System's POV
chapter-387-2

387 The 6th Layer Of The Treasury Of The Apocalypse [Part 2]

The Treasury of the Apocalypse had thirteen layers.

The last layer only contained one Divine Artifact, and that was none other than Pandora's Box.

It was an item that could unleash countless horrors to the world and bring about the end of it.

The Order of the Apocalypse was formed to reach that goal.

Just like how the Gods bring heroes to their worlds to deal with the Demon Lords, as well as all the other threats in their eyes, Metatron had also set up his own organization—but contrary to the other, the goal of their entire existence was to bring about the end of the world.

The Sixth Layer was the halfway point of the Treasury, and among its members, only Kamrusepa had unlocked it.

While she wasn't the strongest among the members of the Order, she was the smartest and was someone who knew when to attack, when to hold back, and when to negotiate.

Metatron treated her favorably because, just like him, Kamrusepa's wish was for the destruction of the world.

After arriving at the Sixth Layer, Thirteen immediately found himself at the center of what seemed to be a floating platform.

And several meters outside of the platform, countless treasures and artifacts could be seen circling around it, waiting for someone to take them.

"Well, then, Zion. What do you wish to get here?" Kamrusepa asked out of curiosity.

"I want to see the first clear bonus items that Metatron presented to you when you first unlocked this layer," Thirteen replied.

"Oh? Those artifacts?" Kamrusepa smiled. "Interesting. Well, Metatron, you heard him. Bring out the things you offered me in the past."

As if waiting for that moment, five items among the countless artifacts circling the floating platform flew toward the teenage boy's direction and hovered a few meters away from him.

"Sh*t…" Thirteen muttered as soon as he saw the items—all of them were things familiar to him. As a System whose database spans countless multiverses, he was like a walking appraisal tool for any kind of items, including Divine-Ranked Items.

And right now, he was looking at five Divine-Ranked Items he could use, bypassing the Item Ban forcefully imposed upon his body.

The Divine Items in front of her were rather unique, but none of them struck her as important.

She had only taken three items from the 6th Layer, and all of them were of the Divine Ranked.

These items were the ones she used in the battle against the Arcadia Archipelago, which covered her weaknesses when it came to combat.

As Kamrusepa looked at the items in front of her, she couldn't help but wonder why the teenage boy was looking at them as if he wanted to take all of them home.

"Remember, Thirteen—you can only take one of them," Metatron commented. "There will be no freebies."

"I know that…" Thirteen replied with a conflicted expression on his face. All of the five artifacts could help him in many ways. Unfortunately, since he could only choose one of them, he needed to choose the thing that would help him the most in the short term.

"Can I have two hours to decide which one I will pick?" Thirteen asked Kamrusepa.

"Take your time," Kamrusepa replied. "But only on the condition that you will tell me why you chose that specific item. You are not allowed to lie. "I'm not like Camazotz who is naive and gullible. Either you become honest with me, or this deal is off. You understand, don't you, Zion?"

Thirteen nodded. "I treat you as a very important ally, Kamrusepa. Also, since our interests don't conflict with each other, I don't mind telling you the reason why I chose one of these items."

"Good." Kamrusepa smiled and crossed her arms over her chest.

She intended to wait until Thirteen chose the item she would get for him as a favor.

The teenage boy then sat cross-legged on the ground, his critical gaze never leaving the five items in front of him.

Just like Kamrusepa, Metatron was also curious about which Divine Artifact Thirteen would end up choosing once the two hours was up.

Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours.

Finally, after two hours of thinking, Thirteen sighed deeply before pointing at what seemed to be a tattered black flag without any insignia on it.

Kamrusepa and Metatron both arched an eyebrow as they looked at the flag that Thirteen had chosen.

"The Parade of a Hundred Demons?" Kamrusepa giggled. "Oh, Thirteen—are you sure about this?"

"Yes." Thirteen nodded firmly. "I know that it has no value to you because you're already strong and have command over tens of thousands of monsters. But for someone like me, it's priceless.

Metatron scratched his head.

"But Thirteen, this flag can only recruit, and summon Rank 1 monsters," Metatron said. "Also, when those monsters die, they will die for good, and you'll need to recruit again from scratch. "Even if it's a hundred Rank 1 monsters, they will only serve as meat shields and cannon fodders at most. A Rank 7 and Rank 8 Monster can kill them in less than a minute."

"Exactly what I need," Thirteen nodded. "I need meatshields and cannon fodders."

Kamrusepa and Metatron looked pitifully at the teenage boy, whom they believed had chosen the most worthless Divine Artifact within the Sixth Layer of the Treasury.

The Majin Princess hugged the boy and buried his face on her chest and patted his head.

"There, there Thirteen, I'll give you something else," Kamrusepa said. "This little toy isn't something that suits you. Go look for something else."

"You should do as Kamrusepa says, Thirteen," Metatron, who had high hopes for the boy, also tried to convince him to change his choice. "There are better items out there. Just like Kamrusepa, this is just a toy."

Thirteen, whose head was buried in the Majin Princess' chest, pulled back and tried to get away from her hold.

"I don't want to change my choice," Thirteen said as he looked at the two powerful beings who didn't understand what kind of things he could do with the artifact that would allow him to store and summon a hundred Rank 1 Monster.

"I choose the Parade of a Hundred Demons."

The teenage boy's words were firm, making Kamrusepa and Metatron glance at each other.

The Guardian of the Treasury looked troubled, while the Majin Princess looked hesitant.

"Okay, then tell me why you decided to choose this artifact," Kamrusepa stated. "If you can't change my mind, then the deal is off."

"Same," Metatron nodded. "Even if it's you, Thirteen, I don't want you to waste this precious opportunity to get an item that will truly be useful to you."

Thirteen, who was still being hugged by Kamrusepa, sighed before explaining the reason why he decided to choose the tattered flag as the artifact he wanted to possess.

The Majin Princess and the Guardian of the Treasury both listened to the teenage boy's explanation.

At first, the two of them looked uninterested, but soon, their gazes became serious as they looked at the boy in disbelief.

"…"

"…"

"Do you still think it is useless to me now?" Thirteen asked as he held the Creation Sphere in his hands. "No," Kamrusepa replied with a faint smile on her face. "It seems that I shouldn't really judge a book by its cover."

"Indeed." Metatron nodded. "I forgot you have the Creation Sphere."

Thirteen planned to use the Creation Sphere on the Divine Artifact, Parade of a Hundred Demons, in order to create a weapon that was once used by one of his previous Hosts who forced all the heroes of the world to hunt him down due to how serious a threat he was.