System's POV

For the time being, the Demon Army stopped their advance toward the last kingdom that worshiped the Goddess Valoria.

The Goddess, who once held great power, was reduced to such a pitiful state, having drastically lost her countless believers over the past year.

Most of them had either been killed by the Demon Army, or by their very own kingdom that feared Thirteen's vengeance.

As such, those who were lucky enough to escape had headed to the last bastion of mankind, the Mountain Kingdom of Artemesia.

Thirteen didn't bother to conquer the Elven Lands, the Dwarven Kingdoms, or the Beastkin Domains.

The one they worshiped was the Earth Goddess, not the Goddess Valoria, sparing them from the flames of Thirteen's wrath.

The Demon Lord made sure to make a peace treaty with them, to which the three races readily agreed.

They had seen how the Demon Army and the Angel of Death conquered the human lands, and they were more than happy to sit idly at the side as spectators.

"Start talking," Thirteen said after they landed on top of a mountain peak, overlooking the last kingdom of free men. "I'll only give you one chance because it's you, Hope."

The young man completely ignored the Goddess, who had temporarily possessed Medea's body.

Cathy smiled faintly before clapping her hands twice.

She had erected a barrier that would prevent anyone, including those at the Celestial Realm, from hearing, seeing, or prying into their conversation.

"I want you to listen to me until the very end," Cathy stated. "But the gist of my proposal is this—I will give you an opportunity to meet Kate. Not just her, but also some of your previous hosts in the future.

"Meet them?" Thirteen frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Like I said, I will allow you to meet them and live with them," Hope replied. "But it won't happen right away. You are in no condition to meet them right now."

Thirteen didn't reply right away, finding Cathy's words unbelievable.

"Is this the part where I should be laughing?" Thirteen asked with sarcasm. "I thought you came here to give me an offer that I can't refuse. Instead, you came here to give me an absurd proposal. Do you really think I'm that gullible?"

Even the Goddess Valoria thought that Cathy was simply shooting for the stars.

During her time of desperation, she had come to ask the Gods for help, including the System God.

However, the System God had gone into his routine maintenance, so the Goddess was unable to talk to him.

It was the Goddess Lily, as well as her two friends, Cupid and Dim Dim, who came to her rescue.

"Go find Hope," Lily said. "Only she can help you."

Fortunately, Lily knew where to find Hope, so after talking for a while, Cathy decided to help the Goddess Valoria.

For her, Thirteen was like an old friend, as well as the second being she had seen after Pandora opened the box that released all the evils and suffering to the world.

But within that box was Hope, who allowed humanity to cling to something in the face of these adversities.

Cathy told Valoria to wait for her for a day, citing she needed to talk to others who could help her.

A day later, both of them appeared before Thirteen, proposing a deal he couldn't refuse.

Now that the Goddess Valoria had heard of Cathy's proposal, even she was doubtful and wondered if it was really possible.

"You think it's not possible?" Cathy asked, a faint smile on her face. "Or you don't believe it's possible?"

"Both," Thirteen answered. "You're just trying to buy some time until I completely lose my sanity."

Cathy didn't look upset after Thirteen tried to accuse her of buying some time. She had already expected this to happen, which was why she had sought out the three beings whom Thirteen would believe no matter what.

"I'm sorry. I can't convince him by myself," Cathy said to the three small wooden branches on the palm of her hand. "Can you help me?"

The branches shook faintly before all three rose in the air.

A moment later, they transformed into three ladies, who all smiled at the young man, causing his eyes to widen in shock upon seeing them.

"I missed you, Thirteen," a young lady, who seemed to be in her teens, hugged Thirteen tightly. "You've suffered so much. Don't worry, I'm here. I'll do my best to help you."

"Skuld…" Thirteen said hoarsely as he looked at the lady, who was hugging her. "Why are you here?"

"Because I want to be here," Skuld replied. "I want to help you!"

"She's not the only one who wants to help you, you know?" An elderly woman who appeared to be around seventy years old smiled faintly.

Although her hair was white, there were no wrinkles on her face. Her gaze filled with wisdom, and she looked at Thirteen with fondness.

"Urd," Thirteen said softly. "Ah… I see. This is one of those moments when I lost my sanity. I might be rampaging somewhere by now. Maybe once I regain my consciousness, the Mountain Kingdom of Artemesia will be destroyed."

A giggle escaped the third lady, who seemed to be in her mid-twenties. She was none other than Verdandi.

"Don't worry. I can assure you—at the 'Present,' the Kingdom of Artemesia still stands." Verdandi smirked. "It has been a while, Thirteen."

The Norns, who weaved the thread of life and destiny, were three of the Four Beings whom Thirteen trusted.

The fourth one was his friend, Sixty-Nine, another System who had a rather peculiar taste when looking for Hosts.

"Now, do you trust me?" Cathy asked with her arms crossed over her chest. "Although we need to literally pull some strings, we can indeed reunite you not only with Kate, but also with some of your Hosts. But as Hope said, it will not happen immediately. We need time… You need time."

Thirteen shifted his gaze to Skuld, Verdandi, and Urd, who all nodded their heads.

"We can do it," Skuld said with determination. "I will weave that future for you. However, what will happen next, even I will not be able to see. The thread that I will weave will not be part of the threads of destiny to ensure the other Gods will not be able to see it."

"I also need to cut off a few threads of your past," Urd commented. "Otherwise, you will lose your sanity. The current you, who has gained a human form, is not capable of controlling your emotions. Because of this, your Soul Core is being corroded by anger and thirst for vengeance."

"I will also remove the memories of the present so you will not fall into corruption. The last thing we need is a sentient system that can destroy worlds, you know?" Verandi giggled. "Please, don't destroy worlds. I don't want to work overtime. I need my daily fix of Methflix."

"What should I do?" Thirteen asked. He no longer questioned whether it was possible or not.

If the Norns told him that it was possible, then it was possible.

Not even the Gods would be free from the threads of destiny that they weave.

"First, you need to stop this war and stabilize your emotions as a human," Cathy replied. "The cycle of this world is already compromised, so the only thing you can do is create a world that will not fall into destruction. I'm sure you can do that, right?"

"Work together with Medea," Verdandi smiled. "You might not trust the Goddess Valoria, but I can assure you that you can trust her Saintess."

The Goddess Valoria didn't know if she should laugh or cry. It seemed that even the Norns didn't trust her.

In the end, the meeting between the six of them ended after two days.

They had laid out a plan on how to set things right, allowing the world to become a better place.

In return for doing this for the world, The Goddess Valoria would erect statues of Kate and hail her as a Saintess.

This would allow the power of Faith to guide her soul to a place where she and Thirteen could be together once more.

"Although you will forget it, I will tell you now that Kate wouldn't look like the way she did in this world," Skuld said in a serious tone. "The laws of cause and effect will not allow such a thing to happen. But I can promise you that she will be born from a good family and will not suffer too much until the day she meets you."

"But we need a gimmick to make it happen," Urd chuckled. "So… there is a chance you will not realize it's her until the very last minute."

"I don't care," Thirteen replied. "As long as I can meet her and my other Hosts, I'm willing to do anything."

The Norns nodded and bid Thirteen goodbye.

The Goddess finally sighed in relief, and released her hold on Medea's body.

Out of concern for her, Thirteen reached out to prevent her from collapsing on the ground.

Since the Saintess would be working closely with him to set things in motion, he now considered her his ally.

"Well then, I'll be staying with you guys until I deem that things have settled down," Cathy said. "Don't worry. I won't ask you to do anything and will simply observe from the side. This is something the two of you must do on your own."

Thirteen and Medea glanced at each other before nodding at the same time.

"Let's put an end to this war," Thirteen said.

"Mmm." Medea smiled as she allowed Thirteen to carry her like a princess before descending from the mountain to go to the Demon Army, which was waiting for his order to start the war.