Her resolve

 "Don't underestimate us!! We can still fight!" When their egos were wounded, their rationality went out the window. Most of them charged toward the girls while a few went towards Fred.

"Stand back, Nicole. Let us handle this!"

"NOO!!! I can fight too!" Surprisingly, Nicole didn't back down. She gripped her spear firmly, determination visible on her face.

They were momentarily surprised by her insistence, considering her nature, but none of them objected.

"Just be careful. Fighting humans is different from fighting Dead Walkers," Sylvie cautioned her.

With one man down, the others rushed toward the girls and Fred, attacking without a plan or formation.

"Idiots," Sylvie muttered, observing their reckless charge.

Fred prepared to shoot another assailant near the girls but realized that the moving targets would put the girls in harm's way. Instead, he focused on the three individuals that were closing in on him.

"Taste my sword!" Jackie raised his blades to strike at Wendy.

Ting! Wendy swiftly lunged forward, using her massive axe to block his attack and effortlessly pushing him back.

"You gorilla brute!"

Tong! Tong! Wendy reacted to his insult with slight anger, repeatedly striking at him with her axe, overpowering him completely without much efforts.

"W-Wait! H-Help!"

When other boys saw his helpless state, they tried to help Jackie, but Wendy managed to handle them efficiently.

"So weak." She muttered as she casually threw another boy with her axe.

On the other side, Sylvie faced off against four boys alone.

"It's pointless. Just give up!"

"Yeah!"

"You can't handle all of us! Hehe," one of the boys taunted, masking his unease with false bravado.

However, Sylvie paid no heed to their taunts and unleashed a rapid flurry of attacks with her daggers.

"!!!!" The boys found themselves scrambling to dodge and retreat, their earlier arrogance replaced by frantic desperation.

They hadn't anticipated such formidable combat skills from the seemingly beautiful girl. But despite their wounded pride, their determination to win didn't dwindle as they didn't want to give up easily when their pride was on their line and their ticket to the top was in front of them.

But Sylvie wasn't an easy opponent. She swiftly closed the distance on one of the boys, her daggers slicing deep into his arm, causing a gush of blood and an agonized cry.

"AHHHHHHH!" The injured boy collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain and fear.

"Three more to go~," Sylvie declared, her eyes gleaming with deadly intent as she shifted her focus to the next opponent.

Meanwhile, Nicole faced off against a slippery and cunning adversary.

"Why are we even fighting? How about we stop?" the boy suggested, attempting to negotiate.

But Nicole remained silent and her grip on her weapon was unwavering. Although her body tensed with nervousness, she stood her ground.

"Come on, let's not hurt each other," he urged, taking a cautious step forward as he eyed the spear she wielded. Having witnessed Wendy and Sylvie's prowess, he had no desire to tangle with them, but he wasn't ready to give up without trying when there was an easy opponent in front of him.

"You're such a pretty girl... That weapon doesn't suit you. How about you hand it over to me?" he proposed.

"... up," Nicole muttered under her breath.

"What?" His ears strained to catch her soft-spoken words.

"I SAID SHUT UP!!!" Nicole's voice erupted with an intensity she had never displayed before.

Startled, he momentarily froze, leaving him vulnerable to her swift retaliation. Nicole swung her spear at him with force.

Ting!

"Are you crazy!? You could've killed me!" He tried to block her attack with his sword, but the sheer power behind her strike sent him sprawling to the ground.

As Nicole saw an opportunity, she thrust her spear perilously close to the boy's chest, stopping just a few centimeters away from him.

The boy quivered in terror, realizing the perilous situation he was in.

"P-Please forgive me!! I won't trouble you guys, just leave me alone!!! I don't want to die!!" Tears streamed down his face, and his trembling hand released his sword, which clattered to the ground.

Nicole hesitated, torn between the desire to spare him and the instinct for self-preservation.

Seeing him reduced to a whimpering mess, she decided he was no longer a threat and slowly withdrew her spear. But her mercy was short-lived.

"Ah!!! Only an idiot would do that!! JUST DIE!!! you ****" In a sudden burst of aggression and opportunity, he grasped her spear tightly and attempted to wrench it from her.

"You should never trust a man!! HAHAHA!!.... Ha?" As he was celebrating, he then realized something.

"Wha-" He couldn't pull her spear.

He struggled to snatch the weapon, trying with all his might, even using both hands, but the spear remained firmly in Nicole's grip.

"T-This... haha..." As his dread grew, he slowly glanced up at Nicole, who met his gaze with cold, unwavering eyes.

Though considered the weakest in the group, Nicole was still a Ranker on the leaderboard, and her strength far surpassed the realm of ordinary.

With an unyielding hold on the spear, she jerked her spear to retrieve it from his desperate grasp, inflicting deep cuts on his bleeding hands in the process.

"AHH!! My hand is bleeding!!! How dare you!!!" Panic and pain overcame him as he confronted the severity of his injuries.

He had led a sheltered life and never experienced such profound pain. Even during the previous test, he survived purely by luck and by heavily relying on others. But now, luck was not on his side.

Observing the blood oozing from his wounds, Nicole hesitated once more. But memories of her past mistakes and the determination to help someone she cared about welled up within her.

'I can't... NO!! I won't repeat my mistakes!!! I can't disappoint him again!! I will do everything to help him!!!' Nicole steeled her resolve, determined to overcome her inner turmoil.

Bang!

Ignoring his curses and pleas, she delivered a forceful blow to his head with her spear. The impact was so powerful that it rendered him unconscious in one go, and he collapsed onto the ground.

Nicole had won her first battle against another human.

"I did it!!" she exclaimed, a mixture of relief and newfound determination coursing through her as she realized her victory.

"Good Job Nicole!!"

"I was worried, but you did it!!"

"Eh?" Nicole was surprised as Sylvie and Wendy suddenly came to hug her after her victory. She could also feel their concern for her well-being.

"What about your opponents?" She asked.

"Ah, they were too easy." Wendy gestured toward Jackie and the others sprawled on the ground. Yet, for some inexplicable reason known only to Wendy, there was an unusual dampness around their pants.

"Fatty also dealt with most of them." Wendy added.

Fred was now retrieving arrows from the four people he had shot earlier and refilling his quiver with enemy arrows.

As they gathered together, they noticed a strange phenomenon.

The unconscious bodies were being surrounded by a soft white light, and soon turned into white orbs, rushing towards each one of them.