System's POV

Even after looking around him, Sun Wukong failed to spot the System God, whom he had just been fighting a few seconds ago.

He could only assume that Deus Ex Machina had used some sort of unique method to get past him. With that in mind, he quickly glanced at Pangea to check Thirteen’s condition.

Seeing that the young lady was still in Zed’s arms, the Monkey King breathed a sigh of relief.

However, a frown crept up his face when he realized that the Azothralls were almost upon them.

For a brief moment, he wanted to reach out and slap the alien-like monsters to make them stop going after the young lady.

But he held back.

Fighting against a God to protect his friend and family was one thing. But, interfering with Thirteen’s own battle was another.

As such, the Monkey King could only sigh as he sat in the vastness of space, took out his wine gourd, and took a swig.

He didn’t know if the System God had given up or not. But since he wasn’t around, it meant that Zion’s old man had given up… at least for now.

“Just how will you be able to get out of this mess, Zion?” Sun Wukong muttered as he watched the Azothralls reach out to grab hold of Zed’s foot, holding him in place.

———

On the skies of the Cygni Continent…

Zed grunted when he felt something grab his right foot.

He didn’t have to turn around to see who it was and merely kicked back as strongly as he could, hitting the Azothrall’s face and making it loosen its grip on his feet.

Knowing that flying away wasn’t an option, Zed did the only thing he could do, and that was to dive down toward the ground as fast as he could.

Zia was already unconscious, so she wouldn’t be able to give him any advice on how to escape his situation.

However, Zed and Thirteen’s monster army shared an invisible connection with each other.

“Rocky, take her!” Zed roared as she threw Zia toward the ground.

The ground broke apart, sending dust and rocks flying in every direction as the Hellfire Bal-Boa appeared to devour its Master.

However, before Rocky could even do that, one of the Golden Azothralls appeared between him and Zia.

The Golden Azothrall then gave the Hellfire Bal-Boa a kick, which sent the latter flying.

But at that moment, something small escaped Rocky’s lips before it was blown away by the impact of the kick.

The Azothrall then turned around to reach out to Zia, who was now about to fall into its arms.

Suddenly, something black wrapped itself on Zia’s waist and pulled her away from the Azothrall’s grasp.

The Golden Azothrall, Azoh’Karn, glared at the young lady, who was now holding the succubus in her arms.

Just like Zia, the young lady had long black hair, which fluttered in the breeze.

The strength that was emanating from her body was that of a Rookie Wanderer.

But her gaze was calm, as if facing off against a Rank 9 Sovereign wasn’t enough to scare her.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Azoh’Karn lunged at the annoying hindrance who suddenly popped out of nowhere.

“You shall not have him,” the young lady said before tossing Zia away, making Azoh’Karn freeze in place.

Since its target was headed in a different direction, it ignored the meddler and focused on retrieving Zia instead.

But in the place where Zia was thrown, a black shadow appeared, turning into an ape that caught the succubus and threw her in another direction.

Hundreds of shadowy demons appeared, then used their combined telekinesis to move the unconscious young lady across the sky, as if they were playing a game of catch the ball.

Whatever the game they were trying to play, the Rank 9 Sovereign wasn’t fazed by it at all. It had confidence in its strength and speed, especially when compared to the weaklings trying to toy with it.

“Didn’t I tell you?” The young lady once again appeared in front of Azoh’Karn. “You will not take her.”

The young lady then raised her right hand, and countless shadowy black snakes lunged at Azoh’Karn, holding it in place.

When these black snakes came into contact with their target, they exploded into purple mists, sending toxins, as well as venom, onto the Golden Azothrall’s skin.

Azoh’Karn shrugged off this petty assault and charged out of the purple cloud, focusing its attention on capturing Zia and killing all the shadow demons that were part of the black flag wielded by the young lady with black hair.

She was none other than Tiona. Finally, her long slumber was over, and for the first time, she was in her human form.

As the Queen of Thirteen’s Parade of a Hundred Demons, she held the power that her Master had bestowed upon her and more.

A groan then reached her ears as she saw Zed falling down from the sky after the second Golden Azothrall kicked him away.

The Rank 8 Demihuman Roc had given its best to prevent the Azothralls from taking his Master for as long as he could.

But the difference in Rank wasn’t something that could be overcome so easily.

While Tiona was dealing with Azoh’Karn, the second Azothrall, the other Rank 8 Azothralls had successfully annihilated the hundred demons and finally retrieved Zia, who was now unconscious.

After seeing that their target had been secured, Azoh’Karn gave Tiona a sneer before flying away to return to Cressmont City.

They had been informed that Lucan and the other Ministers would be arriving soon, so they needed to return Zia back to the research facility.

Little did they know, all the researchers had been kidnapped by Rocky, keeping them inside its Mobile Fortress.

They only knew that Zia was taken away, so they responded just as quickly, not even bothering to look inside the research facility.

Tiona stared at the Azothralls until they completely disappeared from the horizon.

A moment later, a faint smile appeared on her face.

She then glanced at the shadow wolf who approached her.

“Is she safe?” Tiona asked.

“Yes,” the Shadow Wolf replied. “She’s inside me.”

The Demons had gained the ability to transform into any form they wished.

It was a rare and unique skill, one that belonged to a monster Thirteen had tracked down during the two years he and Sherry spent waiting for Erica and Shana to complete their training.

“Let’s go,” Tiona said as she flew toward the ground, where Rocky was waiting for them.

The young lady patted Rocky’s head, who had suffered an injury after being kicked away by a Rank 9 Sovereign.

Rocky then devoured Tiona and the Shadow Wolf before digging deep underground.

They would lie low for a while until Zia’s condition stabilized.

———

Cressmont City…

When the Azothralls entered the research facility, they finally realized that all of the researchers were missing.

“Find them,” Azoh’Karn ordered before glancing at the young lady in his arms.

While it was thinking on what to do next, it heard a beep on its communicator, prompting it to lay Zia down in one of the available healing pods before answering the call.

“What happened?” Lucan asked, his face looking grave.

“A Jinn took Zia out of the research facility,” Azoh’Karn replied. “But we managed to retrieve her. However, when we returned, the researchers were gone.”

Lucan’s frown deepened.

He was happy that Zia was retrieved, but the loss of the researchers was a blow for the Artemian Army.

“Find them,” Lucan ordered. “Even if you have to flip this entire continent, go and find them!”

“Yes, Sir,” Azoh’Karn replied.

The Azothrall sighed before glancing at the young lady on the healing pod. Although it knew that Zia was innocent, the Golden Azothrall felt that wherever this girl would appear, trouble would soon follow.

———

Prince Aurelion sat on the back of a Rank 9 Dragon, his face now calm.

Since the Artemians took his woman, he would make them understand the consequences of their actions.

He had been raised to know that he was meant for greatness.

Everything he wanted, he got without too much effort.

But he had never wanted a woman as much as he wanted Zia.

He was willing to make her his Queen, even if he had to defy his father, the current King of the Dragonkin.

And because of this, he would go to war.

Not because he wanted to conquer the world, but because he wanted to conquer a woman.

“To think I’ve fallen so low,” Prince Aurelion muttered. “But it doesn’t feel that bad.”

The Dragonkin Prince then raised his hand, signaling that their army would march toward the east, where Cressmont City was located.

Just the thought of Lucan possessing Zia made Prince Aurelion’s jaw tighten. At the moment, he was even imagining snapping the Archon’s neck with his own hands for daring to make a fool out of him.

He no longer cared if the Wanderers would simply spectate from the side and watch as they and the Artemians duked it out with each other.

There were things that Prince Aurelion was willing to protect, and two of them were his pride and dignity.

Since these two had been trampled, war was inevitable.

Ristella, who also thought that the Artemians had kidnapped her nieces, mobilized the army of the Velmoria Kingdom and headed to battle with them.

She knew how heartbroken her sister would be if she knew that her two daughters had suddenly disappeared under Ristella’s watch.

This was something she wouldn’t want to deal with, so she decided to go all out to retrieve them, even if she were to die in battle.

As the grand army of the Jinn Alliance made their way toward the east, Rocky headed northwest, finding a safe place for its Master, who was currently unconscious and undergoing a change that might affect his life for better or for worse.

———

A/N: One chapter only, acid is rising up my throat, making it hard to breathe.

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