System's POV

After the Jinns realized that the Wanderers had the option to leave the continent, they all started to change their minds.

If they were left behind to fight against the Azothralls, what awaited them was a slow, painful annihilation.

Of course, there were other options—for example, the Jinns could form a megapolis and live together as one.

But this was not a good option for them. Jinns were prideful to begin with.

Perhaps in the first few months, or even years, of living together, they might be able to accept it. But as time went on, that choice would start to bother them. They’d begin to see it not as a strategic decision, but as an act of cowardice. And the shame would follow.

And even if they did choose that path, the Azothralls could still strike using guerrilla tactics, weakening their forces while strengthening the enemy’s.

With that as a comparison, the Jinns would rather form a permanent alliance with the Wanderers, sharing the Cygni Continent, than face the Azothrall threat on their own.

Of course, no one mentioned this permanent alliance. Everyone was only aiming for a temporary one.

Once the Azothralls’ threat was gone, they would once again resume slapping each other’s faces, as if the alliance never happened in the first place.

After agreeing on the conditions of the alliance, Thirteen warned the Jinns that the Azothralls were capable of increasing their population.

They just needed broodmares that had divine or holy powers, so he advised every Jinn who possessed such qualities to be protected at all costs.

Prince Valen’s expression became solemn, torn inside. Princess Aracelle’s Divine Power was a secret among House Pavareth.

Her bloodline was the purest among them and was closest to the Moonfeather Phoenix, a Divine Beast in Gomorra.

After the contract had been signed by blood, the only one the Jinns honored, Thirteen was invited by Prince Valen to their residence so they could talk in private.

“Tell me, what’s going on with you and my sister?” Prince Valen asked as soon as he ordered his guards to leave them. “I’ve watched her grow, and I have never seen her look at someone like that.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if you ask your sister instead?” Thirteen replied.

“I want to ask you first,” Prince Valen insisted. “So, what is your relationship with my sister?”

Thirteen pondered for a while because he wished to explain this in a manner that was easy to understand.

“Aracelle put my XXX in her XXX,” Thirteen replied in an innocent tone. “We did it a couple of times until she was satisfied.”

Prince Valen almost coughed out blood then and there, never expecting that the teenage boy in front of him would reply to his question in a literal manner.

“You bastard—how dare you do that to my sister?!” Prince Valen roared in anger.

He could have accepted it if Zion had said that he was in a relationship with his sister, but the other party’s crass words made him lose control of his emotions.

Thirteen also didn’t expect the Prince’s outburst and wondered if he wasn’t able to pass the message properly.

“Um, you know girls have XXX, and guys have XXX,” Thirteen explained. “When they XXX each other…”

“I heard you the first time, you bastard!” Prince Valen shouted, his face turning beet red from anger and frustration. “You don’t have to explain it to me!”

“Oh.” Thirteen nodded in understanding. “I thought you didn’t understand it, so I decided to elaborate on it properly.”

If not for the fact that he was afraid that the alliance would fall apart if he punched the bastard in front of him, the Crown Prince of House Pavareth used all of his willpower to stop himself from smacking Zion’s innocent face hard.

Suddenly, the door opened, and a worried Princess Aracelle entered before closing the door firmly behind her.

“Brother, why are you shouting?” Princess Aracelle asked. “Zion, did my brother say anything bad to you?”

“He called me a bastard,” Thirteen blinked.

Princess Aracelle immediately glared at her brother and lightly smacked his shoulder with her fist.

“Why are you calling Zion a bastard?” Princess Aracelle pouted. “He’s a very good person.”

The corner of Prince Valen’s lips twitched because his sister was siding with Zion instead of siding with him!

“So is it true?” Prince Valen asked. “Is he your chosen one?”

Princess Aracelle glanced at Zion to inquire whether he had already told her brother about their relationship.

The teenage boy nodded, which confirmed her suspicion.

“Yes, brother,” Princess Aracelle replied. “I gave him a drop of my heart’s blood.”

“What?!” Prince Valen looked at her sister in shock. “You gave him a drop of your heart’s blood?! You actually gave him a drop of Divine Blood?!”

Princess Aracelle nodded as a blush crept on her face.

Truth be told, Thirteen initially refused her heart’s blood, but he gave in after she repeatedly insisted that he accept it as proof that he recognized her as his significant other.

But what Princess Aracelle and Prince Valen didn’t know was that Zion already had divine blood flowing in his veins.

When he decided to save Rhia, he transferred all of his blood into her new body and accepted her blood in return.

The King of Artem needed this divine blood to step into the ranks of a Celestial, so he had been nourishing it for decades.

Unfortunately, when the final ritual was about to be completed, Thirteen thwarted his plans and took the blood into his own body.

If any ordinary person were to do that, they would implode, for their vessel wouldn’t have been capable of accepting such a powerful bloodline.

But Zion’s body was different.

It was a body remodeled by the System God, allowing it to accept the restrictions placed by someone who held divine powers.

That was the only way that he could prevent Thirteen from harnessing his powers as a System, which would have broken the balance of the world of Pangea.

The truth that many didn’t know was that Systems were actually Lesser Gods.

While they were weaker than the Gods who resided in the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods, they could still bestow great powers to anyone.

That was their role as the Systems of the Multiverse.

However, these powers were something they couldn’t personally wield since they had no reason to wield them.

But Thirteen was different.

He didn’t mind breaking the taboos if they were needed to fight against Fate, using his power as a System to fight against the Gods.

This was why his power had to be sealed. So he could live as normally and humanly as possible.

With a Divine Body and Divine Blood from the Princess of Artem and Chandrea, Thirteen could “technically” wield divine powers.

And adding a single drop of Divine Blood from the Moonfeather Phoenix wasn’t really a big deal. After all, the blood that flowed in his veins was already divine to begin with!

Prince Valen looked at his sister with a complicated gaze before sighing out loud.

“Zion, make sure to take care of my sister,” Prince Valen stated. “She is very precious to House Pavareth, and now that she has tied her fate to you, you should make sure that she stays safe all the time.”

The corner of Princess Aracelle’s lips twitched because her brother had said the taboo word, fate.

She knew how much Zion hated that word, so she looked at the teenage boy to see her reaction.

But instead of seeing him getting angry, Zion only nodded.

“Understood,” Thirteen replied.

The Crown Prince of House Pavareth then glanced at his sister and asked her a question.

“Are there still some secrets that you want to say to me?” Prince Valen asked. “You already know that he is engaged to two other women, right? Are you really fine with that?”

“Yes.” Princess Aracelle replied. “I already talked to them and gained their permission to be with him.”

Prince Valen looked at his sister weirdly.

To think that the most loved princess of House Pavareth had to ask others for permission to be with Zion made him sigh internally.

“You’ve changed, Aracelle,” Prince Valen said. “Back then, you were arrogant and looked at others as if they were dirt. Now, you can even make an infatuated face as you look at Zion. You’ve really grown up, sister.”

Princess Aracelle blushed, knowing that if Zion hadn’t captured her, she would still be the same arrogant princess who genuinely believed that everyone was beneath her.

It was only a few weeks ago when she realized that being on top wasn’t always a good thing—this was especially true when she made love with Zion.

“Sister, for the sake of our pride and dignity, please control your expressions in public,” Prince Valen reminded. “I’m sure that I’m not the only one who noticed the way you look at Zion. The only saving grace was that no one knew about your relationship with him.

“Keep it that way for now. We can’t risk having problems while we are currently in a temporary alliance.”

“I understand, brother.” Princess Aracelle nodded. “I will be more careful from now on.”

Princess Aracelle then went to stand by Zion’s side to hold his hand.

“Can you stay overnight?” Princess Aracelle asked shyly.

“Do you want me to stay overnight?” Thirteen asked back.

“Yes. Please.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to my comrades and ask them to return first to announce our temporary alliance with the rest of humanity.”

“Thank you.” Princess Aracelle smiled sweetly.

Prince Valen rolled his eyes as he walked towards the door, finding the atmosphere too sweet for him not to cringe.

He made sure to lock the door behind him and ordered the guards to follow, so they wouldn’t disturb his sister, who was currently with the person that would make his father wish that he had never sent Princess Aracelle to the world of Pangea.