Half of the ring got split in half. The cement was breaking and cracking.
With his fingers stabbed into that cement, Kiernan let out a loud howl, and he then lifted the broken half of the ring in the air.
Aurel was still standing on that broken half of the ring, watching in shock as Kiernan was also lifting him up!
"Haaaa!" With a loud scream, Kiernan threw it away.
It flew for about ten meters before crashing on the ground. That half of the ring just shattered, and Aurel fell to the ground, a shocked expression on his face.
The audience's jaws were dropped in shock. What the hell did they just witness?!
"What the hell?!" The referee was also staring wide-eyed.
She had never seen something so ridiculous in a high school match before!
The audience slowly started clapping, and soon the whole stadium was cheering for that amazing show of strength.
It was the sickest thing any of them had seen during a high school match!
"Wooow!" Nathaniel and the rest of Karuza High jumped and cheered with loud laughter escaping their mouths.
"What the heck was that?" Jin touched his head and laughed with disbelief.
Konoha High's side was deadly silent. They were looking at Kiernan like he was some kind of demon king!
"My ring!" The chairman exclaimed.
"Hehe," Muriel giggled so hard that her shoulders were shaking. "Hahahaha!"
'What was that?' Godfred looked serious. 'What is up with that young man? Is he possessed or something?'
Cadell's expression looked ugly.
In Tiamut High's locker room, they were watching the match through the screen.
"That was sick!" Kara jumped to her feet and tried to stab her fingers through the ground but couldn't. "How did he do that?"
Yves raised an eyebrow at the screen.
Johan, with his arms crossed, looked at the screen with a small smirk on his face. It was a pretty entertaining move; he had to admit that.
Shock, amazement, and excitement filled the stadium.
The referee touched her earpiece and said, "What will I do? Based on the rulers, Aurel is out of the ring, but seriously, is that move allowed?"
She heard a voice in her earpiece.
"Alright." She nodded, and then she stepped up to the ring—well, to the half of the ring.
"The winner is Kiernan Hunter!" She shouted. "Karuza High advances to the next round!"
Konoha High's bench was sullen and eerily silent.
At the ground, Aurel's eyes shook, and he slowly stood up, then walked back to the locker room. While it was something that he could argue against, saying something like that attack was illegal, he didn't dare to.
He never had a chance to win either way.
"Yes, haha!" Karuza High's bench cheered with almost tears falling out of their eyes.
They made through the first day!
It was the first time that happened in Irio's history since the historical run of Xaru High back in the day.
It had been a long wait, but Karuza High was finally able to prove themselves as a strong contender!
As Kiernan was about to walk off the ring, the referee tapped him on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, I received a word from match officials." She said.
"Oh?" Kiernan turned to look at her. "What is it?"
"That move is therefore banned!" She placed the finger against her lips. "Please, these rings are expensive. Don't want you breaking them."
"Alright." Kiernan chuckled and then stepped off the ring, and as soon as he did, the Karuza High members rushed to congratulate him.
[You defeated Low Stage Martial Fighter!]
'So, that counted as my victory. Nice.' Kiernan smiled.
Jin looked at the destroyed ring and wryly smiled. It was a big mess to fix.
In the locker room, they started packing up their things, getting ready to head back to the hotel after a long day of intense competition.
At that moment, Jin received a message, and this time it wasn't from his family. It was from the match officials.
"Hey, everyone." He said.
Everyone stopped packing and turned to their coach.
"Every match for today has concluded, except one." Jin said. "They saved this one to be today's main event."
"Tiamut High vs. Easton High." Jin said with a serious look. "The last match of the round of 64!"
"Tiamut High…" Ryan frowned. "Johan Yeager."
Kiernan remembered the person he met on the beach and narrowed his eyes.
"Do you guys want to watch this match before leaving?" Jin asked. "It's not every day you get to watch the strongest high school team fight before your eyes."
"Heck yes!" Klaus said.
"Easton High is no slouch." Timothy nudged his glasses. "That will be an interesting match."
"You can't pay me to miss this match!" Nathaniel said with a grin. "Let's go."
"You coming?" Ryan asked Kiernan.
"Yes." Kiernan nodded, and with that, they left the locker room, and once they arrived at the spectating stands, they found their seats in the middle of the row.
Few eyes moved to them as they wore their team jerseys. Most of them immediately recognized Kiernan and whispered between themselves.
They could still remember that shocking scene of him lifting up the ring.
At that moment, the stadium's lights dimmed down, and the crowd erupted into cheers and applause.
An announcer stepped up to the ring. It wasn't any of those smaller rings. It was the biggest ring in the stadium.
It was the ring where quarterfinals and onwards would be held. Yet, they were now using it in the round of 64, which told a lot about how big this main event was.
"It is the main event time!" The announcer shouted. "We have a treat ahead of us!"
The audience roared louder than ever. There were a lot of Tiamut's citizens among the audience, and since their team was fighting in the main event, they were especially excited.
But beside that, every audience member, it didn't matter where they came from, wanted to see Johan Yeager fighting.
They had been left unsatisfied as he hadn't fought in a single round yet as his powerful teammates had dominated the competition.
"Please, welcome both teams to the ring!" The announcer shouted. "Tiamut High, and Easton High!"