System's POV
chapter-498

Waiting at the Lizardmen Camp with the other Wanderers, Sherry was absentmindedly carving a piece of wood.

She wasn't aiming to carve anything specific in particular. The only reason she was fiddling with the wood was to distract herself because the wait for Zion's return was making her feel anxious.

A few hours ago, Thirteen and all the able-bodied Lizardmen under Drazzat's orders mobilized and left the camp together.

They only left behind a dozen Warriors, as well as one of their Shamans, to look after their camp.

There were hundreds of Lizardmen who were still injured and unable to fight at this point in time.

Sean and Heidi were also feeling restless. They thought Zion was going to take them with him to another special mission, but to their surprise, the teenage boy didn't ask anyone to accompany him and the Lizardmen to wherever they were going.

"Did they really attack the Ratmen?" Natalie, who was seated on the log opposite Sherry's, asked.

"I don't know," Sherry replied. "Zion only told me to wait here."

"Then, what is your relationship with him?" Natalie asked in a teasing tone. "The two of you share the same wagon, and I can tell that he is very close to you."

"We're just comrades," Sherry answered.

"Just comrades? I don't think so."

"Believe what you want to believe."

Sherry had no intention of getting close to Natalie, as well as Leon, who were giving her some bad vibes.

Unlike Sean and Heidi, who had fought alongside her a few times, she just couldn't find herself being close to the two teenagers who always chose to not participate in the missions that Zion orchestrated.

"You don't like me, do you?" Natalie asked with a smile.

Sherry chose not to answer Natalie's question and continued to carve the wood in her hand.

Sean and Heidi listened to their exchange with faint interest as they, too, waited for Zion to return to their camp.

Suddenly, one of the Lizardmen serving as a Watcher shouted, making everyone in the camp think that he had spotted enemies near them.

But the Lizardman's next words made everyone calm down instantly.

"They're back!" the Lizardman shouted. "The Commander and the others are back!"

Sherry hurriedly looked in the direction where the Lizardman was pointing and saw Drazzat walking alongside his men.

A look of relief appeared on her pretty face when she saw Zion walking side by side with the Commander with a calm expression on his face.

However, it didn't take long for her to notice that the Lizardman Commander was holding a severed Ratman's head in his left hand, which was a gruesome sight to behold.

The other Wanderers, who had been ordered to stay in the camp, looked at the returning Warriors with doubtful gazes.

They thought they were just out for a scouting mission, but when they saw the Ratman's head in Drazzat's hand, they understood that they had left to fight against the Ratmen Army.

"Everyone, thank you for waiting!" Drazzat shouted before lifting Badarr's head for everyone to see. "We have killed the Ratmen's Commander, Badarr, and completely annihilated their forces! We have won the battle!"

The injured Lizardmen began to cheer, not doubting the announcement. For them, there was no reason for their Commander to lie to them.

The other Wanderers, who were caught in the flow, also cheered because this meant that they no longer had to fight against anyone anymore.

Thirteen walked toward Sherry and stopped a meter away from her.

"How is everyone?" Thirteen asked. "Did someone cause mischief while I was away?"

"No," Sherry replied. "Everyone stayed inside the camp and behaved themselves."

"Good." Thirteen nodded. "I'm going to sleep. Wake me up at sunset."

Thirteen didn't even bother waiting for Sherry's reply before walking toward his wagon to rest.

He hadn't rested much during the entire operation. He was supposed to be resting earlier, but he didn't want to miss the best time to deal a crushing blow to the Ratmen before they could regain their bearings.

Since Thirteen always finished what he started, he didn't bat an eye and let his Divine Artifact, Parade of a Hundred Demons, absorb Kesari, whom he had captured earlier.

The Ratman Commander wasn't able to resist the Black Flag's absorption, making him one of Thirteen's immortal and loyal subordinates.

Although having a Ratman as a member of his Parade of a Hundred Demons wasn't part of his original plan, he still went ahead and did it just to be on the safe side.

To his surprise, Kesari actually possessed a Unique Skill which Thirteen believed would boost the effectiveness of his Parade of a Hundred Demons.

This Unique Passive Skill was called Versatile.

Just as the name implied, it allowed someone to adapt to any given situation regardless of how dangerous it was.

The members of the Parade of a Hundred Demons had retained their personalities, memories, as well as their specialties.

They were not mindless servants who simply followed orders.

This was why having the Unique Skill, Versatile, would allow them to perform their missions better, adapting to their current circumstances.

Also, since Kesari was a Rank 5 Alpha Monster, Tiona managed to gain a big boost in her overall combat strength.

As the Queen of the Parade of a Hundred Demons, not only did she gain 99 Additional Skills, but also received other benefits.

One of those benefits was an increase in her overall strength.

If Tiona had a Status Page that showed her stats, there would be an additional 30 points in her agility.

Kesari's main attribute was Agility.

Since he was a Rank 5 Monster, the agility that Tiona would gain was five agility multiplied by Kesari's Monster Rank, which would give her 25 points in Agility.

And since the Ratman was also an Alpha Monster, there would be a bonus of five agility, raising the overall stat to 30 Agility.

But the benefits didn't end there.

Another function of the Black Flag was to give its King or Queen a trait of the Monsters who were part of her team.

For example, Kesari had a sixth sense when it came to danger.

Tiona would also inherit this trait, allowing her to gain a sixth sense when it came to danger.

So, aside from having 99 more skills and a boost in stats, Tiona would also gain 99 more powerful traits as well.

Although she was a Rank 1 Monster for life, her fighting prowess surpassed her current rank, making her an anomaly among anomalies.

With the current Monsters residing inside the Divine Artifact, Tiona's combat strength was similar to that of a Rank 4 Sovereign.

But once Thirteen completed the true Parade of a Hundred Demons, and it had absorbed all the monsters he carefully handpicked to maximize the Black Flag's effectiveness, he believed that Tiona's overall strength would surpass that of a Rank 5 Sovereign.

The teenage boy wanted to ask Kesari some questions, but he decided to put it off until after his nap ended.

Since they had just ended a battle against the Ratmen, there was no need to rush.

Tiona coiled up on Zion's chest and decided to rest as well.

She was also very exhausted because she was sharing her connection with her Clone, as well as commanding her members that were scattered across the battlefield.

The members of the Parade of a Hundred Demons eliminated the Ratmen who had escaped the encirclement of the Lizardmen.

Thirteen didn't want to leave a single Ratman alive. That way, he could ensure that there would be an information gap between the other Ratmen Clans for a few days.

As long as the Ratmen weren't aware that Badarr's and Kesari's Army were annihilated, they would not be able to react once Thirteen and Drazzat's forces circled around them and attacked them from the rear, where they were very vulnerable from attacks.