Raigo wipes the blood from his knuckles, his bulk casting a monstrous shadow over Yumi.

  "You’re not strong enough, girl. Give up."

  Yumi spits blood onto the ground, pushing herself up. "You talk too much."

  Raigo’s next punch tears through the floor where she had just been, but Yumi is already moving, already anticipating.

  Her body is burning—but so is her spirit.

  Raigo’s words echo in her mind.

  "Watari’s already as good as dead. Kuroda’s probably already made him burst."

  She grits her teeth. And then—The past floods in.

  —FLASHBACK:The Girl Who Lost Everything

  A boratory. The smell of antiseptic. The cold steel walls. The muffled screams.

  A young Yumi is peeking through a boratory door, her body trembling as she watches the experiments unfold.

  Nao, her best, no, her only friend is on the table. She thrashes, her voice raw from screaming.

  "Stop! Stop! I can’t take any more!"

  But the Musabori scientists don’t stop. They don’t even look at her. They have orders and they know what would happen if they went against them.

  “Initiate”—A man’s voice in the room rings out.

  Then Nao’s body convulses violently before finally going still.

  The machines beep once—then fall silent.

  Yumi runs away from the door as fast she can. Biting her lip until it bleeds to contain her agonizing screams.

  As tears stream down her face, we cut back to the present. "I won’t let it happen again."

  Her aura fres violently, the air distorting around her.

  Raigo takes a step back.

  "What the—"

  Yumi lifts her hand, and the fmes around her twist, forming something massive.

  "Take form—Kiyohime."

  A giant spectral wyvern emerges from the fmes, its molten eyes locking onto Raigo. Yumi had summoned Kiyohime many times up to this point—But she never felt as connected to the dragon as she did now.

  "Arcane Breath."

  A torrent of golden fire engulfs him, the sheer force of it ripping through the building. The bottom floors begin to crumble, the entire structure now trembling under the weight of destruction.

  Sato watches the chaos unfold, his mind already calcuting their next move. A scared Kaito, clinging to his back. Ren, bruised but standing, flicks blood off his bde.

  "We don’t have the time for this. The building’s coming down and the b’s still on the top floor."

  Ryuko groans, dragging himself to his feet. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

  Yumi exhales, Kiyohime still burning behind her. "We finish them. Then we end this."

  Our six fighters all take stances across from eachother. Brushing off the wounds left by the other.

  With the lower floors of the building colpsing behind them, there was a small pause. Then—All six Lunged.

  The air between them crackled with raw energy, each warrior poised to strike. The Musabori HQ’s lower floors were already in ruins, yet the true devastation was only beginning.