The impact of Johan's punch traversed through Kiernan's body, wreaking havoc, but with masterful control, the impact reached his arms and moved to the palms of his hands.
Through the palms of his hands, the impact traversed back to Johan's body.
Johan got thrown back and crashed into the ground with a dent in his chest. It was like he was just hit by a car!
"Cough!" Kiernan coughed out blood and collapsed on his knees. 'This body is so weak!'
Re-Karate was a move to tank the opponent's attack and then redirect it back to them with double the force.
However, because of his current body condition, he wasn't able to really nullify any of the damage from Johan's punch; thus he also got hurt in the process.
"Argh!" Johan climbed back to his feet with a stunned expression.
His veins were bulging around his forehead and neck. It looked like the punch had hurt him as well!
"J-Johan!" Kara screamed.
"What in the world…" Yves' eyes shook.
None of them had ever seen Johan be so injured. They thought that he wasn't able to get damaged because of his monstrous Superhuman physique!
The crowd had turned silent.
"Argh!" Kiernan climbed back to his feet, his legs shaking furiously.
It was the greatest amount of damage he had received ever since his reincarnation.
"I must say…" Johan touched the dent in his chest. "This hurts!"
"Kiernan, are you alright?!" Jin ran next to the ring and asked worriedly. "If your health is at risk, it's alright to give up!"
Kiernan was the future of Karuza High, and he was only a first-year student!
Thus, even if they lost now, he didn't mind because with him at the front, they could fight for the champion title next year or the year after that!
The most important part was for Kiernan to stay healthy so he could keep becoming stronger!
"I am fine, coach…" Kiernan stood tall and wiped the blood off his lips.
"…" Jin clenched his hands, nodded, and returned back to the bench.
Johan started advancing towards Kiernan with a pained expression on his face.
With a deep breath, Kiernan caught his breath and approached Johan slowly.
They met at the center of the ring, the entire country of New Rakuya watching their every move.
Johan's fist came flying and landed on Kiernan's cheek, but he then turned his body alongside the momentum to nullify the impact.
The punch then slid past Kiernan's face.
"Iron Smash!" Kiernan's fist slammed against Johan's chest.
"Argh!" Johan gritted his teeth and chopped his hand at Kiernan's left shoulder.
The shoulder dislocated with a sickening sound.
"Ragh!" Kiernan's eyes turned red from pain, and he then elbowed Johan across his face.
The elbow cut into Johan's cheek, leaving a deep gash.
The red blood dripped down his chin.
"Tch!" Johan slammed his fist at Kiernan's chest and then started punching at it repeatedly.
Kiernan's chest showed signs of bruising and swelling as his bones began to break!
'Iron Human, Iron Human, Iron Human!'
Kiernan kept screaming inwardly, but the pain kept throbbing across his body. Iron Human wasn't working even slightly.
The pain was horrendous.
Karma broke the armrest as he squeezed too hard, his face twisted in agony, and he then stood up.
"Hey, move out of the way; I want to watch!" An angry spectator shouted behind him.
However, Karma ignored his words and dug his nails so deep into his flesh that blood began to trickle down his palms.
His friends weren't cheering either anymore. It was clear that this fight had become quite serious.
At the commentator's booth.
"This is…" Chris Chang gulped. "A rare sight in high school tournaments. It's very bloody indeed…"
"These two young men aren't backing down." Luca Pop gulped. "What amazing willpower from both. Both must be under a heavy amount of pain."
Kiernan grabbed Johan's fist with his dislocated left arm.
"Your left arm has no strength anymore!" Johan yanked his fist free and punched Kiernan across his face.
The punch rocked Kiernan's brain, and he stumbled back, his vision turned black as he fell to the ground.
The crowd exclaimed, and after a moment of shock, they erupted in cheers.
"Down!" The referee jumped into the ring. "One!"
For the first time in his life, Kiernan was knocked down!
"Huff, huff…" Johan moved back to his corner while feeling the pain of his bruised ribs.
"Kiernan!" Jin slammed his hands against his knees. "No!"
"Ah…" Timothy and the rest looked equally hopeless.
This was the first time that they had seen Kiernan knocked down. It was a strange feeling because their ace almost seemed like an undefeatable beast.
No matter how bad the odds were, he always came out on top.
"Good!" Cadell clapped his hands.
"As expected, but…" Godfred crossed his arms. "This Kiernan kid, impressive martial arts talent. His rank is lackluster, yet he can fight a person who is whole one rank higher."
"It's nothing out of the ordinary, though!" Cadell said. "There have been people that have been able to achieve the same!"
"Yes, but he is just sixteen years old." Godfred said. "To achieve this level of martial arts is extraordinary. How did he reach this level in this backwater country?"
"…" Muriel looked towards the knocked-down Kiernan and whispered to herself. "Is this really all you have? Stand up, idiot…"
The color left from the faces Karuza High's supporters.
Their amazing nationals run was coming to an end.
At that moment, the referee opened his mouth, ready to say the final count.
However, to everyone's surprise, the black-haired young man slowly stood up, even facing the wrong way from Johan with his head hanging low.
"Kiernan!" Jin and the rest exclaimed.
"How can he still keep standing?!" Marquise exclaimed. "Who is he?!"
Kara and Yves looked pale.
"Oh?" Johan clapped his hands. "Still not done?"
"Can you keep fighting?" The referee walked over to Kiernan.
If it looked like he was not completely conscious, he would end the fight.
"Yeah…" Kiernan swiped his hair back, revealing his beautiful gray eyes. "I can keep going."
The referee nodded and jumped off the ring.
"Continue the fight!"
"You're a tough one, I give you that." Johan cracked his neck. "Let's finish this."
Kiernan rummaged through his pocket and took out a strange shiny pill. He then tossed it into his mouth and bit down on it.
The pill split in two and traversed through his throat into his stomach.
[You have swallowed the Iron Style pill!]
[You can use Iron Style for a minute without any side effects!]
"Whoo…" Kiernan turned around, his gray eyes having a strange metallic sheen to them. "Yes, let's finish this."