System's POV
chapter-505

"Are you sure this information is true, Drazzat?" the Great Chieftain of the Mawano Tribe, Vasjirr, asked.

"Yes," Drazzat replied.

"And those humans with you, are you telling me that you've recognized them as your tribe's benefactors?" Vasjirr inquired.

"They are," Drazzat answered.

"Hah… but I still can't believe it," Vasjirr shook his head. "Do you have any other proof aside from the words of a human boy and the Commander of the Ratmen that you have captured? They might just be lying, you know?"

"I swear upon my position as the Great Chieftain of the Varesti Tribe that everything I said is true," Drazzat declared, making Vasjirr frown.

"That's an oath you must not take lightly," Vasjirr stated. "Especially since you're not currently the Great Chieftain, but the Commander of your tribe."

The Lizardmen had a tradition that whenever the Great Chieftain personally went to war, they would appoint a substitute Great Chieftain to manage the tribe while they were away.

This was to ensure that if they ever fell in battle or were captured by the enemy, they would not be able to be used as hostage, preventing the Tribe from falling into chaos.

Drazzat had chosen Vaess as the temporary Great Chieftain of the Varesti Tribe while he was away. So, technically, he was no longer the Great Chieftain of his tribe.

But of course, this was just a formality.

In Vasjirr's eyes, Drazzat was a true Great Chieftain.

Because unlike him, who decided to stay and manage his tribe while a war was being waged on his doorstep, Drazzat stepped up and led his people to battle, befitting a true Lizardmen Warrior.

"All I ask is that you give me a chance to talk to the Ratmen who are fighting against your people," Drazzat stated. "If it doesn't work, then you will have nothing to lose."

Vasjirr pondered a bit before glancing at the Apostle who had accompanied Drazzat to the meeting with him.

The human's name was David, and he was the temporary leader of the humans who were fighting alongside the Varesti Tribe.

"Fine." Vasjirr nodded. "I will give you an opportunity. I will prepare a decree so that the Commander of my Army will cooperate with you."

"Good!" Drazzat smirked. "Now we're talking."

Vasjirr made a gesture, and his aide gave him a scroll.

The Great Chieftain of the Mawano Tribe spoke directly to the scroll as if imprinting his voice to it as a form of audio message.

"Take it," Vasjirr handed the scroll to his Aide, who passed it to Drazzat. "I just hope that your trust isn't misplaced, Drazzat."

"I hope so too," Drazzat replied. "For both of our sakes."

After getting what he came for, Drazzat and David left the Great Hall of the Mawano Tribe and returned to their temporary camp, which they set up a mile away from the Mawano Tribe's City.

There were certain rules that must be followed, including the rule that no army belonging to another Tribe may enter the city of another Tribe, especially since most of their warriors had headed to war.

"I'm sorry, but tomorrow at first light, we will once again start to travel," Drazzat said to David, who was riding a Wolf Avatar beside him.

"You don't have to worry about us, Commander," David replied. "This is the perfect training for those First Timers."

"Why do you call the younger ones First Timers?" Drazzat inquired with great curiosity.

"Because this is their first time experiencing something like this," David answered. "That's why I call them First Timers."

"Is this their first time going to war?"

"Something like that."

David couldn't possibly tell the Lizardman that the younger teenagers who were part of their group were undergoing their First Wandering.

It was a time when they would change from being normal teenagers to teenagers who had faced and overcame challenges that even adults would find difficult to accomplish.

'It would have been better if Erica stayed behind,' David grumbled. 'These kids, especially those from the Cygni Faction, are hard to control.'

Although he was an Apostle and was stronger than the members of the Cygni Faction, their influence was greater than his.

Because of this, he couldn't directly give them orders unlike the rest, who recognized him as their temporary leader.

Since he really couldn't be bothered to create conflict within their group, he allowed Sean to manage his own people.

This was also the advice that Thirteen had given him before he left with Erica to find the Shard of Origin that belonged to the Ratmen.

'I wonder what she's doing right now,' David thought. 'Maybe she's busy protecting Zion since he is just a Rookie.'

David thought that Zion Leventis decided to take Erica with him to serve as his bodyguard, and for a while, he thought of him as lucky because he was in good hands.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Southwestern Region of the Fractured Heaven…

"Zion you bastard! What do you think you are doing?! Why did you leave me here?!" Erica shouted in anger as she shot Magic Bullets left and right because she was currently surrounded by dozens of Rank 2 Goblins.

Earlier, Thirteen said that she should just stay in this particular location and stand guard while he infiltrated the Goblin Camp with Sherry.

However, to her surprise, all the Goblins suddenly came swarming out of their camp and charged at her hiding place.

Left with no choice, Erica started to cast Magic Bullets left and right to kill one of the Monsters that female Wanderers hated the most.

For some reason, her Guardian, Blacky, also disappeared before the Gobilns attacked, leaving her to fend them off on her own.

While this was happening, Thirteen was munching on an apple while seated on a tree branch with Sherry.

"You're very evil, you know that?" Sherry said.

"I know," Thirteen replied before taking another bite of the apple in his hand. "But this is for her own good. She needs to get used to being mobbed by monsters if she wants to survive this mission."

Sherry shuddered subconsciously because she had a feeling that she would be tossed into a similar scenario very soon.

Although she liked to call Erica "Auntie," that didn't mean that she disliked the latter.

She was just a bit jealous because Zion could talk casually to her without treating her like someone older than him.

In fact, during the past few days they were together, she noticed that Erica would sometimes treat Zion like that of a little brother.

But at times, this relationship would be reversed, with Zion being the older brother and Erica the little sister—the kind who was in her rebellious phase.

She even thought that it might be nice if Zion treated her the same way. The closeness that he and Erica have for each other were more than friends, but less like lovers.

"You're not going to do that to me, right?" Sherry asked.

"… Nah," Thirteen replied.

"Why was there a pause before you answered?"

"It's just your imagination."

Half an hour later, Erica panted for breath while leaning on a tree.

All the Goblins around her were dead, but deep inside, she also felt like dying due to how exhausted she was.

She had experienced this same feeling of exhaustion when she was still with the Hero Party.

However, the reason for that was due to her casting her strongest spells, which would leave her drained of all strength afterward.

This was different.

If she had faced these many Goblins before she had been trained by Zion, things would have ended differently with her being captured by these foul beasts and suffering a fate worse than death.

While she was thinking of a hundred ways how to beat the crap out of the teenage boy who had disappeared out of nowhere, she heard a clapping sound behind her.

"Good job, Erica." Thirteen said while clapping. "It seems that your title as the Great Sorceress Erica is not just for show."

"Zion, don't let me catch you!" Erica growled. "I'll spank you later!"

"Can you?" Thirteen arched an eyebrow. "Be careful—you might be the one getting spanked instead."

"Tsk!" Erica clicked her tongue knowing that the possibility of that happening was quite high.

Despite her rank being higher than the teenage boy in front of her, she didn't have the confidence to win if they really fought a one-on-one battle.

"So, did you get good loots?" Thirteen asked in a teasing tone. "You did, right? After all, I sent you all the Goblins in this camp."

"You f*cker!" Erica cursed.

"Girl, you're talking to a minor," Thirteen said as he walked closer to the spent Sorceress, who could no longer cast even a single spell. "Can you stop cursing?"

"F*ck you!"

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

Sherry watched this playful banter while sighing in her heart.

She then shifted her attention to the dead Goblins around them and wondered if there would come a time when she could do the same thing, without relying on the teenage boy who seemed to have everything under his control.