System's POV

413  Getting The Short End Of The Stick

After the deal had been sealed, the Alliance didn't delay the mining operations and sent their engineers to get things started.

The Central Government and the Aldebaran Alliance were quite happy with this development. After all, this was a rather handsome reward for their efforts.

Renz also played an important role in pacifying his brother and told him that this agreement would benefit the Dvalinn Federation in the long run. The strategist had secretly met with Zion after the meeting and had pledged his loyalty to his cause.

Thirteen, on the other hand, didn't bat an eye and gave Renz some confidential orders, which could only be done by him.

This included a blueprint of a special missile that would be used in their next operation.

"Make sure to tell your brother that I secretly stole this blueprint from the Leventis Archives as my way of repaying his kindness for accepting my Grandfather's proposal."

Those were the words that Thirteen had asked Renz to pass to Wendell.

Just as he expected, the moment the Monarch of the Dvalinn Federation saw the blueprint, his earlier annoyance disappeared completely.

The blueprint Thirteen had sent him was the blueprint of the Mephisto Missile, which he only planned to share with the Dvalinn Federation, the Aldebaran Alliance, and the Central Government.

He wanted to create an Exclusive Group that benefited from each other. This setup would not only allow Thirteen to gain favors from them, but it would also strengthen the alliance's ability to confront the High-Ranking Monsters that would appear in three years time.

Since they had already seen the Mephisto Missile in action, they would definitely produce as many of them as they could, which would save many lives in the future.

Thirteen had modified the blueprint to make its destructive power as close to the Mephisto Missiles, which had been empowered by his Rune Magic.

Of course, he also shared this information with his Grandfather, which made the latter shake his head helplessly.

"We could have monopolized this technology and left everyone in the dust," Arthur said. "But you did the right thing. You even made sure that the Mephisto Missile can only be empowered by Empyriums. This is a safeguard to make sure that only the Alliance can make them, isn't it?"

"Yes," Thirteen replied. "Even if Cygni and Sirius got wind of this, we will still have the advantage. The other factions will certainly use this opportunity to boost their own arsenal. I don't think they'd share their missile stockpile with the Ashford and Stallard Clan."

"Then, how about you give me the blueprint of Nautilus?" Arthur insisted. "That way, our family will be ahead of everyone."

Thirteen shook his head firmly. "We've already talked about this, Gramps. No can do. Even one more Nautilus will break the balance of the world."

Arthur clicked his tongue, but he didn't insist, knowing that when his grandson decided on something, he would not be easily convinced to change his mind.

After their talk, the teenage boy finally returned to his quarters to rest.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Rigel Continent…

Jalrog, who had both eaten the Broodmother and the Wolf King, burrowed deep underground.

Because of this, he decided to hibernate for two to three months, allowing him to properly digest Nizana's and Arym's Cores.

It believed that if given enough time, it would finally be able to break through to its next rank, advancing into a Rank 9 Sovereign who'd be strong enough to challenge the Earth Dragons.

His goal was simple.

Breakthrough to become a Majin Prince before their Master crossed over to Pangea, allowing him to get his revenge.

'I'm sure that the arrogant Vannaroth and that aloof Erasmus think that I'm already dead,' Jalrog mused. 'It's better if they think that way. I can take my time and break through to the next Rank.'

The Centipede King then laid on the ground perfectly still and closed its eyes to rest.

'Things unfolded just like that Messenger told me, but I don't trust him,' Jalrog thought. 'I'll just use him until I reach my goal. After that… heh, does he really think that he can order me around?'

The Centipede King sneered as it thought of the humanoid who had met with it in the past. Jalrog believed that since both of them were using each other, it would not be breaking its word if it also decided to betray the messenger once he gained enough strength to do so. A few minutes later, the Centipede King's exoskeleton expanded and covered its body in a cocoon, allowing it to transform into its next form.

But as Jalrog entered its hibernation state, something was happening inside its stomach.

From the flesh of the Wolf King, countless purple larvae the size of a human hand emerged and started to multiply rapidly.

This was one of the abilities that Thirteen had acquired when he was filling up his Immortal Parade of a Hundred Demons. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Venomous Parasites.

When Tiona's army exploded into bloodmist, it coated the Wolf King's Army with this poison.

They also used this ability when the Centipede King and the Wolf King fought against each other, stacking up the effects of the poison on the Wolf King's body.

However, it didn't end there.

Not only was the Wolf King's body coated with Tiona's venom, slowly affecting the Centipede King over time, but the Venomous Parasites also secreted the same venom that the Domini Mortis had, strengthening the spreading poison in Jalrog's body.

Although the Centipede King was immune to almost all poisons in the world, there was one poison that could bypass this immunity, and that was none other than the venom of the Domini Mortis.

From the very start, Thirteen knew that Jalrog wasn't someone he could trust.

Also, since the Centipede King had betrayed its comrades once, it would not hesitate to betray others in the future. Thirteen would make sure that the Centipede King would not pose a threat to him in the future.

Even if Jalrog successfully managed to become a Rank 9 Sovereign, it would be greatly weakened and under the teenage boy's control.

Just like the Centipede King thought, both of them were just using each other.

However, it didn't know that it was the one who got the short end of the stick.

For now, it dreamed of a happy dream where it became a Majin Prince and gained the power that it had been longing for its entire life.