Martial Arts Worlds-Chapter 316: Epic Showdown

With papers scattered across the table and wires running down the floor like a tangled mess, the commentators' booth looked like a mess.

Chris Chang, the head commentator of the nationals, took a sip of the cold water to get his throat ready for the finals.

It would definitely be a lot of shouting, and he needed to make sure his voice could handle it.

At that moment, his earpiece crackled to life with the sound of the director's voice, and heard something that completely stopped him from drinking.

"Wait… for real?!"

Chris asked in shock.

"Oh my god."

Luca nudged his glasses as he received the same word through his earpiece. It was an unreal piece of news that they've just received.

Chris and Luca looked at each other with a look of shock and immediately realized that this year's nationals would end up in history books.

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"A one-versus-one final to decide the championship, and it is between Zachary and Kiernan, whose rivalry has already shaken the social media to the core!"

"A special match to end it all, and it definitely can't end any better than this!"

Chris, and Luca said excitedly.

While they didn't want to disrespect any finalists, they honestly couldn't care at all about the other fighters because they were simply overshadowed by two giants.

The same thought was shared by the majority of watchers from home.

They only wanted to see Zachary and Kiernan duel it out in the final round, and everyone received their wish!

Without further ado, they started sharing the news with the people watching from home.

…

Somewhere in New Rakuya.

A gray sky stretched across the horizon as the rain threatened to fall down any moment.

Drip… drip… drip…

At that moment, the rain began falling down and started splashing down on an umbrella. The sound of the rain was soothing to the ears, a welcome change from the heat of the day.

"It rained as expected. Thank you, weather app~"

Ryan looked at the phone in his hand, then pocketed it, and with umbrella in hand, entered an apartment complex building.

He took the elevator, pressed floor 11, and watched the doors close right in front of his face.

The elevator slowly ascended to the eleventh floor, and there, the doors opened, and Ryan walked out while folding the umbrella and shaking off the raindrops.

He made his way down the long corridor, which was open to the outside air with rain falling past the large windows.

The corridor looked to be made out of concrete as it was gray in color, tough as hell, and echoed the sound of his footsteps with each step he took.

"Room 1123…"

Ryan looked around and then suddenly found the place he was looking for.

With an umbrella under his armpit, he knocked on the door and waited silently with his heart starting to slightly beat faster.

He kept hearing the falling sound of the rain but then heard something else. Approaching footsteps from the other side of the door.

Without a second later, the door opened, and a square-faced man appeared in front of him, a smile quickly spreading across his face.

"Ryan!"

Klaus laughed with his deep voice and hugged Ryan with his large, muscular arms that almost completely suffocated the slimmer man.

"Ugh… Klaus… space, please…"

Ryan struggled to breathe and then was let go.

"Ahah, I am sorry, just excited to see you again, bro! The rest are already here. Come in!"

After fixing his slightly messed-up hair, Ryan entered the apartment and placed his shoes and the umbrella by the rack by the door.

He then followed Klaus deeper into his apartment and found two other young men sitting on the couch, watching the martial arts nationals.

It was currently showing the advertisements, but there was also a timer on the top corner of the screen counting down to the start of the final match.

At that moment, Nathaniel and Timothy turned around, and when they saw Ryan, they jumped to their feet and greeted him with pats on the back.

"You came, after all!"

Nathaniel laughed.

"It was a sudden invitation. I needed to take a three-hour plane trip to get here."

Ryan said with a wry smile and removed his jacket before putting it to hang from the back of the nearest chair.

"Yeah, we were lucky enough to live close to Klaus, so we arrived here Friday already. You arrived at the perfect time, though. The finals are about to start soon, and something shocking was just revealed!"

Timothy said in excitement.

"Oh, what's up?"

Ryan asked as he sat down on his chair.

"The final round is a one-versus-one match to decide it all. A special match in the final round is unprecedented!"

"One-versus-one…"

Ryan whispered in surprise and asked.

"Kiernan versus Zachary then?"

"Yep… They sure are unlucky that Julian got injured, as with him and Kiernan, they would've destroyed Montclair High."

Nathaniel said with a deep sigh.

"I wonder where that Julian fellow came from. I don't remember anyone like him being in Irio. It would've been so nice to have him last year as well; maybe we could've won!"

Klaus said with a frustrated sigh.

"Mm…"

Ryan mumbled in agreement, staring off into the distance.

With snacks and drinks placed on the table, the four friends were ready to witness the end of the nationals.

Before the start of the nationals, Klaus invited them all to watch the nationals together, as they believed that Karuza High could be this year's champions.

Thousands of the households in Irio turned on the martial arts nationals channels and sat down on their couches with their loved ones.

The school that represented their small city was one difficult victory away from eternal glory. It was so close, but also so far.

It was all decided in a single match, and the timer on the screen was down to ten minutes.

Ten minutes before the start of the match for ages between two of the strongest high schoolers in the past few decades or so.

With the skies darkening across New Rakuya, the stage was set for an epic showdown. It was all over soon, and only one person would be left standing.