Martial Arts Worlds - Chapter 429

Chapter 429: Rawr
“He did it.”

Aoi said with a sweet smile on her face and turned to see the scoreboard turn to three-three. It was a tie game.

Only one match remaining.

“Whoo…”

Aoi let out a long sigh and tightened her yukata’s obi to make sure it wouldn’t come loose during the final match.

“Nervous?”

Kiernan asked.

“A little bit. I will be fine once the match starts, though.”

Aoi said with a smile and looked behind to see her grandfather standing silently in the background.

He looked as serious as ever, but she knew that he was also getting quite nervous.

It was because it was her granddaughter who was fighting next, and it was the most important match.

“You’ve got this.”

Kiernan planted a kiss on her lips and then hopped off the roof before making his way down to the spectating area.

He knew that it was better to leave Aoi alone for a moment now so that she was able to gather her thoughts.

“…”

She rubbed her finger that had the faded mark of a ring and closed her eyes to meditate for a moment.

The rapid heartbeat slowed down, and she could feel a sense of calm washing over her.

She opened her eyes, turned around, hopped off the roof, and walked to the center of the battle sand.

There was no need for the coin flip anymore.

After all, there were only two people remaining.

“…”

Like a silent lion, Leon made his way down to the center of the battle sand and stared down at Aoi with the gaze of a hungry predator.

“Tch!”

Master Sifu impatiently tapped his feet against the sand.

This wasn’t supposed to go all the way to the final match—they were last year’s champions and should’ve already won the match!

Yet, despite all odds, they were now at the brink of defeat, but he had immense trust in Leon.

Last year, when Leon participated as a year younger than everyone else, he happened to lose both of his matches.

After those painful losses, he vowed to train harder than any of his peers, and that’s exactly what he did.

“Leon Garcia vs. Arakawa Aoi!”

The temple priest shouted, looked at both participants, and then heard the sound of a gong in the background.

“FIGHT!”

“Fractura Ossi!”

Black smoke enveloped Leon’s fist, and he then punched straight at the innocently beautiful face of Aoi.

She was the only fighter who fought in her yukata, but despite its baggy appearance, it did not hinder her movements at all.

She thrust her hand forward and touched Leon’s smoking fist with a gentle and soft touch, causing him to freeze in place.

Anyone would’ve guessed that he would’ve just punched straight through, but for some reason, he couldn’t!

‘The hell? I can’t move my fist?’

Leon’s eyes narrowed, he reeled back his fist, and punched with his left fist instead, but Aoi gently pushed it aside and, with a small smile, said.

“Easy there. You might hurt yourself.”

“This is Yokai Style’s legendary Gravity Technique, is it not?”

Leon asked.

“Maybe~”

Aoi said with a giggle.

‘The gravity style of Yokai Style uses the air current of the opponent to manipulate ‘gravity’ and control their movements. It’s one of the most difficult techniques I’ve created, and even I haven’t mastered it perfectly.

‘Aoi has learned the basics of it, but that is still good enough to be used in a fight and win.’

Leon swung his fists, but Aoi moved fluidly through the sand like a dancer, and Leon’s punches missed every time.

He looked pissed but didn’t let that take control of his moves and continued to chase after Aoi.

Right, left, hook, and haymaker—he tried all sorts of punching techniques, but Aoi slid out of his reach effortlessly.

However, she wasn’t making any countermoves, as she knew that was exactly what Leon wanted her to do.

If she put her effort away from defending, it would open more opportunities for Leon to finish her off.

She wasn’t foolish enough to think that she could tank any of his punches.

While there were some very muscular and physical female fighters, Aoi wasn’t like them. She was a careful one who relied on strategy and speed rather than brute strength.

‘It looks like mindlessly punching won’t work, but I wasn’t expecting anything else.’

Leon thought to himself.

He tried pressuring her into making a mistake, but its a far-fetched attempt, as he doubted she was so amateurish that it would work.

“RAWR!”

At that moment, Leon suddenly opened his maw wide and roared like a hungry lion from the depths of his soul.

However, that wasn’t an ordinary roar.

It was roar fused with Aura Fusion!

“…?”

Aoi’s body trembled as if something inside her really feared the roar, but she knew that it was the power of Aura Fusion.

While she didn’t notice it with her naked eye, she could tell that roar was actually an attack on her martial soul.

Therefore, she was completely shaken!

“Tenebrae Percussio!”

Leon punched forward with his aura fused into his fist.

It looked like it would hit, and many turned their gazes away as they didn’t want to see the sight of innocent Aoi getting punched in the face.

However.

At the point of impact, Aoi suddenly ducked under the arm. Her afterimage’s head got punched back violently. It was what Leon saw.

While he was still oblivious to the fact that Aoi ducked the punch, she slapped her palm against his chest, twisted it, and sent Leon flying across the air.

“Urgh!”

With a bloody cough, Leon flipped in the air and landed back on the sand, but his chest was in excruciating pain.

‘I swear I punched her. However, it only looked like that because she perfectly timed her dodge at the last possible moment, which made it seem like my punch landed.

‘Since I thought that my attack landed, I dropped my guard…’

Aoi straightened her back and gently moved back to her fighting stance, with a few hair strands of hers falling over her forehead.