The crowd held its breath as they stared at the two juniors standing in the arena below. Grant Fenix stood there with a grave expression, while Dylan had a large, sinister smile on his face.
Based on what had happened the last time Dylan fought a Fenix Clan member, the crowd was certain that Grant would give up. Although he was the highest rated Fenix Clan junior in terms of the Qi test, he was still far below Dylan in terms of power.
The referee commenced, and Dylan looked towards Grant as if he were a piece of meat on the chopping block.
Grant grit his teeth as he thought of what to do. He didn't want to give up, but he knew fighting Dylan was a surefire way to get beaten half to death. After a few seconds of deliberation, Grant finally made his decision and started to speak.
"I...I con-"
Boom!
In the same manner as the fight before, Dylan used his incredibly quick and powerful Qi art to attack Grant. Grant's sorry figure was seen flying dozens of yards back before he finally landed on his feet. Some wounds had opened up on his arms from the force of the blast.
Although he had taken quite a bit of damage from that attack, Grant had managed to notice it at the last moment and hastily raise his own sword to defend. However, his hasty defense resulted in him taking quite a bit of damage from that attack.
"I -!
Once again, Dylan used that technique to attack Grant before he could finish his sentence. Grant quickly used a movement technique to barely dodge the attack, but was dismayed to see another Qi attack flying directly towards where he had moved.
He once again hastily raised his defense, but was sent flying miserably across the arena. This time, he landed violently on the ground and tumbled over several times before coming to a halt.
John narrowed his eyes as a look of slight anger appeared on his face. Him and everyone else could tell that Grant was about to concede, but Dylan never gave him the time to actually do so.
'If Grant resolved himself from the start and put up a good defense, he wouldn't be in this situation right now. But his will was crushed before the fight even began, and Dylan took advantage of that.'
John was once more reminded of why a strong and tempered will was important. Although Grant was weaker than Dylan, he wasn't weaker to the point of being defeated in two moves. However, his will was crushed by Dylan before the fight began, and he had no thought of fighting back. His defenses weren't raised since he was about to concede, and this lack of preparation allowed Dylan to attack and stay on the attack without any counterattacks from Grant.
Dylan used a movement technique to quickly appear next to Grant, and his foot stomped on the head of Grant. A large, evil smile appeared on Dylan's face as he started to stomp over and over on Grant's face.
Although it wasn't enough to kill Grant, it was still a miserable sight to see. Grant's face became more and more mutilated as Dylan continued to stomp on it.
"That's enough, the fight is over." The referee couldn't stand to see any more of this, and ended the fight himself.
Dylan looked towards the referee and responded with an indifferent tone. "What are you talking about? He hasn't verbally conceded, and we can all tell he isn't unconscious yet. The fight isn't over."
While talking to the referee, Dylan continued to stomp on Grant's face.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
An angry shout echoed out as an incredibly powerful aura immediately pressed down on Dylan, instantly pressing him to the ground under the sheer weight of the aura. Dylan struggled to stand against it, but was unable to move even slightly. The crowd all felt this terrifying aura and opened their eyes wide in shock, but since the aura was almost fully focused on Dylan, the crowd was mostly fine.
Dylan struggled for a second before he immediately felt the pressure vanish.
"Cade Fenix, what is the meaning of this? You dare attack a junior?" Warren Gildar shouted out. Just then, Cade Fenix had used his immense power of a peak Core Formation expert to suppress Dylan with his aura alone, and Warren Gildar instantly countered with his own aura, which alleviated the pressure off Dylan.
As the two auras clashed, a Fenix Clan elder quickly dashed onto the stage and collected the nearly unconscious Grant.
"Grant concedes."
The elder quickly and angrily muttered while staring directly at Dylan before he dashed off the platform and carried Grant towards the Fenix Clan carriages to administer medical aid.
"What's the meaning of this? Your boy is clearly out of control. Grant attempted to concede twice but was forcibly stopped by Dylan. Give me one good reason why I don't slaughter you and everyone from your sect this instant?" Cade Fenix was livid at Dylan's continued underhanded tactics against his clan's juniors.
"Dylan broke no tournament rules. And come if you wish, I'll accept your fight at any time." Warren Gildar was not scared by Cade's threats.
Waylon Varis felt his head ache as he thought of dealing with these two for the remainder of the tournament.
"Cade, please be seated. Although Dylan used heavy handed tactics, he broke no tournament rules. And Warren, you best control Dylan in his future fights, or don't blame me for taking Cade's side on this matter."
Cade's and Warren's auras continued to clash for some time before they both retracted their auras and sat down.
The elder that helped Grant off the stage returned to the stands, and reported Grant's condition to Cade.
"That's good. No permanent damage. At least he'll recover with a few weeks of rest." Cade was relieved that Grant was not gravely injured. He was one of the most promising juniors from the Fenix Clan, and losing him would be a blow to the clan's future power.
After settling the situation, Waylon turned to the crowd once more and addressed them."The final battle of this round commences. John...Ella, please proceed to the arena."