"Did anyone record that?"
Spitting out the drink he held in his hands, many stood up and put their hands on their heads, watching how things had spiraled out of control to this point.
Never before had anything similar happened; the closest were illegal blows aimed at hurting rivals, but what they had just witnessed was far beyond the illegal, it was an act of homicide.
"Give me the data on that boy. I want to know why he did that before I unleash my anger on all his loved ones." Frederick, with a calm expression in his eyes, was about to get up and check on his son when suddenly he saw him smashing the head of the boy who had hit him.
"It seems our son didn't train in vain. At least he responded correctly..." Elena got up from her seat, and after seeing that the referees had intervened in the fight, she walked towards the infirmary.
Their expressions were calm; only they could perceive how angry they were, and the worst part was how they hid it from other people.
"For God's sake, I hope Dash is okay..." Zac and Zoé immediately followed Elena to find out how serious the wound on his forehead was; due to the blood, they couldn't judge beyond the fact that his forehead was opened, as any head injury tends to bleed a lot.
After witnessing this, many people in the crowd were slightly alarmed. They never expected someone to break the rules in such a brutal way, and the most shocking thing was that the boy who had been hit unexpectedly responded in a more violent manner.
Everyone could still feel the punches Dash landed on Silva echoing throughout the place, and how he kept hitting despite the blood pouring uncontrollably from the other boy's head.
"That boy really suits my tastes... At some point, he may need to seek real fights, so it would be good to get in touch with him somehow." Sensei Santiago got excited seeing Dash's character, and a vague idea formed in his mind.
"It seems like he fears nothing. Why go to such extremes?" Marcus murmured to Santiago, who watched as Dash was taken to the infirmary.
"He fears nothing because the passion he feels when using his body to win is greater than life or death. You can only obtain that when you're not afraid to lose anything to achieve your goals."
"At a young age, he's incredibly skilled, much more than anyone we've known."
"Yes, not bad..."
Marcus looked at Santiago and asked, "Will he continue fighting?"
"Obviously, he will. Nothing can stop him after blaming us for what Silva did..." Santiago smiled slightly as he said this and turned away.
"Disqualify that delinquent!"
"Dash Hale must be the winner!"
"What the hell are they considering so much?!"
Daniel had approached the committee after seeing what happened and said, "We must disqualify Silva, but people won't agree to see Dash disqualified after defending himself simply."
"Did you see how he left that boy's face?" asked a woman with a slightly distressed face.
Daniel moved his hands to the side and said, "He was defending himself. If he hadn't stopped Silva, he probably would have lost an eye. What else can we consider?"
"Daniel is right. Even if we don't disqualify Dash, he probably can't continue with the fight, so it clearly wouldn't be a bad idea for us to give that option."
"Yes, but we must leave the male final until the semifinals are over. There's one more match, so we'll see if we can delay the male final and have the female division fight for now."
Daniel thought this was understandable, so he nodded and approved that decision to keep everyone under control. It was clear that Dash's response to Silva's aggression was not justified, but they let it pass since it was obvious that it was in self-defense.
"Dad, will he be able to continue fighting?" Sam, seeing her father approach, asked with a slight concern on her face, realizing that someone's hard work could likely be affected by another.
Daniel stroked his daughter's head and said, "When I fought in my youth, I was injured similarly. Many thought I couldn't continue, but I still got up and won the tournament. However, an open wound on the forehead is much more delicate than a wound on the leg. In this case, I think it would be better for Dash not to continue fighting."
"What a shame..."
In the infirmary, Dash had received medical treatment; the cut on his forehead didn't need stitches to close, they applied small medical tape bandages, and after a few, it stopped bleeding.
"It doesn't look as bad as it seemed, but you should still consider if it's worth it," Devon wanted to say more, but she didn't want to be the one to stop Dash's choice on whether to continue fighting.
At that moment, Frederick and Elena entered the infirmary, followed by Devon's parents, who were also very concerned about this disastrous event.
"How do you feel, son?"
Dash looked at the crowd and, after looking at his son, slightly red, swollen, and with medical tape over the cut, said, "I'm fine, it was a small cut, so there's nothing to worry about."
"Hmm, you're right about that, but I think it's better if you don't continue competing." Elena didn't want to see her son bleed anymore; she didn't want to witness that scene again.
But Frederick beside her didn't share the same idea. He looked at his son and asked, "Do you want to keep competing?"
"Frederick!"
Ignoring his wife, Frederick looked at his son's expression, which didn't seem like that of a child who was scared or had given up, and said, "Make the decision on your own; we'll support you. Just remember, if you fight, don't show your back to the enemy again."
"We'll be in the crowd waiting for your decision. Remember, there's no one who can stop you from doing what you want."
Devon's parents knew the Hale family by word of their daughter, and beyond protecting their son, they prepared him. They had no right to criticize someone else's upbringing, but if it were them, they would have firmly refused to let their daughter continue fighting.
Exiting the room, Elena looked at her husband and said, "Wasn't he furious?"
"Did you see our son's expression? Maybe our upbringing has greatly affected the way he faces problems, but the way his hunger to win is awakened is by fighting. If I stop him now, it might mark him forever. Wasn't it the same for you when you were young?"
Elena frowned; she hated to admit it, but Frederick was right, so she said, "But I guess that won't stop us from getting to the bottom of the truth, right?"
"Oh, of course not. If necessary, I'll break the bones of that Sensei who seems to have a hunger for winning. But it's a shame he ignored the manner and the person Dash had to go through to achieve it." Frederick's expression was similar to Dash's when he was hitting Silva with the intention of causing harm.
As a father, he won't allow his son to suffer at the hands of idiots trying to stop him. If the enemies can't be dealt with by his son alone, as a father, it's his job to do so.
"Let's go visit that young man."