System's POV - Chapter 1364

Chapter 1364: The Guardian Of Pandora’s Key [Part 2]

“Um, guys… Can you free me now?” Camazotz asked, dangling upside down as the three Rank 8 Minotaurs carried him like a tied-up chicken. “We are on the same side, you know?”

“Until Yogi and Poh decide that you’re not an enemy, we’ll keep you bound,” one of the Minotaurs grunted. “Just be happy we’re not roasting you over an open fire.”

“Yay… I’m so happy.” Camazotz rolled his eyes.

“Shut up, Batman,” another Minotaur snorted.

“Who is this Batman you’re talking about?”

“He’s like you,” the Minotaur explained. “A weird guy who has a cape and wears his underwear over his clothes. Oh… he’s also rich.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about, but he sure has guts to wear his underwear over his clothes. I’ll probably be too ashamed to do something like that.”

“”We know, right?””

The three Minotaurs replied in unison.

Camazotz sighed before looking at Thirteen and Stella, whom Yogi was leading to their temple.

The Death Bat had guessed that the altar in the Fortunate Isles might have some kind of magic that transported them to wherever this place was.

However, since Thirteen was the one who activated the altar, he trusted that the teenage boy at least had an understanding of their current location.

After walking for several minutes, the group finally reached a city that looked no different from Beastkin Cities in Solterra.

Seeing that Yogi and Poh had returned, the Beastkins lined up in the streets to observe their “guests” who traveled from afar.

Thirteen and Stella walked confidently behind Yogi, ignoring the stares locked onto their bodies.

This was the first time the local residents were seeing humans in their city, so they gazed at the teenagers as if they were some kind of rare creatures about to become extinct.

One of the younger beastkins even approached Thirteen, lightly touching his body as if trying to check if he was real or not.

“You can all look, but don’t touch or bite them,” Yogi said before gently pushing the Beastkin away from the teenage boy. “I’m taking them to the palace as guests. So, make sure to remember their faces!”

The Beastkin obeyed and returned to the side of the road. The Beastkin parents also held onto their children so they wouldn’t rush to the two humans and pepper them with questions.

The procession lasted for nearly thirty minutes before they finally arrived at the gates of the palace.

Suddenly, a powerful presence locked onto Thirteen, Stella, and Camazotz, making the three of them tense up at the same time.

‘What the hell… three High Archons?’ Camazotz’s eyes widened in shock. ‘Just what kind of place is this?!’

Usually, a Majin Prince or a Majin King served as the sole overlord of a territory.

So sensing three Majin Kings in one place made Camazotz wonder just what kind of place the Fortunate Isles was to have such powerful Guardians.

‘I think I underestimated the significance of the rings,’ Camazotz thought. ‘The Celestial Army headed to Mount Olympus will probably face a force similar to this one.’

The Death Bat was actually correct. Each divine key had their own Guardians, duty bound to safeguard it to the best of their abilities.

Just as Camazotz expected to see another bear as a third High Archon, his guess was instantly proven wrong.

Waiting at the entrance of the palace was a White Crane that stood three-meters tall.

“Welcome guests from afar,” the White Crane said in a voice that was clearly feminine. “My name is Euphemia, and I am one of the Guardians of Pandora’s Key. I have long awaited your arrival, Great Saintess of Lust.”

Stella had to use all of her willpower from keeping the smile on her face from breaking.

She understood that the key was extremely important to Zion’s mission—which was also her mission, so she needed to play along to the best of her ability.

“It will take a while for us to prepare a feast for your arrival, but I’m so happy that you brought with you some emergency food,” Euphemia said while looking at the tied up Camazotz.

“Hey! I’m not an emergency food!” Camazotz shouted. “I’m these kids’ bodyguard!”

Euphemia laughed, and her laughter sounded like the pealing of a bell. It was a very calming laugh, and even the tense atmosphere seemed to fade away under this laughter.

“Please release our guest and treat him kindly,” Euphemia ordered. “Traveling to this remote location must have required great determination after all.”

“Finally!” Camazotz sighed in relief. “Thank you, Lady Euphemia.”

The Minotaurs clicked their tongue before reluctantly freeing the Death Bat from the chains binding his body.

Thirteen watched this scene with mild amusement, but deep inside, he was paying close attention to Euphemia.

Clearly, she was the one who called the shots in the Fortunate Isles, and everyone had to listen to her orders.

“Please come inside the castle,” Euphemia said with a smile. “There are many things we need to talk about. Tomorrow, the Saintess can visit the Temple of Lust and prove herself worthy as the Key’s Guardian.”

The White Crane then started to walk away gracefully, leading their guests.

Stella glanced at Zion, and the latter nodded in understanding.

“Don’t worry,” Thirteen said softly. “Everything is going to be fine… probably.”

Stella had the strong urge to roll her eyes at the teenage boy’s encouragement. However, since they had already ridden the tiger’s back, the only thing they could do was to hold on for dear life.

Yogi and Poh had turned into their Demihuman forms, walking behind Camazotz as if making sure that their guests wouldn’t think about leaving.

Although they weren’t being hostile right now, that might change depending on the results of the Saintess’ test the next day.

Camazotz was already thinking of ways to to escape this place with Thirteen and Stella.

Since he was the only one who could outfly their captors, he needed a solid plan to leave the city before their hosts discovered that they had gone missing.

While the Death Bat was thinking about their escape plan, Thirteen was paying close attention to the White Crane in front of them.

When he was still traveling with Cassiel in Solterra, his Soul Core had gathered all the information about the world to be used as reference at any given time.

Among them was the information about Euphemia.

She was the great granddaughter of one of the ten remaining survivors of the Heavenly Crane Clan, which had fought alongside the Fiends during the Great Celestial War.

Euphemia greatly detested the Celestials, for she believed that they were the ones responsible for the massacre of her family members.

The Fortunate Isles was the only place where they could hide, protected by the power of divinity.

Now that a Saintess Candidate had appeared, Euphemia would make sure that she wasn’t an impostor employed by the Celestials to steal the key.

If she was indeed an agent by those hateful bastards, she would not hesitate to kill Stella and Zion, as well as Camazotz, then feed on their flesh and blood without leaving even a single morsel behind.