“ZERO!”
They called out his name but the situation didn’t change. Zero was still taking the hits from other participants without retaliating.
The Ace Academy students also had worried expressions but more than that they were confused by Zero’s behavior.
This strange behavior also caught the eyes of people in the VIP area. They also discussed what was happening on the stage.
“It must be the side effect of Zero using that strange technique. How else could he be so strong despite being a Rank-C -?”
Ulv Sylvester spoke in an attempt to reduce suspicion of Zero’s action. He didn’t want them to find out that someone was interfering with the match.
He said in such a loud voice that not only the people in the VIP area but also other people in the stadium had heard that. They also thought that the explanation was plausible.
They had only sensed Zero’s mana aura which was at Rank-C -. He has already shown a level of strength beyond that.
They thought that Zero used a forbidden skill to increase his power. And every forbidden technique that is used to increase strength has some kind of side effect. With Zero being so strong, they thought that side effects should be very big.
“Looks like his luck has run out!”
“If only the side effect didn’t appear for a minute or two then he should have been able to win.”
“Pity!”
People sympathized with Zero. Zero was strong and was only a first-year student. If he had won the tournament then a world record would have been made. Unfortunately, he lost because of his bad luck in meeting such strong opponents and having run out of skill time. They thought it was a pity.
“So he is only strong because he uses skills? And here I thought that he was very talented.”
“This type of skill should be banned. I don’t know how much money he spent to get those skills.”
“He is obviously relying on external things to become strong!”
“It was really unfair for others to fight him when he had forbidden skills.”
Not all were, however, on the side of Zero. Many, who were jealous of Zero’s talent, cursed at him and felt that he deserved this outcome.
They were so ignorant and wanted only to believe in themselves that they didn’t realize that 1 vs 9 and the other participants using a formation to deal with Zero was more unfair.
Despite all the thinking that other people were feeling, the main people concerned knew the reason was not because of some side effect of a skill that Zero is purposefully taking those hits.
They didn’t know what the voice did to make Zero pacifist but they didn’t care and attacked Zero.
-PAK! -BAM! -BAM!
The participants continued to hit and insult Zero. They took great pleasure in torturing Zero who seemed invincible just a few minutes ago.
However, Zero at the time didn’t even pay attention to them. He was extremely anxious about whether his parents were okay or not. The pain that his body was feeling was nothing in comparison to his worries for his parents.
Even when blood flowed out of his head and mouth, he was still thinking about his parents.
He already knows how it feels to have his parents taken away and didn’t want to feel that again. The tournament was nothing of a big deal for Zero and he would have even forfeited if asked for his parents’ safety.
But he knew that after the kidnapping, Ulv Sylvester would not just hand over his parents back. Zero feared that after getting what he wanted, that was after he was defeated, he would order his men to kill them.
He even thought about charging ahead and killing Ulv Sylvester multiple times. With Dark Energy, he knew that it was possible to instantly kill Ulv Sylvester before he could even call his men. However, he couldn’t until he was sure about his parent’s status and he didn’t want to take a risk that involved his parent’s life.
-PAK! -BOOM! -BAM!
Ulv Sylvester looked at Zero feeling satisfied. He had also managed to convince other members of the Tournament managed team that Zero was under some kind of side effect.
It was the perfect time to end all of this.
” ( Time is up! Throw him out of the stage.) ”
Ulv Sylvester used telepathy to communicate with Omar Noel and other participants.
After hearing the voice, they stopped attacking Zero and stared at him satisfied. They only had to throw him out off the stage and they would be able to finish their objectives.
Omar Noel took the lead and picked up Zero. A sneer appeared on his face as he looked at him.
“I guess this is it for you! I am the strongest person!”
Omar Noel declared.
His ambition was clear to see and even the other participants could see that Omar Noel was thinking of winning the tournament. They felt that Omar Noel was not going to just obey what was told to him.
Though they didn’t care much because they would be eliminated either way. Whether it was Ruelle who would take the win or Omar Noel, they would not advance to the next round.
Zero looked down at him with a condescending smile. Omar Noel can feel that he was still being looked down upon even after Zero was all battered up, which made him angry.
Zero found it very difficult to understand how Omar Noel, who has no power and only was able to beat him because of him being threatened, could still act so arrogant.
“A mere loser dares laugh at me! I will show you where you truly belong!”
-THUD!
Zero was thrown to the ground by Omar Noel and dragged near the ring boundary by him. He was planning to kick him out of the stadium.
Zero also knew that he was going to be eliminated. He didn’t care much about whether he would be eliminated, but he was thinking about what he was going to do next. He knew that Ulv Sylvester would not free his parents easily.
He needed to track his parents’ whereabouts before something happened to them. His attention was drawn away from the ring boundaries when he heard a voice from the Ace Academy side.
“ZERO!”
He would have normally ignored it because many students and professors were shouting at him. Some tell him to fight back while others tell him to surrender. Both of which he could not do.
Nevertheless, he glanced toward the Ace Academy side because it was Professor Mia’s voice. At Ace Academy’s side, he could see Lisa, Sylvia, and others with worried expressions.
Then he saw a sweaty Professor Mia shouting at him from an extreme side of Ace Academy. Their eyes met and Professor Mia seemed to understand what he was going through.
Zero thought that Professor Mia would be angry at him because he could not do what he was asked by her. Now, he was intently losing to them. However, Professor Mia appeared to sympathize with Zero instead of being angry.
Professor Mia, noticing that Zero was paying attention to her, smiled and opened her mouth.
” They are safe!”