At the sound of Gwen’s siren, every girl fled from the guys and the guys chased after the girls. The first few balloons were thrown to catch the girls by luck, but Gale used his thick aura like a cloak and caught the balloons.

The ladies saw how Gale stood in the center to defend them, and they celebrated.

“Way to go, Gale!”

“I’ll give you a kiss later!”

The girls heaped praise upon praise as they left the scene, but Gale was only interested in locating Dylan. As Gale didn’t activate his killing aura, he relied on his acute senses to find Dylan.

Blacky Chan was intrigued by Gale’s unarmed combat skills, and he challenged Gale for a duel. Gale was disgusted by Blacky’s confrontation, and he asked, “you’re a shameless combat instructor, Mr. Blacky. Why are you attacking me when I’m trying to defend the girls?!”

“Because this is a game and we shouldn’t be too serious about it,” Blacky replied. “What’s wrong about getting a little wet under a hot sun?”

“Who do you want to throw the water balloons at?” Gale asked.

“Ms. Kasumi and Jacinta!”

Instantly, rage filled his soul, and Gale showed no mercy to Blacky. He flooded the forest with his black aura, and many of the guys couldn’t chase the girls because of the thick shroud.

“[Winter Storm][1]!”

Gale’s black aura turned freezing cold, and the water balloons burst into ice! The guys immediately let go of their water balloons as their hands suffered frost-bites!

“What the hell?! This Gale is crazy!”

Blacky saw that Gale’s power-level was insane, and he immediately activated his killing aura to fight against the latter. Blacky had never fought with Gale before, so he was unaware of his speed and strength. To prevent himself from injuring a student, Blacky severely underestimated Gale’s abilities by using ten percent of his power when he attacked with both of his legs.

However, Gale determined that Blacky must not be shown mercy, and he used his [Heaven and Earth Acupuncture Fingers]. It was a complex set of finger techniques which aimed at acupuncture points of the opponent, and Blackly couldn’t figure out where Gale’s fingers were targeting because all he saw was a maze of after-images.

Gale jabbed thrice at Blacky’s soles each, and it instantly sends pulses of shockwaves through the nerves within his legs. He then targeted Blacky’s calf and thigh muscles with multiple shots, and Blacky’s muscles relaxed immediately and became soft like jelly.

Blacky’s legs weakened tremendously, and he fell forward with his face onto the ground! As Blacky struggled to pick himself up, Gale said, “don’t worry. You won’t be able to use your legs for an hour. Crawl back to the base, or you’ll have to take the forfeit.”

The rest of the students galvanized together and attacked Gale, but Gale only saw them as insects. They were at most ‘D’ class fighters, and Gale swiftly immobilized the majority of them using his [Heaven and Earth Acupuncture Fingers] under a minute!

As Gale struck the acupuncture points on the chests of the students, it severed nerve signals temporarily to the brains and the students weren’t able to move a muscle! After a minute, the place was filled with human statues.

“Darn it. Dylan isn’t around. I must find him before he gets to the girls!” Gale exclaimed.

No one else dared to attack Gale as he rushed into the forest trail to find Dylan.

----------

Porneia ran ahead and saw a team of elite students who were eager to chase her down. She marveled at the speed of those students.

“I’m the fastest among the Four Abominations, and I’m considered speedy by the lynchpins. These guys could actually keep up with ten percent of my speed!”

One of the guys threw a water balloon, and Porneia dodged easily.

“However, these guys are so immature. How do they expect to hit me at that distance?”

While Porneia was running, she purposely stepped onto a trap, and a hidden log rose from the ground! A couple of students ran into the wood and hurt themselves!

“Ah, I feel so bad at their stupidity that I should allow them to massage my breasts. But if I let myself get caught by them, I wouldn’t know how to face my sisters.”

Porneia doubled her speed as a result and left a trail of dust behind her. The team of elite students saw Porneia’s momentum and gave up immediately.

----------

Instead of students, Valerian was facing off with a couple of combat instructors to protect Kasumi. Kasumi hid behind Valerian as Allan McKenzie and Victor Spectre stared menacingly.

“Aren’t we fellow combat instructors?! Why would you want to throw water balloons at Kasumi?” Valerian asked.

“It’s for fun!” Allan said. “We shouldn’t be so serious!”

“Precisely!” Victor added.

Valerian specialized in unarmed combat, and his palms became blazing hot. Victor pushed his spectacles up and said to Allan, “I’ll handle Valerian. Take the first move at Kasumi when you see an opening.”

Victor unleashed after-images of himself, and Valerian knew he was against a tough opponent. Both were regarded as ‘AA’ caliber, and deep within, they wanted to find out who was the better fighter.

Victor unleashed his [Ghastly Kicks], and it was a succession of quick kicks with multiple after-images. The after-images were designed to confuse the opponent, and Valerian moved his palms in a circular motion to counter the attack.

“[Iron Sand Blast]!”

Valerian thrust both his palms forward and unleashed a deadly energy blast to blow away Victor’s after-images. However, it was a feign from Victor, and Victor used his quickness to skirt around the energy blast!

Valerian realized he was tricked and he redirected his palms at Victor, but Victor caught Valerian’s wrists instead. As Valerian channeled his energy to break free from Victor’s hold, Victor’s [Drain Touch] absorbed Valerian’s power into him through his grip.

“Now, Allan!”

Allan moved forward with both water balloons and attacked Kasumi. Kasumi threw her water balloons at Allan to deter him, but he didn’t care if his clothes melted.

Kasumi didn’t dare to use her arms to attack Allan because Allan might aim straight to her clothes and melt them, so she tried to run away. But Allan was an arm’s length away and was about to throw the water balloon at point-blank range.

BAM!

A foot landed on Allan’s face, and he crashed into the trees.

“Gale!”

Kasumi was super touched and pleased that Gale came to her rescue. Gale was frantically looking for Dylan, but he saw Valerian having trouble with Victor, so he stopped to help him out.

As Victor became distracted by Gale’s appearance, Valerian plodded onto Victor’s feet, and the latter immediately yelped in pain while he loosened his grip. Valerian then jabbed Victor’s chest lightly with his [Iron Sand Palms] and Victor was pushed back by Valerian’s attack.

“Should we end this game, Mr. Victor?”

Victor wasn’t injured, but he knew Valerian could’ve killed him if the latter used his full power. “Of course. It’s my defeat.”

“Alright, I can’t wait here. I need to find Dylan,” Gale said.

“Jacinta and Clere are up in front! Go and save them!” Kasumi declared.

Immediately, Gale sprinted off and disappeared into the depths of the forest. Allan got up from his fall, and he didn’t even know who hit him.

----------

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Hideki. You lost to me with a katana. Now, you don’t even have a katana. How do you expect to shield these ladies?”

Dylan taunted Hideki as the latter stood in front of the girls. There were also a dozen other students who were aiming for Jacinta and Clere.

Reynard shielded Jacinta and Clere bravely with his body as they fled, and half of his clothes were melted away.

Clere realized it was an impossible situation, and Hideki couldn’t fight without his katana. She bit her right thumb and wrote a magical incantation on her left arm. Her blood became ink, and her palms became cloaked with [Cursed Ink].

Hideki couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Clere wasn’t even using a brush to activate her [Cursed Ink Technique]!

During training, Gale forced Clere to train without her brush. The brush helped Clere to produce [Cursed Ink]. Gale didn’t want Clere to be over-reliant on her brush, and he made sure she was able to fight in unarmed combat.

However, Clere was reluctant to show the results of her training to anyone. She wasn’t confident in a real fight, and she didn’t want Hideki to know that she had surpassed him.

When Hideki saw Clere’s [Cursed Ink Technique] on her palms, he immediately understood that she was more than ten times stronger than he once knew.

Dylan knew about the [Cursed Ink Technique], but he didn’t realize Clere was capable of using it. “That’s a surprise. I expected only your sister and your mother who can use your family’s technique.”

“Well, I’m born in the Sigrun family,” Clere retorted.

Jacinta’s strength lies in her psychic powers, and she didn’t want to use it until it was necessary. Clere knew, so she stood forward to fight instead.

The other guys saw how Clere stepped forward, and they immediately threw their water balloons at Clere. However, Clere erected her [Cursed Ink Wall], and shielded herself effortlessly without raising her arms.

“Impressive,” Dylan said. “It will be disrespectful if I don’t use my [King Of Hades Scriptures].”

At once, a black pillar surrounded Dylan and its power reached the height of the trees. Dylan didn’t want to project his energy into the sky because Gale would hunt him down.

Dylan used his [King Of Hades’ Claws] and charged towards Clere with an imminent attack. Clere met Dylan’s claws with her palms and parried his claws away.

The [Cursed Ink] wrapped around Dylan’s hands and he couldn’t remove it!

“This feels like sticky glue,” Dylan observed.

“Well, I’ll remove it if you leave us alone,” Clere replied.

“Not a chance!”

Dylan unleashed another attack when his palms caught fire! Clere turned her [Cursed Ink] into flames!

“[Cursed Ink Techniques] is a mixture of martial arts and magic. You can’t remove my [Cursed Ink] through conventional methods.”

“So what?” A defiant Dylan said. “I can always prevent myself from getting burned!”

Dylan cloaked his hands with his power, and the flames couldn’t touch his flesh. However, the fire ate Dylan’s energy at an incredible rate!

“Such a petty trick. I’m disappointed with your [Cursed Ink Techniques],” Dylan mocked.

“Really?” Clere quipped. “Have more of my [Cursed Ink] then!”

Clere allowed her [Cursed Ink] to drip on the ground. The [Cursed Ink] traveled through the ground and set themselves beneath Dylan. As Dylan was about to make another attack, the ground beneath him exploded into flames! However, Dylan activated his [King Of Hades’ Protection] and he escape unscathed.

“That was close. I shall not take you lightly as an opponent any further,” Dylan said.

“That’s a weak excuse,” Clere said. “Come at me as though you mean it!”

Dylan unleashed a barrage of claw attacks with his [King Of Hades’ Claws], and Clere blocked with her [Cursed Ink Palms]. As Gale taught Clere, Clere aimed for Dylan’s wrists and forearms and directed the attacks away from her body.

Dylan recognized the pattern of attacks because he watched Gale’s fight with the other assassins at the City Plaza battle. “Gale trained you?!”

“What’s wrong? Does it matter?” Clere remarked.

Immediately, Dylan used his hands and unleashed his [King Of Hades’ Cannon]. The energy blast exploded and pushed Clere back several feet away.

The blast also blew out all the [Cursed Ink] that was on his palms and arms. Dylan paused for a moment to think, and then he walked away.

“You’re an interesting opponent, Clere Sigrun. I will definitely fight you another day.”

After the other students saw how Dylan gave up, they fled and ran back to the base.

Dylan didn’t want to continue fighting Clere because he remembered how he was surprised by Reynard before. Moreover, Dylan wasn’t confident he could end the battle in a minute, and if he took too long, Gale would come and rescue them.

Clere heaved a deep sigh of relief because that was her first real battle after learning how to use her [Cursed Ink Palms]. Hideki stared at Clere, and he knew he was way below her level.

Clere knew Hideki’s thoughts and uttered not a word at him. She walked past him and picked Reynard up.

“Are you alright, Reynard? You’re so brave out there!” Clere asked.

“It’s only water balloons. I’m not injured or anything.” Reynard answered.

At that moment, Gale ran into the scene and paused. He looked around and saw that the battle with Dylan had already taken place.

“Well done, Clere. You’ve exceeded my expectations!”

Clere walked forward and knuckled Gale on his head. “Well done my foot! You’re my bodyguard, and you aren’t even here to protect me! Where’ve you been?!”

“Fighting! What else?” Gale whimpered as he held his head in pain.

An arrow pierced through Hideki’s heart as he saw how close Clere and Gale had been.

----------

The students gathered back at the camp after an hour. The academic teachers gave cloaks to everyone whose clothes had melted.

None of the girls had their clothes melted because of their heroic friends. And none of the students or combat instructors attacked Ayumi Sato and Lizzie Velmont.

“This is a boring training,” yawned Lizzie. “Are we ready for our next activity yet?”

“Not yet. Ms. Gwen is going to debrief us,” Ayumi said.

Gwen stood before the students and the combat instructors to give her analysis.

“First of all, well done to all of you. From this exercise, we know who are the heroes and who are the zeros. It’s only losing your clothes, but if you fight in a war, you lose your life.

To those who bravely sacrificed their clothes to protect the girls, you are the zeroes.”

At once, Reynard’s shoulders dropped in disappointment, and Jacinta patted his back to comfort him.

“That’s because you don’t have nine lives,” Gwen continued. “You should’ve aided the girls to safety, or fought against their assailants. By taking advantage of the fact that the water bombs are harmless, you only displayed your bravery and not your skills.

For all the girls who escaped unscathed, congratulations. You displayed wit and skills to avoid your assailants. However, don’t rely on the guys to shield you all the time. Otherwise, you’ll end up as zeroes eventually.

Lastly, where is Gale Gainsborough?”

Gale stood forward, and Gwen placed her hand on his shoulders.

“Congratulations for being such a hero! You are, from this moment on, banned from all training in this camp!”

The students froze, and Gale raised his eyebrow. “What?!”

“You’re too strong. Mr. Blacky can’t walk properly because of you, and though the girls won, they barely got any training,” Gwen explained.

“If your training isn’t so sexualized, I will stay out of it. If it’s otherwise, no combat instructor or Principal Stella is going to hold me back,” Gale warned.

Gwen gave a sly grin and said, “this is the exact response I’m expecting from you! Don’t worry. We’ll not leave you out when we’re having fun!”

----------

Gale received something that he didn’t ask for. All the girls in the camp took turns to hug and kiss Gale on the cheeks.

Gale’s face turned beet red as he tried to refuse their kindness.

“Hey, really, I don’t deserve it!”

“Don’t be modest now, Gale! You saved us from those lecherous eyes!”

After a dozen girls hugged and kissed Gale, it was Serena’s turn, and she blushed while she spoke.

“I always thought Hideki would be the one who would save me, but you’re not bad yourself!”

Serena sank her lips into Gale’s cheeks, and Gale melted under the softness of her lips. His weakness kicked in, and he had no strength to resist the girls.

“No! I can’t — “

Then, it was Jacinta’s turn. Jacinta grabbed Gale’s face kissed him on his cheeks. She then whispered into his ears. “I still owe you a kiss on the lips! And your tongue! And your ears!”

“T-That’s n-not necessary!”

Jacinta kissed Gale’s cheeks another time, and it was Clere’s turn.

“Though you didn’t save me, you saved the rest of the girls. I’m only kissing you on behalf of them!” Clere said.

“You really don’t have to — “

Clere plunged her lips into Gale’s cheeks, and she immediately turned beet-red too!

“That should be enough.” Clere hurriedly walked away to avoid others from seeing her embarrassment. However, Hideki noticed her every move.

Gale’s strength left him, and Porneia giggled, “that’s just Class 1D. What about the rest of the classes? You are so pure and innocent!”

“What?! There’s more?!”

“Just enjoy your reward! You did the girls a huge favor after all!” Porneia remarked.

The rest of the guys were filled with jealousy as the rest of the girls took turns to hug and kiss Gale.

“All he did was to act the hero! I could’ve done it too!”

“Yeah, you said it!”

Gwen overheard the guys’ conversation, and she laughed.

“Kids these days want to be a hero but don’t want to suffer like one. Do you have what it takes to be as strong as Gale?”

One of the guys asked, “have you seen Gale suffer as a hero, Ms. Gwen?”

Gwen immediately thought of the Babel Square Tournament, and how he stood his ground to allow Zeel and Sunny to escape.

“I did, unfortunately,” Gwen said. “Even I cannot deny that Gale has suffered as a hero.”

The guys didn’t dare to comment about Gale in front of Gwen anymore.

“However, you and I still have a score to settle, Gale Gainsborough.”