System's POV
Chapter 1085: The Thirteenth Vault Of Heaven [Part 1]

Chapter 1085: The Thirteenth Vault Of Heaven [Part 1]

Rocky had traveled far north, away from the battles taking place in the continent. At the moment, it peacefully lay deep underground, waiting for its Master to wake up.

There were countless monsters all around the land, and the Hellfire Bal-Boa was just one of them. This meant that it would be near impossible to detect it, even more so when it was deliberately hiding and concealing its presence.

Unfortunately, hiding was impossible if something was able to track it.

For example, an artifact that could detect Chandrean Royal Bloodline, which flowed in the veins of its Master’s body.

Not to mention, Zia was in the middle of awakening. The stronger this newfound power, the clearer its presence in the radar held by the Artemian Commander, Lucan.

Although Rocky knew nothing of this, Rocky felt something nag at the back of its head. Believing better safe than sorry, Rocky asked the demons nearby to scout their surrounding and immediately report if they found something under and above ground.

Although Tiona was their Queen and their Boss, the demons still obeyed Rocky’s orders, for its safety was their top priority at this point in time.

As the demons spread out to check if any danger was in their surroundings, one of them came across the Azothralls, and was instantly killed on the spot.

It was unable to give any warnings to Rocky due to how fast it was killed.

However, Tiona, who was always monitoring the movements of the demons had noticed it, and immediately asked Rocky to leave as fast as it could.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

The Mobile Fortress shook as Rocky was grabbed by the Golden Azothrall, preventing it from escaping.

Knowing that a battle was inevitable, the Hellfire Bal-Boa transformed its entire body to magma, breaking free from the Golden Azothrall’s hold.

But this time, the Artemians came prepared.

It wasn’t the first time the Azothralls had fought against Rocky.

They had retrieved the data during the battle in Solterra and had developed countermeasures against the Hellfire Bal-Boa, who could turn its surroundings into a sea of magma.

Lucan activated an artifact that froze the magma in place, forcing Rocky to return to its original form to fight.

Rocky was strong—a Rank 8 Sovereign. But it was simply impossible for it to do anything when up against a Golden Azothrall, which was a Rank 9 Sovereign. Not to mention, the enemy was accompanied by ten Rank 8 Azothralls.

Of course, there was also Lucan, an Archon. The Hellfire Bal-Boa’s situation was very dire.

Black obsidian chains bound Rocky’s body, holding it in place.

"Where is Princess Zia?" Lucan asked. "Since I can’t see her in the surroundings, is she perhaps inside your body?"

Without blinking an eye, the Golden Azothrall thrust his hands inside Rocky’s body, making it roar in pain, and anger.

The Mobile Fortress was a domain inside of Rocky. Even if its body was pierced through, those inside of the special domain wouldn’t be harmed.

However, once Rocky dies, the domain would disperse, ejecting everyone inside of it.

The Golden Azothrall used its claws to open Rocky’s body, not caring if it would die or not.

Their only goal was to retrieve Princess Zia, so they couldn’t care less about the life and death of such a weak monster.

Tiona understood the situation and knew that she and the demons were no match for their opponent.

Princess Aracelle, who had also received the Ring of the Apocalypse from Zion, was very tempted to summon the Rank 8 Sovereigns under the young man’s command to ask for help.

But even if she asked for their help, nothing would change.

Giga, Blacky, Hercules, the Ogres, and Trolls all glanced at each other.

Even if they were no match against their opponents, they would still fight in order to give Rocky a chance to survive.

Just as everyone was about to leave the Mobile Fortress to help Rocky, Zia, who was sleeping, suddenly opened her eyes.

A moment later, she disappeared, and reappeared on top of Rocky’s head.

Lucan who saw the young lady, whose body was glowing in a golden light, laughed out loud because Victor was right.

Azoh’Karn let go of Rocky’s body and lunged at the princess in order to capture her for its Master.

Zia, whom everyone thought would be captured, raised her head to look up.

A second later, she transformed into a beam of light that shot up towards the surface, destroying the ground in front of her.

"Follow her!" Lucan ordered as he also flew up from the hole that Zia had created in order to prevent her from escaping.

The Azothralls followed quickly, leaving behind Rocky, who was seriously injured.

Upon reaching the surface, Zia flew away farther north, luring Lucan and the Azothralls away from the Hellfire Bal-Boa.

Tiona didn’t hesitate to follow her Master, carrying the banner of the parade of a hundred demons with her.

Giga and the others wanted to follow as well, but Tiona had told them to stay and protect Rocky.

She knew all too well that if Giga and the others were harmed, her Master’s heart would break all over again. And she would do everything in her power to stop that from happening.

Although she was no match against Lucan, and the others, she was nearly immortal.

This was why she was the only one that could fight them, and give Zia a chance to escape.

"It’s no use to run away, Princess!" Lucan, who was slowly catching up to Zia shouted. "Just surrender, and I promise that I will treat you well!"

Zia didn’t reply, and simply flew as fast as she could.

With every second that passed, the distance between him and her pursuers shrank.

But, that was fine with her.

Suddenly, she felt a pain in her chest, making her stagger in mid-air.

The bloodline inside her body was now going wild, and with it, the power that lay dormant within had risen to the surface.

From within Thirteen’s consciousness, something snapped.

Lucan didn’t know what happened to the princess, but when he saw that she had nearly stopped flying, he became overjoyed.

He then reached out to grab her waist in order to hold her in place.

Just as he was about to reach her, a wooden staff materialized out of nowhere, blocking Zia from her pursuers.

A second later, a flash of golden light expanded from the staff, pushing Lucan and the Azothralls away.

Thirteen, who was currently in pain, looked at the staff that had created a golden dome to isolate her from the outside world.

The staff then moved closer to the young lady, and an androgynous voice sounded in his ears.

——————

< Choose one restriction to release temporarily >

< Rank Ban >

< Skill Ban >

< Item Ban >

< Avatar Ban >

——————

Zia looked at the restrictions that bound her body and chose the best option that would help her right now.

"Remove Item Ban," Zia replied.

< Item Ban will be removed. >

The sound of something breaking echoed within the young lady’s sea of consciousness.

She was starting to lose her consciousness. But before that happened, she called out to her allies whom she believed would answer her summons.

"By my name and authority, I hereby open the Thirteenth Vault of Heaven," Zia said firmly. "Hear my call, My Valkyries!"

The golden dome that the staff had created disappeared, and the staff itself was nowhere to be found.

But as the young lady hovered in the sky, a giant golden gate appeared behind her back.

It slowly opened, showing a darkness that was darker than black.

And from within that darkness, thirteen pairs of eyes looked at Lucan and the Azothralls who dared to touch their Master, whom they hadn’t seen for hundreds of years.