"Hey, I'm really glad you guys reunited, but we came here for a different reason." Wain said quietly, staring intently at the Abyss Artist.
"Sure. Now I'll show you my body." Abyss Artist nodded and turned to Gen, "Go ahead, you know what to do."
Gen, hesitated for a while until he asked, "Master, are you sure...? I mean... I don't know this man. I can't risk your safety."
"Well, well, it looks like I didn't make the wrong choice of partner. Don't worry, this guy may seem cold, but he's one of my closest friends." Abyss Artist pointed at Wain, not turning away from Gen, "In fact, this all happened because I decided to save him and he saved us, and... well, it's a long and complicated story. What's more important, you can trust him just as much as me, that's for sure."
Gen looked intently at Wain as if trying to look into his soul, "Fine... I get it, my Master's friend definitely has to be strong. I'll do it now, please step aside."
The Abyss Artist nodded, turned into clots of darkness, and a moment later was beside Wain, watching the show with a sly smile on his face.
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
Gen opened his jaw wide, as there was a loud sound echoing off the walls of the cave, then something began to come out of his mouth. It was a massive white crystal in which a young-looking man with snow-white skin and long, tar-black hair was sleeping.
"Damn, how hard can it be to get dressed?" Wain raised an eyebrow, carelessly pointing his hand at the crystal.
Best
"Hey, do you think I had time to think about it? What's more, I've never actually worn clothes!" Abyss Artist exclaimed, turning his head away.
"Hmmm...?" Wain was puzzled.
"I've always made all my own clothes." Abyss Artist shrugged, "Even the best tailor couldn't make clothes that comfortable enough for me to be happy with, moreover it's just a waste of time. All I have to do is wave a tassel and the perfect mantle would appear on me immediately."
"Well, well, strange people have strange problems, don't they?" Wain shook his head, slowly stomping his foot on the ground which seemed annoying to the Abyss Artist.
"Shall we get back to business?" Abyss Artist frowned.
"Sure." Wain nodded and looked at the crystal with a thoughtful expression, "Your body is perfectly fine, when you wake up you will have full power, just like before. Also, this crystal completely blocks your aura, so no one will ever know you're here."
"Yeah, unfortunately, there's no way to break that crystal. I, like the others, will have to wait a while before you regain your full power." The Abyss Artist nodded with a slight sigh and shook his head, "Damn, I've waited five hundred years, there's still some time left, but I still don't want to wait any longer! I'm tired!"
Usually, the Abyss Artist was calm, but even his patience had a limit. For before that part of his soul had been many years in Death Shore, where he was all alone. Such a fate befell not only the Abyss Artist but all the others as well. They knew that the spell created by Abyss Artist and Blind Sorcerer would most likely work, even though it was an insane idea, so they too separated a small part of their souls to contact Wain as soon as possible.
It definitely helped Wain in his journey and in getting back as quickly as possible memory, so it wasn't pointless, but before that, they had to spend decades alone. That amount of time even for Dragons could have been torture.
"I understand you had to wait a long time..." Wain uttered in a deep voice, "Well, to break the seals in Human World I need my power back, but maybe now I can handle what I have."
"Hmm?" The Abyss Artist was puzzled as his eyes went wide.
Wain waved his hand as the seal on his palm turned into a long, dark sword with a deadly aura. He stared at the weapon for a moment before asking, "Gladius, you can cut through anything, can't you? I know it depends on my power, but we can try to free the Abyss Artist from captivity, right?"
"Hey, that's definitely not possible." Abyss Artist waved his hand with an arrogant look as if he was 100% sure of it, "You need to reach the Transcendence Stage and use your Beyond, there are no other ways."
Wain was silent waiting for a response from Gladius, which quickly followed, "Wain... He's probably right, but if you want we can try."
"Sure." Wain nodded as his eyes turned icy, "One powerful blow. If that's not enough, then I'll stop."
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
Space trembled as a vast amount of darkness burst from Wain's body, causing the air to ripple.
"Gen... Step aside, or I might accidentally kill you. I wouldn't want that to happen." Wain said calmly, but Gen realized that every word he said was true.
'Damn... He is on the Absolute Stage but has such power... My Master actually has an amazing friend...' Gen wondered before crawling back.
Wain stepped forward, and directed all darkness toward Gladius, making his weapon several times larger before he brought his sword down upon the crystal.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
The dark blade made the entire cave tremble with its immense power as Wain's gaze grew much deeper. It seemed that the crystal should have broken at any moment under such tremendous pressure as the ground cracked, but a moment later all the energy somehow disappeared.
'Hmm...?' Wain was puzzled as his pupils sharply narrowed.
Whooooooooooosh.
A large amount of energy erupted from the crystal, with a white explosion throwing Wain back dozens of meters, forcing him to punch through the stone layers of the hill with his back.
"Agh... Why don't you ever listen to me? It was obvious." The Abyss Artist sighed shaking his head before a slight smile appeared on his face, 'Well, at least you tried, like you always do, didn't you?"