System's POV

Chapter 1302: The Devils Of The Void

“Are you feeling better?” Thirteen asked Cranky, who was currently seated cross-legged inside the healing chamber of the Royal Palace.

This was King Astrion’s personal chambers, where he tended to his injuries using a special herb bath made from High-Grade Herbs.

“I’ll live,” Cranky replied, but his face was still a bit pale.

Clearly, he wouldn’t be able to join the war right away within a week’s time.

Although he could do that, pushing himself might just worsen his injuries, which was something that Thirteen didn’t want to see.

As such, he had advised Cranky to rest properly, and leave the rest to them.

The next place that Thirteen visited was the Inner Palace, to talk to Queen Miriamele.

“I see, so his injuries are more serious than we thought,” Queen Miriamele muttered. “But, don’t worry. As long as I’m here, I will be able to deal with Castor. I’m familiar with his relic, Dark Paradise, because it has been used during our battle in Chandrea.”

Due to Queen Miriamele’s special bloodline, she was able to escape the domain before she could be seriously harmed by his opponents.

“Zion, come, let me check it again.”

The Queen patted her bed, asking the teenage boy to sit beside her.

Thirteen obeyed, and allowed himself to be hugged by the Queen. The beautiful woman then kissed his forehead before closing her eyes to look deeper inside his consciousness.

A minute later, the Queen opened her eyes, and sighed deeply.

“I didn’t think I’d live to see this day,” Queen Miriamele said. “You have done what Astrion wished to do in the past. However, your version carried risks.”

“I know.” Thirteen admitted. “But, it will work, right?”

Queen Miriamele hesitated before reluctantly nodding in agreement.

“Yes, it will work,” Queen Miriamele answered. “But, there is a chance that you’ll be crippled afterwards.”

“Don’t worry, Mom,” Thirteen answered. “That is not going to happen. I have no plans on becoming a cripple.”

“You better.” Queen Miriamele hugged him tighter. “After all, I still want to hold my grandkids.”

The two cuddled for a bit before Thirteen asked a question that had been nagging him.

“For some reason, this war makes me feel that something is amiss,” Thirteen said. “I know that Castor, and Regulus are strong. However, is there a possibility that there is a mastermind behind them?”

After hearing his words, Queen Miriamele couldn’t help but frown. She knew that Zion wouldn’t say something like this out of the blue, which was something that she hadn’t considered in the past.

“A mastermind?” Queen Miriamele’s expression became serious. “If there is really a mastermind behind this war then this is something serious. Who could have possibly influenced the two of them to rebel aside from their own greed for power?”

“I don’t know.” Thirteen shook his head. “But, my gut instinct is telling me that there might be a force pulling the strings from behind.”

Thirteen hadn’t yet shared his thoughts with Erasmus, and Rana because he didn’t want them to think that he was being paranoid.

As for Cranky, he was still recovering, and he didn’t want him to feel worried, or anxious about an enemy that may, or may not exist.

The only one he could talk to at a time like this was Queen Miriamele, whom he believed would be able to offer her opinion about the matter.

“You know, you might be on to something,” Queen Miriamele said after pondering for some time. “People think that I don’t know what is happening outside the palace because there is a seal that prevents me from living in the Inner Palace.

“But, I have a few tricks up my sleeves like Astral Projection. One time, I witnessed Astrion talking to someone through a mirror. I didn’t dare to go closer because he might sense my presence.

“The person he was talking to was using a language that I am not familiar with. It sounded gibberish, but Astrion can understand it. After that, he decided to use my daughter as a living sacrifice to strengthen himself.”

Queen Miriamele’s tone became icy, and filled with killing intent. Now that she recalled this particular memory, her hatred for Astrion was once again rising up in her chest.

Fortunately, she was holding Thirteen, so she made sure to control her strength because she might actually kill him by accident.

“You said that it sounded gibberish,” Thirteen commented. “Mom, can you recall exactly what it sounds like?”

As the System of Cannon Fodders, he knew all the languages in the multiverse. As long as the Queen could replicate even a portion of it, he would be able to know which race the language was coming from.

“It sounded like…” Queen Miriamele tried to recall what she had heard before imitating the sound.

“Xira vel’thar… noz’Rael vekra guul aeshkara… rathuun khar xael.”

The Queen looked apologetic because she might be speaking it wrongly. It had been many years since she heard this conversation, and although her memory was good, replicating a language she didn’t know was not an easy task.

“Sorry, that’s all I can remember…”

Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock because Zion’s face became pale after hearing the unknown language that Queen Miriamele had replicated.

Although there were some mismatching accents in her speech, Thirteen was easily able to decipher the message by correcting her mistakes.

’Obey the sacrifice… let the Master consume the soul through blood… awaken power.’

That was the translation that Thirteen managed to get after listening to Queen Miriamele’s words.

“Zion, what’s wrong?” Queen Miriamele asked anxiously because the young man seemed to have fallen into a trance.

“Infernals,” Thirteen muttered.

“Infernals?” Queen Miriamele asked with worry. “What do you mean infernals?”

“Only one race speaks that tongue,” Thirteen’s face was still pale, but the Queen’s warmth allowed him to recover slightly. “The Zyraxian Sovereigns. They are also known as the Devils of the Void.

“They are a race that lived in the Zyraxian Abyss, a plane between realities. The Zyraxian Sovereigns do not invade worlds physically at first because they don’t need armies. What they need is one ruler willing to listen.

“These Devils corrupt beings by offering them power in exchange for obedience. They treat souls as currency. The stronger the soul, the more precious it was. Their favorite quote is ’Power requires a price. But, you only need to pay once.’”

Queen Miriamele lightly patted Thirteen’s back as if trying to help him calm down. “I might have made a mistake when mimicking the words I heard in the mirror. There might not be other forces pulling the strings on this war.”

Thirteen calmed down a bit, and tried to smile. He did this to stop the Queen from looking flustered.

However, now that the possibility that a powerful force that served the Outer Gods was involved, he couldn’t take any chances and needed to talk to a few people.

If he was wrong then all was well.

But, if he was right… then even if they, and the rebels were to join hands, the chances of the world of Artem surviving a calamity was close to none.

Such were the powers of the servants of the Outer Gods, the Devils of the Void that existed during the Primordial Era.

If Thirteen still had his System Powers, he might be able to help those who were important to him to survive.

But with the restrictions in place, his only hope was to visit the Domain of the Apocalypse and talk to Metatron about the possible threat that he was facing right now.