System's POV

611  The Final Trial [Part 5]

Nearly all Wanderers in Pangea knew that Zion Leventis had restrictions placed on his body.

This was why, when they saw that the teenage boy was able to use the abilities of the golden staff, as well as cast spells, they immediately knew that they weren't fighting against the "Zion" whom they knew. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Erica grunted as she unleashed her own barrage of Fire Bullets to block Zion's bombardment.

But the thing that surprised her the most was that the teenage boy could cast the Fire Bullets and control them as if they were homing Fire Bullets.

Even when Erica dodged them, the bullets would simply make a U-Turn and attack her from behind, taking her by surprise.

Fortunately, her sixth sense kicked in, allowing her to evade the attack from behind.

"Damn you, Zion!" Erica shouted. "I'll get back to you later, I swear!"

But despite her shout, the teenage boy was unfazed, and bombarded all the Wanderers with countless Fire Bullets, forcing them to dodge, block, and take evasive maneuvers.

"Are these really Fire Bullets?!" Derek complained. "Why do I feel like they have a life of their own?!"

As a Fire Sorceress, Erica was very familiar with how she casted skills.

Fire Bullets was one of the most basic Fire Spells that could be cast, but until earlier, they had never seen someone cast them in this manner and with this number.

Stella was also unleashing her own flurry of Magic Arrows, targeting the teenage boy, but her attacks were repelled by the Fire Bullets he was casting.

"Charge!" Diana shouted, raising her shield as she charged forward.

Kyle and the other Wanderers all rallied behind her and raised their shields, tanking the Fire Bullets with their Adamantine-grade shields.

With the crusader taking the lead, they were able to not only endure the barrage, but also close the distance between them and their target.

Seeing that his barrage had been neutralized, Thirteen reached out to his golden staff, which was embedded on the ground beside him, and took a step forward.

He reappeared a few meters away from Diana before somersaulting past her and the defenders.

As soon as he landed on the ground, he immediately charged toward Stella, who had been sniping him from afar since earlier.

Sensing that she had been singled out by the enemy, the beautiful young lady disassembled her bow, turning it into two curved black blades, which she held in her hands.

Her mother and father had insisted that she also learned close combat techniques, saying that the moment someone closed in on an archer, they would be easily neutralized if they didn't know how to fight in close quarters.

Stella calmly exchanged a few blows with the teenage boy.

However, with each collision, she was forced to take a few steps back due to the force behind Thirteen's strike.

Simply put, her opponent was simply using brute force, but it was something that made her hands numb every time their weapons clashed with each other.

"I got you now!" Siri shouted as she unleashed a slash behind Zion.

However, the rear end of his staff extended and collided with the young lady's armor, which sent her skidding backward, like a pebble thrown on a river's surface.

But it didn't end there, Thirteen had also extended the front of his staff, breaking Stella's stance, allowing Thirteen to land a kick on the side of her body, sending her flying.

Roland, Sean, David, and Leon all joined hands to try to push him back with their coordinated attacks, forcing Thirteen to change his plans.

The teenage boy slammed the staff on the ground and extended it, using it to propel himself toward Shana, Mildred, and Joshua, who were supporting everyone from the rear.

"Shana, Joshua!" Mildred shouted.

"On it!" Joshua replied.

"Okay!" Shana answered. Mildred charged forward and unleashed her ranged attacks in rapid succession, buffed by Shana and Joshua. Thirteen had trained her to fight in ranged warfare while being on the move, allowing her to develop a flexible battle style in the battlefield.

If she fought other Wanderers, she might have succeeded in her attempt. However, she was fighting the same person who trained her to become more proficient with the bow.

A dozen fire bullets circled around Thirteen like satellites, colliding with the arrows Mildred had fired in his direction.

Just like Stella, Mildred also learned a close combat Martial Skill, which Thirteen had also taught her.

The moment the teenage boy closed the distance, she took out two combat knives and clashed with the teenage boy, who seemed to be in a daze.

To her surprise, Zion threw the golden staff upward and took out two daggers out of thin air.

He then clashed with Mildred and used the same fighting style she was using.

While Mildred had mastered her close combat skills to a decent level, it was not enough to beat Thirteen, who showed her how it was used in real battle.

After dozens of exchanges, a grunt escaped Mildred's lips as her body curled like a shrimp after Thirteen's fist smashed at her abdomen.

He didn't even bother to give her a second glance as he charged at Joshua, who was desperately trying to hit Zion with his debuffs and curse spells.

But it was of no use. The teenage boy was simply too fast, and seemed to predict his attack patterns.

The moment Thirteen got close to the Sage of the Hero Party, he unleashed a flurry of blows before knocking Joshua unconscious.

Shana, who knew that she needed to buy time and let the other Wanderers reinforce her, grabbed her silver banner and used the Martial Skill Thirteen had taught her.

Using her banner as a spear, Shana weaved a deadly spear dance in order to keep Thirteen at bay.

It worked for a few seconds, but since she was not yet too proficient with this style of battle, Thirteen was able to break past her defenses and placed his palm on her chest.

Shana, who thought that she would be blown away by Thirteen's palm strike, had braced herself to get hurt.

However, the teenage boy's hand only rested on her chest as if contemplating if he should go through with the strike or not.

A few seconds later, Thirteen pulled his hand back and walked away without even giving Shana a second glance.

This made the Saintess subconsciously touch the spot, where Zion had touched her chest earlier, and felt her heart beating wildly inside her chest. (E/N: Ask him to take responsibility.)