Martial Arts Worlds-Chapter 279: I Am Worried

'He is delaying. However, I am not sure whether it was the best choice. Sure, he can catch his breath, but the injury on the back of his head is quite serious.

'He is just making things harder for himself. I am surprised if he can see straight with all the blood loss.'

Kiernan thought to himself.

If he were in Shri's shoes, he wouldn't have done that. He would've acted like there was a time limit and tried to end the match as quickly as possible.

"One minute is up!"

The referee shouted.

Shri finished wrapping his knuckles with the white tape and slowly moved back to his fighting stance.

"I am ready!"

He shouted.

"Fight!"

Julian strode forward and punched ahead, but instead of the fist heading straight, it veered off and moved through the air like a snake.

"Metal Style, King Cobra Strike!"

Shri blinked in confusion, not expecting such a unique technique, and dodged to the side, but then the fist changed direction and struck him in the shoulder.

THWACK!

"Ah!"

With a yelp of pain, he stumbled backward and saw that his shoulder was already starting to bruise.

Julian shot his fist forward. Shri dodged to the side again, but with a flick of the wrist, the fist changed directions at a sharp ninety-degree angle and smashed into Shri's cheek.

Smack!

"Metal Style, King Cobra Strike!"

Shri's head snapped to the side, teeth flying out of his mouth, and blood spattered onto the ground.

'Y-you can't dodge his attacks? I don't understand!'

"Metal Smash!"

Julian smashed his fist into his stomach. Shri doubled over, gasping for air.

With the punch's impact reaching his body, his organs bounced around like a pinball machine.

Shri had never been punched so far before. He was lucky that the punches hurt so much. Otherwise, he would've lost his consciousness already.

However, with the blood loss and clouded vision, he could barely see one meter ahead of him.

Shri gritted his teeth with a hideous look. The blood colored his lips with a deep shade of red. The veins bulged on his forehead, making a network of purple lines under his skin.

"Yuh!"

Shri's fist, heavy with pain, and anger, appeared in front of Julian's face with a loud, thudding sound as it connected.

'It connected. Yes!'

Shri grinned, showing his bloodied teeth.

"…"

Julian stayed quiet, then smiled and smashed his fist at Shri's abdomen. It made him hunch over in pain, gasping for air.

When Shri lifted his head back up, he noticed that his punch didn't do anything to Julian.

Not a single drop of blood was visible.

Smack!

Julian buried his fist deep into Shri's abdomen. He reeled back his other fist and punched him again.

Three heavy punches, each strong enough to crack down a wall.

"A-ah…"

Shri collapsed down on the ground, clutching his stomach, and coughed out saliva. All the air had left his lungs, and he felt like he was getting choked. He had never felt so helpless in his life.

Snot, tears, and drool mixed together on his face as he struggled to breathe.

"Huff! Huff! Huff!"

Shri took a few deep breaths, stood up, and then came across with a fist to the face. He stumbled back, then got punched again, and got pushed to the edge of the ring.

With his body slowly falling back to the ground, his eyes looked unfocused as he drifted out of consciousness, and then Julian's fist connected with his jaw one last time.

"Metal Style, Metal Rock!"

With an explosive punch, Shri went flying out of the ring and landed outside with a loud thud.

Whistle~

"The fight is over! Winner is Julian Noah!"

Thunderous roars erupted from the crowd.

"Nice!"

Coach Jin nodded his head.

Julia and Dominic clapped their hands with smiles on their faces.

The doctors ran over to Shri but then saw him stumble back to his feet and head back to the bench.

"Do you need treatment?"

A nurse asked as she rushed over with a first aid kit in hand.

"Nah…"

Shri shook his head, plopped down back on the bench, and sighed heavily. Others looked at him with raised eyebrows, unsure if he was truly okay.

"Anything to tell me that should help?"

Harit asked with a wry smile as he warmed himself up.

"Avoid his punches… they hurt."

Shri said with some trouble.

It sounded like saying every word was a struggle for him.

"Well, that I already knew beforehand."

Harit said with a deep sigh, then slowly made his way to the ring and arrived at his corner.

He remembered the coach's teachings—avoid getting punched in the face.

An obvious, yet effective, teaching.

It was extremely important to avoid getting hurt in the nationals. It was different if you fought once and were done with it.

The nationals were a long endurance test.

Crack!

Julian loudly cracked his knuckles.

"Are both of you ready?"

"Yes!"

Julian immediately said.

The previous fight didn't even make him sweat.

"Yeah."

Harit took a deep breath and moved to his fighting stance.

He didn't delay the start of the fight as he hoped that Julian was even a little bit tired from his previous fight.

"Fight!"

The referee swung his arm down.

…

"Argh!"

A loud scream echoed throughout the arena, and it shocked many as the one who was screaming was one of the best talents in the entire nation.

Kenneth held his ankle in pain. It was purple and twisted like a candy cane. It looked horrendous.

With a horrified look, he looked at his opponent, looking at him like he was some kind of inhumane monster born from the depths of hell.

"Weak…"

Zachary said out loud without caring to sweeten his words.

"I thought you would be more of a challenge since you're in the top ten and all, but… this is disappointing."

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Kenneth gritted his teeth at his words, but there was nothing he could say because he was weaker.

The strong ruled, and the weak obeyed.

It was how this world was.

"I… forfeit…"

He said with a defeated look.

In Drakensfjord High's bench, everyone looked grief-struck, and they started crying as this was the end of their nationals.

"Hmph."

With his victory announced by the referee, Zachary left the ring and saw that Alabaster was looking somewhere else.

"Master, where are you looking at?"

He followed his gaze and saw that he was looking at Karuza High's ring. A fight was happening there between Julian and someone else.

"I am worried…"

Alabaster narrowed his gaze.