System's POV

Chapter 1418: Someone Who Must Be Kept

Sensing the powers he possessed slowly leaving him, Thirteen descended from the sky while holding Maple’s and Cinnamon’s hand.

He landed at the center of the destroyed arena in the capital city of the Ainsworth Empire, receiving the look of approval from William’s wives and his daughters of marriageable age.

Having grown up idolizing their father, seeing someone beat the crap out of him made them look at Zion in a positive light.

If not for Belle reminding them that Zion was already her daughter’s boyfriend, they might have asked their moms to play matchmaker for them.

Of course, Belle knew it wasn’t official yet. But since she wanted her daughter to call dibs on Zion, she decided to assert her daughter’s privilege of knowing Zion first.

After all, this duel had only come to be because Zion wanted to ask for their blessing to take her hand.

"Big Brother, cook for us!" Maple swung Thirteen’s left arm like a spoiled child.

"Cinnamon wants to eat Big Brother’s cooking!" Maple shook his right arm, acting cute as well.

"Fine," Thirteen replied. "After I take a nap."

The three halos on top of his head turned into particles of light and vanished.

The strength he possessed also dispersed from his body, leaving him with the side effects of using a power that far surpassed his capacity.

Thirteen’s body felt as heavy as lead, and since he didn’t want to look pathetic in front of everyone, he simply laid down on the spot and closed his eyes to sleep.

Maple and Cinnamon poked his cheeks, but the battle had truly worn him out. He was even snoring a bit, which made the two adorable dwarves giggle.

James looked at the sleeping teenager before remembering a past he had almost forgotten.

Once upon a time, there was an Einherjar who was just like William and had fought at the front lines during the days of Ragnarok.

This Einherjar directly served under Odin, and he once mentioned that he had a friend named Thirteen, whom no one could talk to but him.

"The multiverse is big, but sometimes it feels really small," James said softly. "Meeting old friends like this doesn’t get old."

The Bandit of Lont gave the sleeping teenager in the arena one last glance before leaving the Colosseum.

Themis sighed in relief before returning to the Celestial Realm. This battle was meant to stay in her memories for a while.

That said, she hoped there would be more opportunities for her to see battles of this magnitude in the future.

Thirteen dreamed a dreamless dream, which lasted for nearly two days.

His battle against William took a toll on him, so a simple nap wasn’t enough for him to fully recover.

When he woke up, he immediately found two little dwarves sleeping beside him, using him as their hug pillow.

Of course, these two dwarves were none other than the two gluttons, who were waiting patiently for their Big Brother to wake up so that he could cook something for them.

Looking through the window of his room, he saw that it was still dark outside. Because of this, he decided to continue resting a bit longer lest disturb the two sleeping girls beside him.

Thirteen didn’t expect that he would once again fall asleep and only wake up when he felt the presence of someone looking on his face.

"Good morning," Stella greeted Zion as soon as he opened his eyes. "You said you’ll only nap, but you’ve slept for nearly two days."

"Did I?" Thirteen blinked.

"You did," Stella replied. "And you two, how long do you plan to pretend to be asleep?"

Maple and Cinnamon giggled at the same time before snuggling close to their Big Brother.

"Good morning, Big Brother."

"Cinnamon greets you a good morning Big Brother!"

The two dwarves kissed Thirteen’s cheek, making the latter smile.

"Good morning to the two of you," Thirteen replied before coaxing the two girls to finally get up from the bed.

"Maple, Cinnamon, I think it’s about time for me to go back to Solterra," Thirteen said in a serious tone. "Can the two of you help me?"

The twins glanced at each other before nodding at the same time.

"But cook us lunch first !" Maple said.

"We will take you back to Solterra after lunch, Big Brother!" Cinnamon promised.

"Deal." Thirteen nodded.

He had spent a few days in Hestia, so he was a bit worried about his meeting with Forneus, whom he was supposed to meet on the day when he and Stella were suddenly sent to her home world.

Thirteen hoped that the Immortal Fiend hadn’t gone impatient and had waited for his return. Just a bit more, and they could finally meet and plan their enemies’ demise.

After leaving the bedroom, the twins dragged their Big Brother to the dining room.

To his surprise, a few women were already seated, waiting for their arrival.

Belle, Sidonie, Chiffon, Titania, Wendy, and a few other women whose beauty was enough to cause the downfall of nations.

Their stares made Thirteen feel a bit intimidated. He felt like a fish about to be chopped and divided amongst them.

There were also other young ladies—mostly around Stella’s age—looking at him with mischievous smiles on their faces.

"Please sit," Belle said with a smile. "Breakfast will be served shortly."

With a clap of her hand, the maids headed to the kitchen to bring the breakfast to the table.

Maple and Cinnamon pulled Thirteen to the chair right beside their own. Stella sat directly across from him, looking a little embarrassed from the stares her mothers and sisters were giving him.

"This is just breakfast, but why do I feel that this is going to be my last supper?" Thirteen said calmly, which made the ladies giggle.

"You really have a good sense of humor!" Sidonie praised.

"Since when?" Thirteen blinked.

""Hahaha!""

Thirteen didn’t know why the ladies found his words funny since he truly didn’t have a sense of humor.

Still, he endured their stares and ate, occasionally answering the questions the ladies threw him.

The questions were mostly about his family and whether he had brothers who were just as amazing as him.

Knowing how shy and flustered his older brother, Mikhail, could be, Thirteen decided to tell them that his brother already had two fiancees.

He knew that Mikhail was not capable of having more women in his life, so he made sure that they understood that.

"So, when is the wedding?" Sidonie asked in a teasing tone. "If you don’t mind, we can hold it here. We will make it the grandest wedding ever!"

"Mom, let’s talk about that after Stella and I sort out our feelings with each other," Thirteen replied.

When he called Sidonie his "Mom," the ladies exchanged knowing glances. They could tell that Zion’s and Stella’s relationship wasn’t at the level where they could exchange marriage vows.

But based on his words, they could tell that he planned to take their relationship more seriously starting now.

"Very well." Belle nodded. "Please take care of my daughter, Zion. She is very dear to me."

"I’ll do my best," Thirteen replied.

As if his words were some form of affirmation, the color of the golden thread that connected him and Stella became more vivid and colorful.

While they still hadn’t truly taken that first step to take their relationship to the next level, this incident with Stella’s family made her mothers unanimously agree that their future son-in-law was someone who must be kept within their family no matter what.