Nameless King

Suddenly the barrier was gone, and Wain, along with Forgotten's body, fell to the bottom. They were quite high, but they would reach the ground in thirty seconds, and their bodies would be crushed. 

Wain was strong, and his stats were high, but his body couldn't take the fall from that height.

"Fuck! Why the hell is this happening right now?" Shouted Wain and began to think of a way to escape.

Three seconds later, he knew how to avoid dying from the fall and took off his cloak. Then he tied the cloak sleeves together and created something like a parachute.

'My cloak is made of quality materials. It definitely won't tear, but it's not enough to keep me from breaking all my bones in the fall.' Thought Wain and stretched his arm upward.

He had one more way to reduce the speed of his fall. One of his skills could help him with that.

Wain used the Plasma Destructions Sword out of the last of his strength. The next moment a plasma sword appeared in his hand, and Wain used his mind to make it fly upwards. 

It wasn't enough for Wain to fly with this skill. But, it also slowed Wain's fall a bit. 

Since Wain used his cloak as a parachute, his speed was almost reduced to the optimum. Wain would have a pretty rough landing, but he would survive and only suffer a few bruises, no fractures.

Fifteen seconds later, Wain landed in the woods near the pagoda. He fell hard to the ground, but by doing a forward somersault, he could slightly reduce the force of the impact on his legs.

"Holy shit, what a fall. It's a good thing I didn't break anything." Mumbled Wain rising from the ground.

He looked at Forgotten's body lying not far from him and muttered, "It's amazing. He didn't take any damage. That's impressive. Most likely, when he fought me, he wasn't at the peak of his strength, unlike me. Otherwise, I would have lost."

Suddenly Wain heard a rustling in the distance. He didn't know what kind of creatures might inhabit this place. He quickly armed himself with his sword and prepared for battle.

But, after a few seconds, he saw the cause of the rustling, "Agnes?"

"You..." Agnes muttered uncertainly, looking at Wain and the corpse of Forgotten.

"Were you able to get the pearl?" Agnes asked.

Wain answered nothing. He put on his black cloak then slipped his hand under it. Then a white pearl appeared in his hand, as pure as jade.

Agnes was shocked. She had not expected Wain to be able to do this. It was something impossible for her.

Tears came to the girl's eyes, and she said quietly, "After so much death and suffering, someone could do it. You must have had to go through hell to get that pearl?"

Wain shrugged and replied, "I've had worse, but it certainly wasn't my easiest journey."

"Great, now we can open the portal. But, what happened upstairs? I've never felt such a terrifying aura. I can't even imagine what was going on up there." Proclaimed Agnes.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. It was just one of the best fights of my life." Wain replied with a slight smile.

Agnes nodded and headed back to the manor house, but after walking a few yards, she realized that Wain was not following her.

"Come on, we need to activate the portal." Said Agnes and turned to Wain.

To her surprise, Wain was not going to go to the portal yet. He had one more unfinished business.

He walked over to Forgotten's body and plunged his plasma sword into the ground beside him.

"What are you doing?" Asked Agnes, she was puzzled.

Wain looked at her and calmly said, "Isn't it obvious? I'm digging a grave. You'd better help instead of standing there asking questions. I don't have the energy as it is."

Agnes didn't know what to say. She was stunned by Wain's words and actions. On the one hand, she was ashamed of herself for not paying attention to the dead man. On the other hand, Wain's words were too harsh.

After a while, Agnes sighed and just stood on the sidelines. She waited about ten minutes before Wain dug a deep enough grave for Forgotten with his sword.

Usually, he wouldn't have cared about his enemy, and Wain wouldn't even have paid attention to his corpse. But, this situation was different. He felt no hatred or malice toward Forgotten, and neither did he toward Wain.

On the contrary, in a way, Wain was grateful to Forgotten. After all, if this fight had not happened, Wain could not have become better at swordsmanship.

Wain swung his sword and cut down several trees around him when it was done. They staggered around Forgotten's grave, after which Wain approached Agnes.

"Come on, it's time to get out of here." Said Wain.

The girl nodded and headed in the direction of the manor. Wain and Agnes were silent all the way. Each of them was thinking about something different.

'Hmm, I'm in pretty bad shape at the moment. If I show up at that lab, maybe I should stay there for a while and recuperate. Most likely, the robotic samurai aren't done fighting and haven't yet chosen their new king. That means a park is a safe place for me at the moment.' Wain thought.

Coming to this area, he got a lot of use out of it. He was able to level up, collect a large amount of Soul Essence from souls. Of course, Wain's biggest boon was discovering the second form.

'Cursed Swordsman... this form harbors incredible power. But, summarily, I made only three swings and one dash backward during the battle. Those few movements really strained my body. At that moment, though, I wasn't at my best.'

When Wain used either form, he received great power. But, every great power had a significant recoil. Since Wain discovered the first form - Code of Light and Darkness, he has become much stronger and could therefore use it longer than before.

But, using the second form, the Cursed Swordsman, was quite problematic for him at the moment. However, Wain had to undergo a severe test and battle to get such power.

'The first time I used Code of Light and Darkness, I spent a lot of strength to kill a huge worm outside the hospital. Now I have no problem using this form for several times longer.' Thought Wain.

After a while, they reached the manor house, and Agnes immediately led Wain to the lower floor, where the altar and portal were located.

...

"Here, you need to put a soul pearl here, and I can activate the portal." Said Agnes pointing to the small, stone altar in the center of the room.

Various symbols and patterns were engraved on the altar. A small recess in the center was perfect for the pearl.

"Where is the portal?" Wain asked. He saw no archway or door around it.

Agnes calmly replied, "There it is."

To Wain's surprise, she pointed to a small pond not far from the altar. Wain thought it was a simple decoration.

"Okay, I got it." Said Wain and handed the soul pearl to Agnes.

She placed the pearl on the altar and then put her hand to it. As the watcher of this territory, she knew how to open the portal. It was for this purpose that she had been here for decades.

Then her eyes glowed brightly with blue energy, and a pleasant and calm aura began to emanate from the altar and the soul pearl. Wain immediately felt better.

Wain looked at the pond and saw that the water glowed brightly and came into motion. Gradually, a slow vortex formed in the pond. This meant that the creation of the portal was complete.

"It's done." Said Agnes and removed her hand from the altar.

"It was easier than I thought." Said Wain.

Agnes nodded, "Yes, it was easy as the soul pearl carries a lot of pure energy. This energy is suitable for a rather small range of activities, but it's convenient to use. There's no credit to me. I just did my job."

"How long before this space is destroyed?" Wain asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think the destruction process will start in fifteen minutes and last about an hour." Answered Agnes.

"I see. Do you still intend to follow me?" Asked Wain. He didn't need subordinates and followers at least that would contact him.

In his world before the apocalypse, many people followed Wain of their own accord, and it was logical, for he was the strongest. 

Wain could do nothing about it, but he didn't want to be their leader because it was a headache and a waste of time.

So Wain decided for himself that he would not think about whether he would have followers or not. It was impossible to control anyway. But, these people were not to interfere directly in his affairs and get in his way.

But, according to Agnes, she was determined to be with Wain at all times and help him in any way she could. This was clear from her words and her seriousness.

Agnes nodded confidently and said, "Yes, I must follow you as my master. You are the one who was able to obtain the pearl of the soul. Nearly ten thousand claimants before you have failed to do so."

She was serious.. Agnes was the kind of person who followed the rules and her job unquestioningly.