Martial Arts Worlds-Chapter 374: Black Lightning

Boom~

The meteor smashed into the black fortress' walls, causing a deafening explosion, and the flaming debris rained over the walls, but then the silver lightning descended down and smashed through the debris, destroying them.

Boom~

The meteor exploded against the black walls, yet, even after all that, the black fortress stood tall and unscathed.

'What in the world?!'

Dante's eyes shook in disbelief.

'That black fortress is indestructible! It also isn't only a defensive type. Those silver lightnings were used as an offensive weapon to crush those flaming debris.

'It means… he has the rarest kind of aura image that can be used both offensively and defensively!'

Dante's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly made his aura image disappear, but in this confrontation, he lost!

'I lost a little bit of mental energy, and in this competition, every bit of mental energy matters. I might not even beat Gunwoo because of this!'

When the two of them battled, the other students were the ones that suffered, as the pressure of the match was too much for some of them to handle.

'I didn't think Dante would lose in Aura Battle. However, in the end, it is a battle of the mind, and the strength of the martial rank does not matter or the skills in martial arts.

'However, Dante is still very strong in Aura Battles, and he rarely loses. We usually end up fighting each other in Horse Stance Competitions, but I doubt I could win so easily against him…'

Gunwoo thought to himself and knew that Kiernan was quite a threat in this competition, but he doubted that there was much mental energy left in him.

First, he had to defend against thirty attacks, which could've already depleted his mental energy, but his match against Dante proved that he had more in the tank than anyone expected.

'Horse Stance Competition is a marathon. Using so much mental energy will come to bite them in the ass. As long as I keep my composure and don't do anything foolish, the winner will be decided by me and Aoi.'

Gunwoo thought.

"Here's your tea, master."

Tanaka arrived and gave a steaming hot cup of tea over to Master Arakawa, who accepted it, and despite it still being hot, he sipped it right away.

"Ah~"

With a look of complete satisfaction, Master Arakawa let out a sigh of content and closed his eyes, savoring the moment.

…

Hours started flying past, and the rain outside kept getting heavier with puddles forming on the ground.

The rain cooled the air, and because the competition was held in the bottom floor, which was open-walled, the students could feel the cold penetrate their skin, and goosebumps began to form.

"Ah!"

Another student dropped down on his knees, his legs trembling as if they were about to give out from under him.

"Manuel, you're disqualified!"

Goto Yori shouted.

With a dejected look, Manuel went upstairs to his room, like the rest of the disqualified participants had gone to.

Rumble~

Some stomachs rumbled with hunger, and they knew that if they just dropped on their knees, they could go to their room to get some food.

It tempted them greatly, but they also had to resist all the temptations, as that was part of the competition.

"…Ngh."

Sweat formed on Gunwoo's forehead as he really felt like he was about to burst at any moment. It was getting harder and harder for him to hold on.

Dante looked concentrated despite the burning sensation that was spreading across his legs like a wildfire.

'Pain is nothing but weakness leaving the body. It is a temporary sensation, and it will pass.'

Dante repeated the mantra inside his mind as he pushed through the pain of his legs almost giving out.

"…"

Aoi stayed quiet, but even she started to show signs of discomfort, and the sweat started to glisten on her forehead.

The white gi-wearing students trembled in pain, and as soon as the third hour mark passed, they started dropping like flies.

It didn't take long for only thirty students to remain.

When the disqualified students left and saw that Kiernan was still left in the competition, they gritted their teeth in humiliation.

They never expected to lose to a mere choreboy, but here they were, tasting the bitter taste of defeat!

'Rock… paper… scissors…'

Kiernan thought to himself and then screamed inside his mind.

'Paper!'

At the exact same time, the holographic text appeared in front of him in the air.

[…Rock!]

'I won, haha. Get destroyed! Ten to six, it is my victory!'

Kiernan chuckled to himself.

When the boredom overtook him, he played some games against the system. Without the system, he would've probably fallen asleep already.

[…Congratulations, you defeated me]

'Do I sense some saltiness in your words? Could you be… a sore loser?'

[…You are a sore winner]

'Haha, you're indeed a sore loser! It isn't shameful to lose to me. I won the rock-paper-scissors championship during my youth!'

Kiernan smirked to himself and saw that the system turned really quiet—it was clear that it didn't want to continue playing.

'Don't be like that. We can do a rematch. You can snatch the title of champion from me.'

He thought, but the system didn't answer.

Kiernan rolled his eyes, but he really felt bored, and if this continued, they would be doing the horse stance for another ten hours.

'It's so boring… Very well, let's do this then.'

Kiernan's gaze sharpened, and at that moment, his black fortress rose up from the ground, casting a long shadow across the floor.

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise as they saw everything turn dark because of the shadow, and then they saw that Kiernan had summoned his aura image.

'Finally someone is going to make a move, but what can he possibly do with his defensive-type aura image?'

'I was wondering when someone was going to make the first move, but I never expected the choreboy to do it first!'

The students thought amongst themselves.

"?!"

Dante's hair stood on end, and the three monsters all realized that the end of the competition was near.

'Go ahead… black lightnings!'

At the dark clouds above the black fortress, the silver lightning turned black, looking mightier than ever before, and those black lightning bolts then descended down straight towards the students!

With wide, shocked eyes, the students unleashed their aura images, but the black lightning pierced through them, left them scorched, and attacked the students' minds.

In a shocking fashion, the students started rapidly dropping down to the ground!