System's POV

10th Floor of the Temple of Courage…

Thirteen narrowed his eyes as he looked at the wide open plain right in front of him.

There was not a single blade of grass nor a place of elevation in sight.

The entire place was merely a flat, wide plain, giving most people no place to hide.

He could easily see monsters in the distance, all of whom had detected his presence.

All of them were Rank 4 Monsters, and they consisted of Lions and Hyenas.

As the familiar chuckle of the Hyenas reached his ears, he subconsciously remembered the time when he was still in the Valbarra Archipelago.

"I see. So this place is meant to weed out the weak, huh?" Thirteen muttered.

With no place to hide, it was very easy for the monsters to see his location, allowing them to focus their attention on him.

"Blacky, let's go," Thirteen ordered as he mounted the Nightmare Black Hound and urged it to run to look for the portal meant to take him to the next floor.

The Rank 4 Monsters immediately gave chase, not noticing that Thirteen's Parade of a Hundred Demons had begun to run in the opposite direction.

Their goal was simple.

Look for the Teleportation Portal and find the Boss Monster of the 10th Floor.

Depending on the type of Boss Monster that was present on the flat plains, Thirteen would make plans to give it an injury, leveling the playing field for the other Wanderers.

According to his estimate, if the Hero Party, Siri, Stella, and the Elites of his Battalion worked together, they would be able to bring down a Rank 6 Sovereign.

That was the maximum rank of the Monster that they could face after using everything in their disposal.

If they faced any Rank 7 Monsters, they would start having casualties, which was something that Thirteen wanted to avoid at all costs.

Because of this, whenever he discovered any Rank 7 Monsters, he would dispose of them, allowing the Wanderers to pass to the next floor without suffering mass casualties.

Even now, the Wanderers could still die if they fought against Rank 4 Monsters. But since they were fighting it as a group, Thirteen believed that they would have a higher chance of survival.

If the teenagers died in fighting against them despite being in a group, Thirteen believed that they weren't meant to clear the Temple of Courage.

He was doing his best to make sure that everyone could return home to Pangea, but he couldn't hold their hands forever because it would be detrimental to their growth.

'Also, if they don't put enough effort in clearing this mission, they will not get proper rewards when the Chain Quest is over,' Thirteen thought.

While getting the Adamantine-Grade Equipments were probably the best thing that the Wanderers could get in this mission, he believed that their potential to gain more in the final stage would help boost their confidence, on top of the rewarded items, which would help them in their next Wandering.

'They must have entered the Temple by now,' Thirteen mused. 'I just hope they won't rush too much just to catch up with me on the upper floors.'

——

Meanwhile, on the First Floor of the Temple of Courage…

"A maze?" Erica frowned. "I hate mazes. Can we just blast all these walls?"

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"You can try," an Absolute named Arlo replied. "But those walls will not be destroyed using such methods."

"Tsk!" Erica clicked her tongue in frustration.

"Listen, I know that you want to catch up to Zion, but we should move at our own pace," Shana, who was also frustrated that the teenage boy had decided to challenge the Temple of Courage by himself, said in a firm tone.

"That's right," Roland commented. "We must focus on clearing these trials on our own. I'm sure we will meet up with him sooner or later."

Erica sighed before nodding her head. "Fine. Let's just move at our pace."

Sherry, whom Erica had invited to join their party, followed behind the Sorceress.

Since the enemies they were facing were only Rank 1 Horned Rabbits and they had a guide named Arlo leading them, they traveled at a fast pace.

Although they weren't as fast as Zion, they were still able to clear the first Floor within an hour, smoothly proceeding to the Second Floor.

There were currently five Wanderer Teams that were currently challenging the Trial of Courage.

The First Team was led by Roland.

The Second Team was led by Kyle Walkers.

The Third Team was led by David.

The Final Team was led by Sean and the members of the Cygni Faction.

Each team had a Guide of the Champion Rank, allowing them to progress faster inside the Temple.

After the Wanderers all cleared the First Floor with ease, a middle-aged man stepped inside the First Floor.

It was none other than the Demonic Salamander, who had sneaked inside the Temple in order to have his wish granted.

Since he wasn't in a hurry to clear the challenges, he waited for the Wanderers to go in first before stepping inside the Temple.

He had been observing all of them from the beginning, but he didn't see the teenage boy named Zion, who was their leader.

Using his sharp senses, he overheard the Wanderers talking that Zion Leventis had decided to challenge the Temple alone, which made the Demonic Salamander arch an eyebrow.

'Either their leader is hiding his strength, or he is simply a fool,' the Demonic Salamander thought as he traveled through the maze.

All the Horned Rabbits that respawned in the temple had avoided him like a plague, allowing him to move unhindered on the First Floor.

The Demonic Salamander took his sweet time as if he was merely taking a stroll in the park.

Since he didn't want to be discovered by the Wanderers—at least for now, he simply stayed in the First Floor for an hour longer before entering the portal which led him to the Second Floor of the Temple.

Meanwhile, high above the Thirteenth Floor, an old man stood at the center of an Arena, holding a staff with what looked like a mechanical clock on its end.

His gaze was locked on the teenage boy who was on the 10th Floor, riding on the back of his Nightmare Black Hound, who outsped all the monsters in the open plains, preventing anyone from getting close.

His wizened gaze focused on Thirteen's face, making the corner of his lips rise up into a devilish smile.