Wendell's eyes turn bloodshot as he unleashed a giant water spear to pierce through the falling Bird Man's body.

However, the Rank 8 Sovereign didn't plan to die so easily.

After throwing its own spear to block the Water Spear's strike, it used the resulting momentum to propel itself toward the Port so that it would be able to land safely on it.

"Noooo!" Wendell's scream spread on the battlefield. The Port was the last place where he wanted his enemy to go.

He could already envision that everyone on it would be annihilated. Even he couldn't defeat the monster, let alone the ones who were left in the Port.

The Bird Man landed, skidding several meters as its clawed feet gripped the metallic ground, sending sparks flying as his speed decreased.

It was injured, but the injury was not bad enough to prevent it from fighting.

When it came to a complete stop, it immediately turned around to kill the first human within its reach.

Unlike most Jinns and Majins, the Bird Man didn't have any color blindness.

This was why when it saw a teenage boy wearing a green military uniform standing only a few meters away from it, it didn't hesitate to reach out to him and crush his head into a pulp.

"Hi," Thirteen said as the Rank 8 Sovereign's hand was about to reach him. "Bye."

Before the Rank 8 Sovereign could even process Thirteen's words, the monster was bathed in a purple light before it was sucked up inside a purple sphere.

The purple sphere shook once as the Bird Man attempted to free itself from the teenage boy's attempt to capture it.

Just as it was thinking of ripping the annoying human to shreds, it found itself staring at a being that made its entire body stiffen.

"Oh?" Metatron glanced at the Bird Man, who suddenly appeared inside his treasury out of nowhere. "It seems that the good luck charm I gave Thirteen before he returned to Pangea proved to be useful.

"Well, then. Why don't you sit down, so we can discuss the meaning of life? What? You don't want to?

"Fine. I was just planning to have roasted bird for lunch. Huh? You now want to talk about the meaning of life? Good. Now sit properly. Here are some cookies and milk, the two of us are going to have a lot to talk about."

***

The sudden disappearance of the Bird Man caught the monsters, as well as the Wanderers, by surprise.

However, less than a minute later, the two sides once again clashed in a Royal Rumble.

But things were different this time.

Without the presence of their leader to give them orders and boost their morale, the Wanderers were able to gain momentum.

Thirteen, whose nose was bleeding and was barely able to stand, handed the control of the Nautilus back to Jubei and ordered him to help the Dvalinn Federation obliterate the monster army.

Shana, who had seen everything that had happened, rushed to Thirteen's side and supported his body.

Using her ability, she started to heal his injuries.

However, Thirteen, who had used a lot of computing power to effectively trap the Rank 8 Sovereign, endured to keep himself conscious.

The battle was still not over, and he needed to give commands to his subordinates to ensure that none of them would die.

"Jksdkjdskjkljls…" Thirteen tried to speak, but the words that came out of his mouth were only gibberish.

This made Shana more concerned about him. It seemed that her healing power was not working properly on the boy.

Although his injuries were healing, the Saintess could tell that only a fifth of her power was working on him, which she found surprising.

Even so, she didn't let him go and even pulled him closer to her, whispering words of assurance in his ears.

"Don't worry. We will be fine," Shana said softly. "We are going to be fine."

Thirteen, who had given up on talking, decided to use hand signals to order his troops.

Fortunately, he had also trained them with hand signals. With his hand, he ordered them to continue attacking the monsters and not worry about him.

Cristopher and Colbert, whom Thirteen had asked to back away because he didn't want them to be involved in his showdown with the Rank 8 Sovereign, returned to his side.

Although he was confident that the Purple Sphere that Metatron gifted him would work, he didn't want his two loyal subordinates to get hurt just in case his plan didn't work the way he intended to.

Jubei, who knew that Thirteen was in a vulnerable state, focused on attacking the monsters that were near his location at the port.

With the powerful cannons of Nautilus, countless monsters were annihilated with a single beam of light, which was using a ton-worth of Empyrium with every shot.

It was a very costly barrage, but life was priceless, so Thirteen gave Jubei the authority to use as much Empyrium as needed to secure victory.

An hour later, the Flying Monsters had enough and retreated back to the island.

Wendell, whose left arm was broken and had countless wounds on his body, raised his trident high in the air and roared a victorious roar.

The members of the Dvalinn Federation and the rest of the survivors also cheered, for the battle was finally over.

Although hundreds of Wanderers died, this was the first time that the Dvalinn Federation managed to win against the Rank 8 Sovereign and its subordinates, who controlled the northern edge of the Rigel Continent.

Marion and Viola, whose vision was blurred by tears, looked at the dead bodies of their sisters, who would no longer open their eyes again.

The number of Valkyries that died in the battle was over three hundred. On the other hand, the Dvalinn Federation suffered over a thousand deaths.

The number of Jinns that died was higher, but no one cared about that part.

Although dozens of soldiers belonging to the 69th Battalion suffered very serious injuries, none of them died.

Those who were on the brink of dying were immediately helped by Shana, giving them a new lease on life.

Knowing that there was still a possibility that the flying monsters would once again attack the port, all the battleships of the Dvalinn Federation stood in battle formation.

The Fleet of the Leventis Family, as well as the Battleships of the Valkyries, took the injured back to the Main Headquarters of the Dvalinn Federation to receive treatment.

Thirteen, who was certain that his troops would finally be treated properly, finally stopped enduring and lost consciousness inside the infirmary of the Leventis Aircraft carrier.

A day later, news of the battle in the RIgel Continent reached the Central Government, the Monarch Clans, and the Prestigious Families.

All of them were shocked by how things escalated to that point. But the one hit the hardest was the Central Government, whose members triggered this calamity in the first place.

Knowing that words wouldn't be enough to handle the aftermath, the Grand Marshal and the Field Marshal of the Central Government made their way to the Dvalinn Federation.

But, they weren't alone.

They brought the 50th up to the 59th Battalion with them, ready to protect the Dvalinn Federation during their time of adversity.

Arthur, who had received Thirteen's message before he passed out, immediately called for an emergency family meeting.

Thirteen had asked him to go to the Rigel Continent, which meant that there was an opportunity for their family to gain profits.

Arthur no longer questioned his no-good grandson's judgment, especially after everything he had seen and experienced.

But it wasn't only the Leventis Family who started to move.

The Remington Clan, the Smith Family, and the Lockwood Family, who also belonged to the Prestigious Families, noticed that Arthur's Main fleet was starting to gather food supplies, weaponry, as well as necessary resources for a large-scale battle.

They were well aware of the Empyrium and Palladium Mines that were discovered in the Rigel Continent, so at first, they assumed that Arthur was going there to help his grandson get more resources for their family.

But after hearing the news of what happened in the Rigel Continent, these three families felt that a change was about to happen to the world.

Because of it, they also made preparations to head to the Dvalinn Federation, bringing their powerhouses with them.

They didn't know what they were going to find in the Rigel Continent. But, one thing was clear.

Years of what seemed to be futile struggles finally bore fruit.

Curiosity, interest, and obsession—mile markers on the road to damnation.