The light of the moon shone down on the yard of the Martial Redemption dojo, illuminating the two powerhouses.

Through the window of the second floor, Aoi looked worryingly down at the scene of the fight, worried about the safety of her dear.

"I did respect you, don't get me wrong. The trashing of your dojo was just a showing for you to know your place."

Ryozen said angrily.

"Montrael is the city of a thousand dojos. The competition between dojos is immense. There are simply not enough students for every dojo.

"Every day, more and more dojos are forced to close their doors for good.

"You will be no different, and my invitation was a gesture of good will. It would help you immensely in the long run.

"Trashing of your place was by no means my attempt to discredit your dojo. It was a showing that will happen soon enough.

"Dojos that are either One or Two Stars will target you. It won't be the dojos with higher stars, because your dojo is not worthy of that attention.

"However, those with fewer stars are more worried, as you are a potential rival, stealing valuable students that they could get.

"It has happened many times.

"Instead of heeding my warning, you went to destroy my dojo. Are you insane? What you did was completely uncalled for.

"What we did was of no equal value!"

Ryozen screamed.

"…What you say has some credit to it, but you are also a liar, a manipulation tactic that I see right through.

"You brought that student with you for a reason. You chose the most arrogant, idiotic, big-headed student that you knew couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"You wanted him to anger me. You wanted me to reject the invitation. When I did, like you wanted me to, you had already planned for your students to trash my place.

"You would start light, with some graffiti and trash bags, something I can clean up easily, but the following days, you would've escalated further.

"Broken windows, maybe? Hacked down the Martial Redemption sign, maybe? Unrooted this cherry blossom tree, most likely. Destroyed the stone yard perhaps too.

"With that, I would have to spend all my time fixing the place instead of training any of my students.

"I wouldn't be able to get any more students because of the trashing. It would be far too big of a distraction for anyone who wants to join."

Kiernan said, looking at Ryozen's changing expression, and smirked slightly, as he felt like he had hit the nail on the head perfectly.

Thus, he continued.

"You knew I would know that it was your doing. I would have no proof. So I could only grit my teeth and do nothing.

"You didn't believe that in a million years I would do something drastic to your dojo. I would look like an aggressor if I acted foolishly on my emotions.

"Because you have done this before, and no one else has fought back, which has made you arrogant.

"I have only been thinking about why you would do this.

"To chase me out of Montrael City? No, I believe there would have been easier ways and quicker ways to do that.

"I believe that in a few months, when I am at the lowest point, you would come meet me again with a deal that would benefit you greatly.

"That deal would also help me to keep my dojo running with your donation, perhaps, and you would also help me get some students.

"In the end, I would be your servant as long as I breathed. I believe that was your plan, to get a great talent such as myself as your very own personal servant."

Kiernan said.

Ryozen stayed quiet. He had underestimated Kiernan. Everything he said was true, as if he had read his mind perfectly.

"I am not stupid, though, and by the way, I do have proof that it was your students who trashed my place."

Kiernan said with a smile, pointing behind Ryozen, towards one of the back alleys. There was a wall with a camera mounted on it.

Ryozen turned around and looked shocked at the camera.

He knew this city better than anyone and knew that the city's government usually placed cameras only at the most crowded intersections.

There weren't going to be any cameras this deep into Action Street, which was why there also weren't any cameras near his dojo to expose Kiernan.

"That is my personal camera, you see. I bought one in case some vandals decided to come wreck my place.

"It recorded your students trashing my place, and now, it also recorded you coming here to attack poor old me."

Kiernan chuckled.

'He played me.'

Ryozen thought coldly, clenching his hands so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and he then asked.

"What do you want? Let me guess, you want me to donate you a couple of my students now that my dojo is destroyed?"

"Haha, no. You would tell your students to sabotage me and make a mockery of my martial arts style."

Kiernan said, and lifted one finger before saying,

"All I want is one thing. Leave me, my students, and my dojo alone. You can always rebuild your dojo and resume your business as you always had.

"I already know you have enough connections to get that sorted out quickly, so do it and leave me in peace."

"…"

Ryozen floated in the air silently, nodded with a sullen look, and then dropped to the ground. He sank into the ground as if it were quicksand.

He vanished into the ground. The ground turned normal. It turned quiet once more.

"Will he really stay away?"

Aoi asked, peeking her head out of the window of the second floor.

"He knows that I have the recordings, so he won't do something idiotic and blatant. I think he will try to destroy my dojo the proper way, in the tournaments."

Kiernan said with a chuckle, but he was also prepared for that, and it only made him more excited to get his students stronger.

Iron Style practitioners weren't losers. They were winners. They would win.

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