System's POV

Medea subconsciously took a step back when the Valkyrie was only a meter away from her.

Mist might be smiling, but the Saintess could sense the killing intent oozing from her body.

"Don't worry," Mist said softly. "My Master had an Apprentice Saintess as a Host in the past. Although she didn't become a Saintess and was killed by her competitor, he won't harm you… at least, not yet."

Her words didn't bring Medea any relief. In fact, it even made her feel more helpless, believing Thirteen could change his mind at any given time.

The only thing she could do was look at the cruel angel looking in the direction of the palace, which had now started to burn.

Brynhildr and Hildr seemed to want to terrorize the Queen, forcing her to run as they burned the castle, giving her time to escape.

However, they made sure to destroy the entrances of the hidden passages in the castle, forcing the Queen to repeatedly turn back for the other hallways as a means to escape.

"Mother, what shall we do?" the Crown Princess asked Queen Valoria, whose face had already lost all of its colors. "Everything is on fire. There's no place to run!"

Queen Valoria grabbed her daughter's trembling hands, trying her best to stay composed despite the growing despair in her heart.

"We must hold on," Queen Valoria replied, her voice hoarse from smoke and fear. "As long as we live, there will always be a way."

The Crown Princess bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes as another explosion rocked the castle.

Marble pillars collapsed, and flames consumed priceless works of arts that once symbolized the glory of their dynasty.

They had been forced to run to the throne room, oddly still relatively intact.

The few soldiers that had stayed to protect them looked warily at their surroundings, thinking of ways to escape their predicament.

Suddenly, the wall collapsed, and two winged figures entered the throneroom.

Brynhildr and Hildr's beauty was terrifying. Untouched by fire or ruin, their white-gold hair gleamed against the backdrop of falling embers, their wings unfurled like banners of conquest.

"Tired of running?" Brynhildr's voice echoed coldly, every syllable tinged with contempt. "If not for Master's order, I would have already chopped you to pieces! How dare you order your maids to stab our Master when he was in a helpless state?!"

The Queen instinctively pushed her daughter behind her. "If you've come for my life, then take it. But spare my child!"

Hildr chuckled, amused by her desperation. "We were told to capture you, not kill you. As for sparing your daughter, that depends on how amusing your screams are."

The Princess whimpered, clutching her mother's dress tightly. She was two years younger than Kate, and the one who should have become the Queen of the Kingdom of Valoria now that her half sister was dead.

But now, she wasn't worrying about the crown or becoming a Queen.

The only thought in her mind was her survival!

"Take her!" the Princess shouted as she pushed her mother toward the Valkyries. "Take her and spare me! I'm innocent! I did nothing wrong!"

"C-Clariss?!" Queen Amara was shocked by her daughter's actions.

The sudden betrayal took her by surprise, making her wonder if she was simply in a nightmare.

No. Not a dream, but a nightmare.

"Mother, this is all your fault!" Clariss shouted in a crazed tone. "If you didn't kill Kate, none of this would have happened! It's your fault! You royal b*tch!"

"How dare you?!" Queen Amara roared in anger as she slapped her daughter. "I did all of that for you! You ungrateful wench!"

Brynhildr and Hildr watched the drama unfold around them with amusement.

They had already noticed that the Princess wasn't in the right state of mind, affected by the spell, Mind Domination.

It was a spell that compelled those who were targeted by it to follow the orders of the person who had cast the spell.

Princess Clariss shouted and hurled profanities at her mother, calling her a dog, an old hag, and many other hurtful words.

Queen Amara's heart ached more from her daughter's words than from the flames consuming her kingdom.

Even if she knew deep down that something was wrong and that her daughter's sudden madness wasn't natural, the dagger of betrayal had already pierced too deep.

Clariss sobbed hysterically, clawing at her own hair, torn between fear of the Valkyries and the compulsion shackled onto her soul.

Her cries echoed in the ruined throne room, feeding the fire of hopelessness that spread through the Queen's chest.

The two Valkyries then glanced in the direction of the church tower near the center of the city.

There, a young man standing on top of the church's tower looked in the Queen's direction, his gaze as cold as ice.

From far away, Thirteen had used Mind Domination to compel Princess Clariss to confront her mother, making the Queen experience betrayal from the very daughter she tried to protect.

The System of Cannon Fodders knew the pain of betrayal more than anyone else. He knew that the betrayal hurt more when it came from a loved one.

He had no intention of letting the Queen die a peaceful death.

Thirteen wanted her to suffer.

He wanted her to break.

He wanted her to regret her life choices, but most of all…

He wanted her to feel despair.

Thirteen didn't know if Kate felt despair in her final moments.

She didn't mention it when they talked earlier, but she must have been truly scared. This alone was enough to make him want to make the entire world burn, sending them all to the afterlife to accompany his Host.

There was another issue nagging on Thirteen's mind.

It was the unborn child on Kate's womb.

Now that she had died, the child had also died as well, and it weighed deeply in his temporary heart and mind.

He tried to keep himself distracted by destroying the Kingdom of Valoria.

But he understood that once everything ended, he would have to face reality.

Kate was already dead, and the fruit of what they shared together had also perished.

But for now, Thirteen only had one thing on his mind.

"I'll make all of you pay," Thirteen said, his voice was like a whisper, but everyone inside the capital city heard it as if a clap of thunder had boomed into their ears.

He was supposed to be logical. He was supposed to be indifferent. He was supposed to be unfeeling.

But countless years of pain and suffering from the deaths of his Hosts had corrupted the System of Cannon Fodders, making him stray from the role given to him.

Even now, the emergency program that should have shut him down by giving him a complete reset wasn't working properly.

The virus called "Revenge" had taken hold of his entire being, overwriting everything he stood for.

And from high above the Celestial Realm, the Goddess named Valoria felt herself shudder as Thirteen gazed in her direction.

She felt as if her existence was in danger, making her regret not advising Medea to save Kate from harm.

The main reason she didn't do anything was because Kate was fated to die, allowing Princess Clariss to ascend the throne without competition.

The Princess was a Heroine who would help the Hero, Neil, defeat the Demon Lord and bring out a new era of peace and prosperity across the land.

Unfortunately, that script was scrapped the moment Kate had died.

She didn't expect that the System of Cannon Fodders would go out of control, threatening the destiny of the Kingdom that worshiped her as their Goddess.

But it wasn't only her that took notice of what was happening in the mortal world.

A Goddess, who held many faces, looked at Thirteen and sighed in her heart.

She knew that this wasn't the first time the System had suffered a breakdown.

It happened a few times in the past, but the safety program that had been installed in his Soul Core had erased those painful memories, allowing him to regain control and follow his role as the System of Cannon Fodders.

Still, the problem didn't disappear after his memory was erased.

Traces of it were left, and these traces grew over time, creating the Revenge Virus that was now overwriting his sense of purpose.

Thirteen was fine with that.

He embraced the anger, the pain, and the despair he felt.

He had enough.

It was now time to strike back.

Using his will to dominate Princess Clariss, he forced the Crown Princess to slap her mother and claw at her face.

Queen Amara cried in anguish as she, too, slapped her daughter and fought her until both of them were rolling on the floor.

Brynhildr and Hildr watched this with veiled delight, waiting for their Master's next orders as the world around them burned in the flames of vengeance.