burst out of it, they headed toward the bugs, but they didn't try to pierce them. Instead, the vines grabbed the beetles like tentacles and squeezed them tightly. Cracks appeared in the beetles' armor, and the chitin gradually began to break.

Wain drew his sword from the ground and made a circular motion with it. He created a multitude of scarlet rose petals, which headed toward the gaps in the beetles' armor. The petals pierced them like little blades and inflicted severe internal wounds incomparable to life.

"Done." Wain muttered and canceled the form. Dozens of bug carcasses fell to the ground, and blue and pink souls headed toward him.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

"Not bad, I didn't know you had such unusual skills. It's even more interesting than what you showed me last time." Osvald said, slowly clapping his hands. Behind him was a row of over a hundred bugs sprawled across the floor.