System's POV

7th Floor of the Temple of Courage…

"It's so hot," Shana muttered as she activated the power of her silver banner to help everyone recover from their fatigue.

Traveling through the desert was very difficult. If not for the fact that they came prepared, they would definitely suffer a lot.

Despite the heat, everyone was wearing hooded robes with masks covering half of their faces.

They had just entered the 7th Floor a few hours ago, and all of them were starting to feel exhausted because of their non-stop journey.

'Fortunately, we arrived here past noon,' Shana thought. 'We'll just need to wait for a few hours, and the desert will cool down when night comes.'

But Shana also knew that the night also brought its own set of troubles.

For one thing, the desert would become extremely cold at this time, and the monsters that hunted during the night would become active.

Earlier, Erica asked Tiona's clone where Zion was, and the answer made their guide, Arlo, almost cough out blood.

"I am currently in the 12th Floor."

Arlo and his people had once reached the 12th Floor, but after that, they never stepped foot on it again.

They could still deal with the Rank 7 Umbrafang if they were willing to sacrifice some of their people.

But the Rank 8 Grievefoot was an entirely different beast, and they didn't want to mess with it.

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It would not even be a fight.

It would just be a one-sided massacre.

"I don't know how your friend managed to reach the 12th Floor faster than we did, but one thing is clear," Arlo said in a solemn tone. "That will be where his journey ends."

"You're only able to say that because you don't know who he is," Erica replied. "That brat, Zion, has already faced a Majin Prince and a Majin King. Do you really think he'll be scared of a mere Rank 8 Sovereign?"

"I don't know if those stories are true or not, but unless I see them for myself, I won't believe it," Arlo stated firmly. "You have too much trust in that boy, Zion. He might say that he's already on the 12th Floor, but he could be lying, you know?"

"And why would he lie?" Derek, who didn't like Arlo's condescending tone toward his Master, asked.

"Do you honestly want to make me believe that a Rookie is able to clear these floors on his own?" Arlo scoffed. "We might have even passed him during our journey, while he is wandering aimlessly on the lower floors."

The two Squads of Wanderers, who were accompanying the Hero Party, all looked at the Absolute weirdly.

If not for the fact that they had spent a lot of time with Zion Leventis during the trials that they faced, they might have sided with Arlo.

But since they had become part of the Knights of the Apocalypse, they had long started to think that Zion Leventis was someone who could always do the impossible.

With his achievements, it was hard to not think of it as a miracle.

Not only had he defeated a Majin Prince, but he had also come face to face with one of the Seven Fiends of the world, Mammon, during his First Wandering.

He had faced the Artemians, in the Arcadia Archipelago.

He managed to reclaim the Northern Regions of the Rigel Continent and struck an agreement with the Earth Dragons, allowing the Dvalinn Federation to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

He stopped the war between the Lizardmen and the Ratmen.

He "supposedly" defeated a Majin King and beat it up with a stick.

Although the Wanderers were still feeling doubtful that it was actually Zion who defeated the Majin King, it didn't change the fact that they had cleared their second mission and that the Ancient Eight-Headed Serpent was nowhere to be found.

Since the members of the Cygni Faction and David, who was the leader of the Elite faction, had witnessed the battle, even showing the others the snake scales that came from the Majin King, everyone was starting to think that their Super Rookie was truly Super in many ways.

"Zion, our guide doesn't believe that you're on the 12th Floor," Erica complained to Tiona's clone that was coiled up on her neck. "He thinks that you're on the lower floors that we already passed through."

"Tell him that once you guys reach the 10th Floor, you will see a dead Death Worm with the insides of its body burnt to a crisp," Thirteen replied. "Then when you reach the 11th Floor, you guys should keep an eye out for the signs that I planted on the ground.

"These signs will lead you to the portal that is located in a cave, where the Portal that leads to the 12th Floor can be found. The 12th Floor Boss Monster is a bit troublesome, so I might need some time to kill it.

"But rest assured. I'll be done with the Lord of the Apes once you reach this floor. I'll try to strike a deal with the Umbrafang to let you guys pass unhindered. However, that will have to wait until I defeat the Grievefoot."

Since Tiona's Clone was sharing Thirteen's words through telepathy, everyone who was within a dozen meters of Erica could hear it.

"Hear that?" Erica looked at Arlo with a smug smile on her face. "Things will be proven once we reach the 10th Floor. You will not have any complaints when you see the dead Death Worm, right?"

"Of course," Arlo replied. "If I see it, then I will admit that I was in the wrong."

Although Arlo said that on the surface, he was starting to feel less certain about the teenage boy named Zion Leventis.

Zion's voice sounded confident when telling them what they should expect to see on the 10th and 11th Floors.

Even now, Arlo still didn't believe that the teenage boy could survive alone in the Temple of Courage because he was still a Rookie.

Of course, Erica and Sherry had no intention of telling the Absolute that Zion was not really alone.

He was conquering each floor with the help of his Monster Army, which was a secret that only Erica, Sherry, and Drazzat knew at the moment.