System's POV

Chapter 550: Calamity’s Descent [Part 2]

"I plan to fight that Majin King," Thirteen said. "And I need the three of you to help me do that."

"Okay," Erica replied in a heartbeat.

"...That's it?" Thirteen looked at the young lady who didn't show any surprise after hearing his declaration.

"I think I have a general understanding of what you plan to do," Erica said. "Although you said you want to fight it, it's more like you plan to lure the Majin King away from this place, right? That way, the other Wanderers will be able to continue hiding and survive this second mission."

Sherry, who was just listening from the side, nodded her head in agreement. Although she wouldn't claim that she knew how Zion think, she could tell that he was a very caring person, despite the sharpness of his words.

This was why she wished to journey alongside him in this mission because she had a feeling that as long as she was with him, she would see this mission to its ending.

"You like doing things on your own and carry the burden on your shoulders," Sherry commented. "Just like what happened in the war between the Lizardmen and the Ratmen.

"After finding out the reason why the war happened, you headed to the Goblin Kingdom to steal the Shard of Origin in order to stop the war. I believe you plan to do something similar in this situation."

Thirteen smiled faintly. It seemed that he had underestimated how smart Erica and Sherry were.

"With that said, Diana, I want you to stay with the Wanderers and lead them while I lure the Majin King away," Thirteen stated. "If both of us disappear, the hierarchy will fall.

"Also, some of the Wanderers must be upset with me since I'm responsible for the abrupt change in the mission, so they will unlikely want to follow my orders for now. That's where you come in. You need to lead them all to safety. Do you understand?"

Diana reluctantly nodded in understanding. "Okay, I will do as you say. But do you have confidence in luring away that Majin King?"

"I don't know," Thirteen admitted. "But I'll do my best to lead it away from this place. We don't have much time remaining, so I'll be taking my leave with Erica and Sherry. I'll also talk to Drazzat briefly and ask him to stay with you guys for your safety."

After giving Diana a few more instructions, Thirteen went to see the Lizardman Commander and told him about his plan to lure away the Majin King.

"Be careful," Drazzat said in a solemn tone. "As much as I want to help you, I don't have the confidence to face such a monster. I will only pull you down."

"I'll leave the rest to you," Thirteen patted the Lizardman's waist before walking toward one of the tunnels, where Rocky was waiting for him.

When the three teenagers were safely inside the Magma Bal-Boa's Mobile Fortress, Thirteen briefed the two girls on how he wanted them to help with his plan.

"We are going to head five miles to the north and attack the Majin King with a long range weapon," Thirteen said. "That weapon is an improved version of the Ballista that we used to fight against the Majin Prince, Arundel the Destroyer.

"I don't know how effective it will be against the Majin King, but it should be enough to get its attention."

Erica and Sherry nodded in understanding.

"Then, what do we need to do?" Erica asked.

"You will act as the decoy and attack the Majin King from the skies," Thirteen answered. "I don't know if your spells will be able to damage its body, but it will be enough to annoy it. Also, don't use the power of the ring I gave you. It's not enough to deal any damage to the Majin king."

"Okay," Erica replied.

"Remember, the goal is to lure it away, not to fight it seriously," Thirteen stated. "It is impossible to defeat it with just us. We will need some reinforcements if we want to deal a decisive blow to it."

"Reinforcements?" Sherry frowned. "Where will we get those?"

"... Just leave it to me." Thirteen coughed lightly. "I'll think of something."

Rocky, who made a detour to make sure that the Majin King wouldn't detect it, took nearly half an hour to reach their destination. ????????.???

As soon as he found an ideal place, he immediately ejected Thirteen, Erica, and Sherry from his Mobile Fortress and stood guard behind them.

The Magma Bal-Boa had placed them on top of a cliff, overlooking the wide plains of the Absolute Heaven.

Even from a distance away, Thirteen could see the heads of the Eight-Headed Serpent, the sight of which made Erica and Sherry feel anxious.

Only Thirteen had seen the Majin King, and this was their first time seeing the monster.

"Even from this distance, I can sense its oppressive aura," Erica said solemnly. "So this is the power of a Majin King."

"The two of you should get used to its pressure," Thirteen stated. "Because we will be luring it away with just the three of us."

The teenage boy then raised his hand, and opened his Dimensional Storage.

Metatron had upgraded it and increased its size to that of a football stadium.

Since Thirteen had two Dimensional Storage of that size, he was able to bring a lot of heavy equipment that he could use for his missions.

When the Grand Ballista appeared in front of the two girls, they couldn't help but feel a little more confident that they might actually injure the Majin King because of how big it was.

The entire weapon was made of reinforced steel, and it was covered to the brim with rune magic.

"I have only twelve ammunition with me," Thirteen said as he summoned three reinforced bolts that were a dozen meter-long. Their body was as thick as an electric pole, and each was also imbued with rune magic.

Calling it a Grand Ballista was not giving it justice.

It was more like a Grand Railgun, which was one of Thirteen's trump cards.

Right now, he was able to operate it because his Item Ban was temporarily removed because there was a full moon in the sky.

After saving his sister from becoming a sacrifice as the Moon Princess, he gained the title, Endymion, which granted him several blessings from the Royal Bloodline of Chandrea.

----------

----------

Today was one of the few instances that one of the restrictions placed on his body would temporarily be lifted, allowing him to use items that far surpassed his rank.

On top of that, the Laplace Demon and The One had given him permission to use equipment that were higher than his current rank as long as he was fighting against monsters that were Rank 9 and above.

Knowing what his Master needed, Rocky summoned the two Ogres, O1 and O2, to help their Master load and operate the Ballista.

Once the first bolt was loaded, Thirteen took out a telescope from his Dimensional Storage, and calculated the distance and angle needed to hit the Eight-Headed Serpent, who had almost finished feasting on the people in the City of Seneros.

Since his calculating abilities were further enhanced by the bloodline of Chandrea, it didn't take long for him to make the adjustments on the Ballista before placing his hand on the lever.

One pull, and the bolt would be sent flying at speeds that were three to four times the speed of sound.

Thirteen wasn't sure if he would be able to deal a serious injury to the monster, but he was confident that the reinforced bolt would be able to pierce through the Eight-Headed Serpent's scales.

After making sure that his calculations were on point, Thirteen pulled the lever, creating a spark as the bolt flew toward one of the Heads of the Eight-Headed Serpent, who had bitten the head of one of the monsters tied up in the pillar used to summon it to Solterra.