"Now that I think about it, I never did ask." Judah thought aloud. "How are your parents doing?"
"Oh, you're right." Mary replied "Well it's been a few months since we last saw them, but dad was doing fine."
"My parents are fine too." Luke added. "I guess you haven't heard from Alexandra in about as long as we have."
"Yes. Right now, I think she's still-"
"Ah. Now here's a familiar face." The conversation was interrupted by an outsider. A bald man appeared before them. "Come on, don't tell me you forgot me."
"Oh, Bal."
Judah nodded.
"So you finally got over here. Guess I should introduce myself to the new arrivals."
The bald man raised his hand in a friendly gesture.
"As you heard from him, the name's Bal. I'm a member of another expedition going around these parts. Him and I have hunted together a few times in the past. And you are?"
"Mary Gilmore."
"Luke Gilmore."
"Cool. So it's just you three?"
"No," Mary answered "But our other members are elsewhere. What about yours?"
"I'm just off picking up some supplies, the rest are deciding on what to take quests today. Hey, maybe they've met each other already?"
Judah's expression immediately shifted to a grim one.
"Hey, what's up? That's scary."
"You're still travelling with Lotus, aren't you?"
"Of course, can't just leave him behind. But what do-" He cut himself off, finally catching the implication. "We've gotta hurry."
They rushed off, leaving the other two in complete confusion.
"Looks like we were too late." Bal sighed as he looked at the battle before him. Scattered around were two groups of hunters fighting each other.
"What is even going on here?" Mary asked.
"This world's one constant. War." His face then loosened. "Ok, really though. Who started it?"
"I saw everything." A man wearing a labcoat swung around.
"Who's this?" Judah asked.
"One of our new recruits, he's-"
"Doctor Professor Science."
"What?" Luke asked.
"You asked for my name, did you not? That's what I am referred to as."
"...I don't think that makes sense."
"Are you looking to start something, simpleton?"
"We don't need more fighting." Mary stepped between them "Can't you tell us what happened, Doctor Professor?"
"Doctor Professor Science. The science part is important. I'll permit you to abbreviate it, if it's absolutely too much for you."
"Alright, but the events?"
"Now, where to begin? Three of them got into an argument with the captain, which then escalated into a fight. At that point, Kalo interfered to try breaking it up, but Michael also interfered because he wanted to start a fight. This was followed by Vicke doing pretty much the same thing. Then the violent girl over there threw herself into the fight, yelling about how she hates being left out. The annoying girl out there also seemed to throw herself in just for fun. The fight continued like this for a while. That eyepatched man over there was sitting to the side, remarking that he was better than fighting like this, but when someone accidentally crashed into him he immediately threw himself into the fighting. Milla did something similar shortly after."
"Ok, I get it." Mary replied, having barely understood that wall of words but not wanting him to repeat it. "But why were they fighting in the first place?"
"Oh. I didn't hear that one."
"It was for a very simple reason."
A very short man stood up and walked towards the new arrivals.
"Bal, can you believe this? They had the gall to insult me!"
"You were looking down on us first!" Spence yelled in response.
"No I wasn't, you're the ones that started it!"
Bal sighed.
"I think you'd do well to pay attention to who I'm with right now."
"Huh?"
He turned his head, finally spotting the one in the middle. He hesitated for a moment, before closing the distance instantly. Judah seemed to grimace.
"You- they're part of your group, aren't they?
"Y-yes."
"I knew it. They're crazy. I bet they even all use monsters just like you do. Of course you'd lead such an unrefined team, Judah Harrison!"
The others were too bewildered by the sight of a man less than three quarters of Judah's size capable of pressuring him to such an incredible extent.
"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt." Mary interrupted, "But who are you?"
The short man turned to her, but didn't give a response.
"I'm very sorry about his behaviour." Bal told her in his place. "He's usually a lot more well-mannered. But since it seems like he'll be out of it for a while longer, I'll handle it. This is Lotus, the captain of the Starward Diamonds."
It took a while, but the captain was eventually convinced to sit down.
The two groups stared at each other in awkward silence.
"This is incredibly stiff, isn't it?" Bal asked, not waiting for an answer. "I know that you started off badly, but if we talk I'm sure things will be fine."
"What could we talk about, though?" Lotus asked back.
"Hmm, that is a good one. Why don't we try to guess the roles of members of the other team?"
"Oh, then I've got one." He pointed to the ones he was fighting with earlier. "Clowns."
Isa immediately pointed back. "Freak."
Spence pointed at him a moment later. "Stupid."
"Nice one." Isa smiled.
"Why would stupid be a role?" Lotus replied.
"I dunno, we should be asking you."
The twins high fived.
"Ok, you three are banned." Bal announced before things could go any further. "Any other takers?"
"I've got one." Mary announced, also eager to move the conversation on. "You're the vice captain, aren't you?"
"No."
"Huh? But you totally seem like- y'know, I thought that we were both-"
"Leadership isn't my thing. I'm just a tactician. I can come up with plans well enough, but carrying them out is a different thing entirely. The vice-captain is Kalo here."
He pointed to the silent man wearing a Kula-Ya-Ku head.
"I see."
"What do you think I am?" The man in the labcoat asked.
"Who were you again?" Fen asked.
"Doctor Professor Science."
Most of the other group returned an awkward silence, having no idea which one they should guess.
Laura went before any of them could.
"You're a cook, right?"
"What? Well, I am a man of many talents, but I'm far more-"
"That's my job, actually." Michael spoke up.
"They're supposed to be guessing, no point if you tell them before they get a chance." Bal told him.
"Oh, my bad."
"Hey, no copying me!" Spence yelled.
"I just told you that you're banned from talking. And you didn't listen when I said not to say your role."
"Hey, they're getting all the guesses." Vicke complained.
"Go on then."
She hesitated, not having thought this far ahead. She then pointed to Judah. "You seem big enough to be the tank."
"Well thank you for the kind words, but we don't have one of those."
Milla laughed at him.
"Huh? That so? Well, I guess it makes sense. None of you could possibly compare to our lovely and powerful tank over here."
She pointed to Sol behind her. The girl in armour seemed embarrassed.
"Bal just said-"
"You've probably got some meaningless job that can't even compare."
"Well, I'm the captain."
Milla's expression remained frozen in a smirk for a few moments, before she retorted with an "Exactly."
"What are you supposed to be, though?" Jean asked. "Group fashion designer?"
"Yeah, get her." Laura encouraged her.
"Why would that be an insult? I think her outfit is cute. If I wanted to insult her I would've said something mean." She paused, "Not that someone as cute as me could ever do anything with bad intent, of course."
Michael stared at her. "You hit me with a musical instrument a few minutes ago."
"That was done with good intent. Because I thought it'd be funny."
"Are you a musician, by any chance?"
Jean turned, not having heard the voice who said this before. As she found the source, her eyes widened with shock.
"T-this guy-"
"What?" Zara asked. "Do you know him?"
"No, not that. It's just…" She took a deep breath. "He's so normal!"
No one knew how to react to her exclamation of surprise.
"Oh right, I suppose I haven't been introduced yet. I'm Stanley."
"See? Even his name."
Mary sighed. "He's right there, you don't have to point at him."
Even though she didn't want to be rude, she agreed. The man was normal to an uncomfortable degree. There wasn't a single thing out of place.
"You've probably got some boring job like blacksmith or navigator, right?" Zara asked while ignoring the stares she was getting from two members of her group, as well as the stares from the gothic girl and the rude girl from the other group.
"No, actually it's-"
"That's enough!" Lotus yelled, cutting Stanley off completely. "We're hunters, we don't just sit around and talk. Let's do something with more action." He stood up. "Judah Harrison, your team is just as unrefined as you are. I'll permit you a chance to train with us, so that you can finally get your act together."
"Um… okay. That's fine, I think."
"Of course it is. Now let's go prepare." He left without waiting for any of his group to follow. Eventually, they dragged themselves along after him, leaving the same nine as always behind.
Fen looked over.
"So what'd you do to him, cap'n?"
"I wish I knew."
"Huh?"
"I really don't know. We hunted together a few times when I was just starting out, but he was always like that. Which is why it ended up only being a few times."
"Maybe he just hates the idea of fighting alongside monsters." Luke suggested.
"Then that's all the more reason we've got to show him up." Isa stood up. "Ok, let's go to the training. We'll beat their asses at it."
"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but it's just training. We can't really make it a competition."
"We're going to have a competition." Announced Lotus, while pointing at Judah.
The one being pointed at ignored Isa smirking at him. "What are we going to do, exactly?"
"Have you heard of balloon retrieval?"
"Oh."
"The hell is that?" Spence asked.
"Kinda obvious from the name." Isa told him. "Not sure what it has to do with hunting, though."
"I'll explain for you." Bal took a deep breath. "We tie an item to a balloon and let it float away. The balloon will pop after a certain amount of time, or if hit with something. It's a training exercise that helps improve the hunter's ability to track and make their way through environments."
"But how is that useful?" Laura asked. No one answered.
"You release a balloon and wait for a minute, then see how quickly you can retrieve the item tied to it. Of course, you don't want to use anything too valuable, since it's entirely possible that it could get lost forever. Of course, this would be a boring competition if we all took turns. So instead we'll be competing in teams of three."
"Why that many?" Spence asked.
"Because by some strange coincidence we have nine in both groups."
"I'd be perfectly fine with sitting out if you want to go with two teams of four instead." Zara told him.
"You already made that joke."
"They don't know that."
"When one side is successful we'll launch a flare. Do you want red or blue?"
"Take blue." Jean told Judah.
"Why?"
"It's blue."
"And?"
"Why not?"
"No real reason, but that still doesn't-"
"Just take the blue. Anyway, I think that's about everything that needs covering. Best of three. The forest near here should be a good enough location for it."
"Oh, one thing. Are we allowed to fight with our monsters? I think that'd give us a bit too much of an advantage, so I doubt it, but I'm just check-"
"Of course you are." Lotus announced smugly, cutting Luke off.
"What?"
"Well if you don't, then I'm sure that when you lose you'll complain that you weren't trying at full power. Don't underestimate us. We're not so weak that bringing along monsters is enough to beat us. If we don't thoroughly defeat you, then what point is there?"
"I don't think that's what the point of training is." Luke murmured, going ignored by Lotus.
"So, who should we pick?" Judah asked the group.
Zara looked annoyed. "Shouldn't you know?"
"We usually just decide our groups by whoever goes first."
"Then we'll just do the same here." Laura slammed her sword into the ground for dramatic effect.
"Can't say no to that." Judah replied, while silently thinking. "I really doubt her ability to find anything. We need someone who'd be good to balance that out."
"I'm kind of interested in going." Fen said.
"Yeah, that'd be good. Your accelaxe should give you a bit of an advantage, since the aim is getting to it and back quickly. As for the last member… Mary, can you and Kasa go?"
"That'd be fine. You want us to fly at it, right?"
"This might work out. This is quite a strong team, I'm surprised we've never used it before. Those two are probably some of our more powerful fighters, the only problem is their tendency to go and do their own thing. But Mary's got good leadership and enough patience to deal with their quirks. It's kind of a waste to just use them for retrieving something."
They made their way towards the entrance. The other group seemed to have picked their participants.
A man with dual blades, wearing the head of a Kulu-Ya-Ku. A girl in an incredibly fancy outfit, with a longsword that was about the same size as her over her back. Finally, the girl in armour who's face they still had not seen was seemingly without a weapon.
"Looks like you're all ready to go. We'll be using this."
He held up a five hundred zenny coin that glinted in the light.
"Wait." Lotus looked to Laura. "I said to bring your monsters, did I not? Why is it just you?"
"Oh. Don't have one."
"...What?"
"I said I don't have one. Pretty simple."
"Why?"
"Cause I don't."
"But why?"
"Don't feel like it."
"But you're in a group of monster taming hunters."
"Yeah. What about it?"
Lotus stared at her for half a minute before responding with simply "Nothing."
He walked away.
"That's one victory for us." Remarked Fen.
"Ok, it's starting now." Mary reminded the other two. "Let's get ready."
The two groups waited by the entrance, as the time drew closer. With less than five seconds left, they got ready.
It began. The two groups dashed off.
Mary found herself bewildered by the Starward Diamonds' speed. Especially the one in heavy armour. The trio quickly vanished from their view.
"Don't break formation yet." Mary ordered the other two. "Not until we catch sight of the target."
While it was true that splitting up would make them more likely to spot what they were looking for, there was no point if only one of them found it while the others got lost.
Kasa began to flap her wings, taking Mary slightly above the trees.
She saw the balloon slightly ahead. A momentary glance showed the other team closing in.
"Hey, how's it look?" Fen asked.
Kasa descended.
"It's just ahead. But they're already there. It's annoying, but I don't think we can reach-"
Laura sprinted off before she could finish.
"Wait, what are you going to do?"
The others barely caught up with her. The greatsword girl barreled through the forest towards the other group. She ignored Mary's yells to stop, swinging for the closest one to her.
Without hesitation, the girl in heavy armour blocked it. The girl in a more fancy outfit attacked, forcing Laura to retreat.
It's like they were already prepared for her to show up.
Mary's face went blank for a moment, before a realisation hit her.
"We're allowed to fight."
"What?" Fen asked.
"The rules never barred violence."
"I guess, but that doesn't mean we should just start going at it."
"No, that's the point. They were already fully ready for a fight. They didn't go over it in the rules on purpose. Our objective is still getting that coin, but this is really a fight. If Laura hadn't thrown herself at them, they probably would've waited until a better opportunity to pull that trick on us."
"Alright, I guess it doesn't not make sense."
They finally caught up to Laura.
"Nice going, stud." Fen told her.
"Huh? Who's that?"
"You."
"But I'm Laura."
"That's not wrong. But I'm saying good job on working out that fighting's allowed. As well as how they were gonna pull a fast one on us."
Laura was just confused, but she wasn't the one who needed to hear any of that. Instead, Fen turned his eye to the two before them. The girl in armour flinched in response.
"Sol, you're totally giving it away!" Milla complained.
"Y-you're just giving it away more by saying that!"
Milla's eyes widened. The one with the bird head seemed unaffected.
"Well at least you're honest liars." Fen looked over to Mary. "Floor's yours."
Mary nodded.
The balloon was just above the trees nearby. Kalo was slightly higher up than the rest.
"Fen, we're going for the target. Laura." She turned, making sure the girl was paying attention. "Keep going wild."
"I can do that."
"That's good."
From atop, the birdman made some symbols with his hands that the other group was unable to understand, before continuing to run towards his initial destination.
As the group tried to advance, they were blocked off by the two that remained behind. This attempt proved futile once Laura barreled into them, creating enough of an opening for the rest to easily escape.
Fen and Fang ran behind him, while Kasa flew through the air with Mary clinging on. Kalo noticed them, but continued undeterred.
As Mary expected, he was the first to the coin. With the blade in his left hand he popped it and then caught it with his right. But the game wouldn't end there. Kasa flew directly below him. Fen and Fang trailed behind. With the dual blades user stuck in mid-air, it seemed impossible for him to escape.
Of course, things that are seemingly true and things that are certainly true are entirely distinct.
Kasa flew into him, allowing Mary to nearly snatch the coin away from him. But, Kalo managed to recover. He clung onto the bird wyvern, adjusting himself to avoid Mary's attempt completely.
The birdman dropped towards the ground before Mary could even react. She looked down in shock.
Watching from above, Fen shared the same sentiment. But he also saw an opening.
"That's some seriously impressive movement. But now that he's completely in the air, he shouldn't have any more room to move. I dunno how long we'll be able to keep it in our possession, but I can't see an outcome to this where we won't end up with it."
He jumped down from above, closing in on the target.
Kalo saw his descent. Being slightly larger and carrying a heavier weapon, Fen had an advantage in how fast he fell. He dropped from directly above.
There was barely any space between the two. Spotting the coin in his right hand, he reached out. In response, Kalo didn't move his arm. Instead, his entire body coiled up.
"You're kidding, right?" Was all Fen had time to think before he received a kick to the chest. He slammed into a tree, while the one who kicked him used the force to get slightly further away.
Fang jumped down from the tree above, catching up as he landed. In response, Kalo finally drew his weapons.
A series of rapid slashes assaulted Fang. The attacker rose back to his feet.
Fen launched himself to close the distance between them, but his slash was easily lent under. Fang tried a counterassault at the same time, just barely grazing the swordsman. In response, he broke away.
Mary tried to block off his escape. Both sides surrounded him, intent on getting the coin for at least a second. But before anything else could occur, he felt killing intent from the side.
A greatsword cleaved through the air next to him.
"Don't dodge, that's lame." Laura complained, not realising that she completely missed without any outside interference.
"You're supposed to be distracting the other two." Mary tried to sound calm while reminding her.
"Ah, right. But can't we trade? Cause this guy seems way cooler."
"If you're really that bored I can try slashing you in half." Milla informed her, getting ignored completely.
Kalo used his hands to give instructions to his teammates again, before he finally turned to face Laura.
He raised his blades in a defensive position. She readied her sword in turn.
The area fell into silence in anticipation of a showdown. The greatsword user and the user of the dual blades locked eyes.
Then he ran.
The group froze as Kalo sprinted away from Laura. Then only a fraction of a second later, she snapped out of it.
"Where are you going!?"
She sprinted after with all the speed she could muster.
The other two's time resumed, but they found themselves blocked off.
"Well, I don't like that girl either, but this matchup is perfect." Milla grinned, showing her fangs.
"Stopping us from slowing him down does seem like it'd give you the biggest advantage." Mary added.
"What? No, I don't really care." She pointed her blade to Fen. "I just want revenge on you."
Mary looked over with some concern. Fen sighed and pushed the blade aside.
"Don't look at me like that, I'm perfectly harmless. Are you sure you don't have me confused with anyone else? We only just met today."
"It was today that you committed your sin."
"But how? Oh, are you mad cause of the guy I fought earlier?"
"I would never get angry for a man's sake."
"Okay. So-"
"I'm mad because when you punched Michael in the face his blood got everywhere!" She pointed to Sol's shoulder as the armoured girl sighed. Upon inspecting very closely, the others noticed a faint bloodstain.
"Oh."
Mary smiled softly.
"I can understand your… anger. But isn't it a normal thing for blood to get on armour? Even if it was kind of unnecessary."
Milla stared at her for a few moments. The next thing Mary knew, several wild slashes cut through the air between them. Both her and Fen narrowly moved their heads out of the way.
"Calm down! That felt like you were trying to kill us!" Fen yelled.
"My mistake." The girl moved to close the distance between them once more. "If it was only like it, then I wasn't being clear enough."
The longsword was taller than she was, even accounting for her top hat. Yet she had no problems swinging the weapon around. Rather than aiming directly for her opponents, it felt as though her aim was to cut everything around her down. An impenetrable wall of attacks, that became a defence in its own way.
Mary tried to escape, but found herself blocked off. Sol stood before her. She struck out in an attempt to get her to move, but her attack was stopped completely. It felt as though she was striking a boulder.
Sol held a shield with each arm. While it seemed redundant at first, now that she was fighting against it Mary couldn't find an opening.
The ultimate attack and the ultimate defence. A sword and shield that acted independently of the other.
"How did Laura deal with this without a problem?" Thought Mary.
Two shapes rushed through the forest.
Kalo stayed barely ahead of his pursuer. Every time she closed in she wildly swung, getting closer each time.
"Stop running! I can't even count how many times I said it now!" Laura said while requesting him to stop for the fifth time.
He tried to climb up a tree to gain some height. Laura had another idea.
She swung. With everything she had, she swung her sword at the base of the tree.
Shockingly, it worked. The tree crashed into the earth, throwing the man who had been running up it away.
He hit the ground at a bad angle, rolling over. For the first time, he paid attention to the one chasing him.
Laura grinned.
"Don't run away anymore. Let's fight for real."
She felt the eyes below the bird head stare at her. Kalo rose to his feet, gripping his blades.
The challenge had apparently been accepted. But in the moment it took her to ready herself, the opponent disappeared.
Laura froze up for a moment, trying to spot where her enemy had run off to. The strike came from directly below her line of sight.
With an unbelievable speed, he'd run directly into the blind spot directly below Laura. The blades swung upwards, but collided with the greatsword she held out, just knocking her back.
As she felt the impact, her eyes shifted, finally taking notice. But she was too slow to prevent the second strike, knocking her back.
Yet, she only continued to grin. Laura swung with the side of her sword, barely catching her opponent. In response, he stepped around her, aiming another attack. She swung her sword in an arc around her, forcing him back.
Laura had no chance of landing the first hit. But so long as she could take that attack, she was free to go for the second.
A war of attrition began.
Kalo moved back and shifted his stance. His speed increased even further beyond his previous display.
Those blades were as the wind.
Fen's axe pushed him forward, narrowing the distance between him and Milla. He weaved through the wild slashes, before removing his grip from the accelerator in preparation for a swing
The blunt side of the axe hit the girl in the side. Despite the lack of acceleration or sharpness, it was still enough to knock her onto the ground.
She looked up, cursing him.
Fen caught his breath.
"That's a dangerous trick, but isn't it tiring? Covering all that space must waste a bunch of energy. Actually hitting your opponent's a lot more effective, see? I think anyone can work that one out."
"Shut up."
"Don't say that when I'm being all nice and giving you some advice. For next time, that is."
"I said shut up. Not only did you cover Sol's armour in blood, you even got me covered in dirt. Honestly, you're disgusting. So I don't want to hear your voice anymore."
"Sounds like we've got a sore loser."
"I wouldn't have lost if I wasn't already low on energy going in! It's been a while since I've had a drink, that's all."
"You're not under any obligation to keep talking, you know? Making excuses is just digging yourself deeper."
Sol and Mary continued to clash, the fight barely making any progress. The wall before them was simply too impenetrable for Mary and Kasa to overcome. Realising this, Fen got ready to intervene. Through this action, he lowered his guard too early.
Milla threw herself to her feet and began to shamble with an incredible speed, her eyes mad.
Not having the time to stop her, all Fen could give was a simple warning.
"Watch out!"
All parties that she was headed for turned their heads. Even though she noticed that she was the target, Mary's reaction time wasn't quick enough to escape.
The others were powerless to stop what was about to occur.
"Damnit, I should've been more prepared. Shut up, it doesn't matter. Just get ready to block her swing. From her sword. Which she isn't grabbing-"
Milla sunk her fangs into Mary's exposed neck.
Fen was so confused he was unable to form any type of response apart from blushing slightly. Sol sighed at her fellow hunter's actions once more.
Milla finally pulled away, causing her victim to collapse to the ground a second later. Blood coated her lips.
"Yeah, that really feels better. Now then…"
She ran back to her previous opponent. Fang dragged Fen out of the way of a slash, which also had the effect of removing him from his daze.
"Hey, having your dog move you is cheating. You're the one that gave me so much advice. At least let me try it out on you!"
She swung again, the blade quicker than before. Fen still managed to get out of the way.
"Don't you start talking about cheating, what was with the bloodsucking?"
"You just noticed? I'm a real vampire!"
"What's that?"
"You don't know? You really are gross!"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Um." Sol interrupted, "She doesn't really get stronger from drinking blood. It's just a placebo."
"It isn't! Would a placebo make me feel this much better? I don't think so."
"Seriously, explain the vampire thing first. I don't even get what blood has to do with this."
"A vampire is-"
"You don't deserve to know!" Milla cut forward. Sol just accepted that she wouldn't get a chance to explain and followed along.
"It's two versus one, you might as well just give up."
Fang smashed into the ground, forcing Milla back.
"The hell are you talking about?" Fen asked. "You only just evened the odds. This is a two on two match now!"
Kasa sat near Mary, waiting for her to wake up.
Fen and Fang struck back at the same time, hoping to prevent their opponent's escape. Instead, Sol blocked both at once.
"Well, that explains the use of the two shields."
He backed away slightly as he tried to work out the best approach, only to get attacked before he could strike again.
Clean swipes which resembled fangs, backed up by a moving fortress. That was what the two were trying to fight against.
"You seem like you're having trouble defending. You should know that in a fight of two swords against a sword and a shield, the latter's always gonna have an advantage in defence. But I think anyone can work that one out."
"You're so damn petty."
He leant near to Fang for a moment, making a plan, before turning to face the others.
"It doesn't matter that we've lost the number advantage. We've just gotta slow them down, then catch up to the resident greatsword idiot."
He cut off his thoughts as he slammed his axe into the ground.
"Hey, iron woman. You're pretty good at defending, right?"
"Uh, of course."
"Yeah. It'd be bad if we just started killing each other, problem is that using this weapon non-lethally is a right pain. But with how well fortified you are, it shouldn't be a concern. The point I'm getting to is-"
He gripped the accelerator.
"I'm gonna let loose a little. Take care not to die on me now."
As he barely finished the last part of the sentence he launched himself. Wild slash followed wild slash, hacking away at the shields. Sol was left unable to do anything but block, not finding an opening. Milla attempted to create one for her, but Fang got between them and began to attack her.
Fen finally unleashed a burst slash, leaving a burn mark in the shields.
"Damn, she's still standing? I think I underestimated her. I've just got to keep up the attack for a bit-"
A red flare was released in the distance, bringing the fighting to an instant halt.
"Seriously?"
Milla threw her arms up in victory, smirking at Fen annoyingly. He just tried to catch his breath.
"Damnit, they're way too good. I thought that the numbers advantage would let us take the victory easily, but they're so far ahead in skill. How the hell did that bird dude even beat her?"
Laura stood in an empty area, waiting with her sword. Her opponent had disappeared from her view again, so she was waiting for his attack. She continued to glance around, trying to figure out where he would attack from.
Finally, she noticed the flare.
Kalo returned the coin to Lotus, who thanked him. The captain then turned to smile at the DBA.
"It appears that this round is our victory. Is the gulf between us clear yet?"
TO BE CONTINUED