A few minutes before the fight between Amitiel and Ezrin ended, Wain finally reached the top of the tree.

"Well, well, it took me this long to get here, but I end up seeing a mere monster?" Wain said with a slight smile on his face while looking at the massive creature sleeping in the center of the hall.

The monster was a massive beast whose body was covered in solid wood armor. Sharp roots were its weapons as they as though claws covered the monster's four paws. At the back of the monster's head was a massive dark splinter, constantly emitting large amounts of energy.

'That's it, right?' Wain asked with a serious look.

'Yeah... It's my last shard. I have to say it's bigger than I thought... Damn, it's pretty weird, but I guess when the energy comes back to normal it will go back to normal...' Gladius muttered being slightly confused.

'Hmm, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that it's your shard, so let's try to get it, right now!" Wain uttered with an excited look as a devious smile appeared on his face.

Whooooooooosh.

His silhouette blurred as he turned into a flash, momentarily finding himself on the monster's back. Wain had come for the shard, but that alone was his goal, the monster was only a secondary target. His hands reached out for the shard and seconds later his fingertip touched the blade of the dark sword.

Tremble.

Wain felt a strange energy as if he had touched something that didn't exist, then the monster opened its eyes and a powerful shockwave erupted from the shard. The impact threw Wain aside as the seal in his hand shone brightly and turned into a long, dark sword.

The monster rose quickly, which was unnatural for such a large creature, and stared at Wain angrily. He was a troublemaker, so the monster was mad as hell.

Roooooooooaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrr!

The monster roared furiously as the thunderous sound shook the entire upper floor causing a few golden leaves to crumble from the shining tree.

"Hah, looks like you liked the hell out of absorbing energy from that shard, right? However, that has come to an end now that this sword belongs to me!" Wain exclaimed as he pointed his sword at the monster and his aura intensified.

His hair grew longer and as white as snow while he wore dark armor and a cruel spirit over his head.

'Oh, you decided to use my power?' Code of Light and Darkness grinned.

'Yeah... I'm going to finish this as quickly as possible.' Wain replied with a slight nod as a black and white amulet appeared in his hand.

The rare elements of white on his armor were almost completely gone as Wain's energy became less voluminous, but much denser as all of his physical stats were now improved to the limit.

Whooooooooosh.

Wain took a step as he disappeared and instantly found himself right in front of the monster. The sword plunged into the beast's sturdy armor and slashed through it with ease. Slivers flew aside as tough in Wain's hand was a saw and the point of the sword reached the monster's flesh as scarlet blood appeared from beneath the wooden plates.

Roooooooaaaaaaarrrrrr!

The monster roared in pain as it struck the ground, shaking the entire floor. The shockwave was very powerful as the beast planned to toss Wain aside, but Wain just broke through the floor with his hand and thus stayed in one place.

"Hey, don't upset me, I was hoping you'd be stronger. After all, I have to fight strong opponents to get better. It's the only way, you know?" Wain grinned as he canceled the action of the first form and activated the sixth instead.

His hair turned golden as he turned into a beam of light. Wain circled around the monster like an unstoppable star, launching numerous attacks against it. The wounds were not very serious, but given Wain's speed, it was quickly becoming dangerous and the monster needed to deal with it somehow.

Whooooooooooosh.

historical

The monster's roots spread out in all directions, trying to get to Wain. It was unsuccessful because it was moving too fast, but then the roots began to separate and there was simply no more room in the room.

"Hah, you think you can catch me? Damn, you're practically dying and that's all you can do?" Wain said in a mocking manner as his eyes turned icy.

At the same time, the temperature around him dropped significantly as another sword appeared in his hand, it was Ice Terror, the weapon of Cursed Swordsman. The blue runes on the sword sparkled brightly as Wain took a swing.

A massive wall of ice appeared before him, that froze everything that touched it, so after a while, all the roots turned into ice, they just froze in place.

"All right, let's call it a day then." Wain said in a calm voice, canceled the shapes, and directed a large amount of energy into Gladius.

A dark streak appeared on the blade that, when attacked, turned into a massive wave of darkness. It passed through the roots, destroying them and heading straight for the monster.

The beast had no time to retreat, so it took the full impact. The monster's body opened a multitude of wounds from which streams of blood gushed forth. After a while, the darkness dissipated and the monster fell to the ground exhausted.

The beast tried to rise, but dozens of wounds prevented it from doing so no matter how hard the beast tried.

Step. Step. Step.

Wain paced slowly toward him with a scornful look and a scowl.

"Well, well, I expected this battle to change my life forever, but it looks like I was dead wrong. I only used a fraction of my power, but you've already lost, it's boring." Wain shook his head, sighed, and looked at the shard.

He walked over to it and with a calm look said, "This belongs to me."

Crackling.

Wain grabbed the shard and tried to pull it out.

Tremble.

As soon as the shard emerged slightly from the monster's body, the beast shuddered and was covered in strange lines as if it were a mirage in the desert or an illusion.

Only then did Wain feel that someone had been watching him all along.