Nameless King

The ripples kept going through the root, and with the energy, the root kept recovering and trying to capture Wain or Osvald, but one hit was enough to subdue it for a while.

"There they are." Wain said, staring intently at the two Wolves in the distance. They were Pearl Hunters and used a special design to transmit energy to the root.

One of the Wolves inserted crystals into the construct, and the other redirected the energy from them to the root. Next to them lay several bags filled with white crystals, they had plenty of supplies.

"Great, I can't wait to get started." Osvald smiled, and the orb in his hands enlarged and became several times brighter. He leaned over and threw it at the Hunters. The orb flew toward them with tremendous speed, and there was a deafening explosion.

"Pfft, that was too easy. I expected more." Osvald shook his hands.

Wain was in no hurry to rejoice, something embarrassed him, and you could see it in his face.

"Hey! What was that?! Who are you people?!" Suddenly, the voice of the Hunters rang out.

"What? They managed to survive?" Osvald was puzzled.

The cloud of dust from the explosion slowly dissipated, and the Hunters appeared. They were unharmed as well as the structure, but a meter in front of them, everything was destroyed.

"Looks like that's what the old man was talking about." Wain pointed to a crack floating in the air. It was a damaged barrier that protected the Hunters and the structure from the blast.

"I don't care. I'm tired of waiting, we'll just burst in." Osvald uttered and turned into a white flash. He instantly reached the barrier and struck with all his might.

Tremble.

The barrier shuddered, and many cracks appeared, but it instantly recovered.

"Hmm? That fast? Damn, the old man didn't tear it down, breaking through it will be a problem."

'Did he just almost break the barrier?! The hunters thought to themselves.

"Hurry up and report it to the boss!" One of them shouted and ran away in terror. The second Hunter followed him.

"Huh, how scary they are. In the days of my youth, such cowards had no right to call themselves a Pearl Hunter, they would have been disgraced and banished forever." Osvald grinned.

"Come on, we don't have much time. I don't want to be buried alive here." Wain said and ran to the left, into a tunnel leading up.

They quickly climbed up and found themselves on the surface. It was an expanse of rocky terrain, overgrown with moss and covered in lianas.

"Halt!" Hunter said menacingly, and a group of Wolves instantly surrounded Wain and Osvald.

"Ugh, and they're faster than I thought." Osvald muttered.

"If you want to live, then hand us your rings and surrender yourself! The boss will decide your fate!"

The group commander was a muscular Beastfolk with thick brown hair and a massive sword behind his back.

The other Hunters pointed their weapons at Wain and Osvald. They had a vicious look and a menacing and bloodthirsty aura emanating from them.

"What kind of nonsense are you talking?" Osvald uttered.

"Are you deaf?! Get on your knees, or I'll behead you right here and now!" The Commander shouted and armed himself with his sword. His aura intensified, and the weapon was covered in a brutal wind.

"Ahahahahaha, I'm not going anywhere, I came here to fight, and you assholes will do it!"

Tremble.

A torrent of energy erupted from Osvald's, and a powerful pressure came down on the Hunters.

"Attack!" The Commander proclaimed and pounced on Osvald.

The Hunter swung his sword and created a hurricane tearing everything apart, but Osvald didn't even take a step back. He smiled and grabbed the blade with his hand.

The whirlwind, as well as the wind on the weapon, dissipated, and the Commander's aura, weakened considerably.

"Is that all you can do? How did you become a Pearl Hunter? Though that's not true, you're not a Pearl Hunter, you just decided to call yourself one." Osvald shook his head, and a loud crackling sound was heard.

The blade of the sword cracked, and then Osvald tightened his grip. The weapon snapped in two, and Osvald punched the Hunter sharply in the stomach with his fist.

The Commander flew sideways like a projectile and rolled over the ground until he regained balance.

Osvald bent down, picked up a fragment of his sword, and threw it at the Hunter like a throwing knife. The Commander didn't have time to react, and the blade plunged into his head.

"Well? Shall we continue?" Osvald smiled, and the Hunters shuddered with fear. They dropped their weapons and fled, terror, consuming their minds and hearts.

"Hunting? I love it!"

"Wait." Wain stopped him with a wave of his hand.

Snap.

Wain snapped his finger, and the space next to the hunters began to distort.

Transparent walls appeared around them, and then the entire group was trapped inside the cube.

"Let us out!"

"Damn it!"

"Please don't kill us!"

The hunters didn't stop screaming and begging for mercy, they felt death was near.

Wain paid no attention to this. He indifferently clenched his hand in his fist, and the cube began to shrink in size.

"Oh, it's a horrible death, I wouldn't want to be in their shoes." Osvald shook his head as he looked at the suffering Hunters. Their flesh and bones snapped and crushed as if under a multi-ton press until the huge cube that could hold several people was the size of a ball.

Wain canceled the skill, and several souls burst out of the cube and headed toward him.

"I see you've gotten pretty good at this new skill."

"Yeah... one house had to suffer seriously for that..."

"And where do we go next?" Wain looked around. In the distance was a fortress over which a purple flag waved, and on the other side was a massive tree piercing the clouds.