Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Violina's words did not have the desired effect on the others. She had expected them to take her statement with a grain of salt. They had taken it with a handful of salt, and Black, Jones, and Oria looked like they wanted to challenge that statement and, by extension, Zach.

Black narrowed his eyes. His gaze shifted toward Zach.

"You want me to believe this runt of a kid whose only skill is walking around with a pair of chicks is stronger than me? It looks like the Systines have a grim future ahead of them if this is their next generation."

No sooner than he had spoken did Black feel his feet grow cold and the hair on his neck rise.

Ice had spread over the floor, encasing him up to his ankles. Behind him, a tiny ball of light had gathered between Oria's thumb and forefinger. It buzzed and sizzled like lightning.

Black forcefully broke free of the ice around his feet and dashed to the side so that he didn't have one in front and one behind. He raised his sword and prepared to defend against the ball of lightning.

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"You have no right to take the Systine name in your mouth, filthy pirate." Somehow, Oria's voice was as cold as Violina's ice as she threatened Black. She didn't have a reason to mindlessly give in to Violina just because her family was subordinate to Violina's family.

If anything, the status of the Villesands made it easy for Oria to act as she pleased without worrying about any repercussions from either family. That was how highly valued they were by the Systines. Of course, if she did something like attack Violina without cause, she would be punished.

But she wouldn't do that. She was of the Villesands.

However, when it came to the Systine family as a whole, Oria was as loyal and respectful as any other Villesand. She couldn't stand a pirate's son talking ill about them.

"Wait a minute." Zach gently tapped Violina on the shoulder and had her sheathe her icy sword. He gestured at Oria to lower her ready-to-fire spell. She didn't. Zach didn't really care.

"Obviously, you're wrong. On both things. I was a little busy thinking about the definition of 'strongest' so I was a little slow. You know how a person can be strong by making a difficult choice. I was wondering if that kind of strength mattered. But I think what matters in this Trial is our agreement or the overall confirmation on who is strongest.

Needless to say. That's me."

Zach looked at the others, including Tero, Tera, and Derot, who hadn't been very involved in the argument.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"The fact that Violina was able to accurately assess that is testament to the fact that the future of the Systines is in good hands.

"All of you together can't beat me in a fight. And that's just me. Without my familiars. Of course, that does make it a little difficult for me to beat you, too. But I can wait until you're dead tired and just walk up to you."

Zach saw the fire rage in Black's and Jones' eyes. Even Oria's eyes were ablaze. But Zach had praised the Systines, so she was willing to hear him out before she directed her spell at him.

"And I can prove it to you without anyone getting hurt." Zach smiled and extended his arms to the sides.

"Attack me."

As soon as he finished, Oria's ball of lightning zipped through the air in a flash and crashed into a barrier in front of his face with a low rumble echoing around inside the Labyrinth.

When the light faded, the others saw Zach's unblemished, smiling face. Oria's lightning hadn't done anything to him. Oria was a little stunned, but she didn't show it on her face. Instead, she frowned slightly and fired another lightning missile, this one with more power behind it.

The result didn't change just because it was more powerful.

"Let me try." Jones stepped forward before Oria could throw another one. Oria minded the interruption, but she wasn't bothered by it. She took the opportunity to try and analyze what was going on and try to find a way around it.

Jones raised his sword and tried a simple cleave. He wasn't even aiming at Zach. He aimed at the barrier in front of him. He wasn't sure what he was up against. But it didn't matter if he aimed for Zach. If he could break the barrier, he could defeat Zach.

If he could defeat Zach, he was stronger than Zach. And if he was stronger than Zach, he was the strongest among the Labyrinth entrants.

That was all he wanted.

Unfortunately, his sword didn't leave so much as a scratch on the barrier. His sword bounced off the hard, glass-like surface like it was made of diamond. He frowned.

Jones closed his eyes and focused for a moment. After a moment, his sword took on a steely glow.

Zach's eyes widened in surprise.

Jones wasn't just a sword-wielding man. He was a swordsman. He had seen a lot of them back home, but it was the first time he met one in the wild. It was the same with Oria. He was the first mage he met just like that. But other than his sisters, there weren't many back home.

Jones' sword was wrapped in a thin, unstable layer of martial energy, the hallmark of any martial artist.

He raised his sword again and went for another simple cleave. But his sword was heavy enough this time to make the barrier shake slightly. And then…his sword bounced off again.

The barrier still didn't have so much as a scratch.

Jones looked at the barrier with a squint. Maybe the scratch was just small. It wasn't. It didn't exist.

Jones took a deep breath and turned around. He had come across a wall. It was a tall wall in the shape of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy. It looked like he would have to train harder in the future.

Black and Oria had also noticed Jones' attempt and failure even when using martial energy.

That didn't mean they were giving up, though.