'Oh... So all this time there was a puppeteer lurking among the mist... I assumed something like this was possible, but I thought the power of the smoke warriors depended simply on the amount of mist.' Abyss Artist uttered in a thoughtful voice as if he had found an interesting answer to the riddle.

'Well, now I know who I need to fight against to destroy another artifact!' Wain inwardly exclaimed before rushing forward.

He used the seventh form as Abyss Brush was in his hand, but Gladius and his Beyond were still with him as well as the energy of the creepy jaws. So, being a dark flash he got to the smoky warrior the white ghost was hiding behind and swung his sword.

Whoooooooooooosh.

A blade of darkness erupted from the sword, slicing the smoke warrior in two and rushing toward the ghost. It managed to dodge at the last moment, flying aside and heading toward Virion with a frightened look.

"Hah, you think he's going to protect you? No one will save you anymore! I won't let that happen!" Wain spoke in a thunderous voice as he stepped forward.

At the same moment, space trembled as two eerie jaws appeared out of nowhere beside the ghost. They pounced on him like hellhounds on a defenseless rabbit as they tore the ghost apart.

Perhaps Virion could have done something to delay the ghost's death, but he just stood there with an icy stare. For himself, he had already decided that Wain had destroyed his artifact as he saw no point in trying to avoid the inevitable.

After the ghost died, the smoke knights began to dissipate until they completely disappeared as well as the fog at the dark spikes.

"Well, well, it looks like you only have four artifacts left now, doesn't it?" Wain said in a mocking manner as a slight smile appeared on his face.

"Hmm... You're right... Damn, now you actually managed to trick me and I ended up losing so many legendary artifacts... it's pretty unfortunate." Virion uttered while shaking his head slightly. Then, he looked at Wain with an ice-cold look and said, "You used that power too soon, for now, I know what I must do to defeat you!"

Whooooooooooooosh.historical

Virion waved his hand as two artifacts appeared before him. The first one was a statuette of an almost dry tree, with no leaves, but with a very powerful aura as the second one was an amulet in the form of a black scythe with a red stone.

'Shit... Where did he find these artifacts?' The Abyss Artist muttered while in disbelief as his eyes went wide.

'Hmm? Is it something dangerous?' Wain asked in a worried way.

'Yeah... It could be deadly... Wain, listen to me carefully, for if you act carelessly you might even die.' The Abyss Artist said seriously as his aura intensified.

Wain stared at Virion, recoiled to a safe distance, and muttered, ''That bastard... He said that I can definitely handle artifacts, but the aura of those ones gives me the creeps.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Virion channeled energy into the artifacts as space trembled. The statuette of the tree flashed brightly while black smoke began to slowly emanate from the amulet.

'Wain, your opponent is an Arkan with a seven-pointed star, that means he may become one of the strongest Arkans, but it seems he is a renegade.' Abyss Artist uttered in an ice-cold voice.

'Hmm? What the hell are you talking about? Why should I know about it? Wain complained while carefully observing the changes in the artifacts.

'I understand your puzzlement, but you must understand the seriousness of what's going on. I don't know how he did it, but this guy stole these artifacts from the main vault in the Arkan world. I would say that the rarity of these artifacts is beyond Legendary Rating.' The Abyss Artist said slowly as his piercing gaze went to the artifacts.

Wain gulped, nodded slightly, and swung his brush. It created two dark streams that quickly turned into dark knights with huge shields and swords. Also, Wain used some energy from his Beyond, as massive eyes opened on the knights' heads and a drawing of a massive creepy jaw appeared on their breastplate.

"You thought two summoned creatures could protect you? You handled my knights easily, though I used two artifacts to create them, so they certainly won't help you." Virion said with a calm look before grabbing the statuette.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Space shuddered as the statuette headed for the wall behind Virion. It transformed into a small seed that became the nucleus for something larger.

Whooooooooooooosh.

Most of the energy around went towards the seed as Wain for a moment even felt himself breathing harder as the energy began to leave him. However, he quickly regained control and the dark knights stood in front of him, ready to protect him from any threat.

Gradually roots began to grow from the seed, spreading across the arena. At first, they were small and fragile, but very quickly they became thicker and much stronger with incredibly sharp tips.

'Hmm? Roots...? Could a simple tree be dangerous?' Wain inwardly muttered while in confusion as he tilted his head.

'Don't be distracted!' the Abyss Artist exclaimed and at the same moment, the roots came into motion.

The roots were aimed at Wain as they moved at tremendous speed, but halfway along they suddenly changed their trajectory heading for the spikes.

'What...? Shit! I need to save them!' Wain inwardly exclaimed as he swung his arm.

The spikes began to emerge from the floor, slowly taking off, but they were almost immediately embraced by thick roots. The pressure coming from them was indescribable as many cracks quickly appeared on the spikes.

"Tsk... Well, let's see how strong they are." Wain uttered with a frowned look and the spikes began to spin.

Wain's eyes went wide as he muttered, "What the hell...?"

Even though the spikes were spinning furiously, the roots weren't taking any damage, so they just shredded the spikes into small pieces like simple weapons.