While shaking the sand off her hair, Aoi sat beside Kiernan with a shy smile and then turned to him, asking.
"May I get my ring back?"
Kiernan reached out to his back, but he was secretly entering his inventory and pulled out a ring that he received from his mother.
He handed it to her, and she accepted it back with a bright smile, mouthed 'thank you', and then slipped it back on her finger.
She then leaned over to Kiernan, put her head on her shoulder, and closed her eyes, letting out a contented sigh.
While she didn't look like it, she was very nervous during the match because if she lost, their dojo would've most likely lost the match.
She didn't want to lose in front of Kiernan and disappoint him. She also didn't want to disappoint her grandfather, who had taught her everything she knew about martial arts.
"Do we think we win?"
She asked in a whisper.
"Yeah, you can trust in me. I got it."
Kiernan said and caressed her silky black hair, then from the corner of his eyes, he saw Master Arakawa start walking over to the temple priest.
It was time for the last coin flip of the martial arts festival, and it was an extremely important one.
If they happen to win, Master Raju would have the option to choose the first fighter, and he would most likely have to choose Gruber.
If he chose Li Wei, they could choose Kiernan to fight for Yokai Dojo. If he chose Gruber, Kiernan would also have to fight.
Therefore, there was pretty much a hundred percent chance that Kiernan would be fighting the next match!
'It looks like the end of the martial arts festival is upon us. Calm down, heart.'
Kiernan closed his eyes and breathed heavily, but his heart kept beating against his chest like crazy.
Aoi placed her ear on his chest and felt his heartbeat that seemed like it would burst out of his chest.
"You're nervous? Is it because of me?"
Aoi asked with a giggle and saw his lips curl slightly, but then she asked seriously.
"You're nervous about the match?"
Kiernan opened his eyes and said with a chuckle.
"I didn't expect you to be nervous about anything."
"I am human, after all. There are things that I feel nervous about, and of course, since the fate of the match is on my shoulders, I do feel pressure."
"That's surprisingly cute. I guess we're the same in that aspect~"
Aoi said with a smile and grabbed his hand to soothe his nerves, which did help a little bit.
At that moment, the temple priest did the coin flip and caught it.
"Heads—Master Raju will choose first."
Master Raju gritted his teeth and stormed back to his students, who shrank in size and fear as he approached.
Master Arakawa's lips slightly curled into a smile, and he walked back to his students, his arms behind his back.
"Master Raju has an important decision in hand. I am sure that he will send Gruber."
"Can we do a strategy then? What if we just send Jun after him, and then Kiernan will be against Li Wei in the final match? I think we'll win!"
Gunwoo said excitedly.
Master Arakawa said, but when he looked at his grandson-in-law, he saw that he wasn't liking the strategy.
It felt cheap, and it wasn't the way Kiernan wanted to win. It was obvious that he wanted to duel against Gruber.
"I think we'll do our previous plan. Kiernan will go against Gruber. End of that discussion."
The students felt surprised but knew that this was all about the pride of the dojos, and if they relied on such cheap tricks, they might not get the respect that the winner of the martial arts festival should get.
In the end, the martial arts festival was all about pride itself.
Master Raju looked silently at the last two fighters of his and knew that he had an impossible choice to make.
'If I choose Gruber, they'll just send that piece of shit Jun Taesoo against him, and then they'll send that foreigner bastard against Li Wei. Is winning really impossible? How is this possible?
'I changed my martial arts principle to make my dojo as strong as possible, no matter the cost, and yet we're in a losing position. How?!'
Master Raju gritted his teeth and shook in anger.
Maximilian Gruber shook his head, took off his yukata, and stood with his wrapped hands and legs.
He had knee-length red shorts and tied-up shoes that looked like they were meant for boxing.
When he stood up, everyone's gazes went straight to him, their eyes full of admiration and respect.
"It is Maximilian Gruber!"
"Wraith Dojo is sending their big dog to fight!"
"However, isn't this bad for them? Yokai Dojo can just save this foreigner to fight in the last match for the best chance at victory!"
"That's true! Doesn't that mean Wraith Dojo is in a horrible position to win the martial arts festival?"
Master Raju looked at the emotionless-looking man and asked.
"What the hell are you thinking of doing? I haven't chosen the fighter yet!"
Without caring about what he had to say, Maximilian walked past him and entered the battle sand.
"Are you not listening to me? Listen to me, you bastard!"
Master Raju screamed, but when he did, he saw people secretly laughing at him as he couldn't even control his student.
Master Raju sat back down, and crossed his arms angrily.
"It looks like they have disagreements. However, Gruber is next as a fighter; that means…"
Master Arakawa turned to Kiernan, who slowly stood up, removed his yukata, and donned his skin-tight black shorts and began stretching out his limbs.
"Yokai Dojo is sending that foreigner?! They're not planning to play a strategy game after all!"
"Might not be the wisest decision, but it's amazing nonetheless! We still get an amazing match that will decide the winner of this tournament!"