Nameless King

"We'll be moving on. Even though this is the Fourth Chronicle area, it's part of Purgatory, so we'd better not linger here." Marlis said with a calm look as she climbed off the boulder.

"Hmm? How are we going to get to Death Shore? Tell me your plan." Wain said with a serious expression.

"It's simple. I'll use zones to get as low as possible. I can sense which zones are connected to Death Shore and which aren't, so now each zone is literally a rung in a long and dangerous ladder for us." Marlis said, shrugged, and looked around.

A few more islands were floating in the distance as well as massive clouds. There was nothing else in the area, just a picture like the pages of a children's fairy tale.

"But, of course, it's a lot more complicated than I'm saying. The Purgatory zones themselves are the strongest spaces that exist at all, so to get to them we have to look for portals." Marlis muttered as she looked up.

The cloud that had been torn by the monsters apart still hadn't recovered as the many pieces slowly merged into each other.

"Wait... Does this mean we have to fight the Dimension Guards in their territory again?" Wain asked with a worried look as he realized that without the containment force of the zone, he wouldn't be able to do anything to them.

Marlis was silent for a while, then turned to him and said, "Not really. Since technically we won't be crossing into another zone but out into open space, the rules of the previous zone will work for us, at least for a while."

"I see..." Wain nodded with a thoughtful look.

"Gradually the zones will become more dangerous just as the number of Soul Pearls in the zones that will cause us many problems..." Marlis muttered as though contemplating exactly what will happen in the future.

"Right... You'll break spaces, creating a breach, so Pearls Hunters will feel the energy from Soul Pearls... Damn, it's more complicated than I imagined." Wain uttered while rubbing his chin.

"Yeah, Pearl Hunters have many methods of feeling pure energy, especially those in the Fourth or Fifth Chronicle. However, they are not our greatest threat, on the contrary, Pearl Hunters can be good bait." Marlis said with a serious look.

"Hmm? Bait? For whom?" Wain said in confusion as he tilted his head.

"For Dimension Guards. The ones we fought against were the weakest in existence. They were all First Rank, so... imagine what would happen if we faced Third Rank Dimension Guards." Marlis uttered with a troubled expression.

"How strong are they?" Wain asked in a calm voice.

"Well, I'd have to use all my strength to deal with two or three, but if I'm attacked by five or more I'll have to run." Marlis said with a deadly look as she clenched her fists as she hated to admit that she couldn't handle something.

'Hmm, so even Marlis has limits, but what about...?' Wain muttered internally as he stared at Marlis and said, "How many would Sven handle?"

Marlis turned around, grinned as a smirk appeared on her face, and said, "Trying to learn as much as you can about us, right? Well, I'll tell you that ten Dimension Guards certainly wouldn't be a problem for him."

Wain just nodded with a meaningful look as though he had heard what he wanted.

"Fine, let's move on. I already know which direction to go." Marlis said before walking to the edge of the island and jumping down.

Wain was surprised as he raised an eyebrow and muttered, "It used to be a real challenge for me to get into the Purgatory Zone, but now I'm willingly going to the most dangerous place... Damn, I hope the seventh form is worth it."

Wain took a step forward as he tumbled down. The place looked magical, but an oppressive atmosphere emanated from everywhere, even from a mere cloud that floated near Wain.

Whoooooosh.

Suddenly a green flame appeared beneath Marlis' feet as she headed east. Her energy increased, but she didn't use more than she needed.

'Hmm? Can she fly? Damn, I can use the fifth form to get wings, but it's definitely not worth it...' Wain inwardly muttered while looking at the receding Marlis.

'That won't be necessary.' Gladius said with a smirk, 'It doesn't use any skills, it's just enough condensed energy, though... you'll certainly need more energy since Marlis is about half as light as you are.'

"I see, I can do like her, but is there any point? It's better to come up with your own, isn't it?" Wain grinned as his aura intensified.

Tremble.

Streams of energy came away from him that turned into two small platforms under his feet, then Wain went forward and the platforms appeared right in front of him, disappearing behind.

'I use denser energy than Marlis, but her energy looks like a cloud, so her volumes are much larger.' Wain said to himself while stepping forward.

After a while, Marlis stopped. It wasn't any particular place, just a certain point in the middle of nowhere.

"Are we there?" Wain asked as he approached her.

"Yeah. Now I'm going to break space, be ready, the chains of this area will help us, so attack everyone you see." Marlis said as she glanced at Wain's hands, "I hate to admit it, but if we're in the same Chronicle, your destructive power surpasses mine...though I doubt anyone but Reidar could compete with you on this."

"Reidar, right? Agh, that was actually a great fight. I wonder what he would have done if he had faced the Dimension Guards?" Wain muttered with a thoughtful look as he touched his chin.

Crackle.

Marlis gathered energy in front of her as she flicked her hand to create a massive magical circle. It began to rotate slowly as though it were trying to make a hole in the air, then a small crack appeared in the space that quickly grew apart.