Love System Redemption

Chapter 538: Like a Hawk Then that girl calong and turned it all upside down. And somehow, Carl had fallen for it. She didn't know how, but Nnenna had clearly bewitched him. Played innocent. Played clever. Cunning little thing.

So young... and yet already that manipulative? Stephanie had been waiting for this moment ever since the referee announced the tournament lineup. From the second she saw Nnenna's name, she knew, this was her chance. Her brother would crush that girl in the ring, and everyone would finally see.

This was justice.

Retribution.

A clean win that would fix everything.

She smiled to herself, adrenaline mixing with satisfaction. Yes. This was how you proved a point.

Carl, Somto, Arthur, they were all here. The ones who mattered. The ones who decided who belonged and who didn't. And they would watch this play out.

She didn't even need to raise a finger.

Nicholas would handle it for her.

After all... they were the best of the best. And she belonged with them. Not sstranger with a pretty face and mysterious talent.

She leaned forward, eyes glued to the stage, heart pounding with anticipation.

This was it.

The moment everything would fall back into place.

When Nnenna would finally be put in her place.

The referee raised his arm... and dropped it.

"Begin!" Nnenna and Nicholas stepped forward.

They bowed.

At least, she did, halfway.

She wasn't stupid.

She had watched Nicholas's previous fights closely, especially the ones where his opponents had gone in respectfully... and walked out bruised before the match even properly began.

He had a trick.

A cheap one.

And just as she predicted, he used it.

Before her head was even all the way down, Nicholas lunged forward, fist slicing the air toward her midsection like a bullet.

Gasps erupted from the crowd.

"Whoa! Too fast!" someone shouted.

"Not even two seconds in?!" "Is he insane?!" SLAM Nnenna twisted at the last moment, narrowly dodging the blow and skidding backward.

But the impact of the sudden attack sent a shockwave across the arena floor.

The judges' table lit up with murmurs.

"Seriously?" Elder Onyedika snapped, eyes narrowing. "No grace. No discipline." "That boy's always been too impatient," muttered Madam Wolke, shaking her head. "Doesn't even wait for the formality to finish. It's like a bad habit now." "But effective," Commander Olivia said flatly, watching with sharp eyes. "Most of his opponents never recover from that first strike." Beside them, Arthur said nothing.

Didn't blink.

Didn't even look up from the stage.

But there was something in the way his fingers curled slightly on the edge of the table, a quiet tension that pulsed through his usually still form.

Stephanie, seated a few rows behind the judges, felt a surge of satisfaction.

Good, she thought. Be more aggressive. Don't hold back. Let that girl see flames.

Her eyes flicked to Arthur again He was still watching Nnenna.

That girl.

That sunreadable look on his face again, not soft, not angry. Just focused. Entirely focused. Stephanie's stomach twisted.

After all these years, after all the effort she put in, he had never once looked at her like that.

Finish that stinking girl Nicholas! On the livestream feed, comments flooded in: @iliveforanOmg did y'all see that?? @thebeatitudes: Cheap shot! Ref should've called that! @Iconicfashiondesigner: Nahh Nicholas is wild. This is a street fight now.

@oneplaynextrest: But did you see that girl dodge? She read that move like a book.

@can'ttouchthis:This fight's gonna be crazy. My popcorn isn't ready.

Carl, sitting with a few high ranking figures in the VIP gallery, narrowed his eyes as he watched Nnenna slide back into a ready stance, eyes never leaving Nicholas.

"She knew," he murmured, impressed. "She knew he would try it." Somto, sitting beside him, didn't say a word.

But he smiled faintly.

Not a wide smile. Not one of amusement.

It was pride.

Quiet, rare, and so easy to miss, but real.

Crush him.

He believed she could.

And that she hadn't even begun to show what she could really do.

The moment Nicholas's cheap opening move failed, the match truly began.

And it was brutal.

Nicholas didn't waste time.

He charged.

His fists flew like battering rams. His kicks cracked through the air with terrifying velocity. He was, after all, ranked second among the entire Year Three martial artists, a seasoned fighter who had started training before he could even recite the alphabet.

Nnenna? She was just a first year.

And yet... she was still standing.

For the first ten minutes, it looked like survival mode.

She didn't fight back.

She dodged. Blocked. Evaded. Rolled. Stepped back just enough.

Every few minutes, Nicholas managed to land a graze, a shallow hit, but she never let him get a clean shenever strike. Still, the impact showed.

Her arm bent awkwardly blocking a kick, red.

Her knee scraped raw from sliding across the floor, bleeding.

A punch barely missed her temple, but the wind of it alone knocked her balance.

"Is she even trying to fight?!" someone in the crowd groaned.

"This isn't a dance recital!" "She's just running around. Con!" Stephanie smirked, arms crossed as she sat confidently.

Exactly. That's what happens when you throw a baby rabbit into a wolf's cage.

She leaned forward, eyeing Arthur.

Still watching her.

Even so, she allowed herself a victorious smile. She had told Nicholas to go all out. To stop playing nice.

And clearly, he listened.

Keep watching Arthur.

Watch her crumble! Nnenna's body began to show wear. Her breathing quickened. Shoulders trembled.

Fifteen minutes in.

Nicholas's pace had not slowed.

He was relentless. Wild. Sharp.

And yet "Something's off," Madam Wolke murmured, frowning.

"She's reading him too well," Commander Olivia observed. Look at her footwork. She's guiding the pace, E not him." Elder Onyedika raised a brow. "It's almost like she planned for this." At the judges' table, Arthur leaned forward.

His jaw ticked ever so slightly. His eyes, usually distant and unreadable, narrowed with precision, tracking precision, Nicholas's movements like a hawk.