With the sound of the whistle echoing through the venue, the second block's semifinal matches were about to begin.

As Cleo was about to start heading over there, Kiernan suddenly got close to her and whispered into her ear.

"What?"

Cleo looked surprised at what she heard and looked at the gray eyes of her master with a look that was asking whether he was serious.

Kiernan nodded.

"Mm, alright, master."

Cleo nodded and took off to the platform, where her opponent, Weathers, was already waiting with a pompous expression.

"What did you tell her, master?"

Jock asked.

"I've been keeping my eye on the fighters here, and at first, I wanted to let you all handle it by yourself, so I haven't given any tips and tricks.

"I could've told you about Axe's insane speed and given you tips, which would've helped you to survive longer, but in the end, the outcome wouldn't have changed.

"However, this is different."

Kiernan said.

"How is it any different?"

Jock asked curiously.

With a smile, Kiernan leaned close to him and whispered into his ear so that no one around them could hear.

"Are you serious?"

Jock asked with an angered expression and turned to look at Weathers with a disgusted expression.

"The tournaments are considered holy events, yet he is actually…"

"I don't know whether his master told him to do it or nobody knows that he is doing it, but it is definitely disrespectful."

Kiernan said.

"…I hope Cleo defeats him then."

Jock clenched his hands into fists.

At the platform, Cleo and Weathers stood opposite of each other. The referee took his spot. He then raised his arm and pointed at Weathers.

"Over in the red corner, we have Weathers from the Ok Family Dojo, and this is his fifth tournament appearance. He is currently Low Stage Martial Soldier, and turned fifteen a couple of months ago!"

Then, the referee pointed at Cleo and said.

"In the black corner, we have Cleo from the Martial Redemption Dojo, and this is her first tournament appearance. She is fifteen years old and Low Stage Martial Soldier!"

With that said, the two fighters took their stance, and the atmosphere chilled with anticipation as everyone held their breath.

At the other arena, Lumian was looking his opponent dead in the eye, and they were also waiting for the whistle to go off.

At the same time, the two referees blew into their whistles and swung their arms down.

"FIGHT!"

Immediately, Cleo and Weathers bolted into a sprint, and their bodies tackled each other with an intense force.

With his height and weight difference, Weathers overpowered her quickly and took her straight down to the ground.

He was about to hammer his fist down at her face, but she quickly pivoted and pushed him down to his side, gaining the upper hand in the struggle.

She wrapped her legs around his torso and squeezed tightly, then flipped him down to his back to gain the mounted position.

It was the most dominant position.

"Iron Smash Storm!"

Cleo rained her fists down, and Weathers desperately hid himself behind his arms, just doing everything in his power to protect himself from the barrage of blows.

What Cleo used wasn't actually Iron Smash Storm. It was just what she decided to call her fierce attack.

At that moment, she caught sight of the white tape around Weathers' knuckles. There seemed to be many layers, as it looked bulging out.

"Does Master Sozen know that you are cheating?"

She asked with a whisper.

Behind his guard, Weathers's eyes widened in surprise with a few drops of sweat falling off his forehead, and he immediately scoffed.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Hmph!"

In that moment, Cleo reached out to his hands and started unrolling the white tape wrapped around his knuckles.

"Whistle~"

The referee immediately blew the whistle and raised his arm with an angry expression.

"A warning to Cleo for intentionally unwrapping the taping of her opponent! That goes against rule 18 of the international Martial Arts Code!"

However, even after hearing that, she didn't stop and finished the unwrapping while Weathers tried to desperately stop her.

At that moment, in front of everyone's eyes, they saw something hard slip out of the wrapping. It looked like a small plate of metal.

The referee immediately knelt before the plate, took it in his hand, and his face flushed with greater anger.

The crowd gasped.

"Wait… Does that mean Weathers is cheating?"

"Of course he is! He wrapped his hands with a metal plate, and anyone who gets hit with that shit will be knocked out cold!"

"Unbelievable!"

"To think that someone so young would actually be cheating…"

The crowd started booing at Weathers, and it was so loud that it was hard to hear oneself thinking.

In the beginner tournaments, while the referees made sure that there wasn't any foul play going on, they rarely went out of their way to check each opponent's wrapping each time.

It was because cheating in beginner tournaments was extremely rare and unthinkable because participants were mostly students of respected dojos!

This was definitely going to hurt the reputation of the Ok Family Dojo!

"I…"

Weathers looked around the venue and saw everyone looking at him with such disgust and anger that it really shook his young heart.

Lastly, he turned to look at Lumian fighting in the other arena, and he wasn't paying a single bit of attention to him.

'Y-You told me I wouldn't be caught…'

At that moment, the referees took Weathers away, as he would have to talk with representatives of the World Martial Arts Federation.

He would definitely get penalty, and banned from participating for several years, which would definitely damage his martial arts career.

Since he got disqualified, Cleo left the platform as the winner, but she wasn't feeling happy and was rather sad, really.

"H-How did you know, master?"

She asked as she sat back down.

While unwrapping the tape, she still had some hope that someone from Ok Family Dojo was actually not going to be cheating.

However, when that metal plate was revealed, her heart sank.

"A hunch."

Kiernan said mysteriously, but he didn't stop looking at Lumian and even felt quite a bit of anger building up inside him.

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