System's POV

Chapter 535: Royal Rumble [Part 1]

The Lizardmen gathered around Drazzat and asked him if he planned to join the challenge to fight against the human boy.

"If you fight him, the possibility of becoming the Commander of this group is yours for the taking, Lord Drazzat," one of the Lizardmen said. "Why don't you give it a try?"

"I'll pass," Drazzat replied in a heartbeat. "Zion has done a great service to our tribe and has become a Hero in the eyes of the Lizardmen back home. I cannot bear to lay my hand on the brave warrior who had stopped the war between the Ratmen and the Lizardmen."

"You're too generous, Lord Drazzat," another Lizardman commented. "You are truly a righteous Lizardman Commander."

"Hahaha!" Drazzat laughed, but deep inside, he was cursing the other Lizardmen for trying to get him killed!

He knew that although he might be able to win against the human boy in a duel, his Monster Army would definitely not stand by and do nothing.

Aside from Rocky, who was a Rank 7 Sovereign, Giga, Blacky, and Hercules were all Rank 6 Sovereigns.

But that wasn't all.

Thirteen also had two Ogres, who were both Rank 5 Sovereigns, and a Troll Warlord who had the same rank.

The rest of the Monsters under his command were only Rank 4 Alpha Monsters, but although they were weaker than Drazzat, it was impossible for the Lizardman to defend himself from an elite monster army that could easily bring down their entire Tribe if they wished for it.

The Lizardmen Commander sighed before glancing at his kin, who had been away from their own tribes for many years.

They were the members of the Tribes who had been sent to investigate what lay on the other side of the portal. They couldn't come back and had been living inside the Randall Stronghold since then.

Of course, there were some of them who lived too long within this territory that they had lost all hope of going back home.

The reason? Because there was only one way to return home, and that was to enter another one-way portal, which was currently within the Human Kingdom in the North.

The first one-way portal was located in the West, leading to the Randall Stronghold.

The second one-way portal was in the human kingdom, which led to the territory of the Goblins in the East.

This was also the reason why the Goblins wished to conquer the territory of the Lizardmen. Once they do, they would have control over both portals, giving the humans and the goblins the ability to travel back and forth from their domains.

The Northern Land was separated from the rest of Fractured Heaven by a river that cannot be crossed due to an unexplainable phenomenon.

The Lizardmen had once tried to cross it, but after swimming only a few meters away from the riverbed, they would lose consciousness and sink to the bottom of the river.

Although it was called a river, it was nearly two hundred meters wide and had become an insurmountable natural barrier for the other races who lived in the Fractured Heaven.

The only way to reach the human kingdom was by using the one-way portal. In turn, the humans could also only travel to the other side of the river using their own one-way portal.

Thirteen had learned this information from the Goblin Shaman who survived from the wrath of the Ratmen Commanders whom they had treated as slaves for the past few weeks.

"The Goblins and the Ratmen are participating in this duel," one of the Lizardmen said. "Of course, some of the humans are going to join too. But is that Zion boy sane in the head? He said that he wants to fight them all at the same time."

"Let's just wait and see how the match will unfold," Drazzat replied. "Since many were angered by his declaration, more people decided to join the battle."

Seeing the number of challengers had sharply increased, Diana decided to intervene and told everyone that the duel would be delayed for an hour.

The arena would be the place where the one-way portal was located, which would prevent Thirteen from escaping the pursuit of the challengers.

The ramparts were now filled with people, and the challengers were already inside the closed-off enclosure, where the Wanderers had arrived earlier.

Among the challengers was none other than Leon, who couldn't contain the sneer on his face. ????????.???

'Thirty challengers,' Leon thought. 'Among them are Apostles like David. So, ten Humans, ten Lizardmen, five Goblins, and five Ratmen. This is going to be fun. I hope they accidentally kill Zion later.'

Of course, he also planned to deal a decisive blow to the teenage boy who had become an eyesore for him.

'You're even arrogant enough to allow weapons and Avatars for this duel.' Leon laughed internally. 'This will be over really quick.'

All the challengers had agreed that all of them would target Zion first, then fight among themselves afterward.

They didn't really consider this as much of a challenge. After all, their opponent was a mere Rookie.

Erica and Diana, who had been trained by Thirteen, knew how capable he was. Even so, they were still a bit worried about him because the young man was going to fight Wanderers and their Avatars at the same time.

Of course, Tiona would also be fighting with him, but they were still worried that she might not be strong enough to protect her Master, given the number of enemies they were about to face.

However, despite being heavily outnumbered, Thirteen looked calm. In fact, he was even looking forward to the fight ahead.

For him, fighting against those who wish to challenge his authority served two purposes.

The first one was to make them understand that he was strong enough to gain their recognition.

Similar to animals who lived in groups or herds, only the strongest would be able to lead them.

His second reason was to treat the duel as a warm-up. Unlike the opponents they would later face, his opponents now were a mere mishmash of different races, and their teamwork was nearly non-existent.

He might have been more worried if they were trained to fight in a formation together, but since they were only after their own selfish gains, he didn't have to worry at all.

In fact, he believed that defeating them would be easier because there was a chance that they would fight against each other once things didn't turn out their way.

Finally, after the grace period ended, Thirteen entered the enclosure looking very calm.

"Remember, this is just a duel to know who will be the new leader of our organization," Diana stated. "Killing is prohibited. Do I make myself clear?"

""Yes!""

Thirteen gave Diana a nod to inform her that they could start the battle anytime.

Seeing that he was ready to fight, the Crusader raised her hand and shouted.

"Duel Start!"

As soon as the signal was given, the Lizardmen, Ratmen, and Goblins charged at Thirteen, surrounding him from all sides.

The humans stayed farther at the back, preparing for the time that Zion was defeated by the monsters.

The moment he was defeated, the Wanderers would then attack the monsters and neutralize them.

After that, they would fight among themselves to decide who would be the Commander of the Allied Forces.

But when the monsters were only a few meters away from Thirteen, the young man smiled faintly and took a step forward.

Erica and Diana were quite familiar with that expression, and both of them shuddered at the same time.

The young man's devil-like grin triggered the memories of the harsh training that they had gone through, which even haunted them in their dreams.