The sharp ringing attacked Xenon's ears once again.
"Tch!" Xenon clicked his tongue in annoyance and smashed his fist across Nathaniel's face.
Nathaniel coughed out blood, but after stumbling for a moment, he gritted his teeth again and clapped his hands together.
"Argh!" Xenon covered his bleeding ears.
"What is your greatest fear?" Nathaniel asked as he stepped closer.
"Fuck off!" Xenon whipped his leg into Nathaniel's ribcage.
With the fleshy contact, Nathaniel stumbled to the side with a look of agony on his face.
However, again he clapped his hands together.
"Argh!" Xenon sprang forward like a lion and smashed his fist into Nathaniel's guts. "Stop doing that!"
The punch sent Nathaniel's breakfast straight back to his throat as he doubled over in pain.
Weakly, he clapped his hands together again, but the power of Melody was much weaker than before.
Xenon's fists came raining down, landing across Nathaniel's face and body with brutal force.
"Coach, you must stop this!" Klaus shouted. "He is getting killed out there!"
"Shit…" Jin raised his towel-holding hand.
"Don't." Kiernan suddenly said. "If you do that, you'll ruin Nathaniel's future."
"What do you mean by that?" Klaus asked with a frown.
"Because his trust in Kamala Style will forever be gone if he sees you interfere now," Ryan replied calmly.
"You must allow Nathaniel to make his own decisions regarding this match."
"Damn…" Jin lowered his arm and put the towel back on the bench.
Xenon didn't give Nathaniel a moment to rest. He kept pummeling down till he turned all bruised and bloodied.
It was a brutal beatdown.
"Whoo… huff!" Nathaniel breathed heavily while desperately blocking the punches.
Smack, smack, smack, smack, smack!
At that moment, Xenon's right fist came flying straight at him.
The referee placed the whistle between his lips, ready to call off the match.
However, then, Nathaniel tilted his head out of the way, letting the punch slide past his cheek.
Xenon quickly raised his left arm to defend against any incoming punches if necessary.
Nathaniel quickly grabbed his hands together, gathered the nearby airflow, and then placed his hands right beside Xenon's left ear.
With a clap, the airflow dispersed in one direction. Straight into Xenon's ear. The sound that was created was so high-pitched that Xenon turned deaf for a moment!
However, the ringing in his head was so loud that he couldn't do anything but stand still in shock.
"What is your greatest fear?" Nathaniel asked coldly.
"Drowning…" Xenon replied unwillingly.
Nathaniel quickly snapped his fingers.
Within Xenon's vision, he appeared at the depths of the ocean, the water surrounding him, suffocating and overwhelming.
He started flapping his arms around, trying to swim back to the surface, but it felt like he had concrete weights tied to his feet.
He kept falling deeper and deeper into the darkness of the ocean.
Tears started to form in his eyes as he realized that this might be the end.
At that moment, an illusionary figure appeared before his eyes. It looked like a man made out of water.
He placed his hands at Xenon's chest and shouted.
The two hands smashed into his chest and sent him flying through the water like a ragdoll.
At that moment, the illusion cracked and shattered all around him.
Xenon opened his eyes and saw that he was flying across the air.
Within a second, he realized what was going on and quickly flipped around before landing safely on the ground.
His feet were right by the edge of the ring.
He was extremely close to falling off!
"Argh, shit!" Xenon touched his chest that had more red handprints.
Karuza High members cheered loudly.
"That was sick!" Timothy shouted. "Nath modified his Three Techniques to include Water Strike at the end, making the technique far more powerful!"
"It was a genius move." Jin nodded in approval. "It seems like the Water Strike was always included in the Three Techniques, but since Nath didn't know how to use it, he didn't include it."
"…" Nathaniel remained still, a heavy look on his face.
"Look…" Ryan looked serious. "Nathaniel's arms…"
When the others turned to look at Nathaniel, they noticed that his hands were broken from the wrist. He couldn't use his hands anymore today!
"Water Strike is much harder to use than I thought!" Jin's expression looked ugly.
"You bastard." Xenon shook his arms and approached Nathaniel. "Your martial arts are weak!"
"No…" Nathaniel lowered his arms and raised his right leg. "This martial arts is a style for the weak. The Three Technique was created to defeat the strong."
"You failed," Xenon said coldly.
"No, I succeeded," Nathaniel said. "How many punches can you throw anymore?"
"…" Xenon looked at his trembling arms and clenched them into a fist. "Enough to defeat you!"
With that, he lunged forward and slammed another one of his heavy punches straight at Nathaniel's chest.
Nathaniel coughed out blood and collapsed on his knees, but then Xenon grabbed him by the throat and hurled him across the ring.
When he landed back on the concrete ground, he rolled a couple of meters further, making his jersey torn.
With an angry yell, Xenon slammed his feet into Nathaniel's face, causing him to black out.
Nathaniel's head snapped back from the force of the impact, and with his eyes closed, he collapsed on the ground.
"Down!" The referee shouted. "Since this is the second time Nathaniel has been knocked down, he has lost the match!"
"The first match goes to Ambrossa High—winner is Xenon Haworth!"
"Hmph!" Xenon limped back to his place, but he was greatly winded up.
"Nath!" Jin jumped to the ring and checked whether Nathaniel was alright.
Besides all the bruises and the broken hands, he would survive.
'That's good, but those injuries…' Jin sighed. 'This will be his last match of the nationals…'
The medical team came with a stretcher and took Nathaniel away.
Ambrossa High's supporters were in a festive mood. They already overcame one obstacle and were only two wins away from the quarterfinals!
The mood among Karuza High was solemn.
"Bring your next fighter!" The referee ordered.
Jin patted Ryan on the shoulder and said, "Your turn."
"…" Ryan, without saying a word, stood up and made his way up to the ring.
'I think I am on fire.' Ryan touched his chest with a smile. 'It's so hot. I feel like I am burning!'
At that moment, he realized what was going on inside his body.
The martial soul was slowly showing signs of peeling. Another layer started to peek from underneath it. The layer of Martial Fighters!
'I am on fucking fire.' Ryan coldly turned to Xenon and cracked his neck. 'I feel like there's nothing I can't do.'