"They said that cheaters never win," Thirteen said calmly as he watched the Hero’s sword strike, fueled by the latter’s raging emotions, descend upon him like a world-killing blow. He had seen countless versions of this strike, and yet, they only yielded one result. Annihilation of their enemy. "But, contrary to popular belief, cheaters DO win," Thirteen added. A moment later, a gigantic flaming tail emerged from the ground and clashed against Roland’s sword strike. The young man coughed a mouthful of blood as the force of the impact sent him flying towards the sea, where he skidded a few times before finally making a big splash. Rocky emerged from the ground and glanced at Thirteen, as if to make sure that he was alright. However, after seeing the blood streaming down his left shoulder, Rocky’s face distorted in anger. "Tis but a scratch, Rocky," Thirteen stated. "Don’t overreact. Blacky, save Roland before he drowns. I think he broke a rib or two when he got hit by Rocky’s strike." A black blur materialized out of nowhere and shot toward the sea. A moment later, the Nightmare Black Hound returned, holding the Hero’s in his jaw. Blacky then unceremoniously dropped Roland on the sand, making him groan. As if to add insult to injury, Giga also appeared, and the first thing he did was spat at Roland, before using his paws to bury the Hero on the sand, leaving only his head above ground. If Giga had his way, he wouldn’t have spat but farted, which would be more traumatizing for the young man who had just suffered a serious injury. "You cheated," Roland said through gritted teeth. "This was supposed to be a fair duel." "Well, you cheated too," Thirteen replied "Who asked you to ask for Fate’s help?" "What are you talking about?!" Roland demanded. However, Thirteen didn’t answer and simply shrugged. At that moment, he turned around to look at some people who had also arrived at the beach. He and Roland weren’t really holding back, so he wasn’t surprised when he saw people had come to investigate what was going on. Surprisingly, he was unperturbed when he saw Diana, Mildred, and Shana walking in their direction. The three young ladies had conflicted looks on their faces. They had been looking for Roland ever since the fight ended, and they hadn’t seen him anywhere. If not for the fact that Diana could fly and had seen the fluctuations of light in the distance, she wouldn’t have guessed where Roland was. But to her surprise, she found out that Roland wasn’t alone. Zion was with him, and the two of them were fighting. Her first thought was to stop the two. However, she hesitated because it seemed like a fight that she couldn’t interfere with. Because of this, she did the next best thing and contacted her friends, who immediately went to the scene in haste. Just like Diana, both of them felt that this fight was something that they couldn’t stop. When they heard Roland’s accusation that Thirteen was the one responsible for what happened in the Deserted Island, the three young ladies were shaken. A part of them didn’t want to believe it, but Thirteen didn’t shy away and admitted that everything was part of his plan. Stay updated with empire Seeing that the three were now headed in their direction, Rocky and the others left, leaving Thirteen behind. Tiona had already crawled back onto Thirteen’s body and coiled around his neck. She flicked her tongue on the teenage boy’s cheek, as if checking if he was really fine. Thirteen lightly rubbed the black snake’s head and waited for the three ladies to approach them. Diana and Mildred cast Zion a complicated glance before moving toward Roland with the intention of unearthing him from the sand. Shana, on the other hand, stopped beside Thirteen and used her healing powers to tend to Thirteen’s wound. When she was done, she whispered something in Thirteen’s ear, making the latter nod his head as if agreeing to her request. Shana said that she would like to have a chat with him in private, and the teenage boy agreed to her request. She then went to Roland and did her best to heal his injuries. Seeing that the Hero was now safe, Thirteen finally walked away to head back to his motorbike. There was another place where he needed to go, and time was of the essence. After speeding out towards the North of the city, he climbed the countless stairs that led to an observatory overlooking the entire city. When he reached the top, he walked toward the young man leaning on the railings, holding a can of beer in his hand. There were multiple other cans lying across the ground, and most of them were now crumpled and empty. Thirteen didn’t say anything as he stood beside the young man gazing at Glory City with a haunted look on his face. "Have you come to chastise me too?" Joshua, whose eyes were bloodshot, asked. Although it was dark, Thirteen could see the tear stains that had streamed down his face. Clearly, the other party had been wallowing in grief and guilt, as well as humiliation after the event that transpired in the Deserted Island. Joshua’s communicator was ringing nonstop, being flooded by messages coming from his friends and acquaintances, all asking him why he betrayed his friend. It wasn’t at all exaggerated, for millions of people watched everything happen. In their point of view, Joshua was a traitor and a betrayer. Once, he had been the proud Sage of the Hero Party. Loved and respected by many due to the position he held. But one mistake was all it took for him to fall from grace, changing his image to that of a backstabber who killed even his own best friend under countless gazes. "Why should I chastise you?" Thirteen asked back without bothering to look at the Sage of the Hero Party. "From my perspective, you only made the most logical choice at that time." A bitter chuckle escaped Joshua’s lips after hearing Thirteen’s reply. Yes. He made the most logical choice at that time. But, what is worth it? The answer was very obvious. Not only did he lose the trust of his friend, but he also lost the trust of countless more. He was certain that when morning came, news of what he had done would appear on the front pages of every newspaper. It also wouldn’t be a shock if it became the most talked about topic in news broadcasts all over the world.