Enidri swung her sword again, going for a horizontal slice towards Itzel’s head. A swift crouch from Itzel made the weapon go over her by a wide margin. She remained crouching, long enough for her to put one hand on the ground. She then channeled a blast of wind from her palm into the ground, launching herself upwards. As she rose, she extended her legs upwards, spiraling upside like a spinning top.

“Vertical Zephyr!” Itzel shouted as her body rocketed towards the ceiling. A tornado encompassed her, dragging Enidri up in the current. The fierce winds made Enidri tumble around mid-air, sending her careening back down as she spun like a corkscrew. Enidri landed on her back on one of the dining tables, smashing it apart with her back. After her opponent became grounded, Itzel flipped herself upright before gracefully landing on both of her feet.

“That did a lot of damage!” Janus said in awe as he watched Enidri’s green bar drain further. Gurk nodded.

Enidri got up to her feet and shook her head, pressing her forehead with her free hand. In a staggered manner, she returned to her traditional one-handed sword stance and waited for her opponent to approach. Itzel took another step forward, cutting down the distance between the two of them to only a few feet. Enidri watched Itzel’s arm as it lowered behind her body, prepping another Serrated Gale. The moment her arm rose upwards, Enidri took the opportunity to crouch and propel herself forward with a sliding kick.

The attack hit Itzel in the ankle, sending her to ground face first. Enidri stood up straight and performed a vertical swing at her downed rival. Itzel rolled to the side, leaving Enidri’s Ion Blade to cut into the tile beneath. With a short hop, Itzel was upright again with Enidri standing right in front of her.

“Laser Waltz!”

Enidri performed another series of three rapid strikes with her sword. This time, Itzel didn’t react soon enough and was hit by each consecutive strike in her chest. She was pushed back a short distance with each slash, her head turning back and forth with each swing until the last strike sent her skidding on her feet a few feet. Despite the pain, Itzel managed to remain upright.

“Errgh…” Itzel muttered as she pressed her hand onto her chest. Although there were no physical marks on her body, the slashes left a burning sting where they connected.

“Flying Cutter!”

The Ion Blade soared across the room, colliding with Itzel’s stomach. She was pushed further back, now cornering her against the restaurant’s wall. She watched the weapon return to Enidri’s hand as she sprinted forward, raising her weapon above her head for another vertical slash. Shrugging off the scorching sensation of her stomach, Itzel raised her left arm, blocking the attack. With her right arm, she connected an uppercut to her opponent’s stomach. Enidri groaned, hunching over from the punch, and leaving her face vulnerable.

Itzel struck Enidri with a jab to the cheek, making the swordswoman wobble backwards. With her opponent off balance, Itzel connected a left-then-right hook combination to the gut before finishing the combo off with another Advancing Tempest. Enidri groaned in frustration as she skidded across the restaurant once more.

“Is it possible for Enidri to catch up?” Janus asked Gurk. The indicators on the floating screen were in Itzel’s favor; her green bar was roughly one third filled while Enidri’s was half of that. However, looking at the bottom of the screen showed that the swordswoman’s EV bar was full, accompanied by the word “SIGNATURE” in a bold, flashing white font.

“Yeah,” Gurk mumbled as he pointed the blue bar at the bottom.

“Serrated Gale!”

A faster and larger projectile soared toward the downed opponent, with the remainder of Itzel’s EV indicator draining in the process. Enidri angled the sword to try and deflect the projectile. She sliced the edge of it, diminishing its power as it continued past her weapon and colliding with her face. The knockback from the wind laid Enidri out on her back and sent the Ion Blade out of her hand and towards the ground.

“I appreciate… ahh…” Itzel winced as she marched forward. The singeing feeling was still on her stomach. “I appreciate the Tokens. Gurk does too.” Enidri mustered enough strength to open her eye and watch as Itzel zeroed in on her. She tilted her head, looking at her weapon. She extended one hand to reach for it until a rush of air pushed it just out of her range.

“That’s why you need a natural affinity to be a proper fighter,” Itzel said with a smirk. “That Ion Blade of yours might help you out when chopping down mindless roves of Essencima, but you can’t depend on it when your Rank is on the line.”

“Did Itzel win?” Janus asked as he stared at the bars. “Enidri still has a bit of green left and there’s still forty on the timer!”

Gurk shook his head. “Cocky.”

“Just get it over with! The only thing worse than losing is having to listen to your gloating!” Enidri shouted as she mustered enough strength to prop herself up on her back.

“Gurk!” Itzel said as she turned to her friend. “How many people are watching the Broadcast?” With one hand the crocodile raised two of his fingers. “Two? That’s it?”

The crocodile nodded again and pointed at Janus and then himself.

“I meant people that aren’t in the room with us.”

“Oh. Zero,” Gurk said with a low grumble.

“For once I’d like to have a viewer watch me win a Ranked Challenge. Is that too much to ask for?” she said to no one in particular. She then cracked her neck before walking towards Enidri. “No pointing… in knocking you out with anything flashy… It’s not like any one is watching,” Itzel said slowly, regaining her breath in between every few words.

Ready to accept defeat, Enidri closed her eye as she braced herself for the impact of another attack. Itzel stood above her and then bent her arms back from her shoulders, channeling her power into her hands.

“Wild Wi-”

But before she could perform her Special Technique, the amalgamated cries and shouts of the populace on the streets outside of the restaurant broke her concentration. Her posture froze mid-attack as her attention was diverted towards the front of the diner. Everyone in the building had turned their heads from the battle towards the screams of terror coming from outside.

“What’s going on?” Janus asked Gurk. He received a shrug as a reply. The crocodile began making his way to the entrance. His advancement was halted once a vehicle flew through the front door. Metal crunched and twisted while glass shattered across the floor as the chassis of the vehicle became wedged in the door’s frame. The other people in the restaurant joined in with the screaming of the people outside as they took cover behind whatever they could.

Janus slid between a booth and its table protecting his head with his hands. Itzel turned towards her partner who was now prying through one of the metal doors with his jaw. “What are you doing, Gurk?” she shouted from across the diner.

The crocodile took a moment to stop gnawing at the vehicle to respond to look outside through the little space in the door that was obscured by the vehicle.

“Ogre!” he exclaimed before continuing to tear through the metal with his teeth.