Step. Step. Step.historical

Wain walked slowly toward Krakos as well as Marlis, with more than ten green fire spheres hovering around her. Krakos was still stunned as his eyes were wide open.

'What's wrong with him? He's kind of weird...' Wain inwardly muttered with a frowned look as he raised his sword, about to attack.

Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.

Suddenly, many cracks appeared in the air, from which fearful paws and shining claws with pure energy emerged.

"Hmm? Dimension Guards and Pearl Hunters spotted us at the same time...? Well, it had to happen sooner or later." Marlis muttered as she extended her arm.

At her will, the spheres collapsed on the monsters and drove some of them away, but it wasn't enough to deal with all of the foes. In just a second the number of cracks multiplied, then several First Ranked Dimension Guards made their way in.

"Damn... I didn't even realize there were so many pests following you in there..." Krakos muttered with a calm expression as he looked at the monsters, "So, I suggest we postpone our fight for a while."

Whooooooooosh.

Krakos waved his hand as fire bats rained down on the Dimension Guards. They as though hundreds of red-hot blades pierced the bodies of the creatures ruling the open space and turned them into breathless corpses. Krakos himself did not even have to take a step aside.

"Since this is my castle and I consider myself the sole owner of this area of Purgatory, I will take responsibility for getting rid of trespassers." Krakos said with an ice-cold look as he raised his hand, "You may enjoy the show for now."

At the same time, many blood-colored magic circles appeared in the air, then more than ten monsters that possessed terrifying auras crawled out of the cracks. For any one of them, six massive Soul Pearls were enough to risk their lives.

"Well, well, haven't you ever read a fairy tale?" Krakos uttered while shaking his head, "Valuable treasure is always guarded by someone strong. I'm certainly no Dragon... but that just means you're out of luck!"

Crackle.

All magical circles activated as scarlet threads flew out of them. They pierced all the targets at once, then energy flowed through them and the threads burned brightly, incinerating their enemies.

The portals continued to appear, but it was as if Krakos was invincible. All he had to do was create new magical circles and seconds later the burnt corpses would fall to the ground, whether they were Dimension Guards or Pearl Hunters.

After a while, the portals stopped appearing and it was not known if it was because Krakos was so strong that he scared the others or because he had already killed everyone who wanted to take his Soul Pearls.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Krakos slapped his palms together as if knocking the dust off of them. Then he turned to Wain and with a calm look said, "Now we can get down to business, can't we? Although... I have to clean this place up first, just wait a little longer."

Whooooooooosh.

The bats headed toward the corpses as threads flew from their claws that bound around the monsters and dropped them into a massive sphere of fire. The high temperature burned the monsters, leaving nothing of them, then the six Soul Pearls glowed brightly and became several millimeters larger.

"Agh... So that's why he's so strong..." Marlis muttered while in disbelief with a trembling look, "He killed so many Dimension Guards so easily... Fuck, it definitely won't be easy..."

"Hmm... Your strength is held back by the chains of the zone... Also, apparently, you actually specialize in support, don't you?" Krakos muttered in a calm voice while rubbing his chin with a thoughtful look, "You don't stand a chance against me. It's obvious."

"What...?!" Marlis frowned as an angry grimace appeared on her face and her aura rose, "Maybe I really am a support, but I'm not going to let some under-vampire bully me!"

Whoooooosh.

Several green fireballs came down on Krakos, leaving a trail of flame behind them. Krakos didn't dodge, he just swung his arm, which caused a strong stream of wind. It was enough to scatter the fireballs and throw Marlis back several meters.

"You better concentrate on helping someone who can fight me." Krakos said as he pointed at Wain, that despite the powerful wind flow was standing in the same place.

"Hey, maybe it's time to cut to the chase already? You're strong... You definitely are, but I'll have to beat you anyway to get through." Wain said with an ice-cold look as he swung his sword. A plume of darkness was left in the air that slowly dissipated with many clots.

Krakos nodded, stepped forward, and said, "I'm ready to fight you, I'm sure it will be a great fight, however, I have another offer for you!"

"Hmm? What the hell are you talking about?" Wain frowned as his aura intensified.

Krakos smirked, "Look, whichever one of us wins, the other will be seriously wounded and this place will turn to rubble, so even if you beat me, you certainly can't keep moving forward."

Wain's eyes went wide for a moment as he realized that Krakos was more reasonable than he assumed as there was logic in his words.

"So, how about a deal?" Krakos said with a sly smile on his face.

"A deal? What can you offer me? And... more importantly, what do you want from me?" Wain asked with a confused look.

"I want your blood. Not much at all, one full flask will be enough for me." Krakos said as a medium-sized alchemical flask appeared in his hand, "In return, you can take whatever you want from here!"

"My blood... What do you need it for?" Wain uttered as he tilted his head.

"Hah, I can't tell you that." Krakos grinned and waved his hands, "So what do you say? Do you agree to my offer?"

Wain thought for a while, then he looked at the fiery orb around which the Soul Pearls were floating.