"I’m glad I’m not part of this mess," Kamrusepa softly muttered as she looked at the devastation in the distance. "To think Cranky has grown this strong. I suddenly feel like I wasted my time in trade, kingdom management, and diplomacy."
"Don’t feel that way, Kamrusepa," Thirteen replied. "Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Cranky is crazy strong, but he has zero understanding of social stuff, let alone managing a kingdom like what you are doing."
"Thanks for making me feel better," Kamrusepa replied.
"Don’t mention it," Thirteen replied. "Besides, I’m no better. Without Cranky around, I’d be helpless here in Antares."
Kamrusepa glanced at the teenage boy, who seemed to genuinely think that way.
However, in her eyes, Thirteen was far more impressive than Cranky. Anyone who’d heard of all the achievements he had pulled off would think so.
The teenage boy was the weakest member within the Order of the Apocalypse.
At least, that was what everyone felt back then when he replaced Arundel and took the Thirteenth seat of their organization.
But in time, they realized that their newest member wasn’t the weakling they thought he would be.
Thirteen had fought many battles even they wouldn’t dare to fight.
With each victory, his influence within their organization grew, making even the original members of the Order of the Apocalypse recognize his accomplishments.
Although she thought Thirteen would struggle if he came to Antares alone, she had no doubt in her mind that as long as he had enough time, he could eventually force the Blackfang Dominion, as well as the Venom Heart Cabal, to bow down to his will.
The fact that he was able to gain control of The Great Killing Array once again proved that Thirteen was someone whom Kamrusepa didn’t wish to become her enemy.
King Valtheron opened his eyes and found himself tied up in a chair, staring at Pica and Pico, who were both looking at him with pity.
The two Pocopocos were perched on top of a round table, as if waiting for him to wake up.
Shifting his gaze around him, King Valtheron noticed that the leaders of the different factions, with the exception of Queen Xeres, were also tied up in chairs, just like him.
The Majin Queen looked calm on the surface, but deep inside, she was feeling anxious.
Their surroundings looked rather ominous, with nothing but black mists swirling around them.
No matter how much the King tried to recall what happened, his memory ended with Cranky unleashing an attack that knocked him unconscious.
"Where are we?" King Valtheron asked Queen Xeres because the others were still sleeping.
"Oh, believe me. You don’t want to know," Pica replied before even Queen Xeres could answer the King’s question.
"Speak, where am I?" King Valtheron pressed the two birds for answers.
"We call this place Limbo," Pico answered. "This is a place where your fates will be decided. Don’t worry, we have cookies and milk here. Are you hungry?"
The Pocopoco used its claw to push a small bowl of cookies towards the tied-up King, who only glared at them with frustration. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⁂𝕟𝕖𝕥
"It will be best if you don’t annoy those two," Queen Xeres commented. "They are Zion’s direct subordinates. You don’t want to mess with them, trust me."
"And where is he?" King Valtheron asked. "What is this place?"
"I already said that this is Limbo. Are you dumb?" Pico tilted its head. "Sis, this guy is dumb. Should we let Giga give him a marking shot first to make him calm down?"
"Sounds good." Pica nodded. "Wait here. I’ll go call him."
Pica flew past the swirling black mist. A minute later, she returned with Giga, who dragged King Valtheron’s chair away from the table.
"What are you going to do to me?!" King Valtheron shouted. "Unhand me, you vile creature!"
Pico flew, following behind the shouting King and hovering right in front of his face.
"First time?" Pico asked. "Don’t worry. It will be over before you know it."
And just like what the Pocopoco had stated, Giga stopped pulling the chair and walked right in front of King Valtheron.
Pica glanced at Queen Xeres and gave her some advice.
"You might want to look away," Pica said. "This might be too much for first timers."
Although the Majin Queen had no idea what Pica was talking about, her gut instinct was telling her to listen to the little bird while she still had the chance.
In the end, when she saw Giga raise its tail and aim its bum at the tied-up King, the Majin Queen shuddered after she came to a realization.
She hastily looked away just in time before Giga unleashed his Giga Destroyer, which hit King Valtheron at point-blank range.
A moment later, King Valtheron’s horror-filled scream reverberated in the surroundings, waking up the sleeping Jinn Leaders who were also tied up.
Thirteen had brought them inside Kamrusepa’s special domain back in Xantheos City, where the Jinns would be initiated.
He deemed that he no longer needed to toss them inside the Domain of the Apocalypse since all of them had already signed the magical contract made by Metatron.
In short, none of them could defy Thirteen even if they desperately wanted to.
However, he believed that the defeated Jinns would still be unwilling to really listen to him, so he asked Pica, Pico, and Giga to make them understand that he wasn’t as merciful as he looked.
With the power over the contract, Thirteen made the Jinns unable to retaliate against him and those who served him.
Because of this, even Pica and Pico could slap them silly, and all King Valtheron could do was shout in shame and indignation as the ’vile creatures’ made it clear to him that he didn’t have any power over them.
"It’s been a while, Giga.. But it seems that you have a lot of pent-up... uh... You know what? Never mind," Pico commented.
Giga blinked innocently before shifting his gaze to the other Jinn Leaders, whose bodies shuddered uncontrollably after meeting his gaze.
It had been a while since he had used his Giga Destroyer to discipline his Master’s new recruits, so he was more than happy to cooperate with Pica’s and Pico’s boot camp, which must be done to make the Jinn Leaders fully submit to their Master’s will.