Nameless King

Wain realized that there was no point in creating one black sphere at a time. It was ineffective. 

Haden could concentrate energy at one point and thus completely absorb the power of the explosion. So Wain decided to create several spheres around the elf at once.

Black spheres appeared on all sides. Wain completely blocked Haden's ability to move. All he could do was somehow try to survive this attack.

Haden did not expect that Wain could create so many spheres at once. He was sure it took a large amount of energy to create even one sphere, but he was wrong. Wain hadn't spent more than a few percent of his total energy on this attack.

Booooooooooom!

Wain clenched his fist, and the ten spheres exploded simultaneously. There was a deafening explosion, and everything within a five meter radius was destroyed. 

A massive crater appeared where Haden had been, and the dark flames from the spheres scorched the ground and engulfed the plants.

'That was a powerful attack, the fifth form has incredible power, but somehow I think Haden is still alive.' Wain pondered, looking into the center of the crater.

A cloud of dust slowly settled and dispersed, gradually revealing a tall silhouette. As Wain had anticipated, Haden managed to survive this attack, but the aftermath was terrible.

"Argh!" Haden vomited a mouthful of blood and coughed for some time.

His entire body was covered in numerous burns and was bleeding. He looked like a living corpse. It looked as if Haden had been boiling in the cauldron of hell. However, Haden deliberately did this.

When the dark spheres appeared, he realized that he could not escape or block this attack. Then Haden made a painful but correct decision. He redirected all the energy he had to his head and heart area.

In this way, he protected the two most important points, though he sacrificed the rest.

"I must admit that I was wrong. This battle is really getting interesting..." Haden said, looking at the ground drenched in his blood.

"No, this is the end." Wain said coldly and extended his hand forward.

Three fist-sized dark spheres appeared from Haden and were ready to explode at any moment.

"Huh, you're being too hasty. We still haven't put all the cards on the table. It's time to show the first trump card, don't you think?" Haden said with a smile on his face, and his eyes shone brightly.

At the exact moment, Wain clenched his fist, and the spheres exploded. The dark flames engulfed Haden and should have burned him to the ground, but they didn't. When the flames dissipated, Wain saw the changed appearance of his enemy.

At the last moment, Haden used his Beyond. This power was always meant to be used only as a last resort, so Haden did. But he had another reason to use Beyond only in a critical situation.

When Haden used a Beyond, his eyes shone brightly, like the sun, and all his wounds healed swiftly. He also wore light, energetic armor that looked like gold.

Though Haden fought primarily with the power of light and has dedicated his life to it, he possesses no healing skills. Using a Beyond was his only opportunity to heal, but only once.

'Hmm, his a Beyond is similar to the one Ayla used, but it is slightly different. His armor isn't real, it's energy armor, but is that all it is?' Thought Wain looking at his enemy.

"Okay, it's time to continue our battle." Said Haden and tilted his body slightly forward as if he was preparing for a tug.

Then he made an incredibly violent leap. The ground beneath his feet cracked, and he turned into a blur. A moment later, Haden was in front of Wain and delivered a crushing blow to the stomach with his fist.

Wain could not dodge this attack, he did not notice anything. To him, it looked as if Haden had disappeared, and he immediately felt a searing pain in his stomach area.

Haden threw Wain back several meters, causing him to cough up blood for a long time. Then Wain realized the effect Haden's Beyond had.

'I thought the armor enhanced his power of light, but I was wrong. What increased was his physical strength.' Pondered Wain trying to come to his senses and ignore the pain.

Haden's single blow practically turned Wain's internal organs into a bloody mess. If not for his high stats, this battle could have ended right now.

Crackle.

Haden took a step forward, and the ground beneath his feet cracked as if he were walking on thin ice. In fact, Wain was only half right.

After using Beyond, Haden's strength and speed increased, but the energy armor also had its own purpose. 

Not only did it protect against attacks, but it also increased Haden's weight depending on the amount of his energy.

The extra weight could be both a minus and a plus. Given Haden's strength and speed, the weight multiplies his strength several times in this situation. That's why Wain sustained such serious damage from a single blow.

Wain knew he had to increase his speed somehow, and he had one way to do it.

His eyes flashed, and a status appeared in front of him.

[Wain Norheim

Level: 27

Race: Human

Beyond: Calamity

Soul: Nameless King

Additional Soul: Black Thunder's Renegade

Title: Savior of the Damned, Echo of Samurai, Mentor Inquisitor, The First, Soul Gatherer, Cartographer.

Status Points: 21

Strength: 161 (196) / Agility: 187 (227) / Vitality: 138 (143) / Stamina: 116 (126) / Energy: 198]

'Only 21... Okay, maybe that will be enough.' Thought Wain and used all the points to improve Agility.

A pleasant wave of sensation swept through Wain's body like a cool whiff of wind. He felt a little faster, and his reaction speed increased.

Wain got to his feet and prepared for battle. He wanted to get used to Haden's speed and see what point he could attack.

Whooooooosh.

Haden took another step and once again turned into a blur. However, this time Wain had time to react. Electric shocks appeared on his body, and he bounced to the side. Haden's hammer-like fist flew in front of Wain's face.

Then Wain decided to attack himself. Energy gathered in his hand, and a rather large black sphere appeared in his right palm. It was comparable in size to a ball.

Haden was surprised that Wain decided to attack him at such close range. After all, if the sphere exploded now, they would both be injured. However, the aristocrat's red cloak had a unique feature.

Wain was almost completely protected from the dark flames of his spheres, thanks to the cloak. Therefore, he was not afraid to attack up close.

Whoooosh.

He extended his arm forward, and the dark sphere stabbed into Haden's left side. Some of the energy armor was instantly broken like thin glass, and then the sphere exploded.

Dark flames engulfed everything around it, and Haden's flesh began to burn. He clenched his teeth in pain. Haden could hardly endure it and bounced to the side.

Wain also jumped aside. He was pleased with the result. Even though Haden had already used a Beyond, he was still losing their duel.

The elf looked at his horrible wound and frowned. The situation had gotten out of hand. Haden was able to hit Wain powerfully, but he answered him twice as hard.

'Damn, he has too much energy. He creates these spheres as easily as if it were no more complicated than snapping his fingers. The black pillar... I shouldn't have expected any less.' Haden thought.

"Looks like you're exhausted already, don't you think?" Wain said with a smile.

"I admit it's rather painful to feel your flesh burning, but you're a long way from winning."

"Are you sure?"

Whoooosh.

Wain waved his hand, and five spheres slightly smaller than a ball appeared around Haden. Even with armor, Haden would have a hard time surviving the simultaneous explosion of these spheres.

"Before you blow them up, I want to ask you something." Haden said calmly.

"One last wish?"

"No." Haden shook his head, "What do you know about faith?"

"This is idle talk." Coldly said Wain and clenched his fist.

There was a deafening explosion, and the ground shook. Huge amounts of dark flame turned into a whirlwind that instantly reached the sky and stained black clouds.

"Now, this place is your grave."

Haden managed to survive, but his entire body was covered in burns. He lay on the floor, breathing heavily. 

However, something confused Wain. He didn't understand why, even in this situation, Haden's eyes were full of confidence, and his spirit was unwavering.

Wain wasn't about to give him a chance to reverse the situation and created a sphere the size of his fist over the elf's head.

Realizing what was about to happen, Haden only whispered, "Gotta have faith, to the very end."

Boooooooooooom!

The orb exploded, and flames engulfed Haden, but suddenly, a beam of light appeared in the distance, then another and another. There were five beams in all.

Wain looked closely at it and saw an elf in the center of each beam. They were very far away and were watching the battle the whole time. That was Haden's main trump card, no, his major strength.

Each of the five elves had their eyes closed and their palms folded together as if they were praying.

Whooooooooooosh.

A beam of light erupted from Haden's body as well, and a protective barrier with the sun symbol appeared around it. It completely protected him from the black flames.

His wounds began to heal gradually. After a while, Haden was able to get back on his feet. He could continue to fight on and felt even better than before.

"So, what do you think of faith?" Haden repeated his question.

"Faith? What does it have to do with anything?"

"Don't you see? It was only because of it that I was able to recover and escape from the clutches of death."

"Hmm? It wasn't faith that saved you. It was your mates and their teamwork. There's no surprise in that, though it's a little annoying." Wain mumbled angrily, looking at the elves in the distance.

"No, you're wrong." Haden shook his head, "Sure, I survived because my mates helped me, but it can't be called teamwork. They don't use any skills or artifacts. They risked putting themselves in danger because they want to show their faith in me."

"What kind of nonsense are you talking?"

Haden smiled, "Let me explain it to you. Every belief has some purpose, and it is focused on something. Most often, it is some being or, in other words, the god of that faith. Everyone can believe, of course, the strength of faith and the possibilities are different for everyone."

"Are you saying that you are stronger just because they believe that you will win?"

"No, they don't believe in me winning. They believe in me and my light. Even though I am far from that Title, at this moment, I can be compared to the center of their faith, the one on whom they place their hopes and feelings, to God."

Simultaneously, dozens of pillars of light appeared in the distance. It was a mesmerizing sight. The beams never stopped appearing. 

It happened every time the elf closed his eyes and folded his palms together, his body covered in light.

The rays stopped appearing when they reached a hundred. That was one-fifth of the total. Haden smiled contentedly and raised his hand high up. He looked at the bright sun, and his eyes narrowed.

Haden decided to use one of his most powerful skills. Several golden threads appeared on his body. They emanated from his right arm and covered his entire body. 

Then two identical symbols in the shape of a shining sun appeared on his palms.

Wain did not attack Haden. He did not know what his opponent was capable of at the moment. The symbols on his hands alarmed him.

"Now, do you understand what faith is?" Haden said, smiling.

Wain answered nothing. Instead, he turned into blue lightning and headed deep into the base of Holy Tale.

Haden sighed, and in the next moment, he jumped high. It looked like an explosion from the outside as the ground beneath his feet turned to dust and a massive crater formed.

Bam.

Haden landed right in front of Wain.

"You know, it's not polite to run away when people are talking to you."

"We have nothing to discuss." Wain said coldly, and several spheres appeared around Haden.

"Okay, I hear you." Haden nodded and ran at Wain, making his way through one of the spheres.

Wain bounced to the side at the last moment and missed the blow, but Haden continued to attack him. Wain dodged and watched his enemy's every move closely. He couldn't make a mistake.

Whooooooosh.

Haden landed a top-down punch, and Wain jumped high, but suddenly he was horrified by what he saw. Haden smiled weakly and pointed his open palm hand at Wain.

The sun symbol shone brightly, and then a beam of light fell on Wain, capable of dispelling all darkness and burning everything away.