Nameless King

Wain, Erza, Ern, and Alas moved on. They stuck to their old tactics, they headed for the big roots where the battles took place, and if there was a sign on the root, they waited for someone to pass the trial in their place. They had already passed two trials, so that was enough.

The situation was similar with Markaz, each time, whoever passed the trial was very strong and could escape but had to leave the key behind. Sometimes it was a group of several people, but that was no problem for Wain. Eventually, they were able to collect three more keys in a few hours.

"Well, well, six out of seven." Wain muttered while looking at the keys in his hand, "There's only one left, the Wrath Key. That sounds dangerous."

"Wain, what shall we do?" Erza asked as he approached him, "Shall we go to the gate?"

"No. That doesn't make sense. Even if we meet the owner of the last key there while we're fighting, the others will realize that the most interesting thing is happening there. In the end, even though we will have all the keys, we will enter the Great Tree with the others, so it will be a real failure."

"I agree." Alas nodded, "But we don't know who has the last key. All the battles have subsided. Lately, only minor skirmishes appear, but they're far from the main roots."

"Hey, maybe we can use the power of the Keys?" Ern suggested, "I know they only point in the direction when another key is close, but the radius has increased each time. What do you think about that?"

"Hmmm..." Wain pondered as he caught himself by the chin, "It might work, but I need time. I'm good at spouting a powerful flow of energy, but I definitely lack subtlety."

"In that case, let me try it." Alas stepped forward before holding his hand, "I can find that last key."

"Good. I have faith in you." Wain tossed him the keys.

Alas nodded and sat on the ground in a lotus pose. He placed the keys near him, concentrated, and the wind slowly flowed toward him. The wind picked up the keys as energy flowed toward them.

"Great. I see." Alas muttered, opened his eyes, and the keys turned in one direction, to the north.

"Well, now we know where to go." Wain muttered as he looked at the shining crown of the Great Tree, "Soon, we'll get to the fun part. I can't wait to see what's inside."

"Let's go. The last key awaits us." Ern uttered before running forward. He turned into a dark flash that jumped from root to root, covering dozens of meters per second.

"His mood does change rather quickly, though I agree with him." Wain nodded, and eerie wings sprang from his back.

The path was not close, as they found the last key on the island's south side, so they had to run from one side to the other.

...

"Hey... What's that?" Ern said as he stopped.

At the north root, there were several structures that were clearly not ancient ruins. Next to it were several flags with a Purple Carnation pattern on them.

"Damn... I completely forgot about them..." Alas muttered, "This is the second Royal Family. We stopped White Clover from sneaking in here for a while, but there were no barriers for Purple Carnation."

"Purple Carnation... I have a thing for them." Wain said while staring intently at the Elves in the camp, "Where are you...?"

"Wain, do you want to fight any of them?" Alas asked.

"Yeah... Anyway, someone has the key, and someone is my target. It's a personal matter." Wain said as suddenly his pupils dilated, "There he is."

Alas looked in the same direction as a shudder went through his body, "Wait... That's August Heim... What is he doing here...?!"

"Hmm? Is that some kind of tough guy?" Ern said carelessly as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes... He is one of the strongest members of the Royal Family, though he does not have their blood flowing through him. He has a special status as he is the personal guard of the Head of Purple Carnation, so I don't understand why he chose to come here..." Alas muttered.

'Huh, Sven didn't lie. He actually knows things the others don't even think about.' Wain said to himself.

"The keys are pointing in his direction. Do you think he has the key?" Erza asked.

"Yes. It couldn't be any other way. There's a direct reek of danger from him." Wain said as his aura intensified, "Looks like this will be our final fight before we get to the Great Tree. I'll take August, you take care of the rest of the Elves."

"Okay." They nodded.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

August turned sharply in their direction. Even though they were hundreds of meters away, the slight hesitation was enough to spot Wain. His gaze was cold and sharp, as though it could pierce Wain.

"Good. It looks like he's ready for a fight." Wain smirked as he raised his hand and a dark crown appeared on it, "Well, I guess we should start with something interesting."

The air above the camp shuddered, and space warped. A massive eye with thick gray energy appeared there. The pupil narrowed as a dense ray of gray energy burst from it.

The ray instantly broke the barrier over the camp and headed towards the Elves, carrying destruction with it.

Crackling.

August drew his sword from its sheath, took a few swings, and returned the sword to its sheath. Several streaks appeared in the air as space was split into several parts. The beam shattered into small shards, and the destructive energy slowly dried up.

"What was that?" Erza exclaimed, "Even while I was here, I could feel the tremendous power of that ray, but it quickly destroyed it?"

"Huh, that's actually an adversary for you, Wain." Ern grinned, "He just cut space into several pieces, so the energy currents lost their connection for a while. He's fucking dangerous."