"Vampires and Dark Elves? Could they be our allies?" Gisle askedhistorical

"Yes, I'm not sure how likely that is, but they are probably the best candidates. We can have a dialogue with the Demons as well."

"Why do you think so? Why these three races in particular?" Gisle knew very little about the other races, only what Wain had told him briefly earlier.

"I don't know much, but as far as I'm concerned, Vampires don't care who they do business with as long as it's beneficial and they like their allies. Under certain circumstances, they can cooperate with anyone."

"I see, that's good. What about the Dark Elves?"

"As you know, several Dark Elves are living in my Void, and their relationship with the regular Elves is complicated and tense, to say the least. Many of them are followers of darkness, and they don't mind violating the conventional ways and practices. I have the least confidence in the Demons, but they value fighting spirit, so maybe we can work something out with them."

"Great, three possible allies is very good. What's more, as far as I know, Vampires are some of the strongest. Right?"

"Yes, by the way, we are helped by Forgotten, and as far as I understand, he is unique compared to the other members of his race. Maybe this will help us somehow get in touch with some of the Ashens."

Gisle nodded, "Okay, thanks for the information, but I have a case for you since you're here. I was going to ask Teresa, Zero, and Agnes for it, but you alone are stronger than the three of them, especially now."

He felt that Wain's aura had changed considerably since their last meeting. It was as if he had broken his limits and crossed the line.

"What should we do?"

"Explore first, then take over the area. Head west to the edge of the dark lands. You'll need to go through Arkadale and see what happens at the border. If you need to kill monsters to capture, kill if you need to subdue, subdue. We have no time to ponder, we must become as powerful in this world as the Pillars."

'Arkadale...? That's Eva's hometown.' Wain thought.

"Okay, I hear you, I'll do what I can, but I'm not sure I can take the western part of the dark lands in one go."

"Don't worry about that. Any progress is important to us right now."

Wain nodded, "By the way, do you know where Eva is?"

...

Previously, Wain had shunned Last Light and only occasionally participated in cooperative missions. However, after the merging of worlds, everything changed.

Merge Island and the four remaining cities from their planet were now under Gisle's control. Last Light was now all that was left of their planet.

His opinion changed as Merge Island and the four cities were his only home. Wain was going to fight for humanity and give his all for it.

Now he was no longer one of the strongest, there were many dangers around, and his enemies were members of other races, not humans.

...

"Wain!" Eva said cheerfully on seeing him. While he and Gisle talked, she sat in the courtyard and ate lunch. Eva had recently returned from the mission Gisle had sent her on.

"Hi." Wain walked up to her and kissed her, "I'm off to the west of the dark lands right now, and my route is through Arkadale. Do you need to go into town?

Eva hesitated and shook her head, "I wish I could, but I can't. I promised to Gisle that I would help him, and he gave me several tasks at once, but if you don't mind, there's something I need..."

"What is it?"

"I have something valuable left at home. When the merging of worlds began, I thought my city was destroyed, but luckily the cities where the map was collected were able to survive. Could you come over to my house and pick up one thing of great value to me?"

p "Sure, anything for you."

Eva's cheeks flushed. She was embarrassed and said her request.

...

Wain wanted to increase the rank of his zone, but he had to help something to Last Light before he disappeared again for a while. What's more, Wain could now level up by absorbing souls and getting stronger.

He had come a long way to reach Second Chronicle, but getting to the Third Chronicle was even harder.

'Osvald had said that baby dragons were at once equal to Third Chronicle creatures in power, dammit, isn't that too strong? How powerful are adult or ancient dragons, then? It's crazy. How do I get stronger than such creatures?' Wain pondered as he headed for Arkadale.

Arkadale was closer to the capital and was somewhat larger than Overion and more technological, but that was before the apocalypse and the merging of worlds. Now the place looked like ruins with a few structures of a local organization.

Wain's goal was the west of the dark lands, home to formidable monsters and behind which lurked a wondrous, new world. But, before that, he had to fulfill Eva's request.

She tried to explain where her home was so that Wain would understand in as much detail as possible, but it was still no easy task.

The town had been destroyed and rebuilt in many places, but Wain was able to get closer to the target in time. Wain identified the area and made his way home.

Eva had already lived here after the apocalypse, so it was one of the few surviving houses on the city's outskirts.

Wain went inside and down to the basement. It was dark, so Wain had to light his way with a lighter.

On the table, he found the item he needed. It was a silver, engraved locket on a chain. Wain was curious to know what it was, so he opened it. In the locket were two photographs. One was old, which was evident by its condition, and one was relatively new.

On the first one was little Eva, with her parents, on the second picture was the same but after ten years.

'When she was little, she looked even cuter than now.' Wain thought and closed the locket.