System's POV
chapter-351

A day after Shana and her entourage arrived in the Rigel Continent, Marion and the Valkyries, who numbered over five hundred, went to visit the 69th Battalion on Sector 13.

"He's younger than I thought he would be," one of the Valkyries whispered to her friend after finally seeing the most famous Rookie in the world.

"Right. Did he really fight against a Majin Prince?" another Valkyrie asked. "I can easily crush his head like a watermelon without any problems."

"Well, those stories might just be an exaggeration of what really happened. Maybe he was just there, watching the battle from the sidelines?"

"Well, Rianna said that he was fighting in the front lines. But she was guarding the Grand Ballista, so she can't be sure if he really fought the Majin Prince, right?"

The Valkyries, composed of only female Wanderers, talked without even bothering to lower their voice.

It was as if they were trying to see how Zion Leventis would react to their words.

Cristopher and Colbert, who were respectively Thirteen's left and right hand men, frowned as they looked at the beautiful ladies whom they were ogling earlier.

After hearing their words, they looked at the ladies in disdain as if they were staring at pigs who had been rolling around in filth for an entire day.

Perhaps noticing the two's disgusted expression, the Valkyries all glared at them. However, the two weren't fazed at all and even confidently matched the ladies' gazes with a contemptuous look, as if they were insignificant creatures that held no importance whatsoever.

"Battalion Commander," Marion saluted the teenage boy, who was nearly half her age. "Forgive my girls. They're just talking nonsense."

"Don't worry, Ma'am," Thirteen replied as he saluted back to Marion. "I'm already used to it."

His subordinates had also acted like that when they first joined his Battalion. Now, they had somewhat turned into decent and very loyal soldiers who no longer questioned his every order.

"Zion, I'd appreciate it if we don't talk formally," Marion said with a smile. "I don't want a stiff environment, so just be casual, okay?"

"Understood." Thirteen nodded. "Have you all been briefed about the rules set by the Dvalinn Federation for all the outsider groups entering the Rigel Continent?"

"Yes," Marion replied. "The one I disliked the most is the flying ban. We mostly use Pegasus Avatars, so not being able to use them will limit our fighting abilities."

"The moment any of you ride those Pegasus and fly to the sky is the moment you die, Miss Marion," Thirteen said in a serious tone. "That might work in Solterra, but the Rigel Continent is different. There are Rank 6 up to Rank 9 Sovereigns wandering these lands.

"Some of the Jinns and Majins can fly, so if you are seen riding on Avatars in the sky, you will definitely become their target. Please, I cannot stress how important it is for you to follow the flight ban as if your life depended on it."

"You heard him, girls," Marion stated as he glanced at her Valkyries. "No flying or you die. Do I make myself clear?"

"""Yes, Ma'am!"""

The Valkyries raised their voice as if trying to intimidate the 69th Battalion with the intensity of their reply.

"No shouting as well." Thirteen couldn't help but facepalm after hearing the girls reply loudly.

The Valkyries looked at him with amusement, but Thirteen didn't even bother to look at them and raised his hand, signaling his members to all go into Battle Mode.

The members of the 69th Battalion, who were eating, reading, and chatting with each other immediately abandoned whatever they were doing and lightly tapped the badge on their right shoulder.

Soon, the bodies of the soldiers were covered in light-green military armor, which made the Valkyries flinch due to how bright their colors were.

Without caring what the ladies thought, Thirteen's subordinates all summoned their Avatars.

When the Ladies saw that all of the members of the 69th Battalion, with the exception of a few oddballs, had Rank 4 Alpha Night Wolves as their Mount, all of them flinched.

The Giant Wolves, which were as black as night, all crouched down to make it easier for their respective Masters to mount them.

Thirteen, who had no avatar of his own, stood on a hoverboard powered by Empyrium, which slowly floated a meter above the ground.

"Miss Marion, make sure that none of your members ride their Flying Mounts. We don't want a disaster in our hands," Thirteen stated.

Before Marion could even ask what was happening, they heard loud roars coming from the distance.

The base Thirteen had chosen for his people was an elevated slope, giving them a better view of their surroundings.

The sounds of countless hooves running in their direction alarmed the Valkyries, who didn't know that Sector 13 was a place frequently visited by Jinns that always traveled in groups.

"Sir, Goblin Rider spotted," reported Cristopher, who was using a binocular to take a closer look at the approaching monsters.

The Goblin Riders were composed of Hobgoblins that were riding on Wargs.

These monsters, which were mostly Rank 2 and Rank 3, were some of the most common creatures inhabiting the area where Thirteen and his men were stationed.

"Deal with it," Thirteen ordered.

Immediately, the 69th Battalion charged toward the enemy horde.

However, just as the Shana, Marion, and the Valkyries thought that they would engage in close combat, Alexis and Paul, who were in the lead, made their Night Wolves run sideways.

The soldiers running behind them followed suit.

"Silencer Mode," Alexis ordered as he aimed his assault rifle at the monsters that were within his shooting range. "Fire at will!"

Muffled sounds escaped the tip of their assault rifles as their Armor-Piercing Rounds landed on their target.

The Wanderers didn't even need to put much effort into aiming. With how tightly the enemies were grouped, their gunfire would hit their targets without fail.

The Goblin Captain, who was a Rank 4 Alpha Monster, immediately shouted its orders to follow the annoying Night Wolves, who seemed to be shooting in their direction.

Since they couldn't see the soldiers properly due to their light-

green armor, they thought that the Night Wolves were using some kind of trick to annihilate them.

The Goblin Archers retaliated, but the Night Wolves were simply too fast and immediately distanced themselves from their enemies.

After evolving into an Alpha Monster, their speed, agility, and strength had increased drastically, making it impossible for the Wargs, which the Hobgoblins were riding, to catch up to them.

Thirteen had taught the 69th Battalion a simple battle strategy.

"Hit your opponents, but don't let them hit you back."

This tactic was what allowed them to thrive in Sector 13, where a battle could erupt at any moment.

After weeks of fighting as a team, they had grown familiar with using each other's strengths to their advantage.

Cristopher, Colbert, Pietro, and Piper, who were riding on Blaze Skunks, weren't moving as fast as their comrades.

In fact, they were at dead last because Blaze Skunks weren't monsters who specialized in speed.

Seeing that there were stragglers behind, the Goblins decided to change their targets and aimed for the four Skunks, whom they planned to vent their anger.

However, when these skunks all turned around and raised their tail, a very bad feeling crept into the minds of the Hobgoblins, who had stepped into the fifty-meter-mark range of the Blaze Skunks.

Without any warning, the four Blaze Skunks unleashed a flaming spray that instantly made every monster they hit scream in pain.

Just like giant flamethrowers, the Blaze Skunks burned down their enemies, with some of them even melting on the spot due to the acid that was imbued on the hellish flames.

But that wasn't all.

The flames were also very foul-smelling, making the Wargs, who had sensitive noses, disoriented. They flailed around, sending their riders flying off their backs.

While this was happening, the Night Wolves turned around and annihilated the stragglers who had fallen into disarray.

The Goblin Captain had already died after being bombarded with the combined firepower of the four Blaze Skunks, so there was no longer anyone who would give them any orders.

Since they had lost their leaders, the first thing that the Goblins did was run.

Unfortunately, they couldn't outrun the Night Wolves, so they were killed one by one until only their corpses remained on the battlefield.

The Valkyries, who watched the battle from start to end, were stunned because they didn't expect to see such a scene after they arrived in the Rigel Continent.

The majority of them thought of the 69th Battalion as a joke.

But after seeing them in action, they believed that they wouldn't be able to fight as effectively as them, which made them look at the teenage boy, who was looking at his subordinates with a faint smile on his face.