System's POV
chapter-215

After the battle ended, the gruesome task of dismantling the Monster Parts, as well as collecting the Jinn Cores, started.

The Wanderers gained a lot during this battle, with some of them even gaining the Avatars of Rank 2 and Rank 3 Golden-Eyed Hyenas.

The Rank 5 Alpha Hyenas, who were considered as the personal guard of their Overlord, were crippled by the Mercenaries and were turned over to Thirteen.

Since his goal was to strengthen his inner circle, he had asked Rianna, Harry, and Colbert to kill three of them.

Rianna, with her exceptional luck, managed to gain a Gold-Grade Fang Sword. Unfortunately, this weapon was still too strong for her to use.

The only she could use the weapon was when she stepped into the Elite Rank, which was the Fourth Stage in the Human Rankings.

Harry, on the other hand, managed to get a Fang Spear, which he also couldn't use at this point in time.

However, he was still happy because this was the first Gold Grade Weapon that he managed to get after going to Solterra.

Colbert, who had become Thirteen's left-hand man, might have gotten a bit of luck by rubbing shoulders with Cristopher.

After getting beaten up in the Slave Arena for several weeks, he finally found a stroke of luck after becoming the seven-year-old's subordinate.

He managed to obtain a Rank 5 Alpha Monster Avatar, making him extremely happy.

So ecstatic to the point of almost hugging Thirteen, but Cristopher blocked his path and pushed him away from his Young Master.

The other Wanderers could only look at the three of them with envy.

It was at that moment that they realized who truly called the shots in their group, which made them sigh in their heart.

If they had only tried to get closer to the seven-year-old, wouldn't they also have the opportunity to gain rewards such as these?

Thirteen, who understood what the other Wanderers were thinking, asked Rianna to choose two people from her group to get the last hit to the two remaining Rank 5 Alpha Hyenas.

But knowing that the kind-hearted girl wouldn't be able to decide on the spot, he threw her a lifeline.

He gave her a stack of wooden sticks, and dipped three of them in the blood on the ground.

Thirteen then dried them off and returned it to the stack.

"You handle the rest, Rianna," Thirteen said before going toward Blacky, who was waiting for him.

After managing to convince Cranky to help them in the war, he started to feel a strong pull from something in the Furvus Grasslands.

Since everyone was still busy collecting Monster Parts and Jinn Cores, Thirteen asked Anwir to accompany him to the location that was calling out to him.

Accompanied by five Champions and fifty Grandmasters, Thirteen's group left the battlefield to collect other spoils of the war.

Fortunately, after traveling for twenty minutes, they arrived at a cave, which he believed was the den of the Rank 6 Overlord.

The Grandmasters remained outside to guard the entrance, while Thirteen, Anwir, and the Five Champions entered the cave to check what was waiting for them inside.

When they arrived at the deepest part of the cave, they all looked in surprise when they saw a pile of Beast Cores stacked like a small hill.

"Cores? Why didn't that Diabolical Hyena eat these cores?" Anwir asked.

Thirteen pondered for a bit before digging up the information of the Diabolical Hyena in his database.

After reading all relevant information, he came across something that made him understand why the Rank 6 Overlord had left the other Cores untouched.

"It had just evolved, so its body is temporarily unable to digest Cores properly," Thirteen explained. "It needed to wait three more months before it could start eating Cores again. So, it had no choice but to store the Cores that were given to it as tribute by its subordinates."

Anwir chuckled. "Then I guess you got lucky."

Thirteen pondered a bit before making a decision.

"I will share half of this with you, Anwir," Thirteen stated. "Feel free to give them to the Mercenaries who helped you on this mission."

The Five Champions, who were secretly feeling greedy after discovering the stack of Beast Cores, looked at the seven-year-old with satisfied looks on their faces.

Anwir, who immediately understood why Zion did this, smiled faintly.

"Good." Anwir nodded. "Thank you, Zion. You really are my Sworn Brother."

The Tigerkin made sure to put more strength on the words "Sworn Brother" so that the Mercenary Leaders will understand his relationship with the boy.

This was a subtle reminder that in the future, if they ever needed to cooperate with Zion, they must treat him more favorably.

After dividing the stash, they returned to the battlefield and headed toward Thirteen's secret base near the Furvus Grasslands.

Percival kept on glaring in Anwir's direction, but the older Tigerkin treated him like air.

Before they fought against the Diabolical Hyena, Thirteen had sent Vassago to meet Anwir and asked for reinforcements.

He wasn't confident that their force would be enough to defeat their enemy, so he decided to get some kind of insurance just in case things spiraled out of control.

Fortunately, Anwir arrived on time and came to their rescue.

Now that he was here, the seven-year-old could give him the same Divine Technique that he bestowed upon Percival.

Yes.

Thirteen planned to give Anwir the Divine Martial Technique, Emperor's Might, so that he could continue to polish the rough gem called Percival, allowing him to grow as a True Hero.

Although the Barbarians and the Tigerkins were at odds with each other, none of them made any move to fight then and there.

The Mercenaries were under Anwir's employ, and since Zion was his Sworn Brother, they decided to keep things civil on the surface.

Also, the seven-year-old's bribe made the Mercenary Leaders fond of him, so they ordered their men to not cause trouble for the boy.

"Brother, I am about to give you a Martial Skill that will unlock your potential," Thirteen said after he and Anwir had entered his room. "But I want you to promise me one thing. You will not tell anyone about this."

"Understood," Anwir replied. "Tell me—the power that Percival showed a while ago, is that the same power you will give me?"

"Yes." Thirteen nodded. "It's called Emperor's Might. A technique perfect for Beastkins."

Just like Cristopher, Anwir had stopped trying to understand why the seven-year-old was capable of doing things that the kids of his age couldn't normally do.

His Sworn Brother had always been a mystery to him. And the more he interacted with Zion, the more he realized that his Fate had completely changed for the better the day that he decided to take the seven-year-old's hand and become his Sworn Brother.

Truth be told, he was very surprised at Percival's sudden display of power, and he would be lying if he said that he didn't feel jealous of his stepbrother's talents.

However, now that this Sworn Brother was going to give him the same power, he sensed that a new door was about to open up just for him.

He clearly felt this the moment an influx of information flooded his mind, making him fall into a trance.

After the Skill Transfer ended, Thirteen sighed in relief before lying on the bed to take a nap.

While all of this was happening, Percival was sitting at the corner of his room and hugging his legs.

Anwir's words kept playing in a loop inside his mind, making him gnash his teeth in anger.

But he couldn't refute that he wasn't able to even land a blow on his step brother's body despite being more powerful than him.

A moment later, the image of a seven-year-old overlapped with Anwir's image inside his head.

He had long wanted to fight against the seven-year-old, who had continuously made him suffer and treated him like a slave.

'I'll show you…,' Percival clenched his fists tightly. 'I'll show you that I'm not weak!'

Right now, he wanted to remove the heart demon inside his heart. For that to happen, he must defeat the boy, who had now become his Master.

Although he knew that fighting against Zion was unfair because he was stronger and far older than him, his instincts were screaming at him that unless he managed to defeat his current Master, he would be unable to defeat his brother.

Percival's logic might have been twisted due to the desperation, anger, and the loss he suffered in Anwir's hand.

But one thing was clear.

Unless he broke free from Zion's control, he would never be free.

This was why he decided to challenge the boy to a duel, with his freedom as a reward if he won.

Percival believed that the moment he regained his freedom, he would no longer have any shackles in his heart, allowing him to return to the Sumatran Kingdom and reunite with his family at last.