Nameless King



Each race had its own Progenitor, in most cases it was the strongest and oldest member of the race, however, sometimes there were exceptions.

The Progenitor of Plants was one of the most secretive persons since Plants rarely came into contact with other races, but everyone, regardless of their status, showed their sincere respect to Polosa. She was practically a mother to all Plants, as it was her unique energy that allowed other Plants to be born. It was such a singular case of all the races in existence.

"Sven Hellem, Osvald and Marlis... Olax said you would come." Polosa said calmly, while maintaining the majesty in her voice, "I hope you know the purpose of all this."

Sven nodded, "Sure. Do you want to discuss it here, or shall we go to a special place?" Sven looked intently at Polosa as if trying to get inside her mind.

Polosa remained silent, then she waved her hand, and four guards stepped forward, whose leader was Arden.

"Mrs. Polosa, what is going on?" Sven looked up with mild annoyance.

Polosa let out a light sigh, "It's just a precaution. According to our arrangement, I'm going to give you the most valuable resource in our world, so I'm sure you're the Sven Hellem."

Sven frowned, "Mrs. Polosa... I understand your concern, but right now you are disrespecting the most powerful people in all of Arkan World. Do you really think Mr. Olax could make such a foolish mistake and allow someone to impersonate me?"

Polosa stared at Sven for a moment, then she waved her hand, "Well if it makes you feel better, I'm ready to apologize for the inconvenience. However, the stakes are too high, so you'll have to go through the test anyway. Osvald and Marlis don't have to participate."

Sven took a deep breath, gradually calming down and accepting the situation, "Agh... Though I don't like it, it's not like I have any other choice. What do you want me to do?"

Polosa grinned, "Isn't it obvious? Stand one minute against my strongest guards. Four Plants on the God Stage against you alone. You can't use energy, I don't want your skirmish to destroy my castle. If you're real, you'll only get away with a few scratches."

Sven frowned, looked arrogantly at the guards before him, and with a sigh said, "Fine, I agree. You have exactly sixty seconds."

Whoooooooooooooooooosh.

At the same moment, one of the guards rushed right at Sven, aiming his spear at his neck. Sven calmly took a step back, dodging the attack, but that was only the beginning. The other three guards attacked simultaneously, clamping down on Sven from all sides. His only option was to jump up and retreat, which he did, finding himself a few meters away.

"Not bad... For your queen's personal guard, you are well trained. Even if you were attacked by a Nameless King, you could still hold him off for a while." Sven muttered, touching his cheek with a bleeding rune on it.

'Hah, Sven... You're either lying or overestimating these knights...' Wain muttered as an evil smirk appeared on his face, 'If they would have faced me five hundred years ago, I would have had enough with a few sword swings to cut them apart... Although, you are holding back anyway...'

He looked at the bloody tips of his fingers with a deep gaze as the four guards again roared in his direction.

'Sven Hellem! Show me what the third seedy of all Arkans can do!" Arden exclaimed with a serious expression. 

Sven narrowed his eyes, then he stepped forward.

Crackle.

With the outside of his palm he struck off one spear, then he plunged his palm into the belly of the second guard, causing him to vomit a mouthful of blood. The third guard almost managed to reach him, but Sven leaned in at the last moment and struck the guard in the jaw in a smooth motion, tossing him aside.

Arden grew wary as he made a sharp lunge, firmly holding his spear which was heading for Sven at breakneck speed.

Whooooooooooooooooooosh.

Sven's silhouette blurred, in a heartbeat behind Arden. Arden was about to counterattack sharply, but before he could blink, Sven's palms were at his neck, covered in a dense layer of energy.

"For all I know... We're supposed to fight without using energy." Arden muttered with a slight smile on his face as his serious look stopped.

"Agh... I'm sorry, it's just that your attack might have put a hole in me... I didn't come here for a death battle, so I had to break a rule." Sven inhaled, dropped his hands, and turned around.

He met Polosa's gaze and calmly said, "I guess that was enough to prove I was me, wasn't it?"

Polosa nodded, "Sure. That's exactly what I wanted. Now I'm pretty sure we can make a deal. Sven Hellem, follow me, Osvald and Marlis should stay here."

Marlis and Osvald looked at each other with a frown, they didn't like that attitude at all, so they were ready to be outraged. However, seeing that Sven shook his head they quickly calmed down.

"Don't worry, I'm not trying to deceive you, it's just that neither you nor the royal guards are necessary." Polosa said before slowly standing up.

Her body was covered by a lush dress of millions of petals that seemed to be alive and ready to protect their queen at any moment.

Polosa waved her hand lightly, signaling to her guards, and headed forward. The guards returned to patrolling the area, but they kept their eyes on Osvald and Marlis, who remained in the center of the hall in front of the throne.

Osvald took a deep breath and stepped aside, leaning his broad back against the wall. Marlis stood silently beside him, assessing everything around him with a keen eye. She could not be relaxed as the relationship between their races was almost non-existent. Plants and Arkans were not enemies any more than they were friends.

'Hmm... Olax explained to us what we should do, but it's still all kind of weird...' Marlis said to herself, looking at Sven moving away, 'What could Olax offer the Plants that they would agree to give up their greatest treasure? Why would they want it?

Marlis glanced at the guards and shook her head, 'I was pretty sure the Plants wouldn't be involved in the war at all, but now they've made contact themselves. Whatever, the important thing is that Sven is okay, without him everything will end, our plan and ourselves.'

Step. Step. Step.

Sven followed Polosa in a measured step.

"Where are we going?" Sven asked as he left the throne room.

Polosa smiled slightly, "To the core of our world, or rather, to its greatest treasure. It is personally under my guard and care, so we will have to take some time to get there."

Sven nodded slightly.

Step by step they descended lower, gradually reaching the very depths of the castle. Occasionally Polosa used a little of her energy to unlock some of the barriers in their path. The defenses were at their maximum level.

'Well, well, it looks like just before the war started, Olax was able to negotiate the best possible deal.' Sven pondered, looking at the round gate in front of him, from behind which a pleasant aroma was emanating.

"Hah, I bet there's something incredible in there." Sven grinned.

"Yeah, you're right." Polosa smiled and her eyes sparkled.

Pink streams of energy headed toward her palm, which made contact with the gate, activating it. The gate quickly glowed brightly as hundreds of runes activated simultaneously, causing the gate to come into motion.

Sven had no emotion whatsoever. What he saw was quite obvious to someone who is a Progenitor, however, Wain's eyes were wide open as if he had seen a living ghost.

'Wait... Her energy... I hadn't thought about it before, but isn't that what Felix from Flower City possesses...? That guy definitely has unusual abilities and possesses part of the Progenitor's power, but is that possible?' Wain muttered inwardly in disbelief, trying to understand what happened in the past.

The strength of the Progenitor could not be simply developed by training or by absorbing large amounts of energy. It was necessary to defeat the current Progenitor as it had happened in the case of the Angels, however, there was another rather rare option.

'Hmm... Given that this is a Progenitor of Plants, what happens if Polosa dies her own death? What if she is not killed by one of the Plants? In that case, her energy should spread throughout the World of Darkness, shouldn't it?' Wain pondered with complicated looks since even he couldn't be sure of something so difficult.

The gate opened fully, and out came a bright light from a massive flower with seven pink petals, each one emitting an incredible aroma.

"I see..." Sven muttered, looking at the crystal sphere inside the flower, which was like a drop of dew.