System's POV

Medea had tried so many times to talk to Thirteen, but the young man ignored her.

Days then turned into weeks.

Weeks into months.

Until a year had passed.

Noticing Thirteen's unusual tolerance toward the Saintess, the Demons started treating the Saintess as Thirteen's servant girl, allowing her to wander freely within the demon army untouched and unmolested.

There were a few who had attempted to take liberty on her, but these demons were instantly killed by either Brunhildr or Mist, who had decided to watch over the Saintess.

"So he still refuses to talk to you, huh?" The Demon Lord, Scorpius, said in a teasing tone as he poured a cup of coffee for the Saintess, who had accompanied their army in their campaigns against the human kingdoms.

By now, the territories of the Humans had been reduced to a tenth of their previous glory.

Some kingdoms chose to surrender and were allowed to live under the Demon's rule.

The last remaining resistance was now pushed back to the Mountain Kingdom of Artemesia, where the last warriors of humanity stood to make their last stand.

In truth, the Demon Lord had wanted to stop the war after conquering more than half of the continent.

He wasn't a bloodthirsty being who wished for war.

When he started invading the human lands, it was only so the Demons could have their own fertile lands.

The Demon Lands were a barren place where no wheat could grow. As such, their invasion was purely for the sake of survival, and this goal had been achieved months ago.

There were even times when the Demon Lord pleaded for Thirteen to stop this madness and wished to sign a peace treaty with the humans.

The more land he conquered, the thinner his forces were stretched.

Even those who were left behind to supervise the cities and kingdoms they had invaded could easily be killed by their populace.

The only reason the humans didn't dare to do such a thing was because of their fear of the Angel of Death.

A being that could instantly annihilate entire cities, leaving only craters behind as proof that they once existed in the past.

Without Thirteen, the Demons couldn't possibly hold the lands now under their rule, even if they tried.

In fact, the moment he decided to call it quits, the demons would even have a hard time returning to the Demon Lands. They might even be wiped out before they could do so.

The world's current balance hung on a thread maintained by a single existence, who had the power to single-handedly destroy the world if he wished to.

Of course, Scorpius had heard the story of why Thirteen hated the Goddess from the Valkyries.

He even wondered why the young man allowed the Saintess to live. After all, she was the highest representative of the Goddess after the Pope, whose council had perished.

"The way I see it, there's only one way to stop this war, Medea," Scorpius said after sipping his coffee. "This all started because his mate, who was pregnant with his child, died.

"How about you become his partner and give birth to his child? Once you get pregnant, maybe he will settle down and call it quits? I can then make peace with the humans and end this bloodbath once and for all."

Medea put down her cup of coffee and heaved a sigh.

"I came to see him with the determination to die, desperate to do anything to stop this war," Medea replied. "The one time I managed to talk to him, I told him I'd give him my body and soul if that meant stopping the war, but he just snorted before flying away."

"When did that happen?" Scorpius asked with curiosity.

"Three months ago," Medea answered.

"Many things have happened since then," Scorpius stated. "And… his moments of clarity now only last for five hours before he once again goes on a rampage. I'm afraid that once the Resistance has fallen, it will now be our turn to face his wrath."

The Demons were sick and tired of the war, but feared angering Thirteen more.

They had personally witnessed how he destroyed an entire kingdom by himself, so no one in the Demon Army dared to defy him.

As if he had finally resolved himself, the Demon Lord looked at Medea in a solemn gaze.

"Let's do it," Scorpius declared.

"Do what?" Medea frowned.

"I will personally spike Thirteen's drink with aphrodisiac and a fertility potion," Scorpius replied.

"You drink it as well, and I'll ask the Valkyries to take both of you to a place where he can ravage you until you conceive his child. Once that happens, he might finally calm down and think of the future of his child."

At that moment, a shadow fell over Scorpius, making him glance up.

"It seems that you're tired of living, Scorpius," Mist said before landing beside the Demon Lord.

The Demon Lord simply shrugged, not feeling anxious in the slightest.

"It was worth a try," Scorpius replied before drinking the rest of his coffee.

Two days later, the final battle finally took place.

At least… that was what was supposed to happen.

But that day, Medea started shuddering after a beam of light descended on her body.

It was a Divine Possession.

When Medea opened her eyes, her iris had turned completely golden, and divine power misted from her body.

However, compared to the presence of the Goddess when she descended with her avatar, the current Goddess felt very weak.

In fact, it was because she had grown weak that possession became possible.

Medea simply didn't have enough power to allow the soul of a Goddess to take over her body.

If the Goddess had done it in the past, the Saintess' body would have turned to ashes after the possession was done.

But now, she posed no danger to Medea, who had allowed her body to be taken over willingly.

"What do you want?" Thirteen asked coldly. "Did you come here to say your last words?"

His purge had been very thorough, rooting out and executing every believer of the Goddess hidden throughout the Demon Army's conquered kingdoms.

It wasn't just the Resistance making their last stand.

The Goddess was also at the end of her rope.

She had tried to summon heroes from other worlds in order to fight Thirteen, but the young man didn't give them time to grow and nipped them in the bud.

Each Hero Summon greatly diminished the Goddess' powers, and even when she did it secretly, Thirteen still found her chosen ones and killed them without mercy.

And now, she had come to see him one last time.

"I came here to bargain," Goddess Valoria said.

"To bargain?" Thirteen sneered. "Bargain with what? You don't have anything worth bargaining with."

"You're right." The Goddess nodded. "I don't have anything to offer you, but I'm not alone."

As if proving her words to be true, another lady materialized right beside her.

Thirteen narrowed his eyes. Unlike the Goddess Valoria, the newcomer brimmed with power and vitality.

She wasn't a beauty that could bring down the downfall of a nation.

The young lady seemed to be in her early twenties, and she could be considered pretty by human standards.

Even Thirteen felt a bit attracted to her, not because of her face but because of the feeling he was getting from her.

"You feel familiar," Thirteen frowned. "Have we met before?"

"Yes and no," the young lady replied. "We've met, but not directly."

Thirteen crossed his arms over his chest. "Who are you then?"

"Well, I go by many names," the young lady replied. "But the name I am using right now is Cathy. However, you might know me by my real name."

"And what is your real name?" Thirteen inquired.

The young lady smiled before placing her right hand over her chest, directly over her heart.

"My true name is… Hope."

Thirteen felt as if something clicked into place. "I see. So you're Hope."

"Yes." Cathy nodded. "We met through Pandora, your previous host."

Thirteen's gaze softened a bit, but suddenly, a stinging pain made his body shudder.

One of his episodes was about to take place, and if he didn't fly away, he might endanger everyone in his surroundings, including the Saintess, who was currently being possessed by the Goddess Valoria.

Just as he was about to leave, a refreshing breeze blew past him, instantly vanquishing the pain inside his head.

Cathy had blown that wind in his direction, which helped the young man regain his sanity before his rage took over him completely.

"Let's talk, Thirteen," Cathy said. "And I have a proposal for you."

"A proposal?"

"Yes. A proposal that would put an end to your suffering."

Thirteen had every intention of ignoring the Goddess Valoria, even if she had come to plead to bargain with him.

But Cathy, who represented Hope, was different.

Even his Hosts clung to hope during their darkest hours.

Because of this, Thirteen couldn't ignore her even if he wanted to.

"Very well, what is this proposal of yours?" Thirteen asked.

After seeing that the young man was finally willing to talk, the Goddess Valoria and Medea breathed a sigh of relief internally. Finally, they had found hope in this seemingly desperate situation.

Cathy smiled brightly and offered her hand to Thirteen, so they could go to a place where she and the Goddess of Valoria could reason with the Angel of Death, who had decided to fight against Fate for the very first time since he came into being.