'What the hell was that...?' Wain inwardly muttered while in disbelief as his eyes opened wide, 'Wasn't that man incredibly strong...? I was practically petrified because of his overwhelming aura.'

Wain was ready to use everything he had to survive his attacker's attack as he instinctively knew that he would receive very serious wounds anyway.

'Yeah... This Plant one was on the God Stage... You're still a long way from his level, he could have killed you with Virion with a single swing...' The Abyss Artist said in a serious voice as his gaze turned to the Alucard floating in the sky.

'Gog Stage...? What the fuck... That vampire is Alucard, right? Damn... It only needed one powerful blow to end someone on the God Stage... That's crazy.' Wain said to himself in a daze as a wave of shivers ran through his body.

Whoooooooooosh.

Alucard turned as his cold eyes went to Wain and Virion. He looked directly at Wain, but Virion, too, felt a terrifying pressure as if the gaze of some ancient creature was directed at him.

He stared at them for a while as if to say that they were safe and could fight as long as they needed to.

'Damn... I wouldn't want him to be my enemy. Not only is he immortal, but he's also incredibly strong... Is it possible to defeat someone like him?' Wain inwardly muttered as a slight smile appeared on his face, then he shook his head, 'Well, at least I'm lucky he'll defend our fight.'

Whooooooooooosh.

Alucard stepped forward as he appeared on the hill beside Krakos. Gael watched the show with a sly smile on his face as he knew that getting Alucard to be serious was quite difficult.

Those who wanted to follow the man and attack Virion and Wain now dared not take a single step forward. Many of them were on the God Stage, but they trembled with fear as no one wanted his enemy to be the Vampire Progenitor.

"Well, well, you are, as always, quite testy. Hah, I've heard a thousand times that those on the Transcendence Stage are thought of as sages, calm and wise, it's quite ironic to realize how much their ideas disagree with reality." Gael grinned as he turned to Alucard.

"If you live as long as we do, you can go crazy if you constantly pretend to be a wise man. Many people don't know this, but even the Progenitor of Dragons, that old man, is not at all what he tries to look like. Alucard said with a confident look while staring intently at the top of the shining tree, "Perhaps that's why I'm so glad that so much will depend on the outcome of the battle between these two."

"If Wain wants to win, he must somehow deal with Death Phantom. It's a dangerous creature, though his power is also unique." Gael muttered with a thoughtful look while rubbing his chin.

Step. Step. Step.

Wain with a slow step headed toward Virion while the roots gradually surrounded him, sprouting along the walls of the arena. However, this did not frighten Wain at all, for all his attention was focused on the dark silhouette with the menacing aura.

"I wonder what you would do if you didn't have all these artifacts?" Wain asked with an indifferent expression as he tilted his head.historical

Virion answered nothing, he just took a few steps back, closer to the healing flowers on the roots. There were only four of these roots, so each one was especially valuable.

"Silent, yeah...? Well, that's no surprise. You attacked me because you want to take the power of the Nameless King from me, but at the same time, you are incapable of fighting me without external means." Wain said in a calm voice as his cold gaze pierced Virion.

"Hah, it doesn't matter how I do it if I can defeat you. Do you think your words have any effect on me? You are so strong only because you possess the power of the Nameless King as well as his indestructible sword. Without those two factors, there's no way you could be one of the strongest in the Fourth Chronicle!" Virion uttered with a slight smile on his face as his aura intensified.

Wain frowned. He knew there was truth in Virion's words, but there was no way he could change it since that was his fate.

'Fuck... I hate to admit it, but he's right. If I didn't have so many abilities and Gladius, I would have died a long time ago. What's more, of all the trump cards I have it's only a Beyond, I might be the only one without the Form!' Wain wondered as he clenched his teeth tightly as well as his sword hilt.

He had been trying to find out the answers from the start, but the closer he got to the answers the more he realized that much of his success was foregone from the start. Wain was not stupid, so to him, it was obvious that his natural skills were not enough to become the best in such a vast world.

'Wain... He's trying to mess with your mind...' Gladius said in a worried manner, 'I can't maintain this form for long, so you don't have much time left and he knows it. You must hurry.'

'Sure. I was just a little distracted. It won't help him anyway, in the time I have left I'll destroy all his artifacts!' Wain stepped forward with a serious look as his aura intensified.

Streams of darkness surrounded him while Death Phantom slowly moved toward him. The creature's gaze was calm, but it gave Wain goosebumps as if to say he didn't need to fight it.

"Hmm... You're actually scary, but I've seen some who were more horrible than you and they weren't even monsters." Wain calmly said before attacking.

His sword was covered in dense darkness as the massive energy blade came down on Death Phantom.