System's POV

The members of the 69th Battalion, the Legionnaires, and the Valkyries camped in a canyon for the night.

They hadn't expected the battle earlier, nor understood what they were doing. They merely followed Zion's orders without question, including his order not to kill a single Minotaur.

That said, they were all provided with powerful tranquilizer bullets meant to hunt Jinns alive.

Arthur also personally fought against the leader of the Minotaur, Titanus, and defeated it without using his full strength.

After the battle ended, the young man ordered his people to proceed to their destination, leaving only Sherry, Viola, Sharon, and Lorelei behind.

These girls knew his secret, so it was fine if they stayed behind with the teenage boy, who had plans for the Minotaurs.

Although very curious, none of the 69th Battalion dared to defy his orders.

The Valkyries and the Legionnaires also left despite their curiosity.

Once he was certain that everyone was gone, Thirteen snapped his fingers, and a portal opened beside him.

From that portal, hundreds of Apes and Monkeys led by Harahon and Khan emerged.

They were the two monsters Thirteen had kidnapped from the Temple of Courage and trapped inside the Domain of the Apocalypse.

However, after Thirteen used the carrot and stick method, offering them freedom in exchange for ten years of service, both leaders readily accepted the olive branch he extended to them.

The Goblin Emperor, Lord Zorca, had also emerged from the portal, ready to toss the new slaves into the Domain of the Apocalypse.

Zed, the demihuman Roc monster, took off to the skies.

He would intercept anyone, including drones, who planned to take a peek at his employer's monster kidnapping operation.

Now that they had pledged their loyalty and signed a contract with Metatron to become Thirteen's allies, all of them now obeyed his orders without fail.

"Time to work, guys and gals," Thirteen ordered.

As soon as he gave the command, Rocky, Giga, Blacky, Hercules, Drazzat, and Tiona's clones worked together with the monkeys and apes to toss all the unconscious Minotaurs inside the portal.

Frankly, the monkeys and apes were quite ecstatic, knowing that there would be new pitiful monsters who would suffer the same fate as them.

He had already informed Metatron beforehand of what he planned to do, and the God of the Apocalypse was more than happy to welcome the teenage boy's Minotaur Army.

Thirteen had changed his mind after the fluctuations in the Cygni Continent happened.

Instead of outright eliminating every Jinn he stumbled across, he would decide whether to incorporate them into his own army or not.

Right now, it was a race against time.

The high-tiered gates would be opening in less than three months, and when that time comes, Rank 8 and perhaps Rank 9 Monsters would start to roam the land.

Thirteen even believed that if some of the Higher-Tiered Gates mutated, a Majin Prince or a Majin Princess might make their first appearance in the world.

Until then, Thirteen planned to do his monster shopping spree, taking the most useful monsters under his wing before the big, bad bosses arrived.

Although Viola, Sharon, and Louise knew Zion had many secrets, they couldn't help but look in awe at the powerful monsters under his command.

"Zion, I knew you were hiding a lot, but this far surpassed my expectations," Viola said. "You're not going to silence our lips after seeing this, right?"

"Why would he silence our lips?" Sharon asked in a teasing tone. "He just needs to plug it with 'you know what', and we wouldn't be able to say anything."

"I approve." Louise nodded in agreement. "Zion, you need to take responsibility and make sure that our lips are sealed."

The teenage boy, who had no idea what the three girls were talking about, nodded in agreement.

"Fine," Thirteen replied. "I'll make sure that your lips are all sealed."

The three girls cheered at the same time as if they had won some kind of lottery.

Sherry, who was still too innocent to understand the hidden meaning behind Sharon's words, only thought that something was amiss.

The clean-up operation didn't last that long. Everyone had been extra productive, seeing the task as a game.

When all the Minotaurs were safely inside the Domain, with the exception of Titanus, Thirteen's allies returned to the Domain of the Apocalypse.

"Let's catch up with the others," Thirteen said.

Sherry nodded and summoned her Adamantine Falcon, Ace.

Viola, Sharon, and Louise also summoned their Pegasus and followed behind the two teenagers, who took the lead in their formation.

Meanwhile, in a city at the eastern edge of the continent…

"So that's Zion Leventis," muttered a blonde lady wearing a dress made up of feathers similar to those of a peacock as she looked at the television.

She looked very elegant, and the beauty she possessed was otherworldly.

The lady looked so perfect that she didn't seem real at all.

In fact, one would argue whether she was even human because her beauty could cause the downfall of a nation.

"He is perhaps the greatest enemy we will face on the battlefield, Princess," a handmaiden said respectfully. "He should be eliminated as soon as possible."

"There's no rush," the lady replied. "Let him fight the others who possess royal blood from Gomorra. Letting them kill each other will benefit us in the end."

"You are indeed wise, Your Highness." the handmaiden nodded. "But what will we do if we accidentally encounter him on the battlefield?"

"That will depend on the circumstances of how we meet him," the lady answered. "If talks are possible, then we should talk it out first. If not… House Pavareth will simply do what we do best."

The handmaiden nodded in agreement. "Princess, one last thing—Prince Zorren Vorn Vel'Skaarn of the Skavari and Prince Xylen Vashkra of the Azrakith Court have been sighted in our northeast."

At the mention of the two names, the beautiful princess frowned.

"Rats, insects, and other vermin as neighbors?" the lady scoffed. "I hope they are the first to die in this war. The world will be a better place without these filthy cretins."

She was the proud princess of House Pavareth, Princess Aracelle.

Her standards were pretty high, especially since their race claimed descent from the Moon Feather Phoenix, which had a lofty position back in their home world.

It was a Divine Beast that stood as one of the true Majin Emperors of Gomorra.

No one dared to question its authority, and those who claimed to be its descendants were also treated as royalty.

"Ah, this reminds me of that story about one of my Aunts, who is a half-blood. She was sent to Solterra as the vanguard of our expedition force," Princess Aracelle said with a smile.

"No one knows what became of her or if she is still alive. I only heard that their invasion had been thwarted by the Fiends and Celestial of that world.

"I sure hope that she died a slow and painful death, as deserved by the half blood that she is. If not for the fact that the one who sired her was one of the elders of our house, she might have been strangled right after she was born."

The handmaiden didn't reply because she also heard that story.

However, unlike Princess Aracelle, she actually sympathized with the poor lady tasked to go to another world as an excuse to exile her from the house of her paternal family.

If this exiled princess were still alive and heard that House Pavareth was in the Cygni Continent, she would definitely find an opportunity to annihilate all of them so that the grudge that she carried for hundreds of years would finally be put to rest.