"Yes… yes, that's right…" Tom replied to Teacher C with a trembling voice, his expression looking even more pained than when he was beaten.
Alat and the others curved their lips in satisfaction, as if they had long expected this outcome, showing no trace of fear.
But a clear voice suddenly rang out: "That's not true, everyone clearly beat him up."
Alat couldn't help but startle, and the others quickly looked up, only to see a boy perched on a tree branch, swinging his legs and smiling brightly at them: "What a coincidence."
He jumped straight down from the tree, landing lightly, the tip of his shoe stirring up a gentle breeze that lifted the jacket draped over his shoulders.
Nerio tilted his head as he looked at them, smiling as he said, "I was up in the tree just now and saw everything. Tom is a victim of school bullying, teacher—this is absolutely unacceptable!"
Nerio spoke with a righteous, serious expression.
[Oh my god, let me bite Nerio's cheeks!]
[He's too cute, look at that round face hahaha]
[I want a child…]
[You mean you want Nerio as your child? That's bold of you up there]
[No, I want a child—mine and Nerio's. Hopefully it will inherit all the good things from its father…]
[…]
[Here's a pill that lets men get pregnant. Anyone want to buy?]
[Wait, that really exists??]
[Inappropriate comments against the live broadcast policy will be deleted, and accounts will be permanently banned!]
[Finally, the moderator has come back to life hahaha, I thought they'd died somewhere]
[And thus we learn an essential lesson…]
[What lesson?]
[That Nerio is actually a god, and gods don't have genders]
[Alright, cut it out, we were saying he's cute at first]
Teacher C hadn't expected Nerio to appear here suddenly. He looked at him in astonishment, his expression somewhat unpleasant momentarily, though he quickly said: "Is that really true?"
Nerio nodded firmly. He walked over, directly holding Tom's face and brushing his hair aside, immediately revealing his bruised and battered features, with fresh blood still trickling down his forehead.
Tom's body went rigid, not daring to move even an inch.
"Teacher, look—he's been beaten up this badly, it's so pitiful! They should be severely punished!"
Nerio turned toward Alat's group, angrily denouncing them.
Alat roared: "You bastard!"
But before he could say another word, Teacher C struck him down with his cane.
Alat's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief, bloodshot veins crawling across his gaze, the fat on his body trembling. "How dare you!"
He actually dared to shout at Teacher C.
Teacher C said sternly: "Apologize to your classmate at once, and don't you ever do this again!"
Yes, he was strict—but only up to that point.
After scolding Alat with just a few sentences, he didn't even wait to see if the boy would heed his words. Instead, clutching his cane, he hurriedly left.
Liora frowned from the side. "Teacher…"
"Don't call me, don't call me again! I still have plenty of matters to deal with, do you understand?!" he roared in fury, his sharp eyes cutting toward Liora like a bird of prey, as if the moment she spoke another word, she would suffer unimaginable consequences.
Liora froze, biting her lips tight. She couldn't say anything more and only watch Teacher C's figure grow smaller in the distance.
By now, Alat had been helped back up by his lackeys.
His face flushed red with rage, his eyes bulging as if they might pop out at any moment, his breathing ragged.
He glared at Nerio and Tom, then glanced at Liora's group: "You still plan on tattling to the teacher, don't you?! You bastards, just you wait!"
"Let's go!" he signaled, and the others lefh him one after another, not forgetting to cast sinister, venomous looks at everyone present before they departed.
They didn't look like students at all—more like a gang of street thugs, bloodthirsty and ready to tear apart anyone who displeased them at any moment.
Thomas's expression turned grim as he recalled the suffocating pressure he had felt earlier, which had only been from one of Alat's underlings.
Clearly, these bullies were mini-bosses—or perhaps even the final boss of this dungeon!
By now, Luther had also regained some strength.
He stood off to the side, his face deathly pale, looking as though he might collapse at any moment, his expression twisted with discomfort.
"Well,… it seems the artificial espers' grand plan to dominate this dungeon has run into trouble, hasn't it?"
At that moment, a lilting female voice rang out.
Bella lifted the hem of her skirt as she walked over slowly, her face carrying a look of exaggerated regret.
She glanced at the group of artificial espers, noticed they were short two people, and couldn't help but laugh softly as she said, "What a pity. That tall guy seemed arrogant, yet he was the first to die. Luis, what was his name again? I truly want to honor his memory!"
Luis pushed up his glasses, answering thoughtfully: "Brute."
"Ah, poor Brute. If only he hadn't been so arrogant, maybe he wouldn't have died so early." Bella smiled.
Of course, all of the artificial espers were arrogant—her words were nothing less than a curse for them to die sooner rather than later.
Liora frowned. "Bella, we're all on humanity's side. You shouldn't be so happy when one of our comrades dies."
At that, Bella lowered her eyes, her brows arched ever so slightly in sorrow. "Happy? I'm so sad I could cry right now!"
As she spoke, she raised both fists to her face, pretending to bawl. Her attitude was enough to make one's teeth ache with irritation.
Luis pushed his glasses again but said nothing. He knew why Bella despised this group so much was because they dared to deny Nerio.
Nerio and the gods had saved humanity countless times. These ungrateful wretches were detestable, and Bella would never be kind to people she loathed.
Meanwhile, Leonard had already rushed toward Nerio. Nerio's sudden disappearance just now had genuinely frightened him.
Even though he knew Nerio's power, Nerio now preferred to live as an ordinary student. Who could say whether he might allow himself to be harmed by others of his own will?
When Leonard arrived, he only saw Nerio standing beside a student, with long hair covering his eyes. Though short, he was thin, and his back was somewhat hunched.
For some reason, Leonard found this person especially distasteful.
[ha ha ha, twinning vibes]
[Oh my god, they look eerily alike, except Leonard's just a bit taller than Tom]
[Who says alike? At least Leonard is standing up straight now]
[A good actor can step out of a role anytime]
[Leonard's gonna shave his hair later, then no one can say they look alike]
"Are you okay? Does it hurt a lot?" Nerio fussed around Tom, his face full of concern.
Tom avoided Nerio's gaze, shrinking back so much he barely dared to breathe.
"I… I'm fine…"
"I have to go… class… I'll be late…"
With that, he hurriedly left, sneaking glances at Nerio and the others as he went, as if terrified that Nerio might get angry at his timid attitude.
But Nerio didn't mind him at all. Instead, he turned to Leonard with a gloomy look and said, "Just now, a group of students were bullying Tom, and even the teacher didn't side with him. He's really pitiful."