System's POV

Chapter 1453: Spoken Like A True Revolutionary

Thousands of ships sailed across the sea.

A fleet bred for war. It was perhaps the biggest and strongest army made in the entire continent.

But it was inevitable since it was founded by a Celestial. Anyone would wish to serve under such a mighty being.

It is an honor, something worth bragging about until the day they died.

The majority of them had no idea why Zaphiel was collecting the seven divine keys, but they had blind faith in their master and never dared to question him.

They simply moved as he willed.

If he wished them to wage war on a kingdom, they would do so without fail. If they were ordered to kill someone, that person must be evil because even a Celestial decreed his death.

Blind faith could be truly fearsome. And following orders without questions was the foundation of Zaphiel’s army.

His army didn’t care whether their Master was right or wrong. The only thing that mattered for them was enacting his orders, his justice, his will!

Even Belial, Pharzuph, and Rahab had to admit that Zaphiel had indeed created an army never before seen in the continent.

Of course, they could easily annihilate all of them with time if they wanted to. But it would still take time and effort to do so.

Even a Mantis would find itself in a pickle if it was surrounded by hundreds of ants.

While Belial and Pharzuph were not Mantises but Elephants, even they would be annoyed if ants started swarming them and biting their body all over.

"How long before we arrive at our destination?" Belial asked Rahab.

"We will arrive by noon tomorrow," Rahab replied.

"Finally." Pharzuph sighed. "I’m getting bored."

Zaphiel nodded in understanding because he, too, wasn’t fond of traveling across the sea. Memories of the Immortal Fiend who wouldn’t die no matter how many times he killed him kept on resurfacing, annoying him.

"Tomorrow, we will be fighting against Forneus, Dantanian, and Wormwood," Zaphiel said. "We outnumber them in both quality and quantity, but if they’re pushed into a corner, they might just release their seals."

Belial, Pharzuph, and Rahab all frowned at the same time.

The full might of the Celestials and Fiends were sealed. They only fought with their current rank. But if push comes to shove, they could release their seals and step into the ranks of Demigods.

If they burn their life force, it was possible to boost their strength to that of a Pseudo-God, but this would only last for a few seconds at most.

Also using that method would put them in a lethargic state afterwards, so none of the Celestials or the Fiends dared to use it.

But there was someone who had dared to do it in the past.

It was none other than Forneus. Since he couldn’t be killed, he didn’t hesitate to unleash this power in order to beat the other Celestials and Fiends who tried to gang up on him.

That battle was still etched in everyone’s minds, and although Forneus could only take that form for up to ten seconds, that ten seconds would be the most dangerous time of their lives.

In the past, Forneus hadn’t used this ability to kill.

He only did it to beat the crap out of Zaphiel and Rahab during their battles.

The Immortal Fiend was the weakest among the Fiends and Celestials, but he was also the most fearless, the most annoying, and the most dangerous.

If someone who wasn’t afraid to die risked it all, the outcome would be dire to the opposing party.

"We should prioritize taking down Forneus first at all cost," Rahab commented. "But it won’t be easy."

"Indeed." Pharzuph rubbed his chin. "Unless we can make him agree to rules of combat, things will get ugly once he chooses to throw caution to the wind."

One of us might even suffer crippling injuries that will not heal for decades, maybe even centuries.

"So, what’s the plan?" Belial crossed his arms over his chest.

"They know that Wormwood is weak against my flames, so they will definitely prevent me from attacking him directly," Zaphiel replied. "Either Forneus or Dantanian will face me.

"But Rahab will deal with Forneus. In that case, that leaves only Dantanian. He will be an annoying opponent for sure. So, Belial and Pharzuph, both of you should defeat Wormwood as fast as possible and help Rahab or me.

"Even if Forneus lifts his seal, all we need to do is stall for time until he runs out of strength. We can even retreat if need be until his time is up."

"That’s a good plan." Belial nodded. "But Forneus will definitely vent out his frustration on your army if the four of us run away. Are you prepared to lose more than half of your fighting force?"

"I don’t mind," Zaphiel replied without batting an eye. "Sacrifices must be made for the greater good. Although it pains me to lose half of my army, I’m willing to trade it for the divine key."

Pharzuph clapped his hands together. "Spoken like a true revolutionary."

"Don’t call me a revolutionary," Zaphiel clicked his tongue. "I’m doing this for the greater good."

Belial chuckled, amused by how Zaphiel sincerely believed that this was for the greater good of Solterra—freeing themselves from the cage that held them in place, allowing them to see new horizons and venture into the unknown.

"So the plan is to not unseal our powers even if our enemy does, am I right?" Rahab inquired.

"Yes," Zaphiel answered. "They’ll be a spent candle once it ends, so we don’t have to worry about them anymore. If any of us manage to get the key at any time, we will immediately retreat from battle. Do I make myself clear?"

"If you say so." Belial shrugged.

"Sounds good to me." Pharzuph nodded.

"That’s for the best," Rahab commented.

Zaphiel then glanced over the horizon, knowing that by noon tomorrow, they would be one step closer to his goal.

He was still a little anxious about the location of the last key, which he believed was the Key of Greed.

He already had suspicions that Mammon might have already secured it the moment he and his Celestial Army started to attack the Guardians of the other Divine Keys.

’I’ll deal with Mammon after this,’ Zaphiel thought. ’For now, I must get the Key of Pride at all costs.’

He understood that Forneus was not the type of being who would let others trample on him without a fight.

Still, if possible, he wished to resolve this without the need for violence since this world still needed the Seven Celestials and the Seven Fiends to act as its protectors the moment Solterra broke free from its cage.