System's POV
chapter-592-1

'Just how vast is this place?' Thirteen thought.

It had been six hours since he entered the 10th Floor, but neither the location of the Portal nor the Boss Monster had been found.

In the past few hours, He made sure to evade any direct clash of the monsters, preserving his strength for the Boss Monster.

However, the 10th Floor was extremely vast and spacious.

'Maybe I should have talked to Aries and asked the help of a guide…' Thirteen mused. 'Though if a guide had come with me, then I wouldn't have been able to use my full power at the get go. Oh, well. I guess I'll find the Boss and the Portal eventually.'

A few more hours passed, and Blacky was now feeling exhausted after running nonstop in an attempt to avoid the monsters chasing them as they searched for the Boss Monster and the Portal that led to the 11th Floor.

"Rocky, come," Thirteen ordered.

Immediately, the Magma Bal-Boa who was following behind Blacky from deep under the ground emerged to the surface.

"Take us to the Mobile Fortress. Blacky needs to rest."

Rocky nodded, then swallowed Thirteen and Blacky before diving back into the ground.

"I'll take a nap first," Thirteen said. "Wake me up if you find the Boss or the Portal."

After giving his orders, Thirteen looked at Cranky, who was lying face up on the ground. Wanting to rest, he approached the Pseudo-Majin Prince and laid on his soft, fluffy underside.

It didn't even take Zion less than a minute to fall asleep, tired from speedrunning his way to the 13th Floor.

Currently, only the members of the Parade of the Hundred Demons were scouting every nook and cranny of the 10th Floor.

The teenage boy was confident that they would eventually find what they were looking for, so he decided to take a nap to recover his strength.

Two hours later, the Magma Bal-Boa suddenly stopped moving and extended his senses outward.

Rocky suddenly felt a presence that made him raise his guard and observe his surroundings.

As one of the strongest members of Thirteen's Monster Army, the teenage boy had given him a few abilities that were perfect for scouting.

Currently, one of those abilities had detected a monster presence that was of the same Rank as him.

Since this was an important discovery, he passed a mental message to Giga and asked him to wake up their Master so that he could know of their current situation.

"A Rank 7 Sovereign traveling underground like you?" Thirteen rubbed his chin, making him finally understand why the members of the Parade of the Hundred Demons hadn't been able to find the Boss Monster and the Portal to the next floor.

The reason for this was simple.

The Boss Monster was the Portal.

If the monster died, the portal would appear where it died, allowing Thirteen to proceed to the 11th Floor.

'I guess we have no choice but to fight it,' Thirteen thought as he summoned his Black Flag to recall the members of the Parade of a Hundred Demons.

Since Rocky and the members of his Parade were the only ones proficient in underground battles, he decided to let them work together to fight whatever monster Rocky had sensed underground.

Cranky was still in the middle of evolving, so it couldn't go out to help them fight the threat that they were facing.

"Everyone, get ready for battle," Thirteen ordered.

The teenage boy then sat cross-legged on the ground and synchronized with Tiona, who would also head out to battle to lead her subordinates.

Using their shared senses, Thirteen was finally able to discover the Boss Monster that they had been looking for on the 10th Floor.

It was a giant Death Worm that was as long and big as Rocky.

The Magma Bal-Boa was easily forty-meters long, and its opponent was of the same size as him.

In terms of raw strength, the Death Worm was stronger because it was a monster of pure muscles.

But Rocky had strong firepower, allowing him to use long-range attacks against his enemies.

"Do it, Rocky," Thirteen ordered.

Immediately, the Magma Bal-Boa's entire body started to emit flames, turning the ground around it into molten lava.

It then dug deeper underground, turning its surroundings into an environment most suited to its fighting style.

Since the opponent could also dig underground and was stronger than him, there was only one option that would grant him the highest chance of success.

And that option was to turn the entire battlefield into a blazing inferno, making it difficult for the Death Worm to fight Rocky in its domain.

Since the Death Worm had no eyes, and only relied on the vibrations in its surroundings, it wasn't able to see what was happening around it.

But it could still sense Rocky's movement, as well as the rising temperature that was starting to make it feel uncomfortable.

However, since it solely relied on its instincts, it decided to pursue Rocky and deal with the threat that was endangering its life.

Rocky didn't engage the Death Worm in combat and simply left a trail of Molten Lava in its wake, making the Death Worm screech as its body made contact with the trap that Thirteen and Rocky had crafted.

But although it didn't have eyes nor was it particularly intelligent, it still felt the danger that it was in.

So instead of pursuing Rocky, the monster decided to retreat, forcing Rocky to chase after it.

But the moment it had left the Magma Field that Rocky had created, the Death Worm turned around, and charged at Rocky to counterattack.

As if it was already planned beforehand, Rocky started escaping, leaving a trail of Magma behind.

This tug of war of retreat and offense continued for nearly three hours before the Death Worm had enough.

It rose to the surface and traveled above land, targeting the monsters to devour so that it could replenish its strength.

It was at that moment that the members of Thirteen's Parade of a Hundred Demons finally made their move and attacked the Death Worm from all sides, similar to ants that were trying to bring down a monster that was several times bigger than them.