System's POV
chapter-388

388 Immortal Parade Of A Hundred Demons Version 2!

After telling Kamrusepa and Metatron what he planned to do with the Black Flag, the Guardian of the Order of the Apocalypse suddenly had an idea.

"Thirteen, you still haven't used one of your quotas for the treasury, have you?" Metatron asked. "Yes," Thirteen replied. "I only took two Capture Spheres, and decided to put my last choice on hold."

"Perfect!" Metatron grinned. "I have a proposal, so feel free to hear me out. How about you exchange your last opportunity for this artifact?"

Metatron snapped his fingers, and a Gray Crystal Ball appeared in front of the teenage boy.

The moment Thirteen saw the Artifact in front of him, his expression instantly turned serious.

"What's that?" Kamrusepa asked as she eyed the Crystal Ball with great curiosity. "Do you know what that is, Thirteen?"

"I do," Thirteen replied, his voice a bit hoarse as if he forced himself to answer the Majin Princess's question. "It's called a Cloning Crystal—as its name implies, it can perfectly clone a single item regardless of what it is. It's worth fifteen million System Points."

The Cloning Crystal was an overpowered Item that was also available in the System Shop.

"Fifteen million System Points?" Kamrusepa asked in confusion. "Don't you mean Apocalypse Points?"

Thirteen was no longer paying attention to Kamrusepa, busy thinking about the Cloning Crystal in front of him. This item opened countless possibilities for his growth.

For example, if he were to clone Camazotz's Artemian Armor, he would gain an overpowered armor, which he could lend to his father, Gerald, to annihilate any assassins who would aim for his life.

But Thirteen knew that Metatron wasn't offering this Cloning Crystal for that purpose.

He must've wanted the teenage boy to use it for something greater—one that would surpass Camazotz's armor, allowing Thirteen to gain enough power to protect himself despite all the restrictions imposed upon his body.

"You want me to clone the Creation Sphere, don't you?" Thirteen asked.

"I like smart people," Metatron smirked. "Yes. I will give this Cloning Crystal to you on the condition that you will only use it to clone the Creation Sphere. Also, I will deduct another quota from you next year—after all, this Cloning Crystal is really precious. You're fine with that, right?"

22:23

Metatron chuckled before snapping his fingers.

The Cloning Crystal collided with Thirteen's Creation Sphere, merging with it completely.

Soon, the Creation Sphere started to shake uncontrollably and flew upward.

It stayed in the air for a full minute before splitting into two.

These two copies then formed into perfect Creation Spheres, which landed on the palms of Thirteen's hands.

"Can I merge it now with the Parade of a Hundred Demons?" Thirteen inquired, still reeling from Metatron's unexpected generosity.

"You may," Metatron replied. "Show us what you can do."

Thirteen nodded and stored the second Creation Sphere inside his Dimensional Storage. He held the black flag on his right hand and the Creation Sphere on his left, then merged them together.

A bright flash of light emerged from their point of contact, enveloping Thirteen in its brilliance.

When the light receded, the teenage boy found himself floating in space, with countless binary numbers swirling around him.

These numbers were the codes that made up the world, allowing him to modify the Black Flag that was still in his hand.

Thirteen already knew what to do, so he closed his eyes and started the creation phase.

The Creation Sphere could create nearly anything as long as its user had a perfect grasp of what he wanted to create.

The Black Flag in his hand started to increase its size, and it fluttered wildly as if it was coming to life.

He poured all the data needed to make the flag transform into a more powerful version of itself, complete with the upgrades that Thirteen wanted it to have. His previous host had once wielded a black flag called the Immortal Parade of a Hundred Demons, which brought terror to the world where he lived.

Because of this, a crusade was waged against him, uniting all the heroes of the world to bring him down.

The battle had been fierce, with his Host killing nearly everyone but the Hero, who was fated to kill him.

That was the reason why Thirteen had been able to instantly decide what to make using the power of his Creation Sphere right after he saw the Parade of a Hundred Demons. After the transformation finished, the black flag no longer looked tattered. It fluttered with a dark radiance, oozing dark shadowy mists from its edges. A moment later, the roman number XIII, written in bold golden letters, appeared at its center, shining like the sun.

The Creation Sphere then gave Thirteen one last prompt, which would finalize the process of his creation. ——————————-

< You have created a Divine Artifact. >

< Please, give it a name. >

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"Immortal Parade of a Hundred Demons," Thirteen answered. "Version 2!"

< Congratulations! >

< You have created the Immortal Parade of a Hundred Demons Version 2!"

——————————

A genuine smile appeared on Thirteen's face as he held the pole of the black flag that was over three meters tall, with its banner fluttering in the breeze.

He felt as if he was holding an old friend whom he hadn't seen for thousands of years.

The symbolic symbol, XIII, signified that it had been modified by him and that it was stronger than its predecessor. A true Divine Artifact that would allow Thirteen to face off against stronger opponents, who were below the rank of a Throne and a Rank 7 Sovereign.

But to make that possible, he still needed to first recruit a hundred demons that would serve as his main fighting force.

Knowing that the first creature whom he would recruit in his banner was the most important, the teenage boy lightly patted Tiona's head and asked her a question.

"Tiona, do you want to stay by my side forever?" Thirteen asked.

The black snake nodded then moved her head to nudge Thirteen's cheek as if telling him to not ask a question he already knew the answer to.

The Black Flag then bathed Tiona in a brilliant light, dubbing her the Queen of the Parade of a Hundred Demons.

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< The Queen of the Night Parade has been registered. >

< Name which ability of the Queen would be copied into the Divine Artifact. >

——————————

"Kiss of Death," Thirteen replied.

——————————

< Congratulations! >

< Kiss of Death has been added to the Divine Artifact's abilities! >

——————————

The Domini Mortis was the most venomous snake in the world.

This was why their venom was called the "Kiss of Death," which was also one of their most scary abilities.

Anyone who had been injected with their venom would die in the end. They would die right away if they were weak, and slowly weaken until they finally perished if they were strong.

There was originally no cure for their venom, which was why Lady Callista suffered for many years without any improvements.

Fortunately, Thirteen had a deep understanding of the Domini Mortis thanks to his Soul Core, allowing him to formulate an antidote. Not only did it cure his Grandmother from her illness, but it also allowed her to make the venom that almost killed her, her own power.

And now, Tiona's Venom was added to the Black Flag's abilities.

What made the Immortal Parade of a Hundred Demons horrifying was its ability to store a hundred different abilities.

And all the monsters whom Thirteen would recruit to become part of the Demonic Army would each gain ninety-nine more abilities.

In the hands of the ignorant, this Godly Artifact would not be able to unleash its full power.

But in Thirteen's hands, this Godly Artifact would be overpowered—he would carefully handpick a hundred monsters, all of whom possessed unique complementing abilities.

There were many monsters in Solterra whose growth was impeded or were imposed with limitations due to the strength of their potential, just like the Domini Mortis.

Thirteen intended to add them to his collection, making his Hundred Demons a force to reckon with.

But that wasn't all.

His modified version of this artifact allowed him to recruit not only Rank 1 Monsters.

No.

He could recruit a monster of any rank into his fold. The downside was that their Rank would regress to that of a Rank 1 Monster once they were registered as part of the Demon Parade.

However, there was a tradeoff.

Sure, their overall strength would decrease drastically after regressing to Rank 1 Monsters.

However, they would gain an additional ninety-nine unique abilities in exchange. Added to their own natural abilities, all the monsters under the banner would have over a hundred abilities.

But that wasn't all.

As the name suggested, all of these Monsters would become immortal.

Even if they were to die, the flag would revive them again, allowing them to fight and die up to ten times a day—any more than that, and they would have to wait for another day to fight again.

Its power would be so broken once Thirteen was done gathering his hundred demons, whom he planned to handpick personally. They would become his immortal army, whose existence would make his enemies tremble in fear.

Tiona, who had now become its Commander, suddenly became drowsy.

She then crawled to Thirteen's arm and transformed herself into a snake armlet so that she wouldn't slip off her Master's body.

"Sleep well, Tiona," Thirteen said softly.

The flag then turned into a black wisp and embedded itself on the back of Thirteen's right hand.

The symbol, XIII, briefly appeared on the back of Thirteen's right hand before disappearing completely.

It was now soul-bound to him, and no one but him would be able to use it.