Even though there were many things that needed to be discussed, both knew that this was not the right time. For now, it was a good idea if Razak were to entirely focus on the match at hand.
After around five minutes, the bald instructor came in to take Razak to the next waiting area. Upon seeing the instructor, both Kat and Razak stood from their seats.
"Well, I guess I will see you after the match."
Kat's tone was like usual. His words were completely devoid of energy, and his gesture made him look even less interested.
However, Razak knew that Kat was keenly interested despite all those, and that was just how he usually was.
"Alright. Will you be watching from here, or are you planning to go back to the arena seats?"
"I think I will just stay here. After the day before, I have become a popular gossip material after all."
"Then I guess I will see you later."
Razak walked to the other waiting room with the instructor. To give the participant some alone time before the match, the instructor walked out of the room and waited for further notifications.
Razak looked at the screens in the room which displayed the stage for the match. And as the camera angle changed, the important guests present in the venue were in full view.
There were influential politicians, clan members, industrialists and business people, and celebrities.
Villous was also seated among them in the luxury box; however, Alice couldn't be present for obvious reasons.
As he was watching those faces and trying to recognize each one of them, the bald instructor came in holding his trans-pad.
"Razak Grace, it's time for your match. Good luck!"
Razak bowed a little in response. "Thank you."
"Ladies and gentlemen! From my right, Please welcome the one who has been able to win the heart of many. Our fan-favorite in several polls that we have done so far— Razak Grace!"
A loud roar was heard from the crowd as Razak walked up to the stage. Upon reaching there, he bowed towards the audience, showing his respect. This gesture resulted in another round of cheering for Razak.
His fans included women of all ages and young men who had been admiring his charisma, efforts, and humbleness.
The people sitting at the luxury box were curiously staring at him. Few looked pleased with all this, while most didn't look much happy with his fame.
This wasn't something unexpected. It was possible to change those who are willing to change based on logic, understanding, and the situation.
However, it was impossible to reason with the utter fools, who lacked common sense and intelligence to the point where they would believe in what they want to, even though the facts point elsewhere.
The only remedy for that type of person was time and failure. Once they fall from the top because of this habit, they realize that they had only ended up wasting their time and energy.
Some with little decency learn from these and realize their mistakes, while the rest would just blame something or someone, and end up becoming an utterly incompetent failure.
"Now, from my left, please welcome the participant who is considered fastest in his generation — Raiden Raitoningu."
From Razak's opposite side, Raiden entered the stage. As usual, he didn't seem to like the wait very much.
Although not as big as Razak's, who had been able to win the general population's love and support, there was a big cheer for Raiden. The people of the audience who cheered for him mostly included males.
It could be because of the rumors about him or how some of his battles went; some in the female audience were making sour faces.
Once both took their position at the stage, the announcement continued.
"Now that the participants are ready, let the countdown begin!"
After the announcement, the screens displayed a countdown from 10. Naturally, the audience started shouting the numbers.
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Let the battle begin!"
"Dark cocoons!"
Raiden didn't even waste a second thinking and charged straight at Razak.
However, before he could reach him, Razak activated two Dark Cocoons. One around him, and the other around Raiden.
It was easier to break the cocoon from inside, while it was at least ten times harder from outside. In this case, the first cocoon around Raiden was only for slowing him down.
With all the momentum he would gather while covering the distance between them, it was possible that Raiden would be able to push the cocoon out of the stage even if he wasn't able to break it.
And as expected, Raiden could easily break through the first one. However, the force combined with lightning wasn't able to push back the other cocoon.
Up to this point, everything was going as expected, but from here, it was all a gamble.
Razak knew that if the attack fails, Raiden will go with another attack instead of backing down.
He knew that underestimating his magical abilities that had been overshadowed by his speed would be the worst mistake to make in this tournament. So, instead of taking it easy, he had to come up with the next move before Raiden.
"Dark Slash!"
He created two shadow devils on the side and fired two dark slashes—one right at Raiden and one a little behind, blocking his escape route.
However, the trap didn't work, as Raiden jumped several meters high to avoid the attack and came charging down towards the cocoon.
Even though the distance wasn't much, the gravity was still an aid for Raiden. His weight would intensify the attacks even further and make blocking it harder.
However, right at that moment, Razak made one of the shadow devils come inside the cocoon and push him outside. The devil was there to counterattack right when Raiden broke the cocoon.
Raiden's attack was even more powerful than the last one. He was able to destroy the devil along with the cocoon.
"Are you only going to run? I thought you had the gut to face your enemy head-on. You disappoint me!"
After saying those words, Raiden pushed the ground and disappeared into thin air leaving only the trail and lightning. He was so fast that ordinary eyes could only decipher that much.
And the next moment, all of a sudden, he appeared right behind Razak.