Outside the stadium, many were confused by Zero’s action. He released the enemy which he could have easily finished off and was just standing there.
The participants took this chance to recover their strength and stand up.
However, participants on the stage were not foolish or brave enough to attack Zero even when he was just staying idle. They believe that Zero is cooking some kind of plan and waiting for them to let their guards down.
They believed Zero was baiting them so that he could eliminate all of them at once.
‘Don’t think we are so stupid!’
They thought as they stood there putting up their guards.
” ( If you want your parents to be okay then listen to what I say.) ”
Ulv Sylvester went on.
” ( For this entire round, you will not do anything. You should get beaten and just lose. If you do something, I will make sure that you never see your parents again. Nod if you understand. ) ”
Zero nodded.
His anger had reached its limit and he swore that he would kill Ulv Sylvester after this tournament no matter what. His eyes were full of bloodlust and those who looked in his eyes got shivers even if they were in Rank-A.
Zero’s killing intent was on par with Emperor of Destruction’s, and the only thing missing was the mana aura that he intentionally suppressed.
The remaining participants felt dread when they looked at Zero and didn’t dare make a move. They knew that Zero was dangerous.
Ulv Sylvester after warning Zero and seeing that he had agreed, smiled.
He had initially thought that just having arranged those students would be enough to guarantee the win. But considering the importance of the Tournament of Academies, he had to make a countermeasure.
That countermeasure was kidnapping his parents and threatening him to lose. However, the countermeasure was not foolproof. Not everyone is willing to be threatened by their family members.
With how this world worked, many people didn’t care about their family or any such relationship and only believed in strength and fame. For those things, they are willing to even harm their loved ones.
However, Ulv Sylvester has clearly hit a jackpot by kidnapping his parents. From the looks of it, Zero’s parents are very significant to him and he could make use of that to threaten Zero.
He commanded Zero to stand still. While he could make him give up, that would look suspicious so he wanted to have others beat him. This is also because he wants to extend Zero’s suffering.
It was also considered his revenge because Zero was foiling the plan that he made. He was so furious that he almost screamed previously. However, from now on, he knew that things would go as he had planned.
The kidnapping was not only his idea but also the decision of the Dark Guild. With Zero’s talent, the Dark Guild desired to have Zero join their side.
In order to get Zero to join the Dark Guild, they want to threaten him with his parents. All in all, it all worked in his favor and he had some people kidnap Zero’s parents before the tournament started.
” ( You can beat him and he would not do anything! Make sure to make him miserable before throwing him out of the ring.) ”
Telepathically, Ulv Sylvester communicated with Omar Noel and other students.
Other students didn’t know anything and were confused with the words that they heard. However, Ruelle and Omar Noel knew where it came from and understood that Ulv Sylvester had done something that made Zero give up.
“Let’s go and attack him!”
Omar Noel instantly became energetic and asked the other participants to attack Zero with him.
However, they were all standing there. Not only did they not believe what they had heard, but they were also scared of Zero. Zero at the moment seems like a monster wanting to kill everyone. Their guts told them to stay away from Zero.
However, Omar Noel believed Ulv Sylvester’s words and approached Zero. He thought that it was fine for him to go alone if Zero was not going to do anything to him.
-THUD! -THUD!
Omar Noel slowly approached Zero to observe his attitude. Seeing that Zero was not showing any reaction, he gained some confidence and quickly moved near him. Even Omar Noel, when he approached and looked at Zero’s face, he became nervous and a bit scared.
-GULP!
He was hesitant for a moment but knew that Zero would not retaliate. He stood before Zero and slapped him.
-SLAP!
Zero as expected didn’t do anything to him. He was more confident and started beating Zero brutally. While he did not hit that was fatal, he did use powerful punches and kicks which were painful.
“This is your payment for hitting me. And this is underestimating me!”
-POW! KAPOW!
“You should have been like that from the start. A nobody dares challenge me”
-BAM! -BANG!
“You are just a loser!”
Omar Noel started hurling insults at Zero.
Others also believed that what they heard was true and joined the fray. They started to beat Zero as mercilessly as they could.
-BAM! -BANG! -POW!
-FUU!
Zero vomited blood several times but his expression didn’t change. However, he was still scary to look at, which is why they were more satisfied to beat him.
“Where is your arrogance now?”
“Why don’t you fight back? Scared to fight now?”
“How dare you disrespect me? I will show you what happens when I get serious.”
The other participants also started hurling insults and hitting him harder. Most of them were very talented students but Zero made them look weak and the glory that they should have received had turned into humiliation.
They carried hatred for Zero and those emotions were fully displayed at that moment. They wanted to make Zero as miserable as possible and get their revenge.
Outside the stage, people were shocked at what was happening. In one moment, Zero has beaten everyone and was about to win and in the next moment, he has turned into a punching bag.
They were brutally beating Zero and Zero stood there without retaliating. The match quickly turned gruesome with Zero bleeding from every part of his body.
“Why? Why is he not doing anything?”
Lisa asked, almost wanting to enter the stage. She could not stand watching that anymore.
“How should I know? He was clearly okay! Why is he standing like this?”
Sylvia became a little angry.
She didn’t know why Zero was doing nothing. But she didn’t like him standing there and taking hits and insults from those students.
( Please! Fight back! )
Sylvia prayed as she looked at Zero’s miserable state.
“ZERO!”