Martial Arts Worlds-Chapter 271: Round of 64

"Loss… Victory… Loss… Loss… Victory…"

Kiernan mumbled to himself while he was drifting in and out of the depths of his mind.

While he was out of his thoughts, he watched Karuza High's ongoing match through the mounted television in the locker room.

It was about to end with Julian currently punching the hell out of his opponent.

At the same time, he was doing more of the imaginary fights. He was losing, and winning, all at once.

When he thought that he had finally grasped everything Zachary was capable of doing, new layer of unimaginable strength emerged.

It was almost like there was no end to his endless strength.

'With his cowardly, and strike tactics, he is already very formidable opponent, but if he has something else up in his sleeve, I might be in trouble.'

Kiernan crossed his arms, and at the same time, roars of excited cheers seeped through the concrete walls.

In the television screen, Julian finished off his opponent, and raised his fist in victory.

Karuza High had officially qualified to the second day of the nationals.

All of the round of 64 matches weren't happening simultaneously. It was half, and half so that it was easier to watch for the audience.

Karuza High was part of the first half, and now, all matches of the first half had ended. It was time for the second half.

Bam!

The door to the locker room slammed open, and celebratory sounds came through it as the members of Karuza High returned.

"Wohoo!"

Julian excitedly rushed inside the locker room, still feeling the rush of his victory, and shared high-fives with the rest.

"Huff!"

Jonathan plopped down on his bench, exhausted as hell. He fought two matches, and won one before losing the second fight just barely.

The first match was handled by Dominic, but unfortunately, he lost, so Jonathan had to step in.

After Jonathan lost, despite the fans of Karuza High being nervous enough for their hearts to burst, Julian took care of the last two fights with ease.

If he had lost, Karuza High's tournament would've ended, which would've been catastrophic for their school.

"Good job."

Kiernan said, patting Julian on the back.

"That's the end of the first day. Good job, guys!"

Coach Jin beamed with pride.

A little bit of stress was lifted off his shoulders, but he doubted that he would be able to sleep at all next night.

The first day was prelude to real fights, after all. Last year, the journey of their nationals ended at the end of the second day.

If they failed to reach third day, it would be considered as failure to them.

"Are we heading back to the hotel, coach?"

Julia asked.

"Yes, we're done here. Pack your things, and we'll head out before the traffic hits streets with everyone leaving after the second half is over."

After his words left his mouth, everyone quickly packed their things into their bags, and then left the locker room.

Coach Jin left the locker room last, and behind him, he turned the lights off, and watched as the darkness filled the locker room.

Then, with a banging sound, he slammed the door shut.

…

Cheers~

The audience screamed loudly in excitement as the second half of the matches were starting.

At the western corner of the arena, a referee appeared in the middle of the ring, and blew loudly into a whistle.

"This match will be held between Nyoom High and Montclair High. I will act as the referee, and witness to the fight. Therefore, please bring forth your fighters!"

"Lazaro, get up!"

Alabaster pulled the young man up by his arm. He accidentally happened to pinch him as he lifted him off the bench, making him wince in pain.

"M-me?"

Lazaro asked in a surprise.

He, and rest thought that they would have one of the reserve fighters do the first match since Zachary was dealing with the suspension.

"You think we'll use a reserve fighter? If you can't handle some mediocre fighters, then you don't deserve to be here!"

"U-uh, b-but Nyoom High has some really good fighters!"

"Just go!"

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Alabaster shoved him towards the ring, and sat his body back down on the bench.

While Lazaro made his way up the ring, Mateo gulped, and looked at his legs that were trembling. If they lost, he was afraid for their lives!

They thought that with Zachary that victory in the nationals could be a possibility, but without him, they were decent school, but not winning contender.

However, Nyoom High also wasn't a winning contender, and was pretty close to their strength.

It was clear that with Zachary's suspension, the chairman decided to give them matchup that they could still win without their ace.

It was round of 64, and there weren't many weak schools left in the competition.

From Nyoom High's bench, Raihan walked to the ring, and waved to the crowd, receiving loud cheers, and applause.

He was a typical pretty boy with white teeth smile, and lustrous hair. It even looked like he added some makeup to enhance his features.

"Raihan versus Lazaro!"

"Are you two ready?!"

The referee asked.

"Yes!"

Raihan bowed as if he were a prince, and then with a smile on his face, slowly eased into his fighting stance.

He was radiating confidence.

After hearing about Zachary's suspension, their entire locker room cheered. They didn't want to fight against that psychopath, and without Zachary, they believed they could win!

Lazaro, with less enthusiasm, slowly moved into his fighting stance. He didn't have that same confidence that his opponent displayed.

"Fight!"

The referee swung his arm down.

Lazaro, as soon as the fight started, glanced at Alabaster's direction. He looked so joyless as if he had never smiled once in his life.

'None of us wanted to say, but we all know that Alabaster did something to Zachary. He had influenced him for years already.

'We all knew Zachary when he was in middle school, but as soon as he met Alabaster, he changed… I never understood why his parents never stopped him from having Alabaster as his master.

'It was clear he was up to no good…'

Lazaro clicked his tongue, turned his attention back on the fight, and slowly punched forward without any real weight behind it.

He thought that it would easily miss.

Smack!

Shockingly enough, the slow punch landed on Raihan's face, but he didn't move, and instead fell backwards like a tree felled by an axe.

It didn't look like Raihan was in pain either. He looked emotionless, then his back landed on the ground, right at the edge of the ring with his upperbody leaning over, and his legs barely staying inside the ring.

However, then, he just slid off the ring, and landed outside.

"E-eh?"

Lazaro looked stunned.

"F-fight is over! Winner is Lazaro!"

The referee announced, but it was clear that even he was surprised by the outcome. It looked like the whole match was extremely rigged!