Chapter 321

"Drax. Stop. Stop. It hurts."

"Will you do my assignment or not?"

"Why-Why sh-should I? The-The teacher said we should do it ourselves without any help," a young Van cried out as three boys of similar age surrounded him.

Even though they were of similar age, they looked a little chubby with enough weight to bash Van hard and leave his face bruised.

His mouth was swollen with one of his eyes blackened from the continuous hits.

The three boys were wearing a pair of heavy, timber-like boots.

Taking a step back, one of the kids glared at Van, who was curled up on the ground sobbing in immense pain.

"Do you like us keeping on beating you up? We have less than a week to submit that project and you are the only one with the brains to help us. Come on, accept," one of the three kids pleaded quietly.

He never wanted to do this, but he was forced by Drax, who threatened to beat them up if they didn’t join him.

And knowing that Drax’s father was part of the Iron Corps instilled fear in their hearts, hence they decided to help carry out this objective.

They had initially tried convincing him with words, but he didn’t accept, so they resorted to beating the boy badly, hoping he would break.

This wasn’t the first time they had done this to Van.

There were times Drax just found it amusing to simply bully the young, scrawny kid.

And time and time again, nobody had ever tried to save Van.

Even when he had reported it to his grandfather, there was nothing the old man could do.

Drax’s father was notorious in their part of town for flaunting his authority as an Iron Corps member and sometimes abusing his power.

Hence, the old man couldn’t do anything but console and nurse his grandson’s wounds each time he came home.

Drax crouched down in front of the sobbing Van.

"Listen, this hurts me more than it hurts you."

"...."

Van lifted his head to scowl at the boy.

"Yo-You aren’t the one bruised."

"Shut up when I’m speaking."

Thwack—!

Drax slapped the boy so hard that Van’s head was flung to the side, saliva bursting from his mouth.

"Hey! What is going on here?!"

A sudden voice cut through the tension as the three boys turned around to see a young Ray holding a small shopping bag in his hand.

He had been sent by his mum to go get something from a stall, and on his way, he had heard loud shouting coming from this corner.

Since he was going to use the path to get back home, he decided to check it out.

Tilting his head a few times to peer in between the small gaps between the boys, Ray set eyes on Van, who was curled up like a ball, sobbing and obviously bruised.

"Were you guys bullying him again?"

Drax looked at his friends for a few moments, then snarled at the newcomer.

"Get lost, Ray. This doesn’t concern you."

Squeezing his small hand, the boy gnashed his teeth tightly before barking at the boys.

"Of course it does! As a future member of the Vanguard Order, I can’t stand back and let injustice prevail!"

"....!!!"

"Pffff! Hahahaha! Future member of the Vanguard Order? Do you think that you will make the cut? Please. Don’t bullshit me, punk," the third boy laughed loudly.

"For the last time; leave now," Drax uttered.

"...."

Looking between the boys and Van, who was still curled up, Ray tightened his grip on the shopping bag.

Then he recalled something his father had said before he left for war.

«You said you want to be in the Vanguard Order, right? Well, listen. Whosoever you have the power to assist moving on, do so. Who knows? They could help you in the future too. Also, try to make some friends, kid. You are too lonely for my liking. Hahahaha!»

Tightening his jaws, Ray dropped the shopping bag to the side and then began walking toward the three boys with a confident look on his face.

’This was how the anime protagonist acted, yeah? He would walk up to a threat and at the end of the day, win.’

Stopping directly in front of the three boys, he scowled. "Move away, kids."

Drax lifted a brow. "Or what?"

At this point, Van was no longer sobbing as he slowly unfurled himself and then looked up to see the famous hot-headed kid who always wanted things to go his way.

He had seen Ray a few times in school, and each time, even if you accidentally stepped on his toes, he would snap at you.

Hence, he was always alienated by everybody, just like Van was.

’I can win this,’ Ray thought, referring back to all the action movies he had watched.

"Or I will—" He lunged forward with a punch aimed directly at Drax.

Unfortunately for him, the two lackeys on the side didn’t let him get too far as they pounced at him, using their bodies as a shield to barge into the boy, sending him sliding backward.

His movements became unstable and erratic.

Unable to regain his balance in time, he was defenseless as Drax darted toward him and slammed his fist into the boy’s midsection.

"Ack...."

The air was almost knocked completely out of the boy’s lungs as he clenched his teeth and grabbed a hold of the arm stuck against his abdomen.

Then, unhesitatingly, he slammed his leg into the boy’s nether region with all his might.

"Aaaaaargh!" Drax cried out in pain.

Letting go of the grip, Ray swung his fist, bashing it into the boy’s nose hard and sending a dizzying wave of pain washing over Drax.

Van was in total shock as he slowly rose to his knees.

Before Ray could send another punch flying, one of the two lackeys found a broken plastic chair to the side and used it to whack the boy with all his strength.

This sent Ray crashing into the ground, and almost instantly, the two boys swarmed him and began hitting and stomping rigorously and without pause.

This continued for two minutes as Ray was unable to find any breathing room to counterattack.

Meanwhile, Drax was still reeling from the previous blow.

Van’s jaw tightened instantly.

’No. I can’t let my savior be in trouble for trying to help me. No.’

With that, Van steeled himself with a surge of courage he never thought he possessed.

"AHHHH!"

He screamed with a loud battle cry, then lunged forward, tackling one of the two boys straight to the ground.