Martial Arts Worlds-Chapter 317: Death Warrant

Standing in a dark hallway, Kiernan waited for the doors to open to the arena. Seeping through the walls, a cheering of the crowd echoed through the corridor.

"…"

Coach Jin silently stood behind Kiernan with Sabbath on his right side. The rest of the team stood behind them, trying not to talk as they didn't want to disturb Kiernan's concentration.

Ba-Dump! Ba-Dump! Ba-Dump!

Their hearts beat against their chests like drums.

Kiernan placed his right hand against his left hand's fingers and pushed them together to make them crack in a satisfying way.

"…"

Without saying a word, he crouched down on the ground and retied his shoes so there wasn't any chance they would loosen during the fight.

At that moment, the door in front of him clicked open, revealing bright light that scared away the darkness of the corridor.

The roaring of the crowd became so loud that he could feel the vibrations in his chest.

Kiernan stood up and felt his coach's hand pat him on the shoulder. He then stepped forward and stepped through the cascading lights.

"Kiernan! Kiernan! Kiernan! Kiernan!"

It was so loud that the chanting of his name echoed all the way to the dark sky of this beautiful world, and if there were gods somewhere, even they would've heard it!

Through the opposite entrance, Zachary entered the arena with a smile on his face, and Alabaster followed closely after him.

It was only two of them that entered the arena. The rest stayed behind in the locker room.

"Zachary! Zachary! Zachary!"

While Zachary had become very infamous with these antics, he had also gained quite a large following for his insane strength.

"And here they are! The two stars of the nationals to decide once and for all who is the strongest!"

Chris shouted.

After arriving at the fighting stage, those who weren't going to fight got seated down on the bench.

With slow steps, Kiernan and Zachary stepped up the stairs and arrived at the top of the ring at the exact same time.

They looked at each other's eyes—Kiernan's gray eyes locked with Zachary's dark ones.

"At the left corner, we have Karuza High's very own Kiernan Hunter. It is rare to see anyone compete twice in the high school nationals, but here he is, and he is only a second-year, so we're guaranteed to see him here next year as well!

"Standing with a height of 191 centimeters and weighing 89 kilograms, Kiernan Hunter!"

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Kiernan rubbed the back of his head and raised his right arm as a greeting while showing the entire world his tattooed arm.

"At the right corner, we have Montclair High's Zachary Lokiah, a monster who shot to stardom out of nowhere. He is a third-year student, but with his strength, he could've participated in previous years, but no one knows where he came from!

"Through his first and second year, he wasn't even part of Montclair High's martial arts club, but now he is their ultimate ace and pretty much single-handedly took them all the way to the final round!"

"Standing at 205 centimeters and weighing 130 kilograms, Zachary Lokiah!"

Zachary's muscles bulged like balloons, and he screamed loudly towards the dark sky. It was so loud that the entire crowd fell silent in shock and awe.

"While Kiernan has a strong body for a high school student, Zachary is in a completely different league. A true muscle monster, like he is being called on social media!"

Chris Chang shouted from the commentator's booth.

"If Kiernan wants to have even a slight chance at victory, he couldn't possibly enter a slugging match with Zachary. It is doomed for failure!"

Luca commented.

At that moment, the referee arrived at the center of the ring, and when he appeared between the two fighters, he felt quite a bit of pressure.

However, he was chosen as the finalist referee because he was the strongest one among referees.

If the fight was heading in a dangerous direction, he had the strength to stop it!

"Are the two of you ready?!"

He screamed.

"Yes!"

Zachary flexed his brick-sized right fist and moved into a simple punching stance, but it seemed far from simple.

"I am."

Kiernan moved into his defensive stance of Iron Style. Zero weaknesses!

"This match decides the winner of this year's nationals! Have a fair match, and don't go overboard. Let's end the tournament on a positive note!"

The referee screamed, and then with his left arm, he swung it down like a bat.

"FIGHT!"

"I've been waiting for this moment, bastard!"

Zachary yelled as he charged at Kiernan, and while doing so, he reeled his punching arm way back.

"Rendering Edge…"

Kiernan raised his hands.

Everyone was breathless as they waited for the first blow to be thrown. It was a good indication of who was the stronger one.

No one had been able to deal with a single one of Zachary's punches yet, and many prayed that this wouldn't be the same case this time.

Zachary threw his over-the-shoulder punch. It harpooned through the air like a bullet slicing through wind.

Kiernan tapped Zachary's fist with his right hand and suddenly added a twist that caught Zachary off guard.

The twisting hand steered Zachary's fist and sent his arm spinning in the opposite direction.

"Huh?"

Zachary's eyes widened.

"Iron Style, Void Slap!"

Kiernan swung his right hand and slapped Zachary across his face with incredible force.

It was so powerful that his flesh rippled with the impact and made the ground quake all around the fighting stage.

Gasp~

The crowd gasped in shock.

"…"

Zachary stood still with a stunned look and turned his head back to Kiernan with a crimson mark on his cheek.

The veins bulged on his forehead as he looked like he was about to explode in anger. A feeling of humiliation swelled inside him like a balloon.

"Bitch."

Kiernan coldly said.

"This kid is insane!"

Coach Jin shouted with bulging eyes.

When looking at Zachary's towering figure, there was probably only one person in the entire stadium that dared to call him 'bitch,' and that was Kiernan!

"Hahahahaha!"

Julian laughed.

At the opposite team's bench, Alabaster looked at the scene with a cold look and looked around at the crowd, who were shocked at Kiernan's strength.

Slowly, the idea of Zachary being vastly more powerful than Kiernan was disappearing like a fart in the wind.

'Shit.'

Alabaster clicked his tongue.

At the fighting stage, Zachary cracked his knuckles and spat on the ground with a sinister snarl.

"Alright, you just signed your death warrant, fucker."