System's POV

400  Sowing Discord

'If only I managed to devour Evuvug and its egg back then, things would be different,' the Centipede King, Jalrog, grumbled to himself as he dug deep underground. 'The others will now be more wary of me, and I won't be able to push my plan into motion.

'The humans are also getting more and more active as of late. It's only a matter of time before they gain a stronghold in these lands.'

The Centipede King still remembered the time when he was still moving unhindered in their homeworld, Gomorra.

If not for the fact that he had accidentally stumbled upon a Majin Prince, he would have already broken through to the next rank a decade ago.

The Majin Prince had given it two choices back then—submit or die.

Jalrog had lofty ambitions, so it naturally didn't want to die. Left with no choice, it could only bow its head and agree to be drafted as one of the Rank 8 Sovereigns who would serve as the vanguard to conquer the world of Pangea. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The process of their conquest had been relatively smooth since the humans were too weak, unable to even effectively resist their invasion.

Back then, Jalrog was happy, believing that if it devoured Wanderers, it would be able to become a Rank 9 Monster.

It had planned to use the remaining time before its Master crossed over to Pangea to become a Majin Prince.

After that, it could finally exact its revenge and kill the Prince who had forced it to submit decades ago.

Unfortunately, the Wanderers it killed were too weak—they couldn't even let it break through to a Rank 9 Monster.

It wanted to devour its comrades, but with the Rank 9 Earth Dragons stationed to monitor their movements, the Centipede King was forced to halt its plans.

The other Kings were strong in their own rights, so it couldn't easily backstab them and devour their bodies and cores.

There had only been one target that it could kill without fail, and that was none other than Evuvug.

Jalrog was highly resistant to mind control, so the Brain Beetle's ability wasn't a threat to it.

However, there was a problem.

Even if it ate Evuvug, so what?

Being a Rank 9 Sovereign wouldn't guarantee its safety. After all, there were still the Seven Kings and the three Earth Dragons, who would hunt it down because of its betrayal.

So Jalrog forced itself to endure.

However, it all changed when it sensed something unexpected.

It felt a powerful fluctuation spread underground, coming from Evuvug's territory.

That was when it realized that the Brain Beetle was about to give birth to an egg.

It was also the moment that Jalrog realized that the moment it had been waiting for had finally arrived. The Centipede King knew that if it ate Evuvug, it would cross the threshold of a Rank 9 Sovereign.

And if it also managed to eat the Brain Beetle's egg, which was emitting a strong surge of power, Jalrog believed that it would make him break through into a Pseudo-Jinn Prince.

If it succeeded, it would then hunt the kings one by one until it broke through to a Majin Prince.

By then, even if the three Earth Dragons worked together, all of them would just become food for Jalrog.

Once the leaders of the Monsters were dead, it would then devour the remaining monsters in the Continent until it finally became a Majin Prince.

With its newfound power, it would cross over to the next continent and feast on the Wanderers on that side, allowing it to advance into a King.

Five years later, it would return to the Rigel Continent and have its revenge on the Majin Prince who had forced it to become its subordinate and eat him too.

Its plan was solid and would have succeeded without any problems.

However, it didn't expect that a variable would arise, and humans would attack Evuvug right after it had given birth.

Even so, Jalrog believed that it could still salvage the situation. The addition of the humans didn't matter, for its strength alone could overwhelm them.

Evuvug was in a weakened state, and its Larva Bodyguards were no match for the Centipede King.

However, something unexpected happened.

Evuvug suddenly disappeared without warning.

After it disappeared, the humans took the Brain Beetle's egg and made a full retreat.

Jalrog pursued them, but in the end, they managed to escape.

The Beetles then realized what the Centipede King had done and counterattacked.

But since Jalrog was not in the mood to deal with small fries, it returned to its territory in an extremely bad mood, killing any creature it passed by along the way.

Naturally, the disturbance in Evuvug's Domain caught the attention of the Broodmother, who sent its Spiderlings to inquire about what happened.

One of Evuvug's bodyguards, who survived Jalrog's betrayal, spilled everything to the Spiderlings, which the Broodmother, Nizana, passed to the other Kings and the Earth Dragons.

Since then, Jalrog had been in the crosshairs of all the Jinns and Majins in the Rigel Continent for its betrayal.

'Damn it!' The Centipede King trashed underground, destroying parts of its underground network. 'It just returned from the meeting at the Center of the Continent, and just as it expected, it received an earful from the other Kings and the three Earth Dragons, who gave it an ultimatum.

If it didn't cooperate with them in driving out the humans, they would brand the Centipede King as a traitor and hunt it down without mercy.

"I'll show them!" Jalrog screeched. "I'll eat their flesh! Drink their blood! And make them understand that they cannot defy me!"

The other Centipede Monsters who heard the Centipede King's screech all scrambled to get as far away as they could. Whenever their Master was in this kind of mood, it would not hesitate to attack anything, including them, to vent its frustrations.

Just as the Centipede King was about to look for monsters to kill, it sensed a familiar presence moving in its direction.

At first, Jalrog thought that it might have just made a mistake, but as the monster drew near it, its suspicions were confirmed.

Dozens of meters away from it, a Rank 7 Sovereign entered its underground cavern.

It was none other than Rocky, who had traveled personally to meet with the Centipede King.

"It's you!" Jalrog screeched angrily. "I will tear you apart for getting in my way!"

Rocky didn't reply and instead opened its mouth wide.

The Centipede King thought that the Magma Bal-Boa had decided to take the initiative to attack, but it suddenly noticed something come out of the monster's mouth, which made Jalrog's body stiffen.

"Calm down, Jalrog. We didn't come here to fight."

A humanoid creature, covered in black armor said in a calm tone.

"I have come here to make a proposal to you," Thirteen said. "How about we form an alliance?"

The Centipede King was a savage creature. Its default instinct was to attack first and worry later.

However, it didn't do that and stared at the humanoid creature, which it couldn't identify if it was human or a living armor.

There was one reason why the Centipede King decided to hold back its instinct to attack—that was because the humanoid creature was emitting a power stronger than that of a Majin Prince.

In fact, this was the first time Jalrog felt something like this in its lifetime.

It was a power of absolute dominance, making it believe that if it offended the humanoid creature, its life would end then and there.

"Who are you?" Jalrog asked. The humanoid creature pressed its fist over its chest before giving the Centipede King a light bow.

"I am just a messenger of my God, Metatron," Thirteen replied. "And he asked me to offer you a proposal."

"Proposal? What proposal?" Jalrog lowered its head to take a closer look at the humanoid, who was exuding an aura that belonged to a powerful creature.

"Tell me, Jalrog. What is it that you want?" Thirteen asked. "My Master, Metatron, promises to grant your wish if you cooperate with us."

Tiona, who had stayed inside the mobile fortress, crawled up onto her Master's body as soon as he returned.

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She then flicked her tongue as she faced the teenage boy, asking him if everything went according to his plan.

"Cooperation?" Jalrog's eyes glinted with killing intent. "What kind of cooperation?"

"I will give you an opportunity to devour the other Kings," Thirteen replied. "Not only that, my Master, Metatron, will also grant your wish. All I ask is that you meet my one condition."

"And what is that condition?" Jalrog eyed the metallic humanoid with great interest.

Thirteen smiled internally before telling the Centipede King what he wanted to achieve.

When he was done talking, Jalrog laughed—the humanoid's offer was simply too good to be true.

"Very well. If you can do your part of the deal, I don't mind agreeing to this proposal of yours," Jalrog stated.

"Good." Thirteen nodded. "Brace yourself, Jalrog. The thing you've been waiting for will finally fall in your hands."

Rocky swallowed Thirteen whole before leaving the Centipede King's lair without even a backward glance.

Truth be told, the Magma Bal-Boa was feeling very anxious, fearing that the Centipede King would not let them leave its lair alive.

However, Thirteen assured Rocky that everything was going to be fine.

Right now, Jalrog didn't really have a choice, and the teenage boy had given the Centipede King an offer it couldn't refuse. Tiona, who had stayed inside the mobile fortress, crawled up onto her Master's body as soon as he returned.

She then flicked her tongue as she faced the teenage boy, asking him if everything went according to his plan.

"We'll know the answer soon enough, Tiona," Thirteen replied. "For now, we just need to show him how serious we are."

The teenage boy had blackmailed Evuvug that if it didn't tell him everything that he wanted to know, he would boil the Brain Beetle's egg and feed it to his subordinates.

Fortunately, Evuvug cared for its egg deeply, so it answered all of Thirteen's questions without telling a single lie.

After knowing that the Kings and the Earth Dragons weren't truly united, he decided to gamble and set his plan into action.

If he succeeded, not only would he gain a strong ally, but he would also be able to sow discord among the Jinns and Majins, allowing him to take them all, one by one.