System's POV - Chapter 838

Chapter 838: Star-Crossed Battle [Part 1]
One of the Trolls picked up the unconscious Swordsman on the ground and took him to the sidelines, so he wouldn’t be hit by stray attacks from the two combatants, who were now facing off against each other.

“Are you ready, Zion?” Mildred asked.

“Are you ready to stick your tongue out and do a double peace sign?” Thirteen asked back with a smirk.

“Hahaha! We’ll see who will do a double peace sign later,” Mildred replied, and then four pairs of red wings appeared behind her back.

A moment later, the young lady rose to the sky, making Erica and Sherry immediately understand what the Archer planned to do.

‘Not bad,’ Thirteen thought. ‘At least, she wouldn’t have to worry about attacking her enemies from a distance anymore. Kamrusepa didn’t hold back in sponsoring her.’

Mildred distanced herself and sneered at the teenage boy on the ground.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Mildred said and summoned a crossbow that was at least two meters long.

This crossbow hovered perfectly still in the sky, allowing Mildred to aim without worrying about its movements.

A silver magical cross bolt appeared on the crossbow, making Mildred’s location in the sky twinkle like a star.

“Starfall Barrage!” Mildred shouted as she fired the Silver Cross Bolt, which split into dozens of shooting stars that descended upon Zion on the ground.

Thirteen didn’t wait for the bolts to reach him and swiftly switched locations.

However, as if they had life on their own, the cross bolts shifted their trajectory and followed the teenage boy like homing missiles.

‘Good. This attack will definitely put pressure on her enemy,’ Thirteen mused as he stopped running. ‘Now, time to test just how strong these bolts are.’

The teenage boy then fell into a trance, as if waiting for the silver bolts of light to descend upon him like rain.

After watching Thirteen fight the speedy Derek, Mildred knew she needed to use one of her Trump Cards at Zion at the get-go.

This was the only way she could put the teenage boy in check while attacking from a safe distance.

Just as the magical bolts were about to fall into Thirteen’s body, the teenage boy suddenly raised his short swords and performed a sword dance.

The clinking sound of arrows hitting something metallic spread in the surroundings as Mildred’s Starfall barrage was blocked, deflected, and dodged by the teenage boy, who was calculating the impact and trajectory of each cross bolt.

He prioritized those that would hit him faster and dodged the ones that he could dodge.

Mildred, who was watching this scene from the sky, wasn’t surprised, having already seen how the teenage boy blocked and deflected Derek’s high-speed attacks earlier.

However, this only made the smile on her face widen.

“Let’s see how long you can last.” Mildred once again summoned a silver cross bolt on her crossbow and fired.

“Starfall Pandemonium Barrage!”

Mildred shot one silver cross bolt one after the other, each of them splitting into dozens of projectiles, which made Erica and Sherry feel anxious.

The skies were literally littered with countless rays of light, and all of them were headed toward the teenager, who had just finished deflecting Mildred’s earlier probing attack.

“Swap to Fortress Armor,” Thirteen said before the red armor he was wearing disappeared, replaced by a blackish-red armor three times thicker than the one he was wearing earlier.

Instead of evading Mildred’s attack, the teenage boy just stood in place and welcomed the magical barrage that descended from the heavens.

Countless explosions erupted all around him as he tanked the majority of attacks that landed a hit on his body.

Watching from the sky, Mildred didn’t wait for the Starfall Pandemonium Barrage to end before loading another bolt into her crossbow.

This time, the bolt was pitch black. It was a special ammunition meant for monsters that had tough defenses.

“Piercing Star!” Mildred shouted as she unleashed the bolt that flew toward Thirteen like a railgun.

Thinking she might seriously injure Zion in the process, Mildred decided to aim beside Thirteen’s feet, so the teenage boy would only be blown away by the impact of the attack that could instantly kill a Rank 5 Sovereign if it pierced through the latter’s heart or brain.

Thirteen had also sensed the approaching attack, but he didn’t dodge as he calculated that Mildred didn’t aim for his body.

Since that was the case, he decided to check how destructive the Piercing Star was, so he could collect its data properly.

When the bolt landed beside Thirteen’s feet, a powerful explosion sent the teenage boy skidding several meters away from where he stood earlier.

‘It’s strong enough to pierce the defenses of an Earth Dragon,’ Thirteen mused. ‘Not bad, indeed.’

But before he could take in a breather, countless magical bolts imbued by flame magic, fell upon him without mercy.

Earlier, he already guessed that Mildred was no longer a regular archer, but an Arcane Archer, who was both proficient in magical and physical long-range warfare.

Erica, who saw that Thirteen was still hanging on, breathed a sigh of relief before glancing at her friend in the sky.

She had no doubt in her mind that if she and Mildred were to team up with each other, both of them would become magical and physical turrets that would rain hell upon their enemies on the battlefield.

“Swap to Flame Emperor Armor,” Thirteen said, replacing his earlier armor with a crimson armor that was as red as blood.

The flaming cross bolts fell upon him, covering the armor the teenage boy was wearing in blazing flames.

When Thirteen was going through the Thirteen Trials back when he was only seven years old, one of the rewards he received from it was the ability to equip and swap armor in the blink of an eye.

Knowing his limitations, the teenage boy decided to settle for versatility, which suited his fighting style.

He had asked his father to craft armor that specialized in physical and elemental attacks, allowing him to change them depending on the situation.

Thirteen had several armors including…

Red Armor – Balanced armor allowing decent defense, and mobility.

Flame Emperor Armor – Fire

Gaia Armor. – Earth

Aqua Armor – Water

Tempest Armor – Wind

Ice Emperor Armor – Ice

Thunder Emperor Armor – Lightning

Fortress Armor – High physical defense and non-elemental magic armor.

Of course, Zion still had the Soul Eater Armor, which was his true trump card.

But he didn’t plan to use it at the moment because Laplace Demon and The One asked him to only use it during critical situations.

Laplace Demon had given the armor fifty percent resistance to Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth Elements, allowing the armor to resist a good portion of the four elemental attacks.

He also gave it the ability that allowed Thirteen to breathe and move quickly underwater, which would increase his chances of survival.

But the real icing on the cake was that the Soul Eater Armor could evolve.

How? By digesting beast cores.

Thirteen had tweaked and modified the armor so many times that it had become an absolutely disgusting armament that tempted Laplace Demon and The One to nerf it so badly.

However, restricted by their agreement with Zion, they decided to compromise and asked him to only use it as a last resort.