Chapter 695: Surprise! “Fighters Lumian and Cleo, please take the stage!” A voice came from the speakers. Cleo’s eyes slowly fluttered open, and when she looked around, she saw Jock wishing her good luck while their master was nowhere to be seen. “Where did Master go?” She asked, stood up, and tightened the belt on her black uniform. “I really don’t know… Outside, somewhere.” Jock said and scratched the back of his head. Cleo took a deep breath, and then, she headed to the platform, slowly made her way up the steps, and stood alone, watched by everyone. The bright lights of the ceiling fell over her, and it was as if she were the spotlight of the world currently. The referee looked around for Lumian, but he was nowhere to be found, and he looked quite confused. “Fighter Lumian! Fighter Lumian! Please come to the stage!” The voice urged on through the speakers. In that moment, from the outside, a handsome boy walked over, donning a beautiful black uniform and a headband as white as snow. Jock’s eyes almost fell out of their sockets, and the crowd also noticed the strangeness of Lumian’s getup. It wasn’t the same thing he had worn all tournament, and he was even donning a different dojo symbol on his back. Lumian stepped into the ring, and the murmurs of the audience grew louder as they tried to figure out what was going on. “In the left corner, we have Lumian from the Ok Family…” As the referee started introducing the two fighters, Lumian suddenly raised his arm and slowly said. “Martial Redemption Dojo… Not Ok Family.” “Ahem… In the left corner, we have Lumian from the Martial Redemption Dojo. This is his third tournament appearance, and he is a fifteen-year-old Middle Stage Martial Soldier!” The audience, after hearing ‘Martial Redemption Dojo’ felt shocked as Lumian was the son of the master of the Ok Family Dojo. This meant that the strongest prodigy of the Ok Family, who was most likely going to inherit the dojo after his father, was now fighting for another dojo. Follow current novels on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⁂𝙣𝙚𝙩 It was insane, unprecedented, and a significant blow to the Ok Family Dojo. They also knew that Sozen wouldn’t take this lightly, and this could result in a Dojo War between the Ok Family Dojo and Martial Redemption! Cleo was thoroughly shocked, as she knew what this meant. It meant that Lumian was going to be disavowed now. Sozen wasn’t going to let a “traitor” to his dojo stay in his family. Fighting for a rival dojo was the same as killing a fellow family member! “I have made my decision.” Lumian said, and at that moment, he completely abandoned the Ok Family Style, and to everyone’s shock, he took Iron Style’s defensive stance. It was strangely perfectly executed. It was because Lumian had been studying Iron Style in secret from his father, as when he was becoming master of the Ok Family Dojo, he planned to get some inspiration from that style. That was, of course, not going to happen anymore, but he was still very familiar with Iron Style. It wasn’t far-fetched to say that he knew more about Iron Style than Cleo and Jock combined! A few minutes ago, outside by the vending machines. “I should probably go forfeit… I can’t afford to fight anyone in my current state. I might hurt Cleo, and I don’t trust myself to control myself.” “How well do you know Iron Style?” “…Decently, I guess.” Lumian looked up at him and replied. “You know Iron Style’s defensive stance?” “That stance was the reason how I have been able to control my Uncontrollable Demons all this time. I created that stance to bind those urges. “Use that, and you do not have to worry about losing control.” Lumian whispered in amazement, then stood up from the ground and showed the stance to his master. Kiernan nodded in approval and then patted him on the shoulder. “In the right 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!” Cleo took the defensive stance, mirroring that of Lumian’s stance, and there was no oppressiveness in the air. There was only calmness. The referee blew into a whistle and then swung his arm down. The fight started, but neither of them moved, as they were using the defensive stance. Cleo chuckled to herself, realizing the goofiness of this situation. As if neither of them left this stance, they would be standing here all day. “Rock, paper, and scissors?” Cleo replied, breaking the tension with a smile, and then both of them formed a “rock” with their right hands. “Rock… Paper… Scissors!” They waved their fists in unison, and at that moment, Lumian’s paper covered Cleo’s rock. With a smile, Cleo shifted into an attacking stance and came forward with her fist flying forward like a bullet. She shouted, despite it being just a basic version of it, and then Lumian brought his hand down and parried the strike. They exchanged a gaze, and with smiles appearing on each other’s faces, the punches and hands began to fly. It was an amazing sight to behold. By the benches, Kiernan finally came back from the outside to see the heated battle and chuckled to himself. “Master, is Lumian really part of Martial Redemption now?” Jock asked urgently as soon as he saw his master come back. Kiernan sat beside him and said. Jock said in surprise. He had mixed feelings, as he still remembered getting his ass kicked by Lumian in the tag-team competition. It was ruthless the way he fought, and earlier in the tournament, he was acting like a huge asshole, but now suddenly, he had changed somehow. He felt like something had happened behind the closed doors but just couldn’t tell what.