Chapter 696: Depends On You Cleo’s punch speared through the air—fast and heavy. Lumian kept his feet rooted on the ground, angled slightly to the side, and then, his palms slid sideways, brushing Cleo’s wrist just enough to let the punch slip past his ear. Cleo followed with a hook, but Lumian caught it with the flat of his hand and redirected the blow downward. She smiled and pressed forward. Her fists flew forward like a swarm of bees. Lumian’s movements with the help of the Iron Style’s defensive stance were small, almost lazy-looking from the outsider’s viewpoint. He turned his wrist, shifted his weight, and tilted his head. All that was to deal with Cleo’s relentless barrage. At that moment, Lumian’s hands moved like sails, caught one of Cleo’s fists, and bent it a little bit to make her stop. From a very close range, Cleo’s straight punch drove forward, perfect in form, and designed to deliver a devastating blow. Lumian’s palm met the wrist, guiding it across his chest. His other hand touched the shoulder of Cleo and gave a gentle push. Cleo’s own momentum spun her sideways and off balance. In that moment, Lumian pushed his palm forward. It landed at Cleo’s back. It pushed her down to the ground. “Whistle~ One point to Lumian!” The crowd cheered at the amazing show of prowess from both fighters, and they were barely able to breathe for a moment! ‘It’s time to use it…’ Cleo took a deep breath, climbed back to her feet, and relaxed her hands. She wasn’t going to throw any more punches, it looked like. She flashed forward with a quick burst of speed and brought an elbow strike to his face. Lumian caught the elbow and pushed her back. She stumbled but quickly caught herself and lashed her foot out towards his shin. Lumian raised his leg to dodge the kick. While still having his leg raised, Cleo tackled towards him, and Lumian quickly lowered his stance to stop the tackle. This was exactly what Cleo wanted and what she had been waiting for. With her shoulder, she rammed straight into his chest. Lumian stopped her momentum perfectly, and he had a strange look on his face. He had been sparring against Cleo for a long time, and this was a very disadvantageous position for her. In this position, Lumian was at his strongest, as he could easily take her to the ground and control the match from there. Thus, something was definitely off about this! In that moment, Cleo put her hand on Lumian’s abdomen and turned the hand into a tight fist. Lumian’s eyes shook, and he wanted to back away, but it was too late, as Cleo did a quick jab that sent shivers across his body. From such a close angle that the fist was literally already touching his abdomen, no one thought that attack would do anything. However, as soon as the attack landed, Lumian’s insides churned in pain, and he crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath. “Iron Style, Iron Fist…” Cleo whispered under her breath, but at that moment, she looked at her right fist that was dangling next to her. Updates are released by 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩 Its wrist was broken—bruised and swollen—it looked horrendous. This was an actual technique of Iron Style that was taught to her by Kiernan. She wanted to have a secret trump card for the tournament to use in dire need, and despite Kiernan’s warnings, she still wanted to do it. She lacked control as she was still learning the technique, and thus, the pain she suffered was greater than she had anticipated. “Whistle~ One point to Cleo!” At the scoreboard, Lumian’s point score went back to zero, and Cleo took the lead with that one punch! Lumian felt like coughing out the snacks that he just ate, as the punch made it seem like his stomach was twisting in knots. “N-Nice attack… But was that one point worth sacrificing your right arm?” He asked as he climbed back to his feet and saw the condition of Cleo’s fist. It needed some medical attention. While she managed to get the lead on the match and also injured Lumian, which would hinder him in the rest of the match, she also injured herself. She couldn’t use her right hand anymore for the duration of this match, and since it was her dominant hand, she was in a bad position. She would’ve liked to use Iron Fist with her left hand, but she couldn’t learn to use it with her non-dominant hand in time. “Hehe, sacrifices needed to be made. You’re too strong, after all.” Cleo said with a smile and raised her left fist. Lumian chuckled, and this time around, he shifted into an attacking stance and charged towards Cleo. She shifted back to a defensive stance. With just one arm, she tried defending against Lumian’s charge and managed for a while, but then Lumian baited her into overcommitting, and one of his punches slipped past her defenses and landed on her cheek. “One point for Lumian!” She kept trying to put up her defenses, and then, Lumian’s fist landed at her side with a dull thud. It had a devastating impact. Cleo’s legs buckled, and lastly, Lumian whacked her in the head, and she was brought down to her knees. “With three points, the winner is Lumian Ok from the Martial Redemption Dojo!” Lumian offered his hand to her, and with a pained smile, she accepted his hand and got pulled to her feet. “Y-Yeah… A punch to the liver? Are you serious?” She asked with a chuckle. “Haha, a little revenge.” Lumian chuckled with a smile. Back at the bench, Jock looked at them laughing and smiling with a little tinge of jealousy brewing inside him. He felt like they would be really good match with each other as they were both very good-looking, and it wasn’t surprise to him that their classmates already thought they were a thing. “He really is strong…” Jock said when thinking about Lumian. “You will also be. In the future.” “How far is that future?” “…It depends on you.”