System's POV

Chapter 1332: The Heart Of Friends Turns Into None [Part 1]

As the Avatars scouted their surroundings, Thirteen gathered all the Wanderers with the same mission as him.

“I should let you know as soon as now—this mission will probably be the hardest mission all of you will ever face in your careers as Wanderers,” Thirteen said as he gazed at the people in front of him. “Before anything else, let us first decide the leaders of this group.”

“That’s not necessary,” Roland spoke up. “You will be the leader of this group. I’m sure no one here will challenge your authority.”

All the Wanderers nodded in agreement.

Everyone knew who Zion Leventis was. If there was anyone who didn’t know him, they either lived under a rock or were simply disconnected from the rest of Pangea.

After all, the young man had accomplished feats that far surpassed those of Thrones and Monarchs.

Simply put, no one was more qualified to lead their group than the teenage boy standing in front of them.

“Very well. I will be the leader of this group,” Thirteen stated. “Roland will be Vice Leader, and Derek will be Raid Captain.

“Whenever I am not around, listen to Roland. If neither of us is around, listen to Derek. Do I make myself clear?”

“”Yes, Sir!””

The teenage boy then glanced in the direction of the sun. In a few hours, the sun would set. Knowing traveling now wouldn’t be convenient, he decided to stay in the ancient ruins for the night.

His demons had already perfected the art of scouting because they had been doing it ever since the war in Cygni started.

He hadn’t received any report from them so far, so it was likely that they found no immediate danger in the surroundings.

In any case, Rocky was with him, and inside his Mobile Fortress were Rank 7 and Rank 8 monsters who could easily deal with any threat as long as they weren’t Archons or Majin Princes.

Thirteen’s Monster Army had now grown exceptionally powerful. In fact, he alone could contend with the Celestial Army, on the condition that Zaphiel wouldn’t be joining the battle.

If the Celestial made an appearance, Thirteen would not hesitate to flee. After all, the current him didn’t have the ability to fight tooth and nail with his enemy.

After he announced that they would make camp for the night, everyone went to prepare their sleeping quarters.

Since this wasn’t their First Wandering, the Wanderers knew the drill. They took out their prepared tents, as well as sleeping bags made from monster skin.

Some gathered wood and cooked the ingredients they had brought with them from Pangea. There were limitations on what Wanderers could bring to Solterra, but bringing vegetables and meat was permitted.

While everyone was busy preparing their dinner, Thirteen walked toward the entrance of the ruins.

Tiona’s clone had entered it an hour earlier, and so far, it didn’t sense any monsters inside the ruins.

However, there were murals inside of it, which made Thirteen wonder if they had been sent to that location so they could check the murals and uncover the story behind them.

Roland and a few Wanderers followed Zion.

Derek had wanted to come along, but someone needed to be present in the camp to watch over the Wanderers, just in case something unexpected happened.

Exactly a hundred Wanderers were sent to the ruins, and thirty of them followed Zion and Roland inside the Ancient Ruins.

The moment they entered, what greeted them was darkness.

But this darkness didn’t last long.

As if sensing that there were living beings that appeared within the ruins, the torches on the walls blazed in blue flames, casting a dim light in the surroundings.

The Wanderers were surprised, but Thirteen showed no reaction and kept on walking.

There were many branching paths along the way, but Thirteen already knew where to go and guided his group to the path that led to the spacious hall where Tiona’s clone saw the murals on the wall.

When they arrived at their destination, they finally saw the murals that were drawn on the walls around them.

Thirteen casually walked to the left-most Mural, believing that the story started from there.

The first mural depicted a man standing on a hill, and below him, fourteen individuals knelt with their hands raised high up in the air as if worshiping that person.

After making sure that he didn’t miss any details, the teenage boy looked at the second mural next to it.

In that scene, fifteen people, wielding different kinds of weapons, were facing off against a giant serpent-like creature with seven heads.

Clearly, the enemy depicted was a Hydra, and the battles were painted in a way that evoked tension from its viewers.

The third mural depicted the Hydra being slain, and a person was standing on top of its body.

And just like the scene that was shown on the first mural, the fourteen other people stood with their weapons raised high, as if cheering their leader for their victory.

The next mural made Thirteen arch an eyebrow.

There, the fourteen people were separated into two groups, their leader hovering in the air between them.

Eight pairs of wings could be seen behind their leader’s back—half of them were black, while the rest were white.

His hands seemed to shoot rays of light onto the two groups, as if he was blessing them with his powers.

On the next mural, the two groups of people were once again shown. However, there were changes in their bodies.

They seemed to no longer be humans and had transformed into different creatures.

One of them looked like a giant sea-serpent, and the other looked like a threat of sorts.

Some of the humans grew horns, while others gained wings. One of them even gained more hands, while the other gained more feet.

They seemed to be transforming into monsters or into another type of creature very different from ordinary humans.

On the next mural, things turned out for the worse.

The fourteen beings started to fight each other, and the drawing depicted chaos and destruction happening in the land.

Meteors fell from the sky, and the land cracked under their feet.

Flames rose on the leftmost side of the mural, while a giant wave rose on its rightmost side.

This looked very much like a battle to the death, making the Wanderers frown after seeing the drawings in front of them.

Thirteen moved onto the next mural and saw several weapons stabbed into the body of the giant sea serpent that lay on the ground.

It didn’t look dead, its head raised from the ground. However, it clearly looked very weak, as if about to die at any moment.

Words were written above the monster’s head, as if to let the mural’s viewer know what it had been thinking at that moment.

Roland looked at the ancient words, unable to decipher their meaning. The other Wanderers were also unable to recognize the letters, which made them feel disappointed.

Suddenly, someone spoke, and the message that was written on the wall was finally understood.

“Beneath the crown of shifting skies,

Trust once born now withers and dies.

Hands that raised in loyal cheer,

Now strike with whispers sharp and clear.”

“Monsters born from human skin,

The bonds of old now torn within.

Fire and wave, the land undone,

The heart of friends turns into none.”

“So mark the path where shadows crawl,

For even angels sometimes fall.”

Once those verses were spoken, Roland and the other Wanderers looked at Zion, who had translated the words for them.

It was a poem of betrayal, and the Giant Sea Serpent seemed to be weeping, while the weapons of its comrades were embedded deep inside its body, as well as its heart.