System's POV

Chapter 540: There’s Nothing To Be Afraid Of

A few hours after everyone had eaten their dinner, Thirteen asked Diana to spare some time so that the two of them could talk together.

Diana agreed right away, thinking that Thirteen probably wanted to talk to her about their plan for when morning came.

After walking for a few minutes and making sure that they were a good distance away from the stronghold, the teenage boy turned around to face the young lady, who was looking back at him with curiosity.

"Why did we go this far to talk, Zion?" Diana asked. "Can't we have done it in your room?"

"My room is too small to have this talk, Diana," Thirteen answered. "But before anything else, I would like you to promise me something. Can you do that?"

"What kind of promise?"

"Don't worry. It's a very simple promise that anyone can do as long as their willpower is strong enough."

Diana frowned as the teenage boy's serious tone made her start feeling a little anxious.

"Tell me. What do you want me to promise?"

"I want you to promise me that you will not scream no matter what you see."

"That's it?" Diana asked. "I just need to promise not to scream?"

"That's right." Thirteen nodded.

"… You're not after my body right?" Diana asked in a teasing tone. "I mean… you're at that age, right?"

"Hah? What are you talking about?" Thirteen scratched his head because their discussion suddenly took an unexpected turn. "Why would I be after your body?"

Diana chuckled. "I'm just joking. Rianna told me that you're very smart, but very dense when it comes to romantic feelings."

"Ah! You're talking about that?" Thirteen finally understood what the crusader was talking about, so he shook his head to tell her that she didn't have to worry about anything. "Don't worry. Even if you strip naked in front of me, I will not be interested in your body. I see, so you're already at that age. I'm sorry if I caused a misunderstanding by inviting you to talk in private."

"…" Diana could only stare at the young man for a few seconds, not knowing what to feel.

Half of her felt relieved, and yet, the other half was giving her the strong urge to give the teenage boy a good smacking.

If not for the fact that she knew that she couldn't defeat him, she might have gone all out to slap him silly.

Taking long, and deep breaths in order to calm herself down, she finally pressed her hand over her chest.

"I promise to not scream no matter what I see," Diana said. "Happy?"

"Yes." Thirteen nodded. "Well, then. Let me introduce you to my friend, Rocky."

As if waiting for that moment, a giant head rose behind the teenage boy, making Diana take a step back.

Fortunately, she had braced herself for anything unexpected, so she was able to keep her promise of not screaming no matter what she saw.

Diana gaped at the monsters that she was seeing for the first time in her life, and a glance was enough to tell her that this monster was powerful.

Very powerful.

It was more powerful than the three-horned Minotaur, the Rank 5 Monster that gave them a lot of trouble in the past.

Thirteen was paying close attention to Diana's reaction, and he couldn't help but smile seeing that the young lady had kept her word.

Suddenly, the Magma Bal-Boa opened its mouth wide, making Diana take a fighting stance.

But when she saw what was inside the Monster's mouth, she couldn't help but wonder if she was just seeing things.

"Took you guys long enough," Erica said with a smirk on her face. "I've been waiting since forever. Come, Diana. There is something that you have to see no matter what!"

Erica jumped off from Rocky's mouth and landed a few meters away from Diana.

The Sorceress then grabbed the hand of her friend before dragging her toward the Monster's mouth, snapping Diana from her daze.

"Don't worry, Diana," Thirteen said as he stepped inside Rocky's mouth which was still wide open. "There's nothing to be afraid of."

The young man then walked inside the monster's throat, disappearing from her view.

"I know you're feeling anxious, but trust me. Rocky is a good boy," Erica commented as she continued to drag her friend toward Rocky's open mouth.

"If I die, Erica, I swear that I will haunt you for life," Diana said through gritted teeth.

"Sure." Erica chuckled. "But that won't be happening because it's perfectly safe."

When the two ladies had fully entered the Magma Bal-Boa's mouth, Rocky closed it right away before burrowing into the ground. ????????.???

Inside the Mobile Fortress…

"Where are we?" Diana asked as she looked around her surroundings.

She could see a lake in the distance, and a few monsters loitering in her surroundings doing different things. Some were sharpening their weapons, and some were playing cards with each other.

To her surprise, there was another human aside from Erica, and it was none other than Thirteen's right-hand woman, Sherry.

"I know you have a lot of questions, and I will answer all of them," Thirteen said. "But just like what I asked you earlier, I want you to promise me to not speak a word about this secret of mine to anybody."

"Who else knows about this secret aside from Erica, Sherry, and me?" Diana inquired.

"My family, My Grandpa, My Grandma, My Uncle, a butler named Hans, and a few members of the Leventis Elite Squad," Thirteen answered. "Aside from them, no one else knows about this secret."

The Crusader then scanned her surroundings and realized that all the monsters around her were very powerful.

"Are they Avatars?" Diana asked. "Are they your Avatars?"

"They're not Avatars," Thirteen answered. "They're my Beast Companions, just like Tiona."

The black snake, who was always coiled on Thirteen's neck, nodded her head as if to affirm her Master's answer.

"This is crazy…" Diana muttered. "Now I understand how you managed to end the war between the Ratmen and the Lizardmen. You have the army that can tilt the balance in your favor."

Thirteen nodded. "That's right. And from now on, they will also help tilt the balance in our favor. So, without further delay, let me introduce you to everyone. That way, you will become familiar with them, and you can help me come up with excuses when they are discovered by those who didn't know my secret."

Diana was still in the process of digesting everything that the teenage boy was telling her.

While she was trying to accept her current situation, she noticed Giga who was happily munching on an Ant Egg and devouring the nearly-formed ant inside of it.

It was at this moment that something clicked inside of her head.

A theory started to form inside her head, explaining why the Monster Outbreak that terrorized them every four days suddenly stopped.

Erica and Sherry watched with amusement as Zion dragged the dazed Crusader and introduced her to his friends.

The two of them knew that before the night was over, they would have another accomplice who would help them keep the teenage boy's secret. The secret that would help them clear their second mission using the most efficient way possible.

After Thirteen finished introducing everyone, Diana was finally able to regain her composure.

"Since the introductions are over, I will tell you girls what I have discovered in our destination," Thirteen said in a serious tone. "It seems that this mission will be more difficult than the ones we've ever faced in the past. We might have to fight a few Rank 8 Monsters to clear our missions."

Erica and Sherry, who were both feeling amused earlier, couldn't help but look at the teenage boy in disbelief.

They knew that Zion wouldn't joke about something as important as this, so they took his words seriously.

"Rank 8 Monsters?" Erica frowned. "And there's more than one?"

She knew that it took everything Zion had to fight against the Goblin Emperor, who was a Rank 8 Sovereign.

If they were going to face a few monsters of that rank, there was only one ending, and that would be their doom.

"Did 'The One' send us here to die?" Diana clenched her fists in frustration. "How can we possibly win against those kinds of monsters?"

"Calm down," Thirteen said. "We're still not sure about the general situation. I just mentioned that there are a few Rank 8 monsters where the Pillar of Light was at. Until we assess the current situation, we won't launch an attack on the Human Kingdom. It will just be suicide on our part if we even try.

"Besides, there's also a possibility that these Rank 8 Monsters and the Human Kingdom are not allies. Maybe they're just using each other for mutual benefit."

Erica and Sherry both nodded in agreement.

"First, a Monster Outbreak. Now, we have to face off against Rank 8 Monsters…," Diana muttered. "I think we don't have enough lives to complete this mission."

Thirteen chuckled because she could understand Diana's dilemma.

Even so, he believed that there was a way to solve this problem.

If there was really no solution to be found within Fractured Heaven, then Thirteen would have no choice but to look for solutions elsewhere.

He understood that 'The One' and the Laplace Demon were using him as some kind of software to fix the bugs in the world of Solterra that both of them had given up on.

In return, they would give him favors and accept some of Thirteen's requests as compensation for his troubles.

But while everyone was feeling anxious about what was waiting for them where the Pillar of light was being emitted, Thirteen was feeling quite excited.

Since Metatron had allowed him to capture subordinates that were Rank 8 Monsters and above, he planned to use this opportunity to grab one or two of them, allowing his own Faction within the Order of Apocalypse to slowly catch up to his peers.