Despite the pain, Akari pushed herself to her feet, visibly straining but determined. "Damn it…”

  "Good, she's up," Nika noted with some relief. "She's clearly struggling, but she's not giving up. Let's see what happens when the dust settles...!”

  As the dust settled and the arena went relatively quiet, Akari stood, a determined expression on her face. Despite her pain and exhaustion, she looked focused and ready.

  "She's putting up a brave face," Rachel noted, admiration in her voice. "But I wonder if she can keep it up.”

  "All she can do now is try to take down Guanqiu before she collapses," Yuki observed, her eyes locked on the scene in the arena.

  "Easier said than done," Rachel retorted. "Guanqiu looks barely winded. She's completely in control of the pace.”

  "But one good blow and it's over," Nika reminded. "If Akari can find a way to land a solid blow, it could change the course of the match."

  The dust was now clearing up, and through the dust came more paper kunais from Guanqiu heading for Akari.

  "There they go again!" Alice exclaimed, as more paper kunais were sent at Akari.

  Quickly, Akari gathered herself and attempted to dodge the incoming barrage despite her weakened state, still managing to evade some kunais.

  "She's slowing down, but she's holding on so far," Rachel commented, watching Akari's desperate evasion.

  "Won't last long, though," Yuki pointed out. "Just look at how badly she's staggering. Her stamina is all but gone at this point. There's no way she can keep dodging.”

  "Yep," Nika agreed, a sense of worry in her voice. "Just like Sharline was, she's running on pure adrenaline now. She's got tenacity, I'll give her that. But I dunno how much longer she can keep it up.”

  "She's gonna get hit again at this rate," Alice said with worry, as a wave of paper kunais narrowly missed Akari's head.

  "She's leaving herself open," Yuki pointed out, her expression stern. "She's too focused on defense. She needs to find an opening and attack back."

  A large paper airplane hurled at Akari next. She jumped out of the way, but just like the paper planes from before, it tracked her down, not losing its target.

  "Another trackin’ move?!" Blair exclaimed as the paper airplane chased after Akari like a heat-seeking missile.

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  "This is bad," Alice mumbled, eyes fixated on the paper airplane gaining speed. "She can hardly dodge as it is…”

  "If that thing hits her, it's over. She's so slow now," warned Rachel, her hands gripping the railing tightly.

  Akari gripped her katana tightly, preparing to slice down the paper airplane. She slashed down, cutting the paper planes in half. Only thing is...another explosive talisman was attached to the front where Akari slashed, setting off another explosion that shattered her Aura Shield and sent her flying.

  "Ouch..." Alice winced as Akari went flying. "That has to hurt. She's not getting back up from that one.”

  "She's down," Yuki pointed out, no emotion in her voice. "That was a bad move on her part."

  And down, Akari indeed was, as she remained motionless on the edge of the arena, with Marco declaring: "Akari is no longer able to battle! Therefore, the winner is... WEN GUANQIU!!!!”

  The arena erupted in cheers as "GUANQIU! GUANQIU!" echoed through the coliseum. Guanqiu flashed a bashful smile at the crowd, fidgeting with the ornaments in her emerald green hair as she slowly stepped out of the arena.

  The girls watched as Akari was helped outside of the arena. She sported various abrasions and bumps as well as a slight limp from the explosion's shock.

  "She took a beating," Rachel said softly. "This Guanqiu girl really took down a member of the Xerosi. She's definitely gonna be the talk of the town for a good while.”

  "No kidding," Nika agreed, nodding in agreement. "She's definitely got some skill. She took down Akari, and she didn't even look like she was breaking a sweat!”

  "...Y'know what I'm thinkin', right?" Blair asked with a raised brow. "We should chat with Guanqiu. Maybe we can learn some things about her. Hell, if her training allowed her to defeat a member of the Xerosi Clan, then we need to know what kinda training she does so we can learn too because that's honestly insane.”

  Nika nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's a good point. She might have some techniques or something we can learn. Let's go over and talk to her!”

  "Maybe you should, I'll sit this one out this time," Alice said timidly. "I'm not THE best at talking to people still, and you guys are a lot more extroverted than me…”

  Nika gently placed a hand on Alice's shoulder, reassuringly. "It's okay, Alice. We don't mind doing the talking. You just stay with us, okay?”

  Alice looked up at Nika, then nodded softly, feeling reassured. "All right, I'll stay with you guys.”

  Nika smiled gently, giving Alice a small hug. "Don't worry, we got your back. We won't leave you alone.”

  "Yeah," Rachel chimed in, a warm smile on her face. "We're here for ya, Alice. We'll stick together, okay?”

  "Yep, don'tcha worry 'bout anything," Blair added with a smirk, patting Alice's head before tousling her hair a little. "You're stuck with us now, Al.”

  "Alright, alright," Alice said, trying to fix her tousled up hair but couldn't help giggling. "You guys are getting too cheesy... Let's go meet this Guanqiu now, shall we?”

  Nika smiled and led the way, the others following in tow. As they walked over to find Guanqiu, they noticed her surrounded by a small group of admirers, all trying to get her attention.

  "Looks like she's getting popular real quick," Rachel noted, observing the growing crowd around her. "She's already got a fan club.”

  "Well, can you blame them?" Blair quipped back, a smirk on her face. "She's pretty impressive. Plus, she's cute.”

  Nika rolled her eyes playfully. "Seriously, Blair? Trying to flirt already? Let's at least get to her first before you work your charm on her!”

  “And that, we shall do,” Blair proposed. “Let's get to business.”