System's POV
chapter-402

The Blood Wolf, who had been crippled by Hans, roared in anger as it was being absorbed by the black flag in Thirteen's hand.

But no matter how hard it struggled, it was unable to free itself from the hold of the Divine Artifact due to its injuries.

It was a Rank 4 Monster, but Hans easily dealt with it by cutting off its limbs, and cutting all its chances of escaping.

When the wolf finally turned into particles of light and merged with Thirteen's black flag, the teenage boy finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"We're done here, Hans," Thirteen said in a strained voice. "Let's go back."

"Yes, Young Master," Hans replied before summoning his Giant Hawk.

They spent half of the day hunting for suitable monsters to temporarily add to Thirteen's Divine Artifact because it could only show its might when all 100 slots were taken.

Although these monsters didn't possess the abilities that the teenage boy was looking for, having 100 abilities was still better than having just 15 abilities.

A monster with that many abilities, even if they were only a Rank 1 Monster, was a force to reckon with.

This was also the reason why Thirteen's former host was hunted down by the Heroes of his world—with the Immortal Parade of a Hundred Demons in his hands, he was simply too dangerous.

Thirteen knew that he needed to have proper rest before the fight started, so they didn't go too deep into enemy territory.

He simply asked Hans to cripple different monster types so that he could add their abilities to his Divine Artifact.

The butler, who knew about the restrictions in his Young Master's body, didn't ask any questions about how Zion was able to wield the black flag.

He simply followed the teenage boy's orders, and this attitude made Thirteen give the butler a thumbs up in his heart.

When they finally arrived at the Aircraft Carrier, he immediately ordered the Leventis Naval Fleet to head to their respective positions in preparation for the upcoming battle.

He also ordered everyone to take a proper rest so that they would have enough strength when they were ordered to mobilize in both land and air.

Thirteen set up his alarm, planning to sleep for at least eight hours. As the Supreme Commander of the operation, whether they would succeed or not depended on his orders.

"Let's sleep, Tiona," Thirteen said as he lightly patted the black snake who was coiled up in his chest. "Tomorrow, we head to battle."

Tiona nodded and obeyed her Master's order.

She had seen how her Master had worked tirelessly behind the scenes in order to ensure that the number of casualties would be reduced to its limit.

Contrary to the teenage boy who was soundly sleeping in his room, there were many people who were unable to sleep a wink.

Shana was one of them.

The Saintess of the Hero Party was unable to sleep because she was feeling too anxious.

The impromptu battle that had taken place in the Dvalinn Port still haunted her in her dreams—it was bloody, and she tried to help as much as she could, but she was simply too helpless.

Shana had fought alongside everyone and healed as many injured as she could.

But when the Bird Man crashed on the port and stood several meters away from her, she felt as if her heart had stopped beating.

The Bird Man had only given her a sidelong glance back then and focused its attention on the teenage boy standing only three meters away from it.

The Rank 8 Sovereign reached out to crush the boy's neck, treating him like an insignificant insect. "Hi."

"Bye."

But, despite the screams, roars, and screeches around her, she had heard those two words clearly. Before she knew it, the Rank 8 Sovereign vanished without a trace.

The only one left standing was Zion Leventis.

With the disappearance of the Monsters' leader, the tide of battle quickly shifted in favor of the Dvalinn Federation.

After the battle ended, Shana remembered the stories her sister had told her about Zion Leventis.

Rianna had nothing but praise for the boy. However, her sister's excessive awe towards Zion irritated Shana to no end.

But after seeing that scene…

That death-defying scene where a boy who was three years younger than her faced death in the eye yet survived, she finally understood why her sister only sang praises for him.

Her seniors, Viola, Sharon, and Louise, who had accompanied Zion to fight against the Brain Beetle, Evuvug, would often tell Shana that their temporary Commander was very dependable and many times better than Roland, the Hero of Shana's Party.

They even added that if there would come a time when she had to choose between the two, she should choose Zion because he was the better choice than Roland.

Shana hadn't said anything back then, but she also believed that what they said was the truth.

She had been with Roland and knew how strong he really was.

But despite Zion being weaker, Shana instinctively felt that she would be safer by his side than by Roland's or even their entire Hero Party combined.

'Did I get infected by the Zion disease?' Shana thought before shaking her head helplessly. 'I better try to sleep even if I'm struggling to. After all, tomorrow is judgment day.'

The Saintess laid down on her bed and closed her eyes. After feeling restless for an hour, sleep finally held her in her embrace.

Perhaps, waiting for that moment, her communicator blinked thrice, indicating that someone was trying to contact her.

However, since she had temporarily disabled all notification sounds for three hours, she didn't hear it and slept an uneasy sleep.

***

Somewhere in the Cygni Continent…

"She's not picking up," Joshua, the Sage of the Hero Party, said. "Maybe she's already asleep."

"It's really hard to contact her because of the time difference," Roland commented. "When we're awake, she's asleep, and when we're asleep, she's awake."

"Too bad," the blonde-haired girl stated. "And here I was, planning to wish her good luck for the battle."

"Well, today is our day off, so maybe we should take a nap later," the Warrior said. "That way, we can stay up late to watch the live broadcast and see how their battle will progress. Everyone in the world will be watching this battle, so I'm sure that our superiors won't mind if we slack off for a day."

Roland and Joshua nodded at the same time.

"That's a good idea," Joshua nodded. "Let's take it easy for today."

"""Yes!"""

Everywhere in the world, similar scenarios were happening.

Gambling houses even opened, intending to take advantage of this momentous event.

Some bet that the expedition would fail, while others bet on its success.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the entirety of Pangea was paying close attention to this event, which was only half a day from starting.

Meanwhile, while all the Wanderers were waiting for the battle to start, the Monsters of the Rigel Continent were also starting to move.

The Centipede King, Jalrog, eyed the movement of its forces, as well as the forces of its allies.

It had shared the information that the Wanderers would launch an expedition that would reclaim the Northern Regions of the Continent, in a few hours. At first, the Kings didn't want to believe the Centipede King because its credibility had dropped after trying to devour Evuvug in the past.

But after Jalrog stated that if the humans did indeed launch an attack, and they didn't heed its warning, it would no longer participate in any battle to drive them out in the future.

In the end, the Kings and the Earth Dragons decided to trust Jalrog and ordered their forces to march toward the Northern Regions in preparation for the human's attempt to reclaim their lands.

Due to their territory being the farthest from the North, the Wyvern King and the Death Lord would arrive a bit later than the rest.

Evuvug's forces, which were now under the control of the Rank 7 Blister Bug, were also moving toward the North because the Earth Dragons ordered it so. The Centipede King watched these events unfold with anticipation and looked forward to the completion of its deal with the messenger of the God of the Apocalypse, who promised to grant its wish of gaining power beyond its wildest dreams.