System's POV
chapter-537-3

While Tiona took over dealing with the small fries, Thirteen faced the Wanderers, who had now summoned their Avatars.

Rank 3 Monsters appeared in front of him, with a few Rank 4 Monsters as well, but he didn't think much of them.

Officially, he might be a Rookie, but his current strength was that of a Master.

With his ability to accurately calculate the path of his enemy's attacks, he was able to dodge, deflect, and block them if need be.

David, who was seeing Thirteen fight for the first time, was thinking the same thing as everyone else was thinking.

'Is he really just a Rookie?!'

Even the other Wanderers spectating this scene couldn't help but think along those lines.

This was the first time that they were seeing the Supreme Commander of the alliance in action, and frankly, the scene in front of them had gone beyond their expectation.

Without any wasted movements, Thirteen calmly dealt with the Apostles in a systematic manner.

Summoning throwing weapons in his hands, he unhesitatingly and mercilessly threw them at the locations that would make his opponents feel a world of pain.

However, the young man wasn't their only problem.

Tiona would use her levitation to throw Leon's stone statue as a projectile at anyone who was trying to launch a sneak attack on her Master's back.

Since she and Thirteen had synchronized their senses together, it was as if having another pair of eyes looking at his surroundings.

One by one, the challengers fell, until it was only David with his three Avatars, guarding him from the front and his sides.

"A Lion, a Tiger, and a Bear," Thirteen said with a smirk. "That's quite a lineup you have there. All of them are Rank 4 Monsters. Either you are lucky, or your family is rich."

"I'm both," David said. "But compared to the Leventis Family, I'm just a frog in the well."

"So, you still want to continue?" Thirteen asked in a casual manner.

"Giving up is only something I will do when I have tried everything in my power and failed to achieve the results that I am aiming for," David replied.

Thirteen nodded. "A good mindset. But it's time to end this."

Without even giving David a chance to reply, Thirteen threw something that looked like a black bomb at the Apostle, making the Bear, who was standing in front of David, swat it away.

However, as soon as the monster's claws and the bomb clashed with each other, the bomb exploded, releasing a black powdery mist that made the Bear Avatar cry out in pain.

David, his Lion, and his Tiger hurriedly backed off in caution since they didn't know what just happened.

But it didn't take long for them to understand what Thirteen had thrown because the wind had blown in their direction, making David start coughing.

"Black… Calamba Peppercorn!" David forced himself to shout. "You're mad!"

"Oh, you know about it?" Thirteen said in a teasing tone. "Since you know what it is, you know what's going to happen next, right?"

"Argh!" David pressed his hands over his neck because he felt as if his throat was burning.

Even his Rank 4 Lion and Tiger were suffering the same symptoms, making them unable to fight.

There was a plant-type monster called Black Calamba, which was a Rank 5 Monster.

It was not an aggressive monster, but if someone were to come within its territory, it would release a black mist that was dozens of times more potent than pepper sprays.

Some Wanderers would gather the peppercorns that grew on the plant sacs of these monsters to sell them as ingredients to restaurants. They were as potent as they were exquisite to the taste and were one of the most sought spices in the world.

In small doses, the Black Calamba was similar to ordinary black pepper, except it was extra spicy.

But in large doses, they could pose a serious threat even to monsters. It could cause temporary blindness, and a burning sensation to those who managed to inhale it.

It was similar to Giga's stink spray.

The only difference was that it didn't smell bad. Even so, it was just as deadly.

"I have more, you know?" Thirteen said as he showed two more black bombs that he had just summoned from his Dimensional Storage. "This time, you'll get hit by the real deal."

"I surrender!" David no longer hesitated and shouted his surrender.

Short-term exposure to the Black Calamba's grounded peppercorns wasn't lethal.

But continuous exposure to it would become deadly, and in a pathetic way. It would make breathing nearly impossible because the receiving end would cough nonstop until they ran out of breath.

This was why the Black Calamba wasn't a monster that anyone would go all-out to fight, with the exception of Wanderers who specialized in collecting rare and exquisite spices that fetched a high price.

After dealing with the humans, Thirteen glanced in the direction of the monsters, who were all panting for breath after they fought against each other.

Tiona was juggling several stone statues with her telekinesis, threatening to throw them at the Lizardmen, Ratmen, and Goblins who were glancing in her Master's direction.

"Still want to fight?" Thirteen asked.

"No," one of the Lizardmen replied. "I give up."

The Ratmen and Goblins also conceded, and soon, Diana declared him as the winner.

Now that everyone had seen his fighting prowess, they would no longer get in his way of leading their organization.

"Then this is my first order," Thirteen said. "Everyone, rest for today. I will discuss with my Vice Commander, Diana, the things that we will do moving forward.

Since they were tight on time earlier, he wasn't able to ask her for more information about the Northern Kingdom, where their second mission was waiting for them.

But before he did that, he went to the dung pile his Bisons had left behind and ordered Tiona to dump Leon's stone statue on it.

The black snake was more than happy to obey her Master's orders and even made sure that Leon's head was dunked into the dung pile, leaving his feet sticking up into the air.

The Petrification Breath only lasted for a few hours, so the moment Leon was freed from it, he would find himself buried in dung.

Sean and the other members of the Cygni Faction looked at their comrade in horror and quietly made an oath to never cross Zion while they were with him during their mission.

The Scion of the Griffin Clan knew that Leon was a very ambitious individual, but he didn't do anything to him since the other party had yet to do anything that disturbed their own group.

Still, he was thankful that he had decided to work together with Zion, which prevented him from getting on his bad side.

Only after Thirteen had dealt with the bastard who had been an annoyance since the day they met did he gather the officers to brainstorm on what they would do to complete their second mission together.

"So, tell me everything you know about this territory," Thirteen said as he glanced at Diana. "Don't leave anything behind. Even trivial information might be a crucial key to clear our second mission."

"Understood." Dianna nodded and began to tell what she and her comrades had gathered while they were stuck inside the Randall Stronghold and defending against the Monster Tide that the Northern King had sent in their direction.