The instructor remained expressionless to Gary’s speech and turned toward Zac. "And what’s your condition?"

Every eye in the arena shifted to him.

Zac didn’t even bother looking at the instructor. His gaze stayed fixed on Gary.

After a brief silence, he answered in a calm voice. "I just want to beat the crap out of him."

...

The arena fell into silence. Several students blinked, and some wondered if they had heard him correctly.

An E-rank... Wanted to beat an S-rank?

One second-year student scratched his head. "Either he’s incredibly confident or he’s completely lost his mind."

Another nodded. "My money’s on the second one."

Kelly looked toward Sabrina. "That’s it? I thought he’d say something cooler."

Sabrina kept her eyes on Zac.

"One idiot doesn’t want to waste words on another idiot."

Kelly smiled. "So you’re defending him again?"

"I am not," Sabrina replied without looking away. "I’m just telling you what I think."

Marty let out a quiet sigh. Only he understood that Zac’s words weren’t empty bravado.

The incident back in middle school was still vivid in his mind. So was the moment he watched Zac cold-bloodedly kill the hitmen.

In the arena, the instructor looked at both of them for a moment before speaking.

"Very well then, listen carefully."

His calm voice echoed throughout the arena. "Killing your opponent is strictly forbidden. Deliberately inflicting fatal injuries is also prohibited."

"If I order you to stop, you will stop immediately. If either of you ignores my command, I will intervene myself."

Neither Zac nor Gary responded.

The instructor continued. "The wager both parties agreed upon must be honored."

"Once today’s match is over, this dispute ends here. You will not seek revenge or start another fight over the same matter again."

"The result of this duel will be final."

He glanced at both of them again. "Weapons, martial arts, skills, and spells are permitted."

"However, pills, external arrays, runes, or any other outside assistance are forbidden unless they are part of your own fighting style or class."

"The winner will be decided when one of you surrenders, is thrown out of the arena, or is no longer capable of fighting."

The instructor looked at both of them. "If there are no objections..." He stepped off the stage. "...begin."

The instant he left the arena, every eye locked onto the two first-years.

Gary stood there with a confident smile, and Zac simply looked at him without a trace of emotion.

The silence stretched for several long seconds before Gary chuckled. "What? Too scared to make the first move?"

He spread his arms mockingly. "Don’t worry. I’ll try not to make this too painful."

A few students laughed, and Gary slowly started walking toward Zac. "When this is over, you’ll be out of the academy before you even realize what happened."

"Maybe then your parents will finally realize what a disappointment they raised."

There was no response from Zac.

"What? Did I hit another nerve? Where did all that anger from the classroom go? Why are you just standing there like a scared little kitten?"

He grinned. "You know what? If I had a son like you, I’d be ashamed to call him mine."

Laughter echoed around the arena.

"Your parents must’ve regretted having..."

Before he could finish the sentence. A hand suddenly appeared inches from his face.

Gary’s pupils shrank. "When...?" His body hadn’t even begun to react.

BOOM!

Zac slammed Gary’s face straight into the arena floor.

The impact exploded through the Justice Arena like a cannon blast. Cracks shot across the stone platform in every direction. Chunks of rock burst into the air before crashing back down, and a cloud of dust swallowed the two of them.

The arena became completely silent. Hundreds of spectators stared at the stage with their mouths slightly open.

Many of them hadn’t even seen Zac move. One moment, he had been standing on the opposite side of the arena, and the next...

Gary’s face was already buried in the shattered floor.

The second-year students who had mocked the first-years moments earlier slowly lowered their folded arms. "...What the hell?"

Another rubbed his eyes. "Did anyone see him move?"

"No...I didn’t even see the first step."

On the stage, Zac slowly released Gary’s face. "You talk too much." His voice was quiet and emotionless, and Gary’s body lay motionless inside the crater.

His vision blurred, and his ears rang so loudly that he couldn’t hear anything else.

"What...what just happened...?"

He tried to move, but his entire body screamed in pain. Blood trickled from his nose, ears, and forehead, staining the broken stone beneath him.

Around the arena, the spectators remained frozen. No one cheered or spoke.

Even the students who had been laughing at the idea of an E-rank challenging an S-rank now wore stunned expressions.

Kelly unconsciously covered her mouth.

"H-He’s so strong..."

Beside her, Sabrina kept her eyes fixed on Zac. Even though she had managed to perceive Zac’s movement, she still couldn’t answer one question.

"Could I have dodged that? Especially if I wasn’t expecting it..."

"So he was holding back when we fought? Why does that annoy me?"

Marty continued staring at Zac, his expression tense. "Please... let this be the end."

Shobin looked at him.

"Don’t worry. Gary can’t fight anymore. The instructor will definitely stop the match before it gets out of hand."

"I hope so."

On the stage, Zac looked down at Gary with the same expressionless face.

The faint crimson tint still lingered in his eyes, and slowly, he raised his right fist.

This time, everyone could see the movement. Gary’s eyes widened in horror. He still couldn’t process what had just happened.

At the edge of the stage, the instructor’s expression changed. "That’s enough!" He immediately stepped forward to stop the match.

But the instant he was about to step onto the stage... His entire body froze. An overwhelming pressure suddenly descended on him, leaving him completely unable to move.

Since it was directed at him alone, no one else noticed anything unusual. To everyone else, it simply looked as though the instructor had stopped in place.

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

Slowly, he raised his head toward the highest pavilion overlooking the Justice Arena. Its windows were hidden behind dark one-way glass.

"Vice principal?" he muttered under his breath.

A calm voice echoed directly inside his mind. "Don’t interfere... until he’s about to die."

The instructor’s pupils shrank. Slowly, he stepped back. "...Understood."

He genuinely wanted to stop the fight. But it was a direct order from the vice principal, so I couldn’t disobey it.

No one in the arena realized what had just happened. To everyone else, it simply looked as though the instructor had suddenly stopped moving.

Zac looked down at Gary, and his voice was terrifyingly calm.

"You could’ve insulted me, laughed at me, and could’ve called me trash. I wouldn’t have cared."

He slowly crouched until they were eye to eye. "But you should never have mentioned my family."

BOOM!

His fist slammed into Gary’s sternum with a sickening crack that echoed through the silent arena.

Gary’s body folded in half from the impact. His feet left the ground before he crashed back onto the shattered stone.

Blood burst from his mouth, along with tiny fragments of broken teeth.

The spectators instinctively flinched. Some weak-hearted students immediately looked away, and others stood frozen, unable to tear their eyes from the stage.

Gary tried to scream, but the damage was too severe, and only broken, muffled grunts escaped through the blood filling his mouth.

Even breathing seemed to tear through his chest.

Zac slowly stood. Without the slightest hesitation, he walked to Gary’s right side.

Crack!

Gary’s right wrist shattered beneath Zac’s stomp, and his body convulsed in agony.

He tried to scream again, but nothing came out except blood.

Zac walked to the other side.

Crack!

His left wrist broke just as easily.

Then...

Crack!

His right ankle.

Crack!

His left ankle.

Each step Zac took echoed through the silent arena, and each crack drained the color from the spectators’ faces.

Gary’s body twitched uncontrollably. The arrogance in his eyes had long since vanished, replacing it with the desperate fear of death.

Zac bent down and grabbed Gary by the hair. With one hand, he lifted him off the shattered stage as though he weighed nothing.

Blood dripped from Gary’s broken body onto the cracked stone below.

The entire arena watched in stunned silence. Students and teachers alike were left speechless by the brutality they had just witnessed.

Even the second-year students who had come looking for entertainment couldn’t utter a single word.

Holding Gary in the air, Zac slowly turned toward the audience. His gaze swept across the arena. Whenever his eyes met someone else’s, quite a few students instinctively looked away.

"I don’t care what you think of me."

"I don’t care what names you call me."

"I don’t care if you think I’m trash."

"If you’ve got a problem with me..."

He tightened his grip on Gary’s hair.

"...bring it to me."

"But never drag my family or the people I love into it." His crimson eyes swept across the arena. "For your own damn sake..."

"...don’t."

The faint crimson glow in his eyes, combined with the overwhelming divine aura surrounding him, made the warning far more terrifying than any shout could have.

Zac released his grip and tossed Gary’s broken body onto the ground below the stage, which rolled several times before finally coming to a stop.

Without another glance, Zac turned and walked toward the exit.

The instructor immediately rushed over. "Healer! Get over here!" Several academy medics sprinted onto the stage carrying stretchers and recovery equipment.

After a quick examination, one of them looked at the instructor. "He’ll live. But his injuries are critical. We need to begin treatment immediately."

Only then did the instructor let out a relieved breath.

He turned toward Zac’s departing figure before slowly raising his eyes to the darkened pavilion above.

"Vice Principal... Was this your plan from the very beginning?"

Not far away, Marty quietly watched his best friend leave. "I just hope he’s calmed down."

Shobin swallowed hard. "I never thought he could be this ruthless."

As the medics carried Gary away, the same question lingered in the minds of nearly everyone in the arena.

"How could someone with E-rank potential... do something like this?"