Chapter 80: Rank Up! Failure. Failure. And failure again. So many times, Aron had failed to protect Max, to do the one thing he had sworn to do. There were plenty of reasons behind it. Part of it was Max himself, always stepping in and stopping Aron from acting. But for the first time, Max had asked for his help. He was here now to do just that, to help Max, and to punish those who had punished him. Those who had hurt him. Those who had drawn his blood. It had been hard for Aron to connect these high school students with Max’s pain, until he heard it come straight from one of their mouths. His vision tunneled as rage built up inside him. Another knife was thrown his way, and without thinking, he caught it midair, right by the handle. "Oh?" Snide let out a nervous laugh. "Lucky catch." Aron started walking forward, and more students rushed in to stop him. One of them had a bike chain in hand and lashed it out like a whip. Aron quickly swung his baton, twisting it around the chain, then gave it a sudden pull. The force yanked the chain right out of the student’s grip. With a swift flick, Aron flung the bike chain at another student coming at him. The next one tried a kick, but Aron moved fast, dodging the attack, slicing the student’s hand to make him drop his weapon, then landing a sharp kick from behind before continuing his advance toward Snide. Snide could feel his own heartbeat pounding faster. He didn’t know what it was, just moments ago, he’d been attacking this man relentlessly, without even a hint of fear. So why was it different now? Panic surged through him, and Snide lunged forward. "Die!" he screamed, swinging both knives from either side. Aron kept advancing, but in one swift motion, he stepped aside and used one of Snide’s own knives to slash his arm. He quickly rolled beneath Snide’s swing, kicked him hard in the legs, then slashed his other hand. Snide couldn’t keep up. He didn’t even understand what was happening anymore. All he could feel were his clothes tearing, his skin splitting. Before he knew it, his hands had been slammed by a fist or a leg, he couldn’t even tell which, and the knives clattered to the ground. Then, one of the blades was driven deep into his shoulder. "This is the pain that Max had to suffer!" Aron growled. "I... will protect him. From scum like you." Aron gripped the knife again, ready to bring it down into Snide a second time, until a strong arm suddenly locked around his elbow and pulled him back. His arms were tangled with someone else’s, someone strong enough to stop him cold. "Don’t do that," Wolf said with a calm smile. He had been watching Aron closely the entire time, ready to step in if something like this happened. "I’m scum, and if it were me, I’d do it. But for you? If you go that far against a high schooler, you’ll have a hard time protecting him from a jail cell," Wolf commented. The words cut through Aron’s fury, pulling him slightly out of his rage. He looked down and finally realized what he had been about to do. "Thank you..." Aron muttered. "Don’t worry about it. But remember, you owe me one. And having a favor from an S-rank like you? That’ll come in handy." Elsewhere, two more were going toe-to-toe, and they were quite literally fighting head-to-head. Steven was slamming powerful punches straight into the side and stomach of Jay, one of the largest students. His fists landed hard, and even Steven’s own knuckles were starting to ache. Then, Jay would swing in return, but Steven was quick, always stepping back just in time to dodge. "What’s wrong?!" Steven shouted. "I can tell... I can tell your heart’s not in this! You’re grabbing at me half-heartedly!" As more hits came his way, Jay braced himself, taking more blows to the side. Though Steven was skilled and fast, able to read Jay’s movements before they even happened, he was right. Jay was struggling to put his heart into the fight. Struggling to go all out against someone he had no real reason to fight. "Then why are you even standing in front of me?!" Steven roared as he launched a straight punch packed with every ounce of his strength. Jay lifted both of his arms and blocked the hit, but his forearms were going numb, they were hurting. "ARGHH!" Jay shouted as he charged forward and ran straight in. It caught Steven by surprise when Jay wrapped his arms around his waist. "I do have a reason! How else am I, how else is a kid my age, supposed to make money?!" Jay yelled, lifting Steven clean off the ground, both of his feet dangling in the air. This kid... he’s freaking strong! Steven thought. But even in the air, even in this situation, he knew he had to think fast. His arms were still free. That was Jay’s mistake. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂 Twisting his body as much as he could while being held around the waist, Steven threw his fist toward the side of Jay’s face, right under the ear. The first hit didn’t do much. Jay was already trying to slam Steven to the ground. Steven swung again, and this time, just as Jay started to fall, the hit connected. But Jay still didn’t let go. The two of them crashed to the ground, Steven’s back slamming hard against the floor. As the dust settled, Steven stared at Jay, who was groaning and clearly hurt. He looked like he couldn’t fight anymore, and Steven slowly pushed his way out of the hold. "That’s one scary, powerful kid... but sorry, you’re not the only one who needs to earn money," Steven muttered, already scanning for the next student that needed dealing with. Now though, they were on the back foot. Countless students had already been beaten, they were hurt, while their opponents were still going strong. It made them more hesitant to go in for the attack. There was only one person they could rely on now, and that was Dipter. "COME ON!" Dipter shouted. "I thought you might’ve been able to do something!" Max had charged in not long ago, and when he did, a strong kick had been delivered straight to his head. His lip was busted, and blood was dripping down his face. Max wiped it away and dropped back into a fighting stance. Aron, seeing this, almost slipped into tunnel vision again. "Wait!" Wolf said, holding a hand out. "Sure, you can help him out of that situation right now, but will that actually help him? Are you always going to be there, right by his side, in every moment when he needs saving?" "If you really want to help him, it’s better to let him go. Because it’s in situations like this... that people rank up," Wolf added, his eyes almost smiling as he spoke.