Thirteen scanned the faces of the members from the Cygni Faction and the Apostles, all of whom had witnessed his battle with the Majin King. They were all looking back at him with conflicted expressions on their faces, especially Leon, who thought that Zion looked cool during the battle despite his hatred toward the latter. "I'm not going to tell you to keep what you saw a secret, but I still think I need to explain what happened," Thirteen said. "As you all know, I have several restrictions on my body, so I'm sure the majority of you are surprised by the fighting prowess I showed earlier. "Unfortunately, that power doesn't belong to me. It came from over there," Thirteen pointed towards the starry skies above his head, making it sound ambiguous. "Laplace Demon had told me to clean up the mess I started and gave me the ability to do it. That power you saw wasn't mine. "Of course, if you don't believe me, that's fine as well. If you stick with me long enough, you'll get used to seeing these things as well." While Thirteen was talking, the Trolls walked over and handed barbecue skewers to the Wanderers, as well as Drazzat. The meat was, of course from, the Ancient Eight-Headed Serpent, which made the Lizardman very happy. For their race, eating such a strong creature was like a badge of honor. "Then what about these Trolls and the monsters who fought with you?" David asked. "Are they Avatars?" "No," Thirteen replied. "They are living, breathing monsters. They are not avatars. They are the friends that I met while touring the area of the Goblins. I threw them a few pieces of meat, and we hit it off right away. Isn't that right, T1?" "Right!" The Troll Warlord nodded and even gave the Wanderers a thumbs up. "Zion is our friend. Very good friend." The Troll patted Thirteen's shoulder as if implying that he was telling the truth. "Well, then. Let's now talk about the gains you got during this battle," Thirteen stated. "All of you managed to get eight scales in total. The Cygni Faction has three, the Apostles have five. As you may already know, those scales are something that most Factions in Pangea would fight for to get. "It's quite unfortunate that Laplace Demon took the body of the Majin King after Cranky ate its core. We lost a treasure trove right under our nose." The other Wanderers also showed signs of regret, also finding it quite disappointing. Of course, Erica, Sherry, Ratatoskr, and Drazzat knew very well that the teenage boy was telling a big fat lie. But since they were on the same side, none of them planned on exposing the greatest heist that happened in the Absolute Heaven. "So what now?" David asked. "We head back to the ruined Kingdom of Seneros, and wait for the other Wanderers to regroup with us," Thirteen replied. "From there, we all travel to our last destination." Thirteen glanced at his status page to look at the last mission that was on his status page. ———— Trial of Courage [Final Mission] Located at the Northern edge of Absolute Heaven is the Temple of Courage. The path leading to this place is infested with Jinns. Do your best to survive and conquer the Temple of Courage. The final battle awaits at its highest floor. This challenge can be cleared solo or by group. There is no limit to the number of people in the group. But, everyone is required to clear this mission using their own power. Only those who are able to pass this trial will be able to complete the mission. Time Limit: None Rewards: Will be based on your overall contribution to the entire Chain Quest. ———— "There is no time limit to this quest, which means that it might take us a long time to reach the Temple of Courage," Thirteen explained. "Also, there's also the threat of the Jinns. They just scattered away because of the threat of the Majin King. "Now that it's gone, it's safe to say that they may return and block our path. Last but not the least, I believe that there's another Majin King in Absolute Heaven, so you have to consider that threat as well." When the Wanderers heard that there might be another Majin King, all of their faces turned pale with fright. Facing one was enough for them to feel despair. Fighting another would make them fall into complete and utter depression. Thirteen laughed internally. What he said was the truth. There was indeed one more Majin King in the Absolute Heaven, and that was the Demonic Salamander. The only saving grace was that this particular Majin King hated conflicts and preferred to sleep near spiritual veins. Although there was a chance that they would encounter it, the possibility was very small. "Don't worry. We might not encounter it on our journey at all, so don't look as if the world is about to end," Thirteen said with a smile. "This is the final leg of our mission. After this, all of us will return home." After hearing the word "home," the eyes of the Wanderers regained their light as they looked at Thirteen with determination. The way they looked at the teenage boy had also changed. If before, they looked at him with disdain, doubt, and arrogance, they now looked at him as if he had become a pillar that could support the weight of the world. "Let's rest for the night," Thirteen said. "Tomorrow, we meet with Diana and the others and head to the Temple of Courage together." Everyone nodded in agreement and accepted the bed rolls and blanket Thirteen provided for them. Rocky laid down on the ground, acting as a windbreak to prevent the cold air from affecting the Wanderers, who were in dire need of rest. While their Master and the Wanderers slept, Thirteen's monster army stood as night watch, making sure that no monsters would dare to disturb the teenage boy's sleep. Thirteen, who was about to lay down on his own bedroll, suddenly found Erica and Sherry placing their bedrolls right beside him. Since they couldn't sleep inside Rocky's Mobile Fortress with the Wanderers lest they got suspicious, they decided to just sleep beside Thirteen for the night. For some reason, Giga and Hercules also lay at the side to sleep, blocking the vision of the other Wanderers, and preventing the others from seeing their Master's current situation. "What are the two of you doing?" Thirteen blinked in confusion because he suddenly found himself being hugged by Erica and Sherry on both sides. "Using you as a hug pillow, of course," Erica whispered. "This is just common sense, right?" "That's right," Sherry commented. "This is a very normal thing in this situation." Thirteen blinked once and twice as he remembered the advice of his best friend, Vincent when it came to women. "Thirteen, remember this—when a lady wants to sleep beside you, you're not a man if you say no to them." While contemplating if Vincent's words were true or not, the teenage boy decided that there was no harm in being hugged by the two ladies, who were sharing their warmth on this cold night. Soon, he fell asleep under the starry skies, with the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, chuckling from the heavens and giving his very dear friend, Thirteen, a thumbs up.