System's POV

The flag of the Parade of a Hundred Demons fluttered in the breeze as Thirteen faced off against the Goblin Emperor.

Giga, Blacky, Rocky, Hercules, the Ogres, and the Trolls spread out. They faced the Goblin Army in order to prevent them from interfering with their Master's battle.

As much as they were worried about Thirteen, they were familiar with their Master and one that he wouldn't fight a battle he had no chance of winning.

"You're very brave for a human," Lord Zorca said. "So you're the Mastermind behind the death of my people."

Thirteen didn't bother to reply and only summoned the Demons who would be fighting alongside him.

This was his first time fighting a Rank 8 Sovereign with his Divine Artifact.

He knew that what he was doing was reckless, but the raging anger in his heart wouldn't subside unless he personally ended the life of the monster in front of him, who dared to hurt Erica and Sherry, whom he recognized as his people.

Seeing that the human didn't seem to have any plans to talk, the Goblin Emperor laughed before raising his War Axe.

"I'm going to enjoy hearing your screams as I tear off your limbs one by one." Lord Zorca sneered. "So any last words, human?"

"You talk too much for someone who's about to die," Thirteen's robotic voice escaped from his lips.

This was one of the functions of his Soul Eater Armor—altering his voice in order to ensure that his identity wouldn't be compromised if he ever decided to personally step onto the battlefield to fight.

Dying screams reverberated in the surroundings as the Goblins were annihilated by Thirteen's Monster Army, which consisted of monsters whose weakest members were Rank 4 Alpha Monsters.

Rocky was a Rank 7 Sovereign, while Giga, Blacky, and Hercules were Rank 6 Sovereigns.

O1, O2, and T1 were all Rank 5 Sovereigns, boasting incredible fighting prowess.

To make matters worse, all of them were riding on Mounts, which were Rank 4 Monsters.

The Troll Raiders and Troll Shamans, who were Rank 4 Alpha Monsters, also had similar Mounts, which made them very deadly in combat.

Although the Goblins greatly outnumbered them, the teamwork that Thirteen's army had forged through countless life-and-death battles, made them a force to reckon with.

The Goblin Emperor glanced at his subordinates and understood that he needed to finish his fight against the human boy, or his army would continue to suffer countless losses.

So without another word, he let out a warcry and charged in Thirteen's direction with his weapon raised high.

Thirteen remained standing in place and waited until the Goblin Emperor entered his striking range.

The moment Lord Zorca was only a few meters away from him, Thirteen took a step forward.

As if by magic, he reappeared right beside the Goblin Emperor, passing by his side.

Although caught completely by surprise, Lord Zorca glanced at the human who was wearing a demonic-like black armor before swinging his axe for the kill.

But just like what happened earlier, Thirteen disappeared from where he stood, and the Goblin Emperor's axe embedded itself on the ground, hitting only air.

A moment later, the Goblin Emperor felt a prickling pain on his arms and legs as dozens of monsters bit into his body.

With a shout filled with anger, the Goblin Emperor swatted all the monsters with his axe, slicing them in half.

In an instant, the monsters he killed exploded and turned into blood mist, which stuck onto his body and covered him from head to foot.

Once he was done dealing with the monsters, he glanced at his surroundings and found his opponent in the same place where the other party stood earlier.

Truth be told, Thirteen didn't really move when he took a step forward earlier.

What the Goblin Emperor saw was a "True Illusion," which was very hard to see through because it looked so real.

It was the ability of the Rank 3 Illusion Sprite, which was a very rare monster that was given to him by the Leventis Clan while he was still in Pangea.

Even though he couldn't use any skills, his Beast Companion, Tiona, could.

With their senses linked together, the two of them had achieved perfect synchronization.

Thirteen was wielding the power of the Parade of a Hundred Demons through Tiona, allowing him to wield them as he wished.

Perhaps realizing that he had been tricked, the Goblin Emperor roared in anger and lunged in Thirteen's direction with bloodshot eyes.

He was truly angered, unwilling to accept that he let a weakling treat him like a fool, so he no longer held back and went for the kill.

But just as he swung his axe to split the human in half, Thirteen had moved before him as if he had predicted where the blow would land.

However, the Goblin Emperor was faster than him, so it was impossible for him to dodge the attack completely.

At least, that was what Lord Zorca thought.

Contrary to the Goblin King's expectations, Thirteen was able to perfectly dodge his attack and even had the leeway to stab the bladed tip of the Parade of a Hundred Demons at the Goblin Emperor's neck.

Thirteen then skidded backward as if skating on ice.

'How?!' Lord Zorca glared at the human who managed to escape his killing blow.

He couldn't understand why his attack, which should have cleaved the bastard in half, didn't work.

But before he could even understand what was happening, several arrows rained down upon him.

The humanoid monsters who were part of the Hundred Demons all had bows and arrows laced with Tiona's poison.

But Lord Zorca ignored them and focused his attention on Thirteen, believing that as long as he killed the summoner, all summons would disappear alongside him.

"Stoneskin!" the Goblin Emperor shouted, making his body as hard as stone, which made the arrows harmlessly bounce off his body.

However, there was one particular arrow that pierced through his leg, which shocked the Goblin Emperor.

As he was about to pull it out, the arrow moved and started to bite into the flesh it had managed to pierce and injected deadly venom into the Goblin King's body.

Similar to how a leech started sucking blood the moment it came into contact with human or animal skin, the living arrow went all-out until it was squeezed to death by the Goblin Emperor, exploding into a bloodmist.

It was none other than Tiona's Clone, which had hardened itself to Adamantine, allowing it to pierce through the Goblin Emperor's body.

When Lord Zorca once again glanced in the direction of the demonic human, he found himself staring at dozens of them, spread out all around him.

All of them were holding a bow and arrow in their hands, ready to strike for the second time.

Lord Zorca unleashed a Warcry that had a similar effect to Dragon's Fear.

It was an ability that could paralyze weak-willed opponents and slow down their movements.

But who was Thirteen?

He wasn't someone who would be affected by such an ability.

All the True Illusions created by the members of the Parade of a Hundred Demons all fired at the same time, forcing the Goblin Emperor to take a defensive stance as he scanned the surroundings to find the real body of the one giving him a hard time.

From the very start, he believed that he could easily kill the human because he was weaker than him.

However, contrary to his expectations of overpowering the other party one-sidedly, the boy was able to dodge his attacks at close range and even trick his eyes.

This was something that no ordinary human could do, so he decided to treat this battle as if he were fighting someone of the same rank as him.

'One hit.' Lord Zorca gritted his teeth in frustration as dozens of arrows flew in his direction. 'I only need to land one hit, and this boy will die in my hands!'

He was right.

All it would take was to land a single hit and Thirteen would die in his hands.

However, how he would land that single hit was a problem that he needed to solve before the human boy succeeded in the strategy that he had devised to defeat a monster that was several times stronger than him.