Chapter 1363: The Guardian Of Pandora’s Key [Part 1] "Have we arrived?" Stella asked as soon as she got out of Rocky’s Mobile Fortress. "Yes," Thirteen replied. "Welcome to the Fortunate Isles." The corner of Stella’s lips twitched. How could he say such a thing so cheerily when they were surrounded by different kinds of Beastkins, weapons drawn and ready to attack them if they were to do something funny? "... Fortunate, you say?" Stella asked. "Of course," Thirteen replied. "We just arrived, and they’re already giving us a very warm welcome." "Hahaha!" Camazotz laughed from the side, but deep inside, he was cursing Thirteen to the high heavens. Why? Right now, two High Archons had bound him with enchanted adamantine chains. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t break free from them. (A/N: High Archons = Majin King). Stella wondered if the teenage boy asked Rocky to bring her out as a prank. But seeing their current situation, she couldn’t help but wonder if Zion was simply looking for someone to drag into suffering. "Don’t move and don’t talk," ordered a Bear High Archon that stood eight-meters tall. "If you want to live, that is." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎 The Death Bat sighed in his heart as he thought of the exact moment before he and Zion were suddenly surrounded by the denizens of the Fortunate Isles. ——— Thirty minutes before Thirteen and Camazotz met the two High Archons and their subordinates... "So this is the Fortunate Isles." Camazotz looked at his surroundings. "What’s so fortunate about this place? It looks like any other inhabited island in the sea. Are you sure we came to the right place?" "Yes," Thirteen replied. "We are in the right place." The Fortunate Isles was only three miles long and two miles wide. Camazotz could easily run from one edge of the island to the other in just the span of a few seconds without even flying at full speed. He hadn’t noticed anything unusual when they were still in the sky, so he landed near the beach to ask Zion if they really were in the right place or not. "So where do we go?" Camazotz asked. "Just follow me." Thirteen walked toward the forest without even waiting for Camazotz’s reply. The Death Bat scratched his head before following behind the teenage boy, who seemed to know what he was doing. Rank 1 up to Rank 3 Beasts fled as soon as they sensed Camazotz’s rank, making the Death Bat smirk. Hundreds of years ago, he was just like these beasts, trying to survive one day at a time, avoiding those stronger than him. After walking for a few minutes, the two arrived at what seemed to be an altar made of stone. It looked very ancient and out of place inside the forest. However, it looked surprisingly well-tended, not covered by a single speck of dirt and moss. "Are there humans living in this place?" Camazotz inquired. "I thought it was a deserted island." The Majin Prince extended his senses to cover the entirety of the island. However, aside from monsters, he didn’t find any humans inside the Fortunate isles. "There are no humans here," Thirteen replied. "Now, are you ready?" "Ready for what?" Camazotz’s asked. "It’s time for us to look for the key," Thirteen answered. "Aren’t you coming?" "Of course, I’m coming." The Death Bat grinned. "Lead the way, my friend." Camazotz chuckled as he patted the teenage boy’s shoulder. Thirteen smirked and reached out to grab one of Camazotz’s fingers before placing his hand on the altar. Just as the Death Bat was about to ask what Zion was doing, his body suddenly shuddered uncontrollably. A moment later, Camazotz found himself lying on the ground, facing the clear blue sky. "Huh?" Camazotz blinked in confusion. He then glanced at Thirteen, who was still standing calmly while looking at their surroundings. "Well,that was weird," Camazotz said as he propped himself up from the ground. "How did we end up here on the beach agai—" Before the Death Bat could even finish whatever he was going to say, two chains wrapped around his body, binding him completely. "Huh?!" Camazotz, who suddenly got tied up without warning, looked at the Beastkins that had appeared out of nowhere, surrounding them completely. "Who are you, and why are you here in the Fortunate Isles?!" A Bear who towered above everyone else roared loudly. "Let go of me you son of a bitc—bear." Camazotz hurriedly corrected what he was going to say. Originally, he planned to use his rank as a Majin Prince to threaten and intimidate the bastards who bound him with chains. But when he saw that the Bear was actually a High Archon and that there were two of them, he decided to word his reply properly, fearing he might get killed if he said something that angered them. The two Bears glared at the Death Bat, thinking that the latter almost cursed them earlier. However, since they didn’t find anything wrong with his reply, they decided to ask questions first and kill later. "Who are you?!" the second Bear asked. "I will not ask you a third time!" "One moment please," Thirteen replied before talking to Rocky through telepathy—he had asked it to release Stella from his mobile fortress. The beautiful young lady then appeared in front of everyone, making the Beastkins look at the newcomer in surprise. "Have we arrived?" Stella asked as soon as she was released from Rocky’s Mobile Fortress. "Yes," Thirteen replied before spreading his arms wide. "Welcome to the Fortunate Isles." The young lady looked at her surroundings and realized that they seemed to be at the center of a very tricky situation. "... Fortunate, you say?" Stella asked. "Of course," Thirteen replied. "We just arrived, and they’re already giving us a very warm welcome." Stella wanted to face palm then and there, but since what was done was already done, she calmly turned her attention to the Beastkins and the two Bears who had the highest rank among those that surrounded them. "Before anything else, let us introduce ourselves first to them," Thirteen said. "My name is Zion Leventis. I am someone who can solve any problem with ease." "I am Camazotz!" Camazotz stated. "I am your friendly neighborhood Death Bat." "My name is Stella Ainsworth." Stella gave the two Bears a friendly nod of greeting. "Well met." Just as Camazotz was thinking how to escape from his bindings, one of the bears approached them and lowered its head to look at Stella closely. "Are you the prophesied Saintess?" the Bear asked. "The one who will safeguard the Divine Key of Lust?" Stella blinked. "Excuse me?" "I said Lust," the Bear repeated. "The Divine Key of Lust. One of the keys that opens the doors to Pandora’s Treasury. Are you its Saintess?" "I don’t know what you’re tal—" Stella wasn’t able to finish whatever she was going to say because Thirteen suddenly interrupted. "She is the Saintess!" Thirteen said while patting his chest with confidence. "Just look at her. Isn’t she beautiful?" "She looks pure... like a chaste maiden," the Bear replied. "Isn’t the Saintess of Lust supposed to be... lusty?" Stella was about to say that she wasn’t the Saintess of Lust when Thirteen hurriedly covered her lips with her hands. "The Saintess is indeed a chaste maiden. To acquire the Divine Key, one must be pure, right?" Thirteen inquired. The Bear then looked at his Big Brother, who only shrugged as if he also didn’t know the answer. "Let her speak," the Bear named Yogi said calmly. "We need to confirm that she is the Saintess of Lust." Thireten glanced at Stella and gave her the "Just go with the flow, okay?" gaze before releasing his hand that covered her lips. A faint blush appeared on the young lady’s face after being referred to as the Saintess of Lust. Admittedly, one of her mothers represented the Sin of Lust, and she was indeed a very seductive lady. She was also the one assigned to teach the young ladies in their family about health education, including the arts in the bedroom. "I... am the Saintess of Lust," Stella declared, her face turning beet red from saying something very embarrassing. "And I have come to safeguard one of Pandora’s Keys." Stella had been briefed by Zion about the history of the Seven Keys of Pandora, which would open her treasury. They were the sins of humanity that had been released to the world, and right now, she had to prove that she was indeed the Saintess of Lust in order to gain the trust of the two High Archons, who were still looking suspiciously at her. ----- A/N: Second Chapter will be posted after edits are done.