While Thirteen was resting, the Jinns held a conference through their communicators. They had initially underestimated the Wanderers, but after the brutal battle that lasted for nearly a day, they understood they weren't soft persimmons whom they could crush just because they had Rank 9 Sovereigns on their side. What happened to the Garuda Faction had elevated Zion's image to the Jinns, significantly raising their wariness toward the teenage boy who had come to the Summit of Conquerors to laugh at them. 'It's a good thing I listened to my sister and headed northwest instead of going to the southwest,' Prince Valen thought. 'We might have suffered the same fate as the Garuda Faction, which will be a big blow to our army's morale.' What the Prince didn't know was that Thirteen had worked behind the scenes, making House Pavareth, the Azrakith Court, the Velmoria Kingdom, and the Skavari form a single faction and march north, where the Wanderers' defenses were weakest. This also allowed them to gain the greatest merits on the first day of the battle, as their losses were significantly lower compared to the other Factions that had decided to use divide and conquer as their strategy. Princess Aracelle couldn't help but smile out of pride for Zion, who had managed to defeat the arrogant prince of the Garuda Empire. The Garuda Empire and House Pavareth might be far apart from each other, but both didn't see eye to eye. Both factions had armies primarily composed of flying Jinns, and they could have bonded over that thing they had in common. But, there was one similarity that made that impossible. They were both proud races. The similarity only bred rivalry. "Please tell us how you were defeated by Zion Leventis, Prince Zepharion," Prince Valen said calmly. "Did he win by luck?" "Luck?" Prince Zepharion sneered. "Two Rank 9 Sovereigns died, and you think it's luck? How about you try to face him and see if he defeats you by luck?" Prince Valen smirked, acting calm and collected, unaffected by Prince Zepharion's taunt. "We have conquered the Fortresses at the north of the continent," Prince Valen said. "How about you?" "Well, you didn't face Zion Leventis. So why do you feel so smug about your ordinary achievement?" Prince Zepharion replied in disdain. "You only fought ordinary Wanderers, while I fought against an entire mountain fortress filled to the brim with disgusting Insects!" Prince Xylen and General Xelnaav both glared at the annoying prince because even though they knew that they were not the ones being called disgusting insects, it didn't change the fact that they were Insectoid Jinns. "We won't understand what happened if you keep on veering off the topic," Prince Zorren said calmly. "Just tell us what happened, Prince Zepharion, so we can better understand the tricks that Zion used to force your army into retreat." Of course, Kessari knew full well what trump cards his Master possessed. However, for the sake of hiding his identity, he played his role as a mediator and pressed the Prince of the Garuda Empire for answers. Prince Zepharion took a deep breath to calm himself down, knowing that many leaders of the different factions were waiting for his explanation. "In order to reach the Southern part of the continent, we need to pass through the Planar Mountain Range no matter what," Prince Zepharion explained. "And that was where we were ambushed. Bombardier Beetles, Blister Beetles, Giant Fire Ants, and the Savage Killer Bees attacked us without warning." The more Prince Zepharion explained, the more they found it unbelievable. Jinns were actually listening to the orders of a human, and they numbered over ten thousand. Having the terrain advantage, they could unleash a bombardment without worry of retaliation. However, when Prince Zepharion told them that their Sky Python had been cut in half by a single sword strike, the faces of the leaders of the Jinns became grim. A peak Rank 9 Sovereign was instantly killed. This was something that none of them could brush aside so easily. "And it didn't end there," Prince Zepharion stated. "He still has this… thing that the humans call a giant robot. It used many different kinds of weapons before killing the Orc Disaster with one strike. "After losing two Rank 9 Sovereigns, I immediately ordered a retreat. We are now a hundred miles away from the Planar Mountain Range. "I just finished a meeting with the leaders of our alliance, and we decided to change course, avoiding the mountain range entirely. If any of you are brave enough to challenge that place, you are free to try!" The different leaders didn't show it on their faces, but they internally sighed in relief because they didn't head south and follow the Garuda Faction in conquering the southwest. Now that they knew that Zion Leventis had the means to eliminate their strongest subordinates, they started to formulate a plan for their next course of action. "Everyone, I have something to report," the Prince of the Martens, Prince Orryn, spoke calmly. "One of our allies had suddenly lost contact with us. The last thing I heard from them was they successfully conquered a Fortress City on their own. "However, after our own battle ended, I called them again, but I didn't get any answer from them. I knew something might have happened, so I sent a scout to the city they conquered. According to their report, the city was dyed in blood. "There were no corpses left behind and no signs of life as well. The eerie part is that this Fortress is right behind our armies, which means that they should've been safe since we are dealing with the Wanderers at the front lines. "Zion Leventis couldn't have done this because he was at the Planar Mountain Range and fighting against Prince Zepharion. This might be a small issue in your eyes, but for me, I can sense a threat that we might not be aware of. "They have a Rank 9 Sovereign in their army, as well as four Rank 8 Monsters. I doubt that the Wanderers, aside from Zion, could defeat them. But none of them were ever found. There are no survivors, and only traces of a brutal battle could be seen in the city." "Are you saying there might be enemies on our rear?" Prince Zorren asked. "Enemies that are strong enough to defeat a faction with a Rank 9 Sovereign and four Rank 8 Monsters?" Prince Orryn nodded. "Yes. And this concerns me greatly. Fighting the Wanderers while getting stabbed in the back will be dangerous for any army. So, I hope everyone can take this matter seriously and make preparations. "The factions who are traveling solo, make sure to keep in touch with us on a regular basis. But I advise you to team up with the others, at least temporarily, so we won't have to worry about you guys disappearing without a trace." "I understand," one of the leaders of the Factions replied. "I will meet up with—what the hell is that?!" The Jinn General, who had cut himself off out of shock, immediately used his communicator to show over a dozen alien-like monsters currently attacking their captured fortress. "Damn it!" the Jinn General cursed in anger. "Kill them!" The other leaders watched as the General and his subordinates joined the battle. However, what they saw made them shudder. The alien-like monsters were one-sidedly massacring their forces. The Rank 9 Sovereign of the General was fighting against a golden alien-like monster, which was currently biting its neck. Prince Zorren, who was very familiar with the Azothrall, couldn't help but gasp in shock because he didn't expect that the monster that his Master and Rocky had fought so desperately back in Solterra was now in Pangea, and there was more than one of them! "Who are you?!" the General shouted. "What is your affiliation?!" The Azothralls didn't bother to reply to the Jinn General and simply continued their massacre. Suddenly, a bloodcurdling death wail spread in the surroundings as the Rank 9 Sovereign died in the hands of the Golden Azothrall. Seeing this, the general immediately ordered a retreat, going as fast as he could to run away. However, he wasn't able to run far when the golden alien-like monster caught up to him and bit his head off. That was the last thing the leaders of the Jinn saw before the projection of the general blurred and faded away. Now that they had confirmed that there was indeed a force that they weren't aware of, those who were still trying to move on their own immediately asked the other Jinns' location so they could regroup with them. They were prepared to fight against the Wanderers, but they didn't expect a Third Party would join the battle. And from the way they looked, they seemed to pose more threat to them than the Wanderers, who were just desperately trying to defend their world from the invaders.