System's POV

The Goblin's dying scream reverberated throughout the surroundings as Sherry pulled back the short sword she had stabbed into the monster's heart.

She then gave it a flick, sending the blood flying off of her sword, staining the ground beside her.

Suddenly, the sounds of explosions reached her ears, informing her that Erica was busy dealing with the monsters that had tried to escape from the Goblin Camp.

'I just washed my armor earlier,' Sherry thought as she glanced at her blood-soaked leather armor. 'How long will we keep killing Goblins?'

It had been two weeks since they had separated from the other Wanderers who had been put under Drazzat's care.

Their goal was to retrieve the Shard of Origin from the Goblin Emperor, which they believed was hidden in a very safe location.

However, instead of venturing deep into Goblin Territory, they had been circling around the Ratmen's Domain because Zion said that he was looking for someone.

Erica and Sherry asked if he was looking for Wanderers, but he said that he wasn't looking for humans but a Ratman.

'He said that he is looking for a Ratman, but all we're doing is killing Goblins,' Sherry sighed. 'Still, we are able to rescue a few Wanderers, so I guess this isn't such a bad thing.'

During their raids in the Goblin Camps, they found several teenage boys who were captured by them.

Fortunately, the Goblins hadn't captured any girls, which made Erica and Sherry breathe a sigh of relief.

Perhaps "The One" showed these girls mercy and sent them to places far away from the Goblins, saving them from a gruesome fate.

Unfortunately, Thirteen didn't trust them enough to allow them to enter Rocky's Mobile Fortress.

Because of this, he asked Blacky to lead them back to the Lizardmen Territory, where Drazzat and the other Wanderers were gathering.

Just as Sherry was thinking about these things, the sound of footsteps reached her ears.

"Brat, are you done?" Erica asked.

"Yes," Sherry replied. "Did no one escape, Auntie?"

"None."

"Good."

As if waiting for that confirmation, Rocky emerged from the ground and opened his mouth.

Zion then walked out of it, glancing at his surroundings as he approached them. As if satisfied with what he saw, he nodded his head in satisfaction.

"Good job," Thirteen said. "Rest for two hours, then we will raid another Goblin Camp."

"Ugh…"

"Hah…"

The two teenage girls glared at their annoying Boss, who only smiled back at them.

"Fine. Rest for four hours," Thirteen said. "After that, we raid another Goblin Camp."

"Zion… let's just get the Shard of Origin already," Erica begged. "You said that we only have a month. Half of it has already passed, so we should hurry, right?"

"You're not wrong, but I still haven't found the Ratman I've been looking for," Thirteen replied.

"Who is that Ratman?" Sherry asked. "Why is he important? Can't you just grab a random Ratman and get it over with?"

"I can't." Thirteen shook his head. "It has to be this particular rat."

The two girls shared a fed-up glance with each other before crossing their arms over their chests and glaring at the teenage boy at the same time.

Thirteen was about to tell them that they should calm down for a bit. But before he could do that, he paused and looked toward the East.

"Change of plans, Tiona found him," Thirteen said, which made the two girls wonder what he was talking about.

"By him, do you mean that Ratman?" Erica inquired.

"Tiona finally found him?" Sherry asked, feeling relieved that they could finally stop killing Goblins.

"Yes," Thirteen replied. "Let's go."

Rocky then swallowed the three teenagers before once again burrowing into the ground.

Since Tiona's Clone finally found the person whom Thirteen was looking for, they no longer wasted time and headed to his location as fast as they could.

The reason why he didn't go to the Goblin Emperor's camp right away was that he needed to find a very special Ratman.

When a certain race was facing a crisis that seemed hopeless, a special individual would appear.

This had happened in the Valbarra Archipelago when Arundel the Destroyer had planned to conquer it.

That person was none other than Taiga.

If his story followed the original script, the entirety of the Valbarra Archipelago would have fallen into Arundel's hands.

The Tigerkin Kingdom would have been razed to the ground, and Taiga's family killed without mercy.

He would then hide away somewhere in the Archipelago to train, and then rise up to rally the survivors and overthrow the invaders who occupied their land.

This character progression would take a few years to reach maturity until Taiga became old and strong enough to fulfill his role as the Hero of his people.

But this event didn't come to pass.

Thirteen had thwarted Arundel's plan and made sure that Taiga and his brother, Anwir, would not fight each other to the death.

The teenage boy had taken both the Hero and the Villain under his wing and made sure that both of them would work together, not against each other.

Currently, the two of them were gaining strength and undergoing growth that would turn them into powerhouses.

Despite the fact that their "role" should have been over the moment that Arundel perished, their destiny was now tied with Thirteen, and they would become his strength in the time when he needed them the most.

A similar event was happening to the Ratmen Race.

Because of this, a "Hero" would be born from them.

Thirteen was searching for this hero, which he also planned to take under his wing by hook or by crook.

Since his goal to fight Fate using her own rules was still in effect, he needed the chosen ones to help him flip over the chessboard, which he supposedly had no chance of winning on his own.

Half a day later, they arrived at the border between the Ratmen Under Cities and the Goblin Territory.

Inside a cave, a Ratman was being beaten up to a pulp by several young goblins who were being trained to fight for the first time.

Unlike his kin who usually had gray or dark fur, this particular Ratman had white fur, making him stand out among his race.

Because of this, he was captured by the Goblins and made the training dummy of their children.

Bloody and battered, the Ratman fell on the ground, while the Goblins laughed at his suffering.

The Ratman then clenched his fists and glared at them, but it only made the young Goblins' laughter louder.

He knew that he couldn't retaliate against the Goblins because he was greatly outnumbered, not to mention that his fighting ability wasn't as good as theirs.

Suddenly, he saw someone appear behind the Goblins, which made the Ratman's eyes widen in shock.

"What are you laughing at? Is something funny?"

The Goblins, who suddenly heard someone talking behind them, all turned around at the same time.

But before they could do anything, their heads were severed from their bodies, falling into the ground and making their bodies spurt a fountain of blood.

The Ratman watched as the Goblins who had beaten him up on a daily basis were killed right in front of his eyes.

He looked at their headless bodies and wondered if he were dreaming.

He couldn't count the number of times he wished that he could kill the Goblins and end their lives with his own hands.

But now, the wish he had was fulfilled by someone else.

"Do you wish to become stronger?" the human boy, who had short black hair and green eyes, asked with a smile. "If you wish to end the suffering of your people, take my hand. I will make your wish come true."

The human boy's words were a temptation that was very hard to resist.

Since he was being offered the opportunity to do what he had wished to do since their race had been oppressed, only one answer escaped from his lips.

"Yes," the Ratman reached out to hold Thirteen's hand. "I want to become stronger. I want to kill Goblins!"

"Good," Thirteen replied. "Welcome to the team. What is your name?"

"Ratatoskr," Ratatoskr replied. "And you are?"

"Zion Leventis," Thirteen replied. "Your new friend."

The Ratman looked at the teenage boy who was looking at him with a confident smile on his face.

For some reason, Ratatoskr felt that he might be holding the hand of a creature more terrifying than the Goblin Emperor who had taken the Shard of Origin, holding his entire race hostage.

But for now, thoughts of vengeance swirled inside his head.

He stopped caring even if he was holding the hands of a devil, as long as he could grant him his wish.

And that was none other than to kill the Goblins and take back the Shard of Origin to its rightful place.