System's POV
chapter-572

A day after Thirteen's battle with the Majin King…

"How did you clear the mission?"

That was the first question Diana asked the moment he saw Thirteen and his group, who had stayed behind to deal with the Majin King.

"The Majin King was strong, but it took an arrow in the knee..." Thirteen wasn't able to finish what he was going to say next because Diana raised her hand to stop him.

"Zion, snakes don't have knees," Diana stated.

"Oh, dear—did I say knee? I meant neck."

"Zion…"

Diana couldn't help but facepalm because the teenage boy was clearly messing with her.

"Okay, I'll tell you the truth," Thirteen said in a serious tone. "I fought a Majin King and beat it to death with a stick. He got us in the first round, but the comeback is real."

The young lady pinched the bridge of her nose before shaking her head helplessly.

"Hah… nevermind. It was a mistake asking you."

"But I'm really telling you the truth, you know?"

Thinking that Thirteen was just teasing her, she decided to ask Erica because she believed that one of her close friends wouldn't lie to her.

"Zion did beat the Majin King with a stick," Erica said.

"Erica! Not you too?" Diana sighed. "I'm seriously asking you what happened. How did we clear the mission?"

"If you don't believe me, then ask David and the others," Erica replied with a mischievous smile on her face. "They will say something similar."

Diana thought that her friend was joking, but when she asked the others who had gone to the surface the question she asked her close friend, all of them said the same thing.

Thirteen beat the Majin King with a stick.

A stick that could increase its size, towering in the heavens.

"See?" Erica patted her friend's shoulder. "I told you so."

The Wanderers were now camped outside the walls of the City of Seneros, which had been destroyed by the Majin King.

The survivors had already fled the city, heading to who knows where. Since that was the case, many Wanderers tried to scavenge the ruins for anything useful.

David and the Cygni Faction headed straight toward the destroyed castle, hoping to raid its treasury.

Unfortunately for them, Thirteen was three steps ahead and ordered Rocky and the members of the Parade of a Hundred Demons to storm the city and start a treasure hunt.

Rocky immediately went to raid the Kingdom's treasure vault and stored everything they looted within his Mobile Fortress.

But he ordered his subordinates to leave some scraps here and there, so the Wanderers could still profit from their pillaging.

Two hours later, a meeting was held regarding what they would do for their last mission.

"As you can see, the last mission is very straightforward," Thirteen said to the officers, who were assigned to take care of the people assigned to them. "We need to travel north to find the Temple of Courage.

"However, we will definitely encounter Jinn-infested lands. The only saving grace is that everyone here is either a Rookie or an Elite. Our current fighting force is stronger than we had a few days ago, so there is a way to overcome dangerous situations.

"But the possibility of encountering a Monster Tide out in the open plains is very high. We'd also have nowhere to run, so if ever, we would have no choice but to fight them."

"Will your Monster friends help?" one of the former Apostles asked.

"They will," Thirteen nodded. "But we shouldn't rely on them too much. Think of this as a good opportunity to fight Jinns and gain experience. Also, the items you can get from killing them will be very useful in clearing the final mission.

"They will only help when we're facing an enemy that we alone cannot defeat. Of course, death is a possibility, so everyone must fight to the best of their ability."

Thirteen paused a bit before getting to the heart of the issue.

"Our food supplies are also almost used up, so I think it will be best if we start our journey tomorrow. Any Jinns we find along the way are fair game unless they are too powerful for us to handle.

"We will be taking routes by the river, so we won't need to worry about water. As long as everyone remains vigilant and able to react to any variables, I believe we will be able to survive the journey without suffering casualties."

Since Thirteen was the current leader of the Wanderers, his words would be carried out without fail.

When the meeting ended, the teenage boy glanced at the Wanderers, who wore Adamantine Grade Armors.

They looked like Knights of a Kingdom out for an expedition.

'Well, it's more like a crusade than an expedition,' Thirteen thought. 'Still, with everyone having Adamantine Grade Weapons and Armors, we should be able to handle Rank 2 and Rank 3 Jinns without problems.'

The scary thing about Jinn-infested Lands was that each of them was led by a Sovereign.

But sometimes, the Sovereigns weren't the problem.

It was their tactic.

Jinns like to use swarm tactics, overwhelming their enemies by sheer numbers.

Thirteen didn't plan on letting Rocky and his Monster Army deal with it.

They had over nine hundred people with them, so they should be able to hold out as long as everyone fought.

The Elites like Erica and Diana would also be standing at the front lines, making sure that the vanguard would hold.

Thirteen would also be there, commanding everyone, so casualties would be minimized.

His plan was to train the Wanderers, similar to how he trained his army in the Rigel Continent.

Since most Wanderers were first-timers, he planned to employ hit-and-run tactics, allowing the Rookies to gain experience and confidence as they journeyed toward the Temple of Courage.

The next day, everyone moved in formation, with Thirteen's wagon leading the way.

Thirteen's monster army was nowhere to be seen because they had all returned to Rocky's Mobile Fortress.

Although the Wanderers didn't know where the monsters had gone, Thirteen assured them that they would appear if they needed them.

"What do you think, Zion?" Erica asked as she sat on Thirteen's wagon. "Will the last mission be hard?"

"We are traveling in Jinn-infested territory, using only a compass to travel north," Thirteen replied. "We neither know how long this journey will be, who we will meet along the way, nor what kind of challenges we will have to face. Since this is the final mission, I doubt that it's going to be easy."

"I hope that we will not face a Majin King…"

"Girl, don't raise a death flag."

While Thirteen and Erica were doing casual banter, a giant bird soared high in the sky, following the procession of wagons that was headed north.

Stella looked at her Status Page, which told her that this was the last mission that she needed to finish before she could return to Pangea, where she had taken a temporary residence.

Even she admitted that the fight against the Majin King was truly dangerous, so she hoped that nothing of the sort would happen again in her third mission.

"I can't always depend on my parents," Stella muttered. "If I don't try to forge my own path, I'm afraid that I will not be able to grow as an individual."

Aethon gave a low screech of agreement, assuring her Mistress that she was doing the right thing.

The beautiful young lady gazed at the wagon at the forefront of the procession with a calm expression on her face.

She had to admit that the battle that Zion fought impressed her, making her want to play a more active role in the last mission and face the hurdles that would block her path.

A/N: Today was an emotional day, so I wasn't able to write three chapters. I'll see if I can do it tomorrow.