Nameless King

[Greed Key (Unique)

This key was given to those who could pass a special test and show their greed. It is the road to the most powerful Spirit in history].

"Well, now we have two keys, there are five more to go." Wain muttered as he took the ring in his hand.

[Ring of Greed (Third Chronicle, Legendary)

A special ring that belonged to an ancient ruler who was the greediest man in history. His greed was so great that it became his greatest strength and weakness at the same time.

This ruler had a loving wife to whom, as a parting gift after his death, he left this ring and destroyed part of the runs, so now the ring will work at 100% effectiveness only for women.

If worn on a man:

*Power of all skills increases by 15%, energy expenditure increases by 15%.

If worn on a man:

*Power of all skills increases by 33%, energy expenditure increases by 11%].

"Huh, one of us is lucky to be a member of the fair sex, isn't he?" Ern smiled as he looked at Erza.

"Here you go." Wain tossed her the ring.

Erza nodded and put the ring on, her eyes sparkling with golden light as well as her hair.

"Not bad, but I have to be careful not to waste all my energy accidentally." Erza muttered as she considered the ring.

"Time to get out of here." Wain said before lifting the key.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Space shuddered, so they were back at the massive root. They had been in the palace for quite some time, about a few hours. All but the last ordeal was easy but quite lengthy.

During this time, the area near the Great Tree changed. There were pillars of smoke from fires in all directions, while in the sky, there were occasional attacks from others.

​ "Looks like we've come to the most interesting part." Ern grinned as he grasped his chin.

"By the way, Erza, I think you underplayed this time." Wain stared at her, his eyes as cold as glaciers.

"I agree. You almost didn't take part in the battle? What's the matter?" Ern resented. He missed the most blows in this battle since he fought on the front lines waiting for support.

"I'm sorry. My attacks were useless against him." Erza shook her head slightly.

"Don't be ridiculous. You have another power besides darkness and flame. As long as you use it your power increases manifold, so you would turn this walking stone to dust in a few blows." Wain spoke slowly.

Erza frowned, "It's none of your business why I didn't do it!"

"Well, you seem to be missing something." Wain calmly said before approaching Erza as he abruptly grabbed her by the neck.

It was hard for Erza to breathe while she tried to loosen Wain's grip, but it was impossible as if she were trying to move a whole mountain.

"I understand that you're used to working alone, I'm a selfish bastard myself, but unlike you, I have the brains to realize that we're a team now." Wain pressed his thumb on her throat, "I don't think you'd be happy if the inaction of either of us caused you to be seriously hurt, so be so kind as not to fuck around and do your best, at least while we're working together."

Wain tossed Erza aside, "Let's go. We need to find the others who passed the test and get the keys from them. The sooner we do it, the better."

"Bastard..." Erza muttered while touching her neck.

Alas walked over to her and held out his hand, "Wain can be pretty rough sometimes, can't he?"

"Yeah... He used to run away from me, but now I can't even scratch him." Erza got up slowly.

"I don't know what Wain was talking about, but he had a point. At the very least, you could use that power now, so he couldn't be so rude to you." Alas sighed and followed Wain.

'Alas... You may be right, but... it's more complicated than you think.' Erza muttered to herself.

...

Wain and the others headed east. There was the largest hearth of flames and many pillars of thick smoke. For the Great Tree was all insignificant, but the area next to it was gradually becoming a battlefield of craters, fallen trees, and desiccated rivers.

"This place looked much better a couple of hours ago." Ern shook his head, "People always ruin things."

"You don't have to worry about that." Alas said seriously, "The energy emanating from the Great Tree will quickly turn this land back to its former appearance. Even all our powers aren't enough to stop Great Tree from doing that."

"Well... Which one of them has the key?" Wain muttered as he looked at the battles below.

Not far from the massive root, three groups, Axalts, Plants, and Constructs, were fighting. Each had their own goals, so they were all enemies.

"It's actually getting pretty crowded down here." Erza waved her hand, "Pretty much all the Pillars have gathered here already."

"Yeah. Looks like it. The longer we're here, the more people learn about the Forgotten Forest, though it's not that important. We already have two keys. No one can open the gate without us." Wain muttered as he closed his eyes.

He concentrated on the unique currents of energy that only he could feel. They were pulses emanating from the Running Light, the necessary thing to open the sixth form.

After a moment, Wain sighed and muttered inwardly, 'Just as I thought. I'll have to go into the Great Tree anyway. Well, I'll get there sooner or later.'

"Die!" One of the Axalts exclaimed as he attacked.

His hands were covered in scarlet flame while the sun sign on his chest shone brightly as if it were real. Constructs with Plants created a massive protective barrier in the shape of a pentagon, but Axalt's flaming fist easily penetrated it and created a firestorm that, like a laser, scorched dozens of meters of trees and earth.