System's POV

612  The Final Trial [Part 6]

Derek had noticed Zion's unusual behavior and suddenly had an idea.

Earlier, Thirteen only patted Sherry's head instead of attacking her, and now, he left Shana alone without injuring her body. He also remembered that the teenage boy didn't hurt Diana during their exchange earlier. This only led to one conclusion.

"He doesn't attack girls!" Derek shouted. "If all the girls attack together, we can win this!"

Stella, Siri, and Mildred all looked at Derek in disdain.

The three of them were girls, and Zion didn't show them any mercy.

'Are we a joke to you?'

Those were their thoughts as they cursed the stupid swordsman internally.

But, the longer the battle transpired, the more Derek realized something else.

'I-Is he training us?!' Derek thought as he observed the teenage boy attack the Wanderers, as if telling them the vulnerability of their fighting style through his relentless attacks.

And just like earlier, Thirteen ignored attacking Shana, Diana, and Sherry, and focused on the rest.

"Erica! Attack Zion directly!" Derek shouted. "He is close to you, right?! Maybe you're the only one who can defeat him!"

Erica, who had also noticed Thirteen's unusual acts of kindness, decided to give it a try.

She descended from the sky, and charged at Thirteen like a flying comet.

"Ziooon!" Erica shouted. "You're dead meaaaaaaaaaaat!"

With a hate-filled roar, Erica punched forward, with her body coated by flames.

Thirteen, who had just kicked a Wanderer to the side, raised his hand and covered it in flames.

Time seemed to have come to a complete stop as Thirteen met Erica's gaze.

A second later, a resounding slap spread in the arena, making Derek, who saw it, cover his mouth as his body shuddered uncontrollably.

Due to one of his abilities, he saw everything that happened as if it was in slow motion. When Erica charged at Zion, with her entire body blazing in flames, the teenage boy coated his hand with flames as well.

He then casually dodged to her right side, making Erica's attack fly past him.

However, at the last second, Thirteen slapped Erica's bum, which resulted in the loud resounding slap that everyone heard.

"I'll kill you, Ziooooooooooon!" Erica shouted in anger and embarrassment because the teenage boy dared to spank her without holding back.

Why did you pat Sherry's head?

Why did you lightly tap Shana's chest?

Why did you avoid Diana?

Why did you slap my butt?

What is this discrimination?!

Similar to Derek, Erica was expecting that Thirteen wouldn't hurt her because they were close.

But to her surprise, the teenage boy actually dared to do such an indecent thing in front of everyone, making her cheeks feel as if they were burning. Thirteen, who had just slapped Erica's bum, casually took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his hands as if he had touched something dirty.

This further infuriated the Sorceress, which made her roar in anger due to the embarrassment and humiliation that she had just suffered. "Master, I'm sorry, but this ends now!" Derek, who had finally regained his composure, used the Martial Technique that Thirteen had taught him.

This gave him unparalleled speed, as well as stronger striking power, allowing him to overpower most foes even if they were stronger than him.

"Tiger Blitz!" Derek unleashed his sword strike with utmost precision and power.

Unfortunately, Thirteen was expecting that he would attack at that moment, so he simply dodged to the side and used his staff to also spank Derek's bum, sending him skidding head first on the ground for dozens of meters.

The battle had been waged for less than an hour, and yet, more than half of the Wanderers were knocked out on the ground.

Some of them were groaning in pain after getting hit by Thirteen's staff, which felt like being hit by a truck.

They could only look at the teenage boy who was standing at the center of the arena, unmoving, as if waiting for everyone to regain their bearings.

Suddenly, they saw Sherry walk toward the unmoving Zion with a determined look on her face.

She wasn't holding any weapon, and she seemed to have no intention of fighting.

Everyone watched with bated breath as she stood a meter away from the boy, who turned around to look at her with an indifferent look on his face.

Taking a deep breath, Sherry raised her hand to reach out to the teenage boy, making almost everyone stop breathing.

They thought that Zion would attack her, just like how he attacked the others earlier.

But the thing that they were expecting to see didn't happen.

Sherry had wrapped her arms around Thirteen's body, hugging him tightly. She then buried her head on his chest, with her body trembling as if she was afraid that she would get hurt.

When the teenage boy suddenly raised his hand, everyone thought that the pitiful girl would be knocked unconscious with a strike on her head.

But similar to what happened earlier, Thirteen simply patted her head, as if he was telling her that everything would be fine.

Suddenly, Sherry's body glowed faintly, catching everyone by surprise.

A moment later, she transformed into particles of light, shooting towards the heavens.

[One Challenger has passed the test!]

Silence descended inside the Coliseum for a few minutes before an uproar spread like wildfire.

They didn't understand what just happened, but Sherry had cleared the trial after hugging Thirteen.

Derek, who was always fast on the uptake, hurriedly walked toward his Master with his arms raised in surrender and a smile plastered on his face.

"Master, I surrender," Derek said as he approached Thirteen.

Similar to what happened earlier, the teenage boy didn't attack the swordsman and allowed him to get closer.

When Derek was only one meter away from Zion, he reached out his hands in order to hug the latter.

However, a second later, a resounding slap reverberated in the surroundings, as Thirteen slapped Derek, making the latter collapse unconscious on the ground.

As if that wasn't enough, Thirteen casually kicked the fallen boy's bum, sending him to the side of the arena, making everyone offer a silent prayer to the swordsman, who was suffering from Thirteen's discrimination.