"Second match—Zachary Lokiah versus Bren Rechermen!"
Through the roaring of the crowd, the sound of trumpets and drums blasted throughout the dome stadium.
'A son of Rechermen. A family that has always been part of Tiamut High history. Last year, Bren's big brother, Yves, helped the team to become champions.'
Marquise thought to himself.
"Are the two of you ready?!"
Bren shouted and tensed up his body.
He didn't practice Tiamut Style as he never found it suitable for him, and therefore he started using a not-so-known Rechermen Style.
It was an old style created by his old ancestor, and it focused on using quick strikes and agility rather than brute force.
Zachary replied with a smirk.
Without further ado, the referee shouted and swung his arm down.
As if he were an arrow released from a bow, Bren shot forward, and like a kangaroo, he rained his jabbing punches down on Zachary.
"Argh! Die! Die! Die!"
Bren screamed as the image of Rose Marie's crying face surfaced in his mind. The rage blazed brightly inside him like a wildfire.
Zachary placed his hand in front of the punches, stopping them with ease, and kept doing it till the steam ran out of Bren's punches.
"Your rage is not something of a mere friend. Does young Bren have a crush? Haha, how cute!"
Zachary laughed mockingly.
Bren screamed and continued to throw punches, fueled by anger, but they kept getting stopped by Zachary's hands!
"Is this the limit of your anger? I expected more!"
Zachary slapped his punch away and brought his left hand towards Bren's cheek, delivering a flesh-smacking slap that echoed through the stadium.
The slap was so powerful that the flesh peeled off Bren's cheek, and blood started gushing out of the wound.
"Thirty percent of my power!"
Bren fell on all fours, and he coughed up blood mixed with saliva. It almost looked like he was vomiting. That's how much blood he was spitting out.
Ariadne whispered, worry etched into her face.
'Cursed! What a monster!'
Marquise thought to himself, clenching his fists in anger.
At that moment, Zachary grabbed Bren from his nape, as if he were nothing but a pesty dog, and lifted him up from the ground.
Bren grimaced and kicked Zachary in the chest, but those meaningless kicks didn't do anything to him.
"If I only had known that she was your sweetheart, I would've ripped her clothes off to show her bare body to the whole world. I am sure you would've liked that, wouldn't you?"
Zachary said with a sinister grin.
"You… what the hell is your problem?"
Bren's eyes shook, as if he was looking at a monster in a human form.
Zachary laughed and then smashed Bren down on the ground at an angle, which made his head land on the ground first.
Bren's vision turned black, and the last thing he kept hearing wasn't the roaring of the crowd or shouting of his worried teammates.
It was Zachary's spine-chilling laughter that didn't seem to stop.
The referee looked frightened as he should've ended the match before it came to this point, but he had no idea that Zachary would do this!
His earpiece crackled with the shouting of his superior, but it was too late to do anything about it!
A sudden shout came from behind Zachary, and when he turned his head around, he came across a fist that landed in his face.
The fist pushed his nose to the side, but Zachary looked emotionless, as if that punch didn't do anything to him.
"Well~ Well~ Your rage is much more beautiful to look at."
Ariadne's rageful face had turned red, and she then reeled back her fist before punching Zachary across his face.
She didn't stop and threw another punch. It pushed Zachary's face to the side. She followed with a left hook and punched him in the nose.
A single drop of blood dropped from Zachary's nose, but he kept smiling as if he was having the time of his life.
Zachary slammed his brick-sized fist at Ariadne's abdomen and sent her flying across the ring.
She coughed blood, and before falling off the ring, she spun around to cancel the momentum of her flying body and landed back on the concrete ground.
However, her body was shaking in pain.
Without a single warning, Zachary appeared in front of her with a sickening smile on his face and punched her across the face.
Ariadne's head snapped to the side, and she tasted blood in her mouth.
Zachary laughed and kicked her in the knee, breaking it like a twig and forcing her down on her knee with a searing pain.
His brick-sized fist then came raining down on her, but she quickly guarded with her arms, but the punch landed with a sickening thud.
Her feeble, delicate-looking arms broke from an impact, and before she could even scream in pain, he stomped on her ankle, and a loud crack echoed through the arena.
It had turned silent in the stadium, so only the screaming of Ariadne was heard. No one liked what they were seeing.
This wasn't a fight anymore but pure torture.
Marquise rolled back his sleeves, ready to take the stage to protect his students, but then black-suited individuals rushed past him, arrived at the ring, and stopped Zachary from taking a single step closer to Ariadne.
The bodyguard shouted while pushing Zachary back, but despite his Martial Master strength, it was difficult for him, which shocked him to the core.
"Aye, I was defending myself!"
Zachary raised his arms in innocence.
"That crazy bitch just attacked me. I had every right to defend myself!"
The bodyguard's expressions turned cold, but he was right. However, it was also clear that Zachary went way overboard and wasn't any longer 'self-defense.'
At that moment, the chairman arrived with his entourage of bodyguards and looked at the scene in the ring with a truly cold look.
He couldn't have a break.
The third day was supposed to be full of festivity, but now it would only be remembered for what happened in the semifinals.
This year's nationals was a true nightmare!
"I only defended myself, right?"
Zachary said to the chairman while trying to feign innocence by showing his remorse with crocodile tears.
The chairman gritted his teeth in anger at his antics, but he also nodded and then said.
"Tiamut High is disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct!"
"Montclair High advances to the final round against Karuza High!"