Chapter 242 - One Against All

Wain decided to ally to gain bonuses from the two Voids as well as to weaken Zarala with chains significantly, but he had another goal. His and Luar's zones merged by passage, and now his mates from Forest of Frozen Dreams could come to his aid.

Frigus was the first. He knew right away that the situation was critical. Otherwise, Wain would not have rushed to form an alliance. 

When the passage appeared, Frigus immediately headed there and attacked the angel with lightning speed, leaving an 'X'-shaped cut on his chest and stepping back.

"That's your monster?!" Luar exclaimed cheerfully.

"Yes, he's one of the three strongest in my zone."

"Holy crap, he's a swordsman with paired swords. How cool is that!"

"Don't relax. We could tilt the situation in our direction, but our opponent is still dangerous. He used his a Beyond. I have no idea what he's capable of now." Wain said warily and made three swift swings with his sword.

The icy blades came down on Zaral, but he did not dodge. The angel swung his flaming wings once and created a flaming vortex that destroyed the ice blades.

"What's going on here?" Elegan exclaimed as he entered the passage.

What happened was a surprise to him, but he would back up Wain.

When Elegan realized who the enemy was, he immediately used one of his skills. He took a watch out of his pocket and pressed a button. 

The number '3' appeared on the dial, and then a purple magic circle formed over the angel and in front of Elegan.

Elegan struck the magic circle with his palm, and the circle above the Zaral exploded. The purple energy waves tossed the angel aside and inflicted wounds on him.

Then Luar appeared before him, hitting him in the jaw with his fist with all his might, from bottom to top. This could be called a powerful uppercut. Zaral was unable to block this attack, and his jaw cracked.

However, that was not all. Frigus decided to continue the series of attacks and flew near the angel like a deadly disc and left a deep cut on his wing. The flames were powerful, and Frigus' blades melted, but he ran into the Ice Caves and quickly recovered them.

"You bastards! You think you can beat me with numerical advantage?!" Zaral exclaimed and spread his wings to the side.

Then he swung his sword around himself and unleashed a wave of fire on Frigus and Wain, comparable in scale to an avalanche.

Wain did not retreat, he pointed his sword forward, and the temperature around him dropped precipitously. His cloak soared upward as if from a strong current of wind. 

Hundreds of ice crystals erupted from beneath the ground, forming a wave of ice. It met with a wave of flame, and they destroyed each other.

"What?!" Zaral exclaimed. He could not believe that Wain was able to block his attack.

"You are nothing but a pathetic fool who dared to invade this Void inconsiderately. Why do you think no Pearl Hunter has come here besides you?"

"What kind of nonsense are you talking?" Zaral barked.

"They looked at my status and Flaming Lion's status and realized they would find nothing but doom in this place. Simply put, your haste has led to your death." Wain said calmly.

Zarala's eyes filled with blood. He was furious and was about to incinerate Wain and everyone else to the ground. However, suddenly a huge, dark silhouette appeared behind him and began stomping on him like on a moth.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The massive silhouette continued to stomp on Zaral, and then a slowly walking Dark Elf appeared in the passage. 

A golden goblet filled with wine was in his hands, and his gait was a bit wobbly. He sometimes swayed from side to side as if he had difficulty keeping his balance.

"Sorry, I'm late... I guess I drank too much..." Reto muttered and took another sip even though he was already very drunk.

"Wow, is that a Dark Elf?" Luar exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, when I offered him to join me, I didn't think I was taking an alcoholic on my team. However, that does not prevent him from being effective. Zaral can't even stand up."

Wain decided he couldn't pass up such a chance and canceled the second form. Then gray energy appeared around him, and a black crown with a closed eye appeared on his head. 

His hands were covered in energy, and two creepy mouths appeared on his palms.

He quickly got to the angel, who closed his wings to block the attacks of the huge illusion created by Reto.

Wain struck a powerful blow, and a silhouette of a jaw appeared above him, which closed sharply.

"AAAAAAARGH!" Zaral cried out in pain as part of his wing disappeared.

For angels, wings were a special place where most of their nerve endings were concentrated. This meant that any even the smallest wound on a wing was comparable to a fracture in pain.

When Wain ripped some of the flesh off the angel's wing, the pain was many times worse than an open fracture with the bone shattered into several pieces.

Wain launched several more deadly attacks, and at that moment, Zaral realized that if this continued, he would die. Angel decided to use his most powerful attack, and his halo glowed brightly and then began to crack.

Zaral decided to sacrifice his halo to survive and kill all his enemies. The halo was supposed to explode and destroy everyone with heavenly light. However, Wain was not going to let that happen.

He gripped tightly to the angel's wings, and then his hair began to lengthen and turn white. His strength increased, and he single-handedly ripped the angel's wings off and tossed them aside. Zaral roared in pain like a battered animal.

Then Wain gripped the halo tightly with both hands, and the jaws on his palms opened wide. They tore the halo apart and ground it like a crusher.

Zaral no longer had any trump cards or secret tricks left. He used what he could, but his opponents were too strong.

Normally, Wain would never have defeated Zaral since the angel was Second Chronicle. 

However, Zaral was severely weakened, while Wain, on the contrary, was greatly strengthened and helped by Luar, Frigus, Elegan, and Reto. Each of them was quite strong, especially in their territory.

The Ring of Damned shone brightly, and a platinum sword appeared in Wain's hand. He pierced Zaral's heart and twisted the weapon several times, turning the angel's flesh into a bloody pulp. Zaral could not resist it and soon let out his last breath.

A red soul exploded from his body and entered Wain's body. 

[Soul of Flame Wing (Destroyed)

Chronicle: Second

Rating: Ascendant]

'Hmm, Ascendant Rating... Zaral was very strong, but it doesn't seem enough to have a Legendary Rating Soul. Damn, who would I have to defeat to fulfill one of the conditions?' Wain pondered.

Wain didn't crush this soul since it didn't make sense. He couldn't get stats or an item since it was Destroyed Soul. He decided to save it for the future or to trade with Sven.

"It was hard, but we won." Luar said.

"Yes, Luar, I want to break the alliance between our Voids. It was a temporary decision. I hope you understand that."

"Sure, no problem. My zone is weaker, and our alliance is unfair. I don't like that either. However, before you go, I want to give you this."

Luar stretched his hand forward, and a gold coin with a flame sign on one side and a lion's head on the other appeared in it. It was the key to Luar's area.

"Huh, thank you. In that case, I can't stay away."

Wain's eyes sparkled, and a black coin appeared in his hand with a crown on one side and an open mouth on the other.

They exchanged keys, and Wain was about to leave, but Luar stopped him again.

"Wain, if it weren't for you, I'd probably be dead today. I was lucky that I decided to show a Soul Pearl to you and not to anyone else. However, the thing is useless to me, and I believe you deserve it as a reward for saving me."

"As you wish."

Wain did not refuse such a valuable gift. Also, Luar was right. He had no special mechanism and could not absorb a Soul Pearl. 

Of course, he could, like Wain, try to do it during a Beyond, but Luar didn't know about that method. Wain did not know if another human could absorb a Soul Pearl in this way or if this was a feature of his Beyond.

Then Wain said goodbye to Luar and returned to the planet a bit later. By that time, the first part of the operation was over, and Last Light was about to attack the tourist area.

Wain went with them, and after two hours of travel and killing hundreds of monsters, they reached the right place.

High stone walls protected the base of the main organization in the tourist area. People set up protective towers, installed weapons, and killed any monsters that came close.

The base was the largest hotel on the seashore. There were many people there during the apocalypse, and they were able to quickly create a protective barricade of improvised materials and launch a counterattack.

Unlike the slums, where there were many food and protection problems, the situation was much better in the tourist area. It was nothing compared to the progress of Last Light, though.

"Okay, let's go!" Gisle said loudly, and several dozen people rushed into the base.

Wain decided to jump up on the stone wall and watch the situation from high up.

The people were shocked that they were suddenly attacked and scattered to the sides. After a while, the strongest members of the tourist district organization came out into the main square.

They were few in number, about twenty people. Each of them was in First Chronicle, which was a pretty good result.

At the front were Gisle, Agnes, Grut, Rita, and Teresa. Teresa decided to start the battle. She made some quick and accurate swings with her rapier and inflicted severe wounds on one of her opponents.

She was attacked from the side, but Agnes appeared next to Teresa. She blocked the attack and retaliated to the man's stomach with a fist. This blow was very powerful, and the man struggled to his feet afterwards.

"Who the hell are you?! What do you want with us! Shouldn't people unite against a common threat?" A tall man with dark skin and black hair exclaimed.

In his hand was a long poleaxe. He wore bulky and sturdy armor, amber in color.

"Huh, of course, people have to unite, but there can only be one ruler in this town, and that's Last Light. I offer you two options, either you join us, or your heads will be on the ground in a minute. It's up to you."

The man frowned. He knew this situation was hopeless. They were losing in both quantity and quality. Teresa and Agnes were both capable of defeating most of their strongest members.

"What guarantee do I have that you won't attack us after we surrender? You say we should unite, but you act like pathetic marauders."

"It doesn't matter how we act. Our goal is to take this territory, and you can't stop us from doing that. You are not strong enough to do that, while we already have most of the city under our control. If you refuse now, you will only make things worse for yourself."

It was a difficult yet rather obvious choice. The head of the tourist district organization didn't want his mates and friends to die because of his ego.

He stared at the smiling Gisle and tossed aside his weapon.