บท 12: Team Red vs. Blue
"Oh, a match, interesting." Jin said with a smile. "However, we need to put in clear rules. We can't let out fighters get injured."
"That's right." Azer said and raised two fingers. "If you get knocked out of the stage or you'll get hit three times, you're out. The winning team is the last one standing."
"Oh, we're not following tournament rules?" Jin asked. "In tournament. It is a one-versus-one fights. Whichever side loses a fight has to change to the next fighter, while the winner has to continue to fight.
"The team that loses all of their fighters first loses."
"Yeah, I feel like it will be more exciting if everyone is fighting at the same time." Azer said with a smile. "It is also shorter this way. The classes start in thirty minutes, so I don't want this to drag on for too long."
"Do you have teams selected?" Jin asked.
Azer looked at the six young men. He rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner and then smiled.
"Two teams. Team Red and Blue.
"In the team red are Ryan, Timothy, and Denton.
"In the team blue, Nath, Klaus, and Kiernan!"
'Oh?' Jin chuckled. 'On paper, team blue would be better, as it has both second- and third-ranked fighters. However, against Ryan, that doesn't really matter. Also, Kiernan being on team blue balances things, as he is only eight-ranked.'
Crack!
Denton cracked his knuckles as he stared straight at Kiernan. A fire was burning in his eyes. He could tell that Kiernan was eyeing his position as a reserve fighter.
'I'll show him the true gap between us!'
"Haha," Nath laughed and looked at Ryan. "I don't think we have fought since our ranked match, have we?"
"Mm…" Ryan nodded in agreement. "Our score is currently 49-0. You haven't beaten me yet."
"Go get your vests from the locker room." Azer said. "The match will start in five."
The two teams went into separate locker rooms.
Kiernan found an empty locker and stored his backpack inside.
"Kiernan, here." Nath picked up a blue vest from the bench and tossed it over.
Kiernan caught it with ease and thanked him before putting it on.
"So, what's the plan?" Klaus asked as he started lacing up his shoes.
"Leave Ryan to me." Nath said with a smile. "I'll try to last against him while you defeat Timothy."
"Hmm, sounds good." Klaus nodded.
"And you, Kiernan." Nath closed his locker room with a loud clang. "We'll leave Denton to you."
"Alright." Kiernan nodded. 'He was the rude fellow, wasn't he?'
"Denton is a practitioner of Taruzhang martial arts. Its main trait is randomness, making him a very unpredictable opponent. You'll never know what he will try to do next."
Knock, knock.
"The fight's about to start!" Jin's voice echoed from the other side of the door.
"Alright, let's go win this." Nath stood up from the bench and finished wrapping up his hands.
Klaus and Kiernan followed right after. They left the locker room and saw that there was a small stage in the middle of the gymnasium.
It wasn't there five minutes ago.
It was a portable martial arts stage. It was around twenty meters long and twenty meters wide. It was smaller than the stadium's stage.
On the other side of the gymnasium, Ryan, Timothy, and Denton, wearing red vests, walked out of the locker room.
The two teams met on top of the stage, exchanging fiery gazes.
Azer took a seat next to the stage. He even crossed his legs. He looked very relaxed, with a small smile playing on his lips.
Jin acted as a referee. He stood with authority, ready to officiate the intense match that was about to begin.
"Team Red, ready?"
"Yes!" Ryan, Timothy, and Denton shouted.
"Team Blue, ready?"
"Yes!" Nath, Klaus, and Kiernan shouted.
Jin raised his arm and then swung it down. "Fight!"
As soon as the words left Jin's mouth, Ryan and Nath charged towards each other and threw a single punch. Their fists collided with each other, creating a loud smack that echoed throughout the gym.
"Try to block this with your intelligence!" Klaus rushed in and punched straight at Timothy.
"Fool." Timothy jumped out of the way and kicked Klaus at the back of his knee. It sounded like it was going to hurt.
"One hit, Klaus!"
"Uh…" Klaus looked stunned, but then he grinned and charged at Timothy before showering him with punches. Timothy paled slightly and backed off to a safe distance.
"So, you think you can just come here and take my spot?" Denton slowly approached Kiernan with a cold look. "Know your place!"
Kiernan moved to his fighting stance. It was the same stance that he used in his ranked match. It focused on defense.
Denton's arms drooped low, hanging in front of his body in a casual manner. His head was also hanging low, and his back was curved. It looked like his whole body had turned limp.
At that moment, Denton's leg twitched slightly. It moved slightly up from the ground, as if he were about to throw a kick.
'No, it isn't a kick.' Kiernan thought quickly and slapped randomly in front of him.
Shockingly enough, his hand connected with something solid. A fist belonging to Denton flew past his cheek, missing him by inches.
If he hadn't redirected it away, it would've landed.
"Tch." Denton clicked his tongue in annoyance.
First, Denton used his legs as decoys. He wanted Kiernan to think that he was going to kick. When his eyes moved towards his legs, Denton immediately threw a quick punch.
It almost worked.
'It was too obvious.' Kiernan thought to himself. 'That fake kick didn't have any form behind it. If he had kicked like that, it would have been easy to dodge.'
Again, Denton's arms hung in front of him in a lazy manner. Then his feet started moving in a dizzying blur of motion. His footwork was extremely random and unpredictable.
'He wants to confuse me.' Kiernan frowned. 'I still can't completely stop paying attention to his legs. Otherwise, he will just kick at me.'
At that moment, Denton snapped his fist forward towards Kiernan's face.
'Fake.' Kiernan put his arms under him and blocked a sneaky knee-kick from Denton.
Seeing that his sneak attack failed, Denton followed up with his lightning-fast punch, but before it could land, Kiernan sidestepped nicely to dodge it. Denton stumbled forward, off balance.
Kiernan formed a fist and punched towards Denton's face. It was about to land, but then Denton suddenly accelerated and used the strange footwork to circle around the back of Kiernan.
'So fast!' Kiernan quickly turned around with narrowed eyes. 'Is this the speed of Martial Soldier?'
"Taruzhang Style, Anarchy!" Denton interlocked his hands. All his power was gathered in his palms.
Then he pointed his interlocked hands at Kiernan's torso. He then let go of his hands and struck both of his palms towards Kiernan's chest.
Kiernan quickly dropped on one knee and smashed his elbow through Denton's hands. His hands started bleeding.
With a loud grunt, Denton stumbled back, clutching his injured hands.
"W-what?" Jin, who saw that, was taken aback. 'That's Denton's most powerful attack, but Kiernan perfectly defended against it by smashing his elbow through Denton's hands.
'Denton gathered all the air around him to his palms to increase his striking prowess. But when the elbow connected, the air that he had gathered dispersed in different directions.
'It ended up completely nullifying his attack!'
Azer's eyes widened in shock.
'Wait a minute, even Denton is not a match for him?'
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