System's POV

Another week passed as Roland's group traveled northwest, heading for the Temple of Courage.

Unfortunately, they were currently unable to continue pushing forward because they faced an obstacle that was extremely difficult to overcome.

A horde of Spider-like Monsters, numbering in the hundreds, blocked their path to their destination.

Even Siri, who was confident in her strength, was not foolish as to bulldoze her way through the horde of monsters.

Regardless of how strong she was, she would undoubtedly get overwhelmed by the sheer number of the Jinns in front of her.

"What now?" Derek asked as he observed the monsters in the distance. "Should we take another path?"

Roland didn't reply right away, but his grim expression was enough to tell Derek that they needed to change their course or risk being detected by their enemies.

But just as they were about to leave their hiding spot, they noticed a sudden change in the situation.

They saw several teenagers rushing at the Horde of Monsters while riding on their mounts.

All of them were wearing black armor, making Roland and Derek wonder if they belonged to a nearby Human Kingdom.

But the one thing that struck their notice was that the mounts of the Knights were varied.

They rode on Wolves, Bisons, Deers, Wild Horses, and any other monsters that could run on four legs.

Because of this diversity, Roland and Derek instinctively knew them for what they were.

'Wanderers'

That was the one word that the two teenage boys thought when they saw the army of knights riding on random monsters.

"Fire!" the Knight that led the charge ordered, and soon, countless arrows rained down on the Spider-like Monsters, making them screech in anger.

The number of Wanderers who had initiated the attack was at least around three hundred, according to Derek's estimation.

Although they were numerous, he doubted that they would be able to deal with the Horde of Monsters with their numbers.

Just as he thought that this was a suicide act, the Captain leading the charge shouted another order.

"Retreat!"

Without even a moment of hesitation, the group of Wanderers retreated as if they had done this numerous times already.

Roland and Derek didn't hesitate to summon their Flying Avatars and follow the group, wanting to see where they were headed and what they were planning to do.

To their surprise, the group led the Monster Horde in a valley with a narrow passage.

The moment the monster Horde entered the valley, they were met with a bombardment of arrows and spells.

The most eye-catching of them all were the dozens of fire spears that descended toward the monster horde without any shred of mercy, decimating the lower-ranked monsters and injuring those with higher ranks.

Roland's and Derek's eyes widened in shock when they saw the familiar sorceress, who was casting fire spells left and right without pause.

"Erica!" Roland shouted as he urged his Rank 4 Hippogriff to fly in her direction.

"Don't bother me, Roland," Erica replied as she cast a fireball at the monster army. "Can't you see I'm busy? We can talk later."

Roland thought that he misheard Erica because the young lady had never talked to him in such a manner in the past.

Whenever they were together, she would praise how strong and dependable he was in battle.

But the current Erica only gave him a side-long glance as she continued her magical bombardment without pause.

Derek looked at his two friends before scratching his head.

Just like Roland, he didn't expect that Erica would address the other party in that manner, so for the time being, he decided to just observe from the side to see what was going on.

A few minutes later, Erica stopped her bombardment and glanced at the white smoke rising up from the valley's entrance.

Even the archers, who were stationed at the cliffs facing the valley, stopped firing to see the current status of their mission.

When the white smoke finally dispersed, the High-Ranking Monsters could be seen standing up and screeching in anger and pain.

At that exact moment, a familiar voice reached everyone's ears.

"Charge!"

Another group of Wanderers, numbering three hundred, charged at the entrance of the valley to face the enemies that survived the battle.

At the very front was a teenage boy, riding on Blacky's back and holding a spear in his hand.

When he was only dozens of meters away from the Rank 6 Crimson-Eyed Spider, he threw his spear without hesitation.

The Spider raised its front legs to repel the spear, rendering Thirteen's initial strike useless.

But he didn't care.

The spear throw was merely a distraction for the real attack that was coming next.

The enraged Rank 6 Sovereign charged at Thirteen in anger, ready to shred him into pieces.

But just when the teenage boy was within its strike range, Blacky jumped over the Crimson-Eyed Spider, making it subconsciously raise its body to intercept it.

Just as Roland and Derek thought that Nightmare Black Hound would be bitten by the Giant Spider, Rocky stepped into the air and performed a second jump as if he had stepped on an invisible platform.

With its body raised up high, its underside was completely open, allowing the Wanderers to pierce it with their weapons.

All of the Wanderers under Thirteen's command had Adamantine-Grade Weapons.

This meant that it could pierce the flesh of Rank 6 Sovereigns unless they were Defensive Monsters by nature.

It just so happened that the Crimson-Eyed Spider wasn't a monster that specialized in defense.

Because of this, the weapons of the Wanderers managed to pierce its flesh, catching it by surprise.

Like a swarm of ants, the Wanderers swarmed the Rank 6 Sovereign as if they had lost the sensation of fear in their bodies.

Naturally, the Rank 6 Sovereign tried to fight back, sending the black knights flying in its frenzied state.

However, since their entire bodies were covered from head to toe with Adamantine-Grade Armor, they didn't suffer any fatal injuries.

Sensing that it was impossible to win, the Crimson-Eyed Spider decided to retreat.

But how could Thirteen allow it to do so?

A golden flag descended from the sky and blocked the path of the retreating spider, stopping it for a brief moment.

A second later, Diana landed on the spider's back and stabbed her sword deep into its flesh.

Silvery threads latched on the Spider's legs as Sherry, who was riding on top of her Blade Panther, circled around it, tying it up and preventing it from moving forward.

Once the Rank 6 Sovereign was immobilized, a swarm of Wanderers attacked its body without mercy while shouting the chant.

"Last hit!"

"Last hit!"

"Last hit!"

"Last hit!"

"Last hit!"

Thirteen watched the crazed Wanderers, who were hoping that they would land the last hit on the monster, giving them the prize of landing the killing blow.

Since he wouldn't gain anything from killing the Rank 6 Sovereign, he simply allowed his subordinates to try their luck.

"Yes! I killed it! Wooooo!" Leon shouted triumphantly after receiving the reward of killing the Rank 6 Sovereign.

Unlike his previous self, he was now a Zion Fanatic, giving the teenage boy his unwavering loyalty.

In the two months that they had been together, Thirteen had successfully brainwashed the Wanderers under his command, making them serve him with unwavering loyalty.

He was a fair leader, allowing everyone equal chances to gain items from the monsters that they were fighting.

The "Bosses" of the Monster packs, hordes, and herds were fair game for everyone.

While Leon was basking in his glory, Derek landed beside Thirteen and bowed his head respectfully.

"Disciple greets Master!" Derek shouted, as if making sure that everyone heard him.

Just like he expected, the Wanderers looked in his direction, curious to see who dared to call their Supreme Leader his Master.

"Oh, it's you," Thirteen replied with a faint smile on his face. "How have you been, disciple of mine?"

Seeing that Zion had recognized him in front of everyone, a smug smile appeared on Derek's face as he glanced at the Wanderers, who were serving under his Master.

"I'm fine, Master." Derek smiled from ear to ear. "What are you doing here? Are you perhaps also headed to the Temple of Courage?"

Thirteen nodded. "That's right."

The teenage boy wasn't surprised to see Derek and Roland. His scouts had seen them even before they met the other Wanderers.

In fact, they had discovered the group led by the Hero Party and decided to lend them a hand in clearing the Monster Horde that blocked their path.

Since all of them were headed in the same direction, he deemed that it would be best if they helped each other out so that they would be able to clear their mission faster.

Lastly, having the complete Hero Party fight together would increase their strength significantly, which was something that the teenage boy was looking forward to seeing.

Suddenly, something landed several meters away from Thirteen, sending dust and ground spreading from every direction.

"Zion Leventis, I presume?"

A young lady with long blue hair and blue eyes looked at the boy with a smile on her beautiful face.

She was holding a War Axe in her hands, the size of her entire body.

"Who's asking?" Thirteen asked back.

"Your worst nightmare!" Siri roared as she lunged at Thirteen with her weapon raised high.

She had been waiting for this moment since entering Solterra.

Now that her prey was right in front of her, she would no longer hold back and fought the teenage boy using her full strength.