An hour passed since the Trial started, and now, all the Wanderers were either laying on the ground, writhing in pain, or barely standing, supported by their weapons.

The only exceptions were Erica, Shana, and Diana, whom Thirteen had avoided or dealt lightly.

Among these three, Erica's face was beet-red out of anger and embarrassment because every time she clashed with Zion, the bastard would slap her bum as if he was disciplining a bad kid. Because of this, Erica remained high in the sky and simply bombarded the sh*t out of him. Unfortunately, none of her attacks landed on her target, even though she used Homing Magic Bullets. Zion dispersed each and every single one of them using his Fire Bullets.

Shana and Diana could only stare at the other Wanderers awkwardly because they were the only ones that were unscathed from the battle.

Siri and Stella were currently half kneeling on the ground, their gaze locked on the teenage boy standing at the center of the arena, with his golden staff resting on his shoulder.

Roland and Joshua were beaten black and blue, but the one who had it worst was none other than Derek.

Thirteen had been especially hard on him as if making sure that the Swordsman got hit more than the rest of the Hero Party combined.

But despite all that, Derek was still burning with fighting spirit as he tried to prop himself even though his entire body was in pain.

Just a minute ago, they saw a countdown timer appear above Thirteen's head, which made all of their faces turn solemn.

It was a thirty-minute countdown, and none of them knew whether they only had thirty minutes to defeat Zion or if they just needed to survive for thirty more minutes.

The first option seemed impossible, while the second option made them feel as if they were being looked down upon.

However, the majority of the Wanderers wished that the countdown timer only represented the time where they needed to survive their battle against Zion Leventis before they successfully clear their mission.

They could still remember how Sherry cleared the challenge just by hugging Zion.

Because of this, they thought that if they managed to "hug him," they would be able to complete this mission as well.

The guys, who were led by Derek, attacked Thirteen with open arms, which ended badly for them.

For some reason, a look of disgust appeared on Zion's expressionless face when all the guys charged at him with arms spread wide.

They were all given a severe beating, and the teenage boy made sure to give their bums a good smacking, almost making the Wanderers unable to stand up afterwards.

Looking at the ticking clock above the teenage boy's head, Shana took a deep breath and embedded her banner firmly on the ground.

She then walked towards Zion unarmed and attempted to hug him just like what Sherry did.

Earlier, she didn't have the courage to do what the younger girl did because she wasn't too confident that Zion would not harm her.

But as the battle progressed, there had been many opportunities for Zion to deal her a serious blow. However, he never made a move.

This emboldened her to take a chance, believing on her gut feeling that he wouldn't hurt her.

Ten meters...

Eight meters...

Five...

Three...

One...

Shana stood only a meter away from Zion as she reached out to give him a hug.

Just like what happened to Sherry, he didn't offer any resistance and allowed Shana to hug him.

But that was it.

Shana didn't get teleported outside of the arena and declared that she had passed the trial like Sherry did.

The Saintess of the Hero Party could feel her cheeks burning because she could sense that everyone's gaze was locked on her body.

It made her feel awkward because nothing was happening.

Suddenly, someone hugged Thirteen from behind, and it was none other than Erica.

With two beautiful ladies hugging him from the back and the front, the Wanderers felt something rise up in their chest.

"That place between the Sorceress and the Saintess looked like heaven."

"My chest hurts. Why am I crying?"

"Damn it! I didn't choose the single life! The single life chose me!"

"Bro, I know what you feel. Damn it hurts."

Roland and Joshua suddenly felt as if they regained strength in their bodies when they saw

Zion rest his head on Shana's chest as if using them as pillows.

The other Wanderers felt something similar, so they all roared and charged at their enemy with bloodshot eyes.

"O-Oi! You guys!" Erica, who sensed that something was wrong, felt goosebumps as

hundreds of single guys roared with their weapons raised high.

Shana, who also felt that now was a good time to pull back, suddenly found herself being hugged by Thirteen, making her unable to break free.

If this was any other occasion, she might have stayed in this position because she didn't mind being hugged by Zion.

In fact, she felt as if she was holding someone very important to her-someone she must protect, which confused her greatly.

When the Wanderers were only dozens of meters away from him, Thirteen summoned countless Fire Bullets around Shana's, and Erica's body, which flew toward the charging Wanderers who were out for his blood.

During this whole process, Shana didn't know if she should continue hugging Zion, so she

asked for Erica's opinion.

"S-Should we let go?" Shana asked.

"You let go," Erica replied. "I'll hold him."

"A-Are you infected by the Zion Virus?"

"Huh? What Zion Virus? What are you talking about?"

Erica, who had no idea what Shana was referring to, held the teenage boy firmly because she

believed that they must defeat Zion within the time limit.

She was now an Elite, so she believed that she was now stronger than the teenage boy in her

embrace.

Her plan was to bind Thirteen's movements and find a way to neutralize him.

However, when she was about to enact her plan, she felt conflicted because the teenage boy wasn't offering any resistance and was simply burying his head on Shana's chest.

The sound of explosions reverberated in the surroundings as everyone tried to endure the bombardment that was flying in their directions.

No one could launch a ranged attack towards the teenage boy because Erica and Shana were hugging him from the front and the back.

It was then that they realized that this might have been all part of Zion's plan to use the two beautiful ladies as shields, preventing them from attacking him directly.

This made them gnash their teeth in frustration because they couldn't mount an effective strategy against the teenage boy, who was still hugging the Saintess, not willing to let go.