Martial Arts Worlds

It was as if time slowed as Dawn reeled to the side, and then Zeus' fist came crashing down on her face.

She lifted her guard. Blocked the punch. However, it sent her sliding back as if she were on an ice rink.

"Snow World!"

She clapped her hands, and the temperature dropped drastically as if they had entered a blizzard.

"Heavenly God, give me strength!"

Zeus jumped into the air, lightning crackled around his fist, and he then punched his lightning fist down.

A fist of lightning flew towards the ground, roaring like thunder, and headed towards Dawn like a lightning snake.

She created a pair of snow swords, sliced through the lightning fist with ease, and then swung them across the air.

A wave of snow slashes came to Zeus and cut through his flesh. The blood sprayed across the air, staining the pristine white snow with a deep red hue.

"Argh!"

Zeus reached out to the ceiling, summoned a mighty lightning bolt, and hurled it down like the God of Thunder himself.

Dawn lifted the snow swords above her head. It acted as a guard. Yet, the lightning bolt slipped past the guard and struck her.

CRACKLE!

"Ahhhhhhh!"

Enveloped in a sea of lightning, Dawn let out an agonizing scream, and when the lightning dissipated, she had several burns on her body.

Zeus landed in front of her. She swung one of the swords at him. He punched through it and smacked Dawn's head with the flat of his hand.

She reeled back, but she then whipped the snow sword at Zeus and lashed across his chest, leaving behind a deep gash.

"Cough!"

Zeus coughed blood, and his vision was turning hazy because of all the blood that he was losing.

It wasn't good.

While Dawn had received her share of bloody injuries, she had stopped most of the bleeding. She only had the broken leg, which limited her movement.

Zeus was bleeding everywhere. A crimson pool was forming around him on the ground.

The referee looked seriously at the sight. If it came down to that, he was ready to call off the match at any moment.

He could tell that Zeus was still fine, but not for too long anymore, and he had to finish this match quickly before he passed out.

'…What do I need to do?'

Zeus thought deeply and thought that his talent would help him to think of a strategy to win this match.

In this case, he was completely clueless and had no idea where to begin.

"…"

Sitting outside the ropes, Kiernan looked at the match and tapped his finger against his forearm.

He thought that there was only one way for Zeus to win—a sacrifice—he had to let Dawn stab him with that snow sword.

It would make her drop her guard for a short moment, and that would be enough for Zeus to strike her down.

'…If this was a death match, I would let her stab me with that sword. I would guide the sword enough to miss all my vital organs, but I would let her stab me nonetheless.

'I would then snap her neck clean off. It cannot be done in this instance, but that's a strategy that Zeus could try.

'I am not sure if he can pull it off.'

In that moment, Zeus made his move. He came swinging—hooks, straights, and jabs—Dawn parried them all with the blunt edge of her snow sword.

She then lunged forward and drove the snow sword forward. It was coming for his heart. Zeus then slapped the snow sword to the side.

Still, the snow sword stabbed into Zeus' shoulder. It also started freezing his shoulder in a layer of ice.

'…Chance!'

Zeus stabbed his finger forward. The finger was as thick as a sausage. It was coming from Dawn's chest.

In that moment, Dawn let go of the snow sword's hilt, spun herself to dodge the finger, and then slashed her hand across Zeus' throat.

"Spurt!"

Zeus covered his throat with the blood spraying everywhere, and everything was slowly turning black for him.

'…A bad move. If she didn't think that her own attack would've finished you off, Zeus, then there was no need for her to keep holding on to that sword.

'You wanted to do it a safe way, and that's sadly the final mistake you made.'

Kiernan thought with a deep sigh, a seriousness flashing across his face, as now they had to fight an uphill battle.

Whistle~

In that moment, the referee blew the whistle, and the medical team immediately came to Zeus to mend his wounds.

If they weren't quick with it, he might die!

"Winner is Dawn Pawford!"

On the Animal Kingdom's side, they all nodded and thought that it was as expected that they would win.

It looked slightly dicey at times, but in the end, the outcome was just like they expected, so they didn't look surprised.

"…"

Dawn was only relieved that it was finally over, as she hated to fight—really, really hated—as if she won, everyone would think that it was just as expected, but if she lost, it would be catastrophic.

The humans looked grim. Even angry at Zeus. They screamed inside their minds, 'Win, just fucking win!' but they knew it was out of their control.

The rest of the human representatives looked serious, and they then stood up and started heading out of the throne room.

The next match was happening tomorrow. There was no need to stay behind the throne room just to see the Animal Kingdom celebrating.

"…Are we going to lose?"

Antigone asked Kiernan, her feet dragging behind her, and she knew that she would be fighting next.

She was only fifteen years old. This kind of pressure was too much for someone like her.

"It's too early to throw in a towel. It's possible to win them."

Kiernan said, walking with his hands inside his pockets, and Antigone let out a deep sigh beside him.

"My heart is beating… How do you not feel nervous? I haven't even fought in a tournament before."

Antigone said, her hand touching her chest, and she was able to feel her chest almost bursting through her chest.

"Who said I am not feeling nervous? I am freaking out. I always am before fights. I've just been like that since forever, really."

Kiernan said with a wry smile, and Antigone looked at him in surprise, even thinking that he was currently lying.

"What if I get hit? What if I get hurt? What if I lose? I am always thinking those things before and during the fight.

"It's just part of fighting, I suppose. Just don't let those feelings get control of you. You need to embrace it."

Kiernan said.