Martial Arts Worlds

In front of over a hundred spectators, Rein slowly collapsed down to the ground—an unreal scene for many.

"…Ngh."

Master Raju's eyes squinted into narrow slits, and he looked like he was going to punch a hole in the mountain out of anger.

Gong~

Following the sound of the gong, the scoreboard was updated, and it was now a two-to-two score. It was something that not many expected.

Over half of the people present thought that the match would end in four-to-zero or four-to-one at least.

It was now a tie game, and it looked like anybody could win!

"Wohoo!"

"Let's go, Gunwoo!"

With cheers resounding throughout the dark forest, in the top floor of the temple building, which also acted as an infirmary, Dante gazed out of the window.

He was bandaged heavily, but with strong medicine, his burn treatment was quick and painless.

He already looked much better without much sign of being scorched, like sausage sizzling in a skillet.

"Good job… Gunwoo."

He whispered to himself.

…

With everyone returning back to the temple's grounds, Rein walked briskly towards the exit.

After being knocked unconscious, he woke up only about a minute later and was able to walk well. He wanted to watch the rest of the match, but Master Raju didn't want him around and told him to leave.

The temple's doors opened to let him out, and when he crossed through, the doors again slammed shut.

"Good job, Gunwoo!"

"You did it!"

"It's a tie game!"

Gunwoo exchanged high-fives with the rest of Yokai Dojo's students and then sat back down on his bench with a smile that wasn't leaving his face.

It felt really good to win.

However, as soon as the temple priest returned back to the center with the gold coin in hand, his smile slowly faded off.

It wasn't over yet.

"Hmm…"

Master Arakawa walked over to the priest, and a few steps later, Master Raju arrived next to him with a cold look in his eyes.

"Heads."

Master Arakawa said.

The temple priest tossed the coin and swiftly caught it back into his hand.

He showed the gold coin to the two masters, and when they saw it, they both turned around and walked back to their students.

"It is tails—Master Arakawa will choose his fighter first!"

When Master Arakawa returned back to his students, he looked directly into the eyes of his granddaughter, and she smiled back at him confidently.

"Aoi. Shove the fist down their throats, and get the lead back to us."

He said.

"Okay, grandpa~"

Aoi stood up, her yukata trailing behind her as she slowly made her way to the center of the sand.

Everyone's eyes followed after her.

"Gulp~"

Jun let out an audible gulp and looked at the side of Master Arakawa's face, wondering what he was thinking about not having him fight the next.

'Usually, the fighters that fight as late as me are the strongest that the dojo has to offer. I am definitely not among the stronger, and I was already preparing to fight in the next round.'

"Master Arakawa is planning to give you a stress-free fight next. Once Aoi wins, you have a chance to win the match for us, but if you don't, that's fine. I am next."

Kiernan said to him.

"W-what if Aoi loses? I would have the most stressful match in existence!"

Jun cried out.

"Haha, that's fine. It wouldn't be your fault that we lost. It is a team effort, after all."

Kiernan said, tossed a piece of gum into his mouth, and chewed loudly.

Jun rolled his eyes, but nothing that he said made him feel better, as he would still blame himself for losing.

"It's Arakawa Aoi's turn!"

"She is the one that defeated Leon Garcia—I wonder who she will be paired up with next, as there is only one person in the opposing team that is stronger than her on paper."

"You're talking about Maximilian Gruber? Right, they could send him to fight her. If he wins, then doesn't Yokai Dojo have Jun Taesoo left? I am sure whoever they pair him against will beat him!"

"This is a bad position for Yokai Dojo. They must be sending Gruber to defeat Aoi!"

The crowd chatted away.

'It doesn't matter if they send Gruber against Aoi. She also knows the plan to force Gruber into overusing the power of his martial soul, and she could also have a great chance of defeating him.'

Master Arakawa thought to himself.

At that moment, from Wraith Dojo's side, an auburn-haired girl walked over with a reserved smile on her face.

She had soft green eyes like the leaves of a forest in spring and skin so fair that it seemed to glow in the dim light of the temple grounds.

"It's Amelia Foster!"

"What are they doing? In the paper, she is not stronger than Arakawa Aoi. What the hell is Master Raju planning?"

The crowd looked confused.

"It's pride. Master Raju is so mad that he isn't thinking about strategy. If he sent Gruber to fight against Aoi, it would mean that he wasn't trusting the strength of his other remaining fighters.

"Of course, strategy is part of the martial arts festival, and no one would think badly of him, but he doesn't want to seem weak."

Master Arakawa said.

"It can also be that Master Raju doesn't trust Gruber. Since he is in Overtrained state, he is a ticking bomb, and his martial soul can explode at any moment.

"If that happens in a fight, he will lose, guaranteed, and he doesn't want to take that risk. If there is a chance that the match doesn't go all the way to the last match, he would rather try that."

Kiernan said.

"That's true as well."

Master Arakawa nodded.

"Amelia Foster vs. Arakawa Aoi!"

The temple priest shouted and raised his arm high.

"Hello, ugly bitch."

Amelia said with a tone that didn't match her looks.

"You have a mouth on you."

Aoi said with a frown.

"Hmph. At least I don't have to spread my legs to convince some foreigner to help your shitty little dojo."

Amelia said with a smirk and gazed over to Kiernan while licking her lips as if she saw something sweet in a candy shelf.

"Take your eyes off him. This is your last warning. I don't mind removing your eyes either."

Aoi glared at Amelia with a look that could kill.

"Oh~ You actually like this one? I have to admit, he does look tasty. Maybe I'll try my luck with him, if you know what I mean."

Amelia winked.

"FIGHT!"

At that moment, the temple priest swung his arm down.

SMACK!