System's POV
chapter-361-1

Two days after the battle ended, Thirteen finally opened his eyes.

He hadn't suffered any serious injuries and only mentally exhausted himself after on-the-spot calculating the Bird Man's flight patterns and possible moves it would make after being hit by Nautilus' Main Cannons.

Thirteen had even estimated where the Bird Man would land and positioned himself in that location, making sure that the first Wanderer whom the Rank 8 Sovereign would interact with was him.

Since the battle ended, there had been no further invasions at the port.

The engineers of the Dvalinn Federation were still busy with the repair of the artillery guns and cannons that had been destroyed during the battle.

The dead had also been sent back to the Dvalin Main Headquarters, where a grand funeral would be hosted the day after tomorrow.

The Valkyries who had died were also included in that ceremony. Marion spent the past two days writing letters to the families of her dead soldiers.

Viola had locked herself up inside her room, refusing to come out.

She had been blaming herself not only for the death of her subordinates but also for the death of her other sisters.

Since the founding of the Valkyries Division, this was the first time they had suffered so many losses. Everyone, including the Saintess, couldn't help but feel down about it.

After getting off from the bed in the infirmary, Thirteen was immediately greeted by a worried Tiona. She repeatedly nudged his cheek as if telling him to continue resting so that he would recover faster.

"I'm fine, Tiona," Thirteen said to reassure the Black Snake, who had been coiled up on his chest and looking after him since he had lost consciousness.

When the teenage boy left his private room, the physician in charge immediately asked if he was feeling any pain anywhere.

"I'm feeling fine, Doctor," Thirteen replied. "I need to see my Uncle and discuss a few things with him. I'll come back after I'm done talking with my Uncle, so you can do a quick check-up later."

"Understood, Sir." the Doctor nodded.

After leaving the infirmary, Thirteen bumped into Cristopher and Colbert, who were also on their way to see him.

Seeing that their Young Master was now awake and seemed to be doing better, the two of them finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Come with me," Thirteen ordered. "I need to talk to the two of you later. But wait for now since I need to see my Uncle first."

Cristopher and Colbert nodded and followed behind Thirteen.

When they reached the Command Center, they saw a few people, whom the three didn't expect to find in their ship.

"You're awake?" Benedict asked with a smile.

"No, Sir. I'm not awake," Thirteen replied. "You must be having a visual hallucination."

"You damn brat," Benedict smirked as he walked toward the teenage boy while showing his fist. "Do you want me to smack you that badly?"

"Uncle, I'm still injured," Thirteen immediately acted like a sick patient, making the old man click his tongue in annoyance.

Thirteen then shifted his gaze to the Commander of the Valkyries, Marion, whose aura had dimmed considerably since he last saw her. She looked very sad and was obviously still affected by what happened a few days ago.

"Hey, little guy," Marion greeted. "I'm glad you're already awake. I thought you'd be sleeping for a week."

"Commander Marion," Thirteen saluted. "Thank you, I am well."

Marion smiled and saluted the teenage boy back. Truth be told, she was contemplating whether she should resign from her position due to the incident that transpired not long ago.

Although it was Viola's fault for letting her subordinates break the "no flying ban," it still reflected badly on her as their superior.

Thirteen, who seemed to know what the Commander was thinking, sighed in his heart. However, this was something outside of his control.

In the end, he chose not to say any empty words of consolation to cheer the beautiful woman, who had been crying on her own inside her room since a day ago.

"Uncle, can you tell me the current situation right now?" Thirteen asked Benedict, who was also feeling depressed after the major losses they suffered during the battle.

"No attacks followed since the battle ended," Benedict answered. "The entire fleet of the Dvalinn Federation is now guarding the Port, which is currently under repair."

The old man paused briefly before glancing at Marion, who had been berated intensively by the higher-ups of the Dvalinn Federation.

If not for the fact that they had managed to emerge victorious in the battle, it was highly likely that the Monarch of the Elrod Clan, as well as the Thrones of the three Prestigious Families, would have already executed Viola for her crime of breaking their rules.

"In two days, we are going to hold a memorial service for those who had died in battle," Benedict continued his explanation. "The Grand Marshal and the Field Marshal will be arriving later this afternoon by plane, accompanied by some of their officers.

"It's a good thing that you woke up on time since we want you to take part in the meeting tonight."

After hearing everything that the old man had to say, Thirteen spoke out. His words made Michael, Marion, and Benedict look at him with solemn expressions on their faces.

"Since the Grand Marshal and the Field Marshal are coming, it will be best that we discuss a grand assault on the Northern Regions of the Rigel Continent," Thirteen stated. "Right now, one of the Pillars of the Jinns is out of the picture. With the greatest threat finally gone, we can take this opportunity to liberate more lands."

"Zion, that's a bold statement," Benedict commented. "Do you really think that the Dvalinn Federation is ready to fight after losing so many Wanderers?"

"It's because of this reason that the Dvalinn Federation should advance," Thirteen answered. "I don't want to sound like I don't understand what you're going through, but there is no better time than this moment to push forward.

"The Grand Marshal and the Field Marshal will be arriving, and I'm sure their main reason for coming here is to 'compensate' the Dvalinn Federation for their losses."

Thirteen briefly glanced at Marion, who lowered her head because she was still blaming herself for this incident.

"The Rigel Continent is under the control of Eight Rank 8 Sovereigns and three Rank 9 Sovereigns. Their territories are divided equally among each other, with the three Rank 9 Sovereigns guarding the central regions of the Continent, where their main dimensional gate is located.

"Those three Rank 9 Sovereigns are three Earth Dragons, referred to as the Three Mobile Strongholds. They're not only very slow, but they also can't fly, so their role is to guard the Dimensional Gate and prevent anyone from destroying it.

"Now that one of the eight Rank 8 Sovereigns is out of the picture, there is now a hole in their defenses, which we could exploit."

Benedict crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the teenage boy, who was thinking of a very bold plan.

Truth be told, the higher-ups of the Dvalinn Federation were also thinking about executing a massive counterattack. Just as Thirteen said, it was best to make a move now that the Sovereign who stood guard over the Northern Regions of the Rigel Continent was gone.

There was no better time than now to secure a firm foothold, allowing them to give hope to everyone, including those who were in the Cygni Continent. If they were to succeed, the Wanderers would feel like they had the power to repel the invaders who thought that they could move unhindered in their world.