After the Dimensional Gate tied to the Kingdom of Artem had been sealed, the balance of power within the continent was split between two sides.
And the Alliance of the Wanderers and Jinns.
With the appearance of the Artemian High-Archon, the Jinns had no choice but to work with the Wanderers. The greater enemy was the Artemians, and they had no plans to become the former’s subordinates.
Of course, the Wanderers welcomed this alliance. Even they were not confident about winning against a High-Archon.
They were already feeling overwhelmed fom just fighting a Majin Prince, let alone someone who had a higher rank, which was rather depressing.
Fortunately, they received reinforcements from Solterra, which allowed them to tip the tide of battle in their favor.
Thirteen had already spoken to the decision-makers of the Wanderers and told them that, no matter what happened, they must reject any proposal of alliance from the Artemians.
He had also passed this information to the Jinn Alliance through Prince Valen, Prince Xylen, and Prince Zorren.
Today, they would have another meeting to discuss the strategy for their battle against the Artemian King.
"Where is he?" Prince Aurelion asked with barely restrained anger. "Where is Zion Leventis?"
Even now, he couldn’t believe that the person he wanted to become his Queen was actually the person he hated the most!
He even had a nightmare where he got married to Zia, only for his wife to transform into a boy when the two of them were about to kiss.
That night, a scream broke the silence of the night, making the Jinns go into full alert, thinking there had been an enemy attack.
Seeing the Prince, whose face was already beet-red from anger, Lawrence had no choice but to tell him the truth.
"Zion is currently dealing with a very important task at the moment," Lawrence answered.
"What is more important than the meeting of the alliance?" Prince Aurelion growled. "Are you mocking me?"
"No, Your Highness," Lawrence answered. "It’s just that... he is currently taking care of Cranky."
The moment the Honey Badger was mentioned, the Prince of the Dragonkin immediately flinched.
When they sealed the Artemian Dimensional Gate, nearly all of them had been teleported to random places on the continent.
It just so happened that when Prince Aurelion regained his bearings, he found himself face to face with an angry Cranky, who didn’t hesitate to kick him away before turning into a red lightning bolt to look for his enemy.
The pitiful prince was seriously injured after that unintended attack.
Fortunately, he had many potions, as well as life-saving artifacts, which prevented him from dying instantly after being kicked by the giant Honey Badger, who was now a High-Archon.
So the moment Cranky was mentioned, the Prince forced himself to calm down. He could only humble himself, knowing the Honey Badger was a creature he could not defeat with his current strength.
’Damn it!’ Prince Aurelion cursed internally. ’I swear, after those Artemians are dead, you will be next, Zion Leventis!’
Outside Casimir City....
A teenage boy suddenly sneezed, which made him wake up from his sleep.
But after remembering where he was, he decided to close his eyes to continue his nap.
Currently, Zion was being hugged by Cranky, who was sleeping on its back.
He had come to see the Honey Badger to ask if it was fine, but the moment Cranky saw him, the Honey Badger hugged Zion and decided to take a nap, holding him like a plushie.
Since it was impossible to escape, the teenage boy decided to take a nap as well until Cranky woke up.
The Kings of the Valbarra Archipelago rested not far from the Honey Badger, whom they all treated as their Guardian Deity.
The Tigerkin King and the Barbarian King exchanged smirks as they glanced at Zion, whom Cranky was hugging.
"I didn’t think that we would be able to set foot in the world of the Wanderers," the Tigerkin King said.
"Right." The Barbarian King nodded. "They’ve always crossed to our world, but there has been no instance when we were able to do the same. We should make sure this is recorded in the history books when we come back."
"That goes without saying," the Tigerkin King replied. "By the way, what is the time?"
"Three in the afternoon," the Barbarian King replied.
"Ah... it’s time to watch that drama I’ve been following since yesterday," the Tigerkin King said before taking out a remote control from his storage ring.
He then pointed it in the portable television that Zion had given him, allowing him to watch a show on Methflix.
Those who came from Solterra were fascinated about the technology of the Wanderers, especially the ability to talk over long distances through their communicators.
Such a thing was unheard of in their world, which made them realize that the World of Wanderers was very different from the world where they came from.
A day ago, the Laplace Demon had appeared, asking the Solterrans if they wished to return to their own world.
But the Kings rejected its offer since they wished to see the battle until the end.
They had a debt to repay to Zion.
Even though they had already helped him in the past, they still felt that it was not enough for everything he had done to protect them from becoming the subordinates of Arundel the Destroyer.
A few hours later, Cranky finally woke up and gently set the teenage boy on the ground.
It then gave a low screech, telling Zion that it would look for food.
Cranky transformed into a red lightning bolt and streaked across the sky, looking for wild Jinns, or Artemians.
Zion, who had just been freed, approached the Kings and his allies to discuss their future plans together.
The natives of the Valbarra Archipelago had come to lend their aid, but he was certain that the God of Wanderers and Laplace Demon had pulled some strings in the background to send them to Pangea.
Clearly, the appearance of the Artemian King had forced their hand, giving the Wanderers a fighting chance in this war.
While the Jinns and the Wanderers felt troubled due to the appearance of a strong enemy, Zion on the other hand felt that this was a good opportunity.
"We cannot remain passive," Thirteen said to the Kings that had gathered around him. "I will not ask any of you to risk your lives, but I plan to do a counterattack after we eliminate the Artemian King."
"A counterattack after the Artemian King is defeated?" the Tigerkin King frowned. "Who are you going to attack?"
"Artem," Thirteen answered.
Immediately, the Barbarian King, the Ogre King, the Troll King, the Orc King, and the Tigerkin King, looked at the teenage boy in disbelief.
As natives of Solterra, they were well aware that the word Artem, referred to one of the moons that orbit their world.
"You’re going to attack Artem? That’s madness. I’m in!"
Camazotz, who suddenly appeared behind Zion, smiled fearlessly.
"By the way, I visited the Order a while ago, and some of them proposed to Metatron to cross over to this side as well," Camazotz said calmly. "But their proposals are rejected. However, if we propose that we conquer Artem, I’m sure Metatron will agree to it."
Thirteen couldn’t help but smile. This was a good development. The Order of the Apocalypse had a few Majin Kings in their ranks, and with them leading the charge, conquering Artem would not be a pipe dream.
"But we need to win this war first," Camazotz added. "So you should think of a way on how to end this war soon, Zion. That way, we can hit those bastards where it hurts the most."
Camazotz didn’t mention the fact that he and the other members of their organization had asked Metatron if it was possible to create a gate that would lead them to the home world of the Jinns, Gomorra.
Most of their members were warriors and officers who had played a role in the Jinn Invasion of Solterra.
But since they failed their mission, all of them had been stuck there to this day.
Some of them wished to return to Gomorra for revenge, while some wished to see their hometowns.
Metatron said that the possibility existed, but he would only open that gate once the thirteenth layer of the treasury had been unlocked.
The layer where Pandora’s Box was sealed.
"Gomorra..." Thirteen muttered.
Within the depths of his green eyes, something stirred, but it disappeared just as quickly.
"Let’s focus on the task at hand for now," Thirteen said. "Once we’ve dealt with the Artemian King and his Kingdom, we can consider fighting the Fiends and Celestials next."
Everyone around Zion stiffened after hearing his words.
The Fiends and the Celestials were the Deities of Solterra.
Seven Fiends and Seven Celestials.
Fourteen absolute powerhouses, each one much stronger than the Artemian King.
Thirteen had seen one of them in his battle with Arundel, and it was none other than Mammon.
A Fiend who could have easily crushed the Eight-Headed Ancient Snake whom Thirteen had fought with Sun Wukong’s staff.
Seeing that everyone around him had turned stiff, the teenage boy smirked.
"It was just a joke," Thirteen said. "Don’t take me seriously. I’m just lightening up the mood."
"H-Hahaha." Camazotz laughed. "I knew that it was a joke. You’re so silly, Zion. Do you really think I didn’t get your joke?"
Thirteen smiled, but for some reason, the Kings had a feeling that the teenage boy wasn’t joking.
There was a saying that jokes were half-truths, and since there was a possibility that the teenage boy was being serious, it only meant one thing.
A great upheaval would soon descend upon Solterra, though that would only take place once the problems in Pangea were solved after the battle with the Artemian King and his minions.
A/N: Only one Chapter today. I didn’t get enough sleep last night, and my body is hurting all over.