Somewhere in the Sumatran Kingdom…
Anwir looked at the campfire with a solemn expression on his face.
Not only did he succeed in completing his mission, he even managed to capture Brigham, whom Thirteen had labeled as the ringleader of the Radical Faction.
What he accomplished was something that Zion never imagined to be possible, but he still managed to pull it off using his cunning and intelligence.
There were many soldiers who respected his Father, as well as his adoptive Father, General Stark, within Dunn City.
He reached out to the people whom he believed were extremely loyal to General Stark, and served under him in the past.
Although they had retired from military service, their loyalty to him didn't decrease with time.
Anwir had met these people many times in the past, and his father told him how loyal they were to the General.
In fact, these people were the survivors of the team that were led by Anwir's Father, who had died in action after they were ambushed by the Barbarians.
The General compensated them greatly and, even to this day, they still received a monthly stipend from him, allowing them to live their life of retirement in peace and comfort.
The money that the General was giving them came from his own purse, which Anwir discovered by accident in the past.
After knowing that Brigham had dared to harm their General, these people didn't hesitate to jump onto Anwir's Bandwagon and help him conduct his operation.
Since they decided to become part of his team, he divulged the reason why he was doing this.
When they found out that Brigham not only tried to harm the General, but also betrayed their Kingdom, none of them hesitated to burn the granaries and barracks while Anwir, and his Assassins, moved in to capture Brigham.
The young Tigerkin's forces, when he entered Dunn City, only numbered four people.
But, now, he had over fifty veteran warriors under his command, who were all willing to follow him and listen to his orders.
While he was deep in thought, a Pocopoco landed beside the log that he was sitting on.
Anwir immediately recognized him as Vassago, who always stayed by his Sworn Brother's side.
"Did you really capture Brigham?" Vassago asked using Thirteen's voice, which elicited a smile on Anwir's face.
"I did," Anwir replied.
"You're amazing," Vassago praised. "After my Master heard that Brigham was missing, he immediately thought that you had managed to capture him."
The smile on Anwir's face widened after hearing the Pocopoco's praise. "Did he sent you to find me?"
Vassago nodded. "Yes. He wants you to head straight to Parania City as fast as you can."
"Parania City?" Arwin frowned. "Did something happen? Did he not complete his mission?"
"He did," Vassago commented.
"Then why?"
"Because he managed to make Paven Merdosk his loyal subordinate."
"What?!"
Arwin's surprised cry alerted the watchers, who were paying close attention to the dumb-looking-bird that landed beside their Young Master.
They were surprised when the bird started talking. But, when they realized that their Master was familiar with the bird, they decided to just listen to the conversation.
"Tell me everything that happened," Anwir stated. "How did he manage to subjugate the City Lord?"
Vassago glanced at his surroundings before giving Anwir the "we need to talk in private" gaze.
The Tigerkin nodded and raised his arm, allowing Vassago to perch onto it.
A moment later, he walked a distance away from their camp, out of the earshot of his subordinates.
Once he was certain that no one was eavesdropping, Vassago told Anwir everything.
When the bird finished his tale, Anwir couldn't help but feel his blood boil, not out of anger, but excitement.
He thought that what he had accomplished was already exceptional, but compared to what Zion had done, the latter was even a step ahead of him.
"Understood, tell him that we will head to Parania City at first light," Anwir stated. "At most it will take us a day to reach it. But, are you sure that Paven should remain free, and not be made a slave? What if he changed his mind?"
"I don't really know the details, but Master assured me that it is going to be fine," Vassago replied. "Aside from the City Lord, everyone in the residence has already been enslaved by Norris, and their ownership transferred to Master. Parania City is now under his complete control."
A sigh escaped Anwir's lips because this was truly a feat that not everyone could pull off.
The most he could do was capture Brigham.
Taking over an entire city never occurred to him, so he was truly impressed by his Sworn Brother's achievement.
"You may go now," Anwir nodded. "Tell him that I'll be there as fast as I can."
"Understood." Vassago spread his wings wide and took off towards the sky.
He was lucky that he found Anwir right away, and was able to pass his Master's message to him.
The Tigerkin watched as the Pocopoco disappeared in the darkness before he returned to his camp.
His original plan was to head back to Karabor City and present Brigham to his Father, but he deemed that it would be better if he went to Parania City to reunite with Zion.
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The next day…
'It's a shame that I can't see Tiona's personal information,' Thirteen thought as he stared at his Status Page.
He had tried clicking Tiona's name, but nothing happened, making him sigh for the umpteenth time.
The seven-year-old was currently seated on the head of the Rocky Bal-Boa, who had dug its way out of the underground Cavern, and surfaced in the City Lord's backyard.
Similar to Tiona, the giant snake, whom Thirteen had christened as Rocky, could travel underground, as if it was swimming in water.
The path that it took closed behind it, returning the soil to its natural state.
While waiting for Anwir's arrival, Thirteen wanted to know if all snakes would listen to Tiona's command, and become her subordinate.
But, after discussing this with Tiona, the Black Snake shook her head, and told her Master that she could only command one snake at a time.
However, she insisted that once she grew a bit older, the number of subordinates she could have would also increase, which made Thirteen very happy.
Also, there was a limit to the Rank that would follow Tiona's orders.
Her ability extended up to Rank 5 Monsters that belonged to the snake family.
While it was still possible to have a friendly relationship with Rank 6 Snakes, it would be extremely difficult to make one of them her subordinate.
Actually, the Domini Mortis were the favorite food of Snakes, who were Rank 7 and above.
These were the snakes that the Domini Mortis couldn't influence because their Rank was simply too high for them to be dominated.
"Too bad, you're not as strong as the person who I named you after," Thirteen said while rubbing the chin of the Black Snake, who was enjoying her Master's attention. "If you had the Snake Charmer ability, we would have been able to raise a snake army that could move unhindered across the land."
Tiona, who heard her Master's words, hissed repeatedly, telling him that she could do that if she became a hundred years old.
Thirteen could only laugh after hearing the little snake's declaration because he found her cute.
Rocky, who was being used as a chair, couldn't help but sigh in its heart.
It had sworn its allegiance to Tiona. But, since its Master had a Master, Rocky was also forced to obey the Human boy's orders, despite not wanting to.
"Don't worry, Rocky," Thirteen lightly patted the Rocky Snake's head. "I'll introduce you to Cristopher, Rianna, and Giga Chad. I'm sure they will be happy to have you as our ally."
Rocky pretended that it didn't hear the Human's words, and remained unmoved from its position.
Sensing that his newest subordinate was feeling rebellious, Thirteen decided to let it do what it wanted.
'I wonder what Cristopher and the others are doing?' Thirteen thought as he looked at the South.
Parania City was situated at a high elevation, so he was able to see the boundary of the sea from the horizon.
He was thinking of sending Vassago and Poca to Gronar City, so that Poca would know where to go next time he ordered her to send a message to Cristopher.
His plan was to let Anwir and Paven collaborate with each other, and handle the war preparations for the Sumatran Kingdom.
As for Brigham? Thirteen planned to enslave him, and make the City Lord become Anwir's subordinate.
Since his Sworn Brother had proven himself to be capable, he would be more at ease to let him handle the affairs of the Sumatran Kingdom, especially the forces of the Underworld.
The Mercenaries, Assassins, Information Brokers, Thieves, and Paven's other connections would fall under Anwir's capable hands, allowing his Third-Rate Villain to grow in power.
'This will become part of his training,' Thirteen mused. 'I hope that after I'm done dealing with Paven's counterpart in the Barbrian Lands, he will consolidate his power here, so that he can assist me whenever I need it.'
Thirteen would need manpower to deal with the Purple-Furred Honey Badger and the Diabolic Hyena.
Both of them would require over a dozen Champions to safely subjugate, preventing any casualties from arising.
Since Thirteen had the ability to talk to monsters, he was confident that he would be able to convince the Purple-Furred Honey Badger to become his ally.
However, that didn't mean that the Rank 6 Overlord would just listen to him.
No. He needed to prove that he was strong enough to gain its acknowledgment.
A strong monster wouldn't just bow its head to someone weaker than it.
An alliance would be easily formed between two parties of equal standing.
So, before he could go to find the Rank 6 Overlords, he first needed to return to Gronar City, and gather forces for a Monster Hunt.
"This is getting exciting." Thirteen couldn't help but smile because it had been a while since he felt this immense pressure of fighting against a very strong opponent.
This was the feeling that his Hosts had felt when they were being targeted by big organizations, or powerful people, who wished to use them as stepping stones.
During those times, Thirteen had helped his hosts escape, and think of a way to overcome their current situation.
Facing something similar, the seven-year-old couldn't help but chuckle because it reminded him of old times.
He was someone who had fought against a God, so although the Being who had set his eyes on the Valbarra Continent was extremely powerful, he didn't feel that the situation was hopeless.
"I just need to get the Beacon of Hope." Thirteen smirked. "And I think I already know where to find it."
Yes.
Thirteen finally had a clue as to where he could find the Beacon of Hope, and with this information in hand, he was one step closer to creating a plan, which would make the Laplace Demon and The One, truly understand the ability of the Black Sheep, who belonged to the System God's Family.
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