System's POV
chapter-576-2

Thirteen had accompanied his hosts to countless battlefields.

After everything he had been through and the unfairness that his hosts had been subjected to, Thirteen's killing intent gradually built up and became something that not just anyone could face head-on.

That killing intent had first flared up when Cranky had died, allowing him to wield Ruyi Jingu Bang and harness its might to pummel the Majin King to oblivion.

Siri, who had never been exposed to such powerful killing intent, couldn't help but look at the teenage boy in fear.

For a brief moment, Siri saw a scene where Zion Leventis stood on a mountain of corpses, looking down on her with those green glowing eyes that didn't seem to belong to a human being.

Perhaps, reaching her limit, her eyes rolled out of her socket before collapsing unconscious on the ground.

After seeing that the stubborn girl had finally fainted, Thirteen closed his eyes to disperse his killing intent.

Only when he was certain that he had properly reigned in on his emotions did he open them again.

"Diana, order everyone to start gathering cores," Thirteen ordered as he rubbed his face with his hands. "We will be staying in this valley today, then we'll continue our journey tomorrow."

Diana nodded and started to give out orders. She was the second-in-command of their Battalion, so everyone heeded her orders without fail.

Shana, on the other hand, went to check on Siri's condition and started to use her healing magic on her.

Thirteen gave the unconscious girl one last glance before motioning for Derek to come closer to him.

"Who is this rabid girl?" Thirteen asked. "Why did she attack me?"

"She's Siri, and well… she seems to treat you as some kind of rival," Derek replied. "She always says that when the two of you meet, she will show everyone that she's better than you."

"She also says that what you can do, she can do better," Roland commented. "But it seems that it was all just bravado."

Roland eyed the teenage boy, whom he also considered his rival.

Originally, he thought that he could now defeat Zion if the two of them sparred with each other.

But after watching his fight with Siri, Roland realized that he was still not Zion's match.

He no longer looked at the teenage boy as a Rookie. Just like what Siri had said, it was impossible for a Rookie to possess such strength.

Still, there was no doubt that Thirteen's current rank, at least on paper, was a Rookie, making Roland frown.

'A Super Rookie…' Roland thought.

But just as he was thinking along those lines, he remembered a story that was told to him by the Field Commander of the Central Government.

According to him, there were three types of Wanderers.

The normal Wanderer.

The Pathfinder.

And last, but not the least, the legendary… Beyonder.

An existence that surpassed all Wanderers.

'Can it be?' Roland mused as he looked at Thirteen's back, who was walking toward Sherry and Erica.

Although he hadn't seen a Beyonder nor did he know what they were like, he believed that if they really existed, only the teenage boy, whom he begrudgingly recognized as someone more capable than him, could be one of those legendary Beyonders who would lead all of them to a brighter future.

A few hours later, bonfires illuminated the surroundings as everyone happily ate the barbecued meat from the spiders that they had killed earlier.

Jinns liked to eat Wanderers, but it was also the same for them.

The God of Wanderers had granted his subjects the ability to consume the flesh of Jinns regardless of what type of monster they were.

With the exception of the Jinns who were truly venomous or had poison coating their bodies, the Wanderers could eat them without problems.

While everyone was having a good time, Thirteen sat between Sherry and Erica, eating the barbecued spider leg that they prepared for him.

Shana, who was seated across Thirteen, glanced at Sherry and Erica before shaking her head helplessly.

'The two of them have been infected by the Zion Virus,' Shana thought. 'I better use purification magic on them later.'

Sherry and Erica, who had no idea what the Saintess was talking about, took turns feeding the teenage boy, which made Derek look at him with awe and admiration.

He knew that Erica liked Roland, so he thought that she was only acting close to Zion because she was treating him like a little brother.

As for Sherry… both of them were of the same age, and it wasn't unheard of for Wanderers who shared life-and-death battles together to get close to each other.

Half an hour later, Thirteen who had finished eating, asked Roland how they arrived in Absolute Heaven.

According to the Hero recognized by the Central Government, they entered Absolute Heaven from the Plains of Rashek.

The funny thing was that, when Roland appeared in Solterra, he was together with the Sage of their party, Joshua.

A month later, they met Shana, Derek, and Mildred, who were leading a group of Wanderers who were doing their missions.

When Roland finished his story, it was Thirteen's turn to share his own.

The teenage boy told everyone how he met Erica and stopped the war between the Ratkins and the Lizardmen.

Diana then continued to tell the second part of the story where they traveled to the Kingdom of Seneros.

Since the Crusader led the Wanderers to retreat underground, Erica decided to tell them about their exciting battle against a Majin King.

Derek, who was listening intently to Erica's story, dropped the barbecued spider leg he was holding due to shock.

"Hey, you're not exaggerating, right?" Derek asked. "You like to exaggerate things, you know?"

"Hmph! This's why you're still single," Erica scoffed.

Derek scratched his head with a face filled with injustice. "… What does me being single have to do with you exaggerating things?"

Sherry couldn't help but chuckle because she found this banter between the members of the Hero Party quite amusing.

Just like most Wanderers in Pangea, he looked up to them because they represented the heroes of the young generation.

After interacting with Erica, Sherry realized that although the sorceress could be arrogant at times, she was a very caring person.

Lastly, now that she met the members of the Hero Party, she deemed that all of them were good people.

"Still, is it true that you really defeated a Majin King?" Shana asked.

Thirteen nodded. "I got help from Laplace Demon. I didn't win with my own strength."

"""Phew."""

Roland, Derek, Joshua, and Mildred all patted their chests in relief because the news of Zion killing a Majin King was simply too far-fetched for them to comprehend.

The teenage boy had already done many legendary feats.

If the news of him beating a Majin King was to spread in Pangea, the delicate balance of power that was being maintained by the different factions might start to shift and cause consequences that even the Leventis Family might not be able to bear.

Thirteen knew this as well, so he made sure to mention that he got external help.

This was the only explanation he could think of to make those who were in a position of power not think that he could single-handedly defeat a Majin King, whom even the Monarchs wouldn't dare to fight.