System's POV

A thunderous roar reverberated in the surroundings as Cranky's body took on the four breath attacks of the Majin King. He was sent skidding for hundreds of meters before collapsing on the ground.

The smell of burning flesh and blood spread in the surroundings as the Honey Badger struggled to prop itself from the ground.

Thirteen, who saw Cranky's current state, gritted his teeth as he took out two more arrowheads from his Dimensional Storage and fired them at the main body of the Majin King.

The two Railguns, which could easily kill a Rank 7 Sovereign with one hit, pierced through the main body of the Eight-Headed Serpent, whose heads that were destroyed earlier had already regenerated by half.

"Giga! Rocky!" Thirteen shouted.

A second later, the Magma-Balboa emerged beside Blacky, who was carrying Thirteen on his back.

Giga, who also answered his Master's call, was ejected from the Mobile Fortress, and together, they unleashed a flame attack that washed over the Majin King like a raging tide.

Thirteen needed to give Cranky some time to recover, so he must fight tooth and nail with the Majin King, using everything in his arsenal.

Knowing that the hour of judgment had come, Thirteen no longer tried to hide his abilities and summoned a Black Flag, the Parade of a Hundred Demons.

The teenage boy knew that the members of the Cygni Faction and the Apostles were watching the battle.

But since he didn't want Cranky to get hurt any more, he decided to use all of his trump cards, not caring even if they were exposed to the world.

A pitch-black armor covered his body from head to toe.

Only the eye sockets and the orb on his chest glowed in a greenish color, giving Thirteen the power to fight above his current rank.

Raising his Black Flag, the members of the Parade of the Hundred Demons materialized behind his back like a legion made up of shadows.

"Charge!" Thirteen ordered.

The Majin King was still annoyed that the teenage boy whom it wanted to kill was still alive and kicking.

Because of this, it focused all its attention on its target, disregarding the rest of its enemies.

But that was a mistake.

"You punk! You're ignoring me, huh?!" Camazotz roared as he unleashed a flurry of blows at all the serpent heads in his path, not caring even if he got hit in the process.

Now that Thirteen had joined the fray, Camazotz knew that he must protect the teenage boy. If anything happened to the latter, his precious Trinity of the Apocalypse would collapse.

Lastly, he didn't want the Majin King to become a member of their organization because it would definitely bully him for being the weakest in the group.

"You pesky fly!" Orochi roared in annoyance. "Die already!"

Due to Camazotz going all-out to protect Thirteen from the Majin King, the Death Bat poured all his attention to the Serpent Heads in front of him.

Because of this, he didn't see the giant tail that was about to hit him directly before it was too late.

"Argh!" Camazotz felt a dull pain in his chest as he crashed toward the ground.

The armor protecting his chest cracked a bit from the impact, but his life was saved because of it.

Orochi, who had initiated the attack, didn't come unscathed either.

The special property of Camazotz's armor was that it reflected all attacks that were directed at its owner.

Unfortunately, the threshold that the armor could take had been surpassed, which was the reason that Orochi's attack managed to deal an injury to the Death Bat, who was now propping itself from the ground.

Orochi's tail had exploded into meat paste making it momentarily lose its balance, and collapsed on the ground.

"Damn!" Camazotz, who saw the crack in his armor, cursed out loud, but there was nothing he could do about it.

The Death Bat took to the skies once again and prepared to strike a second time.

But before he could do that, the Majin King's body shone brilliantly, blinding Camazotz for a brief moment.

Suddenly, a powerful shock wave that spread for miles blew everyone away from the battlefield, including Thirteen, who was rising on Blacky's back.

The impact was so strong that even Zed, who was flying in the sky, suffered from internal injuries as he used his body to protect Erica from the impact of the shock wave. It made him feel as if he had been slapped by a wall made of metal.

Although Thirteen was protected by his armor, he also suffered internal injuries from the blast and was sent flying hundreds of meters before collapsing to the ground.

The sudden detonation of the Majin King caught everyone by surprise, and they were unable to raise any form of defense to block it.

Thirteen's flag was also blown away by the shockwave.

Even Tiona, who was always with her Master, was nowhere to be seen as the young man coughed out blood while trying to understand what just happened.

When he was finally able to raise his head, he saw the Eight-Headed Serpent glowing in a purple light.

The aura that it was exuding was the peak of the Majin King, making Thirteen clench his fist. He thought that it would still take a few days to recover its full strength, but he seemed to be wrong.

Perhaps sensing his gaze, the Eight-Headed Serpent glanced in Thirteen's direction.

"You insignificant ant," Orochi growled through telepathy. "Just die already!"

Opening its eight heads, the Ancient Eight-Headed Serpent unleashed a barrage of elemental blasts in Thirteen's direction.

This attack was enough to obliterate Rank 8 Sovereigns, which was considered an overkill, especially since Thirteen was nowhere as strong as those monsters.

Thirteen, who couldn't defend himself from the attacks, suddenly felt something pick him up from the ground.

A moment later, the sound of explosions reached his ears, but he remained safe in Cranky's bosom because the Honey Badger used his entire body to tank the Majin King's merciless barrage.

Thirteen tried to shout, but his voice had disappeared.

He could feel Cranky's claws trembling with each Elemental Blast that hit its body.

When everything ended, the Honey Badger slowly opened its grasp and pushed Thirteen away from his body.

Thirteen, whose voice was hoarse from calling out Cranky's name, tried to approach the Honey Badger, but Cranky kept on pushing him away.

It screeched at the teenage boy, telling him to run and leave him behind.

Erica, who was mounted on Zed's back, covered her lips with both hands when she saw Cranky's current condition from the sky.

The Honey Badger's back was filled with bloody holes, which was enough to kill it three times over.

Using the last of its strength, Cranky tried to push Thirteen away.

It screeched, over, and over again, telling Zion to run away.

"Run!"

"… Run!"

"… R..un."

"…un."

"…"

Its screech slowly weakened, but its gaze remained firm, looking at the teenage boy who was holding onto the tip of his claw, with tears falling down his face.

"…Zion," Cranky said with great effort. "… Run."

After saying those words, Cranky slowly closed his eyes and stopped moving completely.

A cry of anger and despair spread in the surroundings as Thirteen ran toward the Honey Badger's face, hugging it tightly.

Cranky was a Cannon Fodder, which was why he felt a strong connection with Thirteen.

The Honey Badger did his best.

His very best.

Not giving up until the end.

Cranky didn't run because it couldn't leave the weak human whom he considered as his one and only friend.

Despite the fact that a Majin King was eyeing him in the distance, Thirteen continued to hug and mourn the passing of one of his people, whom he had failed to protect once again.