When Wain suddenly disappeared into the King''s ss figure, the situation in the zone changed dramatically. This action was the catalyst for the beginning of the next phase.


    Everyone realized that they had to follow Wain, otherwise, they would be crushed by the massive chess pieces. A started to act faster than the others, so she was already at the chess piece three secondster.


    Finch and Dia also ran there, but their position was worse than the others. They had to dodge the falling pieces and the broken ground under them.


    The only one standing still was Erza. She was biting her nails with a strange face and muttering something. She didn''t know how to act in such a situation, too much had happened for her in one moment.


    ''He''s a human, but does it matter? Of course not. My heart pounds like a fucking jackhammer when I look at him. Nameless, you should be mine.'' Thought Erza, and the red half of her hair glowed brightly.


    The next moment it turned into a crimson sh and in a few seconds approached the figure of the King.


    Erza looked at A running and thought, ''It''s too crowded here, it''s better if I get rid of them, and no one will disturb me.''


    Whooooooooosh.


    She waved her hand, and a dark cross headed toward A. The girl didn''t expect Erza to attack her and try to defend herself suddenly, but suddenly there was a green sh in front of her.


    It was Agis. He was the fastest among them and caught up with A in one second.


    "Looks like I''m right on time as always, doesn''t it?" Agis said smiling and swung his de.


    The swing created a windde that shattered the dark cross into pieces. Then Agis turned back into a green sh and entered the chess piece along with A and Keya.


    Erza didn''t react in any way, she kept running forward. She had nothing to worry about, she knew she was the strongest.


    Every step she took a left a moltenva-like trail and massive cracks on the ground.


    Suddenly an elephant chess piece fell on Erza. She jumped up, and her right leg caught fire in scarlet mes. She struck a powerful blow, and the piece was shattered into many parts.


    Whoooosh.


    Erza bounced off the wreckage and entered the portal.


    Finch and Dia werest, but they weren''t going to give up. They didn''t have trumps like the elves, but anything could happen in the Purgatory zones.


    "Dia, go!" Said Finch running into the portal.


    ...


    When Wain entered the portal, he saw an incredible scene. For the first second, he thought he was in space.


    He saw the night sky and severals in the distance. There were hundreds of small asteroids flying around, which could be used to reach thes.


    At the very end was a massive ck sun. Wain felt an energy fluctuation emanating from there and immediately came to his senses. He used the Sign of Lightning and jumped onto the nearest asteroid.


    He didn''t have enough Strength to fight Erza or Agis, so all he could do was run forward.


    Thirty secondster, he had already traversed over ten asteroids, at which point a portal opened on the first asteroid, and Agis, A, and Keya emerged from it.


    ''Damn, it looks like the chase is about to start. I''m not sure I can get away from them.'' Wain thought, looking at the elves.


    A and Keya immediately ran after Wain, Agis stood still. He looked around the area and enjoyed the incredible view. A few secondster, another portal appeared next to Agis.


    "Looks like it''s time for a little run." Agis said with a slight smile on his face, and his eyes glittered. He turned into a green sh and traversed two asteroids in a second.


    Then Erza came out of the portal, she also ran forward.


    When Wain saw how fast Agis was moving, he got worried. Agis was too fast and could have easily caught up with him. Then Wain began to think about how he could speed up, but he had no options.


    His boots were increasing his speed, but it wasn''t enough.


    ''Hmm, I don''t have enough strength to fight, but I can use the Code of Light and Darkness. If I can somehow activate the ''dark effect'' of this form and increase my Strength and Agility, I''ll get to the dark sun first.'' Wain pondered.


    Agis was getting close, and he wasn''t going to stop. It was like a walk for him, no obstacle could slow him down. Erza was strong, but she was inferior to him in speed.


    ''No.'' Wain shook his head, ''I can''t hope for luck. I don''t know how to make the first form take the dark side. I need a more reliable n.''


    Whooooooosh.


    Three secondster, Agis appeared behind Wain.


    "Hey guy, I''m sorry, but I''m going to have to stop you." The elf said, smiling, and swung his curved sword.


    Wain didn''t dodge, instead, he turned around and swung his sword sharply. Agis was a Second Chronicle creature, but his power was limited now.


    Wain had already been on First Chronicle for a long time, and some of his stats were approaching the limit.


    If he hadn''t been injured, he could have fought Agis on equal footing and might even have won.


    Agis knew that Wain had the vial of blood essence under his cloak, but he saw that there was nothing there during the attack. Agis looked at Wain and saw his sly smirk.


    Touch.


    Wain grabbed Agis by the wrist, and several mad ghosts flew out of his cloak. Agis tried to get out of the grip, but he failed. Wain used all his strength, and his grip was impossible to break.


    Whooooooosh.


    As the ghosts prated Agis''s head, he shook and, the next moment, grabbed his head. Agis screamed in pain and was disoriented for a few seconds.


    "Agis!" Shouted A and rushed to his aid.


    "Great." Proimed Wain and slipped his hand with the ring under his cloak.


    Wain realized that he couldn''t run away from Agis. It was impossible, their speeds were too different, but then Wain thought, ''I don''t need to run away from him, I just need to make him stop chasing me.''


    Wain stopped Agis for a short period using his cloak skill, but that was only the first part of his n.


    The Ring of Damned glowed brightly, and the next moment Wain thrust a syringe of the green liquid into Agis'' neck.


    Wain had recently obtained this syringe when he went down to the sewers for the third part of the map.


    The poison in the syringe increased all stats by 10%, gave resistance to poison and immunity to simple illusions and hypnosis.


    However, the thing had one fatal w, which is why Wain decided he wouldn''t use the syringe for himself. The poison made the target go into a rage and turn into a berserker.


    It was the best n Wain coulde up with.


    As the syringe emptied, Agis began to breathe rapidly, and the veins in his body swelled. His eyes turned red and animal-like.


    "Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggg!!!" Agis roared furiously and began swinging his sword in all directions as if distraught.


    Wain stepped aside and jumped onto the next asteroid.


    The asteroid beneath Agis turned into a multitude of debris and small rocks.


    "Agis! What are you doing?!" A screamed, running up, and it was a critical mistake.


    He was not himself, and so he reacted instinctively. Wain was quiet and not attracting attention, he was running toward his goal. On the other hand, A was like an annoying siren at that moment.


    Whoooooooosh.


    Agis jumped away from the wreckage, and it turned to dust. He was instantly in front of A and attacked her.


    A was shocked that he decided to attack her and didn''t have time to react to the attack. The curved de left a massive cut on her arm, and Agis attacked again, but this time A managed to step aside.


    "Agis! Calm down! What''s happening to you?!" A eximed, trying to bring Agis to his senses, but he didn''t hear her.


    Agis would be in berserk mode until the venom wore off, smashing everything in sight. It was a veritable killing machine but devoid of intelligence and reason.


    "It''s a good thing I decided not to take any chances and saved the syringe for an asion like this." Mumbled Wain looking back.


    By then, he was more than halfway there.


    Wain had managed to get rid of the elves, and they wouldn''t be able to stop him until the poison was over, but Wain had one more problem. Erza was like aet hurtling toward him despite the asteroids.


    Her every move left craters and cracks in the asteroids. Nothing could stop her when she had a target.


    For the first time in years, she felt alive again, and for the first time in her life, her heart began to beat fast.


    She didn''t care how Wain felt, she wanted him, and she couldn''t let him run away.


    ''Damn, I sure like a bit crazy girls, but that''s not what I''d want at all. I''ve got to speed up, or I''ll be in serious trouble.'' Thought Wain and ran forward with all his might.


    Finch and Dia had already passed through the portal, but they were too far away for Wain to worry about them. His only problem was Erza.


    ...


    "Great, looks like I made it." Said Wain as he jumped to thest asteroid.


    He had onest step to take, and he would hit the ck sun, but suddenly a red sh appeared in front of him.


    Wain immediately realized what had happened and stepped aside to stand on the edge of the asteroid.


    "Nameless, stop, you''reing with me. You have no other choice." Erza said seriously.


    She waved her hand, and a magma cross hovered over Wain.


    Wain frowned. He had only a few steps and onest leap to make it into the ck sun, but he couldn''t do it. The sword of Damocles hung over him, and Erza would have no trouble catching up to him at that distance.


    ''Fuck, I definitely can''t beat her at this point. What I need to do...?'' Wain thought to himself.


    "Why do you need me? Aren''t there any other candidates to pair you with?" Asked Wain.


    "No. Like it or not, you''re the only one I can be with, and you have no right to refuse. You are weaker than me, your best bet is to be mine and be under my protection." Erza said seriously.


    ''Yeah, I definitely wouldn''t want to be an Inerian. Their matriarchy is elevated to absolute. I flinch when she says that.'' Wain thought.


    ''Am I the only one? You saw me today for the first time in your life. If you can fall in love in a situation like that, you should have no problem with the right candidate."


    "That''s not true." Erza shook her head. "This situation is different. You don''t have to resist. I don''t want to hurt you."


    "You''re strange."


    "What? Why?"


    "Even if I go with you now, would that make sense? We''ll be together, but you''ll know it wasn''t a mutual decision. Would you really be okay with a situation where your partner doesn''t have sincere feelings for you?"


    "Of course, I''ll provide you with protection, and my love, that''s all you need." Erza replied seriously. This attitude wasmonce to the Inerians, while to Wain, it sounded wild.


    "Okay, I get it." Wain muttered.


    Erza smiled. Her n worked, and Wain agreed to go with her, but suddenly Wain slipped his hand under his cloak and pulled out a massive gun from there.


    "What are you doing?" Erza said with a frown, "Do you think it can hurt me? I can get to you in a heartbeat."


    "I know." With a sly smile on his face, he said. "This gun is not meant for you."


    The next moment Wain put the gun to his temple and put his finger on the trigger.


    When Erza saw this, she was stunned and petrified. She did not expect Wain to make such a crazy move suddenly.


    In any other situation, Wain''s action would have been like a joke or stupidity, but in this case, it was genius.


    From a conversation with Erza, Wain realized that he was special and indispensable to her for some reason. Then he had an interesting idea.


    He needed a way to make Erza leave him alone, at least for a while, but he couldn''t fight her now. It would be suicide.


    Wain decided to make it so that Erza could not act recklessly and rely on force.


    Now Erza had two options: she could kill Wain and lose the chance to be with him forever or let him go and then find him to try again.


    Obviously, in this situation where Wain was irreceable, she had no choice but to let him go. She didn''t want to do that, but Wain put her in that position.


    Even though the gun was at his temple, he won, not Erza. She would losеs in every situation, she only had to choose the lesser of two evils.


    Wain smiled and took a step back. Erza bit her lip to the blood but stood still. She dared not take a step. Of course, Wain could bluff, but the risk was too great.


    "I must admit I''ve never met a woman like you before, you truly are extraordinary, but if I ever have a rtionship, I won''t be the bitch in it. So I have to turn down your offer." Said Wain and jumped off the ledge.


    He continued to hold the gun at his temple until the veryst moment when he disappearedpletely into the ck sun.


    "Shit!" Shouted Erza, and with all her might, struck the asteroid with her fist.


    This blow was like the hammer of a god, or rather of a devil, just as destructive and incredible. The asteroid was practically wiped to dust.


    ...


    When Wain hit the ck sun, he found himself in a strange ce. It was a long, stone corridor with identical paintings hanging on the walls.


    Each one depicted an aristocrat with a dark orb in his hand and red robes, but his face was hidden by the paint.


    An altar on whichy a white masky at the end of the corridor.


    "I see. It looks like I finally saw a faceless aristocrat."