Martial Arts Worlds - Chapter 264

Chapter 264: Julian’s Aura
Connell strode forward, and as he moved closer to Jonathan, memories of his training flooded his mind.

Long, tireless hours of practice were all for this moment. All for this one fight.

‘I did not bleed and sweat just to lose!’

Connell’s eyes turned red, and then his fist extended forward, but before it could reach all the way, Jonathan grabbed his arm, twisted it, and pinned it behind his back.

“Argh!”

Connell stabbed his thumb towards Jonathan’s face, but he dodged it and pushed him towards the edge of the ring, nearly toppling him over.

He quickly turned around and swung his fist at Jonathan, but he weaved through the punch and hook-punched him in the waist.

Smack!

It landed with a loud thud!

‘Shit! We investigated Karuza High’s fighters all night long, and based on the investigation, Jonathan should’ve been a fighter who uses locks and throws, rarely using punches.

‘Yet, his punches hurt like hell!’

Connell stumbled slightly, his hand instinctively moving to his injured waist. He then saw a few punches heading his way, and he quickly stepped back to avoid them.

“…”

Jonathan reacted to the dodge, lunged closer to him, and then grabbed him by the wrist.

With a twist, he brought Connell down to his knees and then delivered a swift punch to his face.

Thwack!

With one hand, Jonathan lifted Connell up from the ground. He lifted him all the way above his head. Then he threw him down to the ground.

As he crashed headfirst on the ground, Connell’s body turned limp, and he coughed out a mouthful of blood.

“Down!”

The referee shouted.

“Yes!”

Coach Jin nodded with approval, and the rest clapped their hands in cheers.

“1…”

The countdown started.

“2…”

Ugly expressions appeared on the faces of Kaleidos High members. It couldn’t be so one-sided between their weakest fighters.

“3…”

With a grunt of pain, Connell stood back up without bothering to wait for a higher count. It was all about pride at this point.

“Continue!”

The referee shouted and jumped off the ring once more.

Connell made his way forward and sluggishly swung his fists, but they kept missing like a rookie in their first fight.

Missed! Missed! Missed!

Another punch grazed Jonathan’s cheek. It cut a thin line against his skin, drawing blood.

“…”

Jonathan narrowed his gaze and punched Connell squarely in the face. Thwack. He then followed with a punch to the chest, pushing him closer to the edge of the ring, and followed with a swift kick.

“Ngh!”

Connell turned around and saw his left foot hanging in midair. The edge of the ring was right behind him.

Jonathan swung his fist for a finishing blow, but Connell barely dodged it, and for a split second, saw a chance to win this fight!

He quickly grabbed Jonathan’s arm and pulled him towards the edge of the ring. He was trying to push him off!

“Stay off the edge!”

Coach Jin shouted.

Jonathan dragged his feet back away from the edge, yanked his arm from Connell’s grasp, and then grabbed him by the back of the head before sweeping his legs from under him.

Connell leaned off the edge, his arms flailing as he struggled to regain his balance, and then Jonathan gave him an extra push.

Connell couldn’t do anything as he didn’t have the ability to grab the air. Therefore, he fell off and landed outside the ring with a loud thump.

Whistle~

The referee gave a final whistle and announced Jonathan as the winner of the match.

“Whew…”

Jonathan let out a sigh of relief and then walked back to his side of the ring, preparing himself for the next fight.

Without need for a stretcher, Connell limped back to the bench and shared quick high-fives with the rest of his team members.

This was most likely the end of his high school martial arts career. A bittersweet ending.

“Bring your next fighter!”

The referee commanded.

From the Kaleidos High bench, a brown-haired young man stood up and made his way to the ring.

He looked slightly older than his age would suggest.

“The next fight is between Jonathan of Karuza High and Jeremiah of Kaleidos High!”

“Ready?!”

“Yes!”

Jeremiah shouted.

“Yep!”

Jonathan shouted.

“Fight!”

The two fighters met at the center of the ring, bumped fists, and then began to circle each other cautiously.

Jeremiah suddenly rotated his fist and struck Jonathan in the shoulder. It should’ve hurt, but Jonathan pulled his body back at the last second and avoided most of the impact.

Swoosh!

Another fist came flying.

Grab!

Jonathan suddenly grabbed his fist, pressed his fingers against the pressure points, and forced Jeremiah to scream in pain.

With a pull, Jonathan tossed him over his shoulder and smashed him down to the ground. Jeremiah gasped in pain as he tried to get back up.

But then, Jonathan wrapped his legs around his arm and put him under a painful submission hold.

The holds were another one of Jonathan’s specialties!

“Argh!”

Jeremiah smashed his fist at Jonathan’s chest. He tried to break his ribs. But Jonathan’s grip only tightened as he locked in the submission hold even harder.

Crack!

Jeremiah’s arm broke!

“Argh!”

Foam poured out of Jeremiah’s mouth as he writhed in pain on the ground.

“Huff! Huff!”

Jonathan climbed back to his feet, dragged him from his jersey, and then tossed him off the side of the ring.

Jeremiah fell off the ring.

Whistle~

“Fight over! Winner is Jonathan!”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Coach Jin and the rest clapped loudly.

In the stands, Karuza High’s cheerleaders and supporters were in a festive mood.

“Argh, shit…”

However, Jonathan looked at his chest. It had bruised. He didn’t escape the fight completely unscathed.

With a quick look, Sabbath noticed that something was wrong.

“Yo, coach. It looks like Jonathan received a slight oopsie in the match. Should we pull him out?”

Sabbath asked.

“Ah?”

Coach Jin looked over and saw that Jonathan was holding his chest. Then he remembered the hammer fist of Jeremiah and realized that it must’ve caused greater damage than he expected.

“Hmm, alright. Jonathan!”

“Ah, yes?”

Jonathan looked over and saw Coach Jin wave over to him. It meant that they were going to change fighters.

Jonathan sighed heavily. He didn’t want to leave just yet as he believed he could fight still, but he didn’t fight back and left the ring.

“Jonathan has forfeited!”

The referee shouted.

“Bring your next fighters!”

From the Kaleidos High bench, their ace, Kyler, stood up and made his way up the few stairs. He had a heavy expression on his face.

He was the last line of defense between early elimination and the team’s victory.

“Julian, it is your turn.”

Coach Jin said.

“Finally…”

Julian stood up, and with just a few steps, a powerful aura washed over the ring and even reached Kaleidos High’s bench.

The aura was felt strongly by their coach.

“W-what the hell. T-they have another monster in their team?!”

The coach of Kaleidos High exclaimed in shock.

The only person they couldn’t properly investigate was Julian, as he hadn’t fought in any public tournaments before. Therefore, his strength came out as a complete surprise.