"Actually."

Instructor Iritis flashed away and appeared between the Punishers and White.

"I’m the one who asked him to be here. He’s an Outcast Limitless User. I thought it would be good for his training if he met someone from the Main Family and got to witness their skills."

He replied fluidly as the Lead Punisher’s eyes creased.

"And that’s why I called Zeras here too. So, as much as I hate to say this, it’s all on me."

Instructor Iritis admitted, placing the blame on himself.

"You’re going to be punished for this, Instructor Iritis. Newcomers, or Pseudo-2nd years, are not allowed on 2nd year grounds. An Instructor’s wishes do not count as an exception."

The Punisher behind the lead Punisher said.

She appeared to be a woman based on her feminine tone.

"I’m sorry."

Instructor Iritis said, stepping forward with both hands stretched toward the man.

"I’ll take whatever punishment is necessary."

He said, but then the man shifted away from him, taking a couple of steps toward White instead.

"Actually..."

The man said, raising a gloved finger.

"You might have asked him to come, but he came here with his own two legs."

The man said, turning to look at White, who raised an eyebrow at him.

He had a pair of familiar crimson eyes.

Eyes that reminded White of Rukun.

"He’s going to be punished. And not just any normal punishment for trespassing."

He said as Instructor Iritis turned sharply.

"What? Why?"

"Because I, for one, have noticed an increase in the number of Newcomers coming into the 2nd years in recent months."

"He only just came back four days ago!"

Instructor Iritis defended.

"Doesn’t matter. We need a scapegoat to deter them, and... he’ll do just fine."

He said, and White could almost see his wicked grin even through the cloth that covered his lips.

"That’s not fair, and it goes against the rules. Trespassing leads to a deduction of points as official punishment. Even if you wish to punish him, dragging him out before the rest of the Newcomers just to act as a scapegoat clearly goes against the rules."

He replied, but then—

CLINK!

The sound of a click echoed, and Iritis turned to his wrist, finding a metallic handcuff covered in runes appearing around it.

It had been chained on by the female Punisher, and it had the effect of severing his connection with his essence energy, leaving him with only his physical might.

"We Punishers are the rules. We determine what’s fair and what’s not fair. If I said he’ll be punished, then he’ll be punished. My words are final!"

He shot back in anger.

"Take him away, Jolie."

He said to the lady, who tried to drag Iritis away, only for words to cut through.

"Actually..."

White said, and everything paused.

"She should remain."

White said, causing the man’s eyes to shrink.

"You’ll need all the strength you can get to take me down."

White said, and the man took one step back, never having expected that before laughing out loud.

"Me? Need her to take you down? What are you going to do? Fight b...?"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A part of the arena was instantly crushed into debris, exploding outward like a bomb had detonated.

Both Jolie and Instructor Iritis’ eyes widened in shock as they looked at White, whose eyes remained calm, one hand still extended as if he had just swatted away a fly.

Turning their eyes to the side, they saw the destruction that had been made across the arena.

A crater tore through the ground for over a hundred meters straight, at the end of which lay the Punisher on his back.

"You!"

"You fought back against a Punisher?"

Jolie recounted in disbelief as White slowly lowered his hand and began rolling up his sleeves.

"As a student of Xtremecyber, I listen to the rules of Xtremecyber, and I am judged by nothing but them."

"Now, when some guy walks up to me and tells me he is the rule... do I have to obey him just because he calls himself a Punisher?"

"He doesn’t follow the rules anymore, and you think I should?"

White said with a scoff of mockery.

The man trying to punish him was already against the rules.

Trespassing is punished automatically by the system.

It deducts your points, though there could be an extra beating if the 2nd year caught you.

Now, if a Punisher wanted to punish him for fighting a 2nd year or using the excuse that he using the 2nd year amenities ( the arena ) as an excuse, that would still make sense.

But then the man said it himself.

He doesn’t give a damn about the rules. He just wants to punish him because he feels like making someone a scaps goat.

Why would he still choose to follow rules that were just discarded like trash before him.

"You can’t beat them, White!"

Instructor Iritis shouted.

"The green barrier that covers the 2nd year grounds is an Absolute Rule. It can disrupt your techniques at their command."

"You can’t win!"

Instructor Iritis said, and White’s eyes gleamed in understanding.

When his Astral Monarch skill had been cancelled by that man earlier, he had noticed the system mentioning an Absolute Rule.

A power that could deactivate others’ techniques upon activation sounded absurd enough,

But now, he understood.

He had thought the green barrier around the 2nd year grounds was some sort of marker but he had seen runes pulsing along its surface earlier, and it had made him wonder.

If it was just a marker, why place runes on it?

Now he knew.

It wasn’t just a simple barrier, nor was it just a simple rune.

It was an Absolute Rule the Punishers could use to deactivate a student’s abilities.

"You will regret this!"

The Punisher lady shouted, flashing toward White.

A light glowed from her hand as a massive sword bursting with crimson energy appeared.

She was before White in an instant, piercing straight at his chest.

"Activate Zero Crown!"

White ordered, and the woman instantly froze mid-motion three meters away from him.

But then,

"SEVER!"

Jolie shouted.

In the next moment, White felt as if he had been struck by a nuke as he staggered three steps backward, coughing out blood again.

RIIIIIIIIP!

The air parted in the next moment as Jolie appeared before him, her sword thrusting outward,

It tore straight through White’s chest, ripping out of his back.