Sana

Not even Momo was prepared for that. The fight had lasted a single move, with Cifer slamming his best attack against the best attack of Taichi. In a match of pure power there should never be a case where a Intermediate Broken Origination completely overwhelmed a Transformation Broken Origination! Even if Cifer were using a Bottom Origination Technique it should result in a deadlock or at best only give him a slight advantage.

Cifer smiled as he accepted the surrender. "Next."

The woman with the gold star, a 1 written clearly on it, walked into the arena. Sana had a unique bearing, standing regal and powerful as if the world were centered on her. She appraised Cifer carefully. "You are an interesting man. In the future, if you do not die, I think you will be among those who shape the course of history. But today I wish to test myself against this legend to be."

This mixture of humility and confidence in both herself and Cifer caught him off guard. It took him a moment to recover himself. "Let's see how this goes then. Best of luck."

Sana nodded, letting the Wisdom Essence from her Steel Blue Crossbow flow as her Manifestation appeared behind her. Unlike Cifer's other two opponents, Sana would not slack. She had the distinct impression that Cifer was still holding back. As such, first Sana needed to get him to show her what he had, and approached cautiously with the intent to test him.

Cifer felt a heavy pressure as Sana started to come closer to him. He could not find a single opening in her stance or a sign of her lacking attention. Sana wasn't emotionally disbalanced and acted as one who had nothing to prove, treating him as a serious threat. That meant he needed to find a way to shake her up before that steady, regal advance ground him under.

Momo watched with shock written across her face. "That star clearly has the numeral for 1 on it! I though you said she was in the 20s?" She accosted Deacon Gorou soundly. But he was not the one to answer her.

Rin spoke softly, explaining for Momo alone to understand. "Sana was ranked 23 until three days ago. That's when she made Perfect Broken Origination, and immediately challenged the now number 2. Your friend is amazing, but Sana is also a true genius."

Rin hesitated. "They say it's impossible to actually win a 1 on 1 with someone a Tier above you in the Skull Sect, but Sana makes you feel like it just might be possible. After all, Sana was the only Transformation Broken Origination in the top 50 of the Broken Origination rankings, and the first in years to make the rankings at all while Advanced. After all, there's around 200 Perfect and the best 20 or so Transformation to compete with. But she clawed her way into the top 100 while at my level. Sana is simply unbeatable for anyone her level and especially lower."

Summoning his White Lily Manifestation behind him in it's Azure covering, Cifer snapped out a swift punch to take advantage of his longer reach. But Sana was the best fighter in the entire Skull Sect's Broken Origination. How could she not have swift reactions herself? With only one step to the side she advanced into her own reach and dodged Cifer's opening blow at the same time.

Having entered her own range of close combat, Sana attacked with incredibly precise control. Her fist flew at Cifer's temple with pinpoint accuracy, and she expected his attempted block in her calculations. What Sana did not expect was that Cifer's block would be sturdy enough to change the angle of her attack and to be combined with ducking backwards to avoid any impact to his head at all.

Cifer's arm was numbed from the force of the impact, which he realized hadn't even been a Technique as Sana was still testing him. His respect for Oji went up by several degrees as Cifer realized just how large the gap of 3 Stages was when fighting a capable opponent. True, Elder Naoki had been a far, far less capable fighter than Sana is, but Oji had controlled every aspect of the fight with effortless precision while Cifer had narrowly avoided losing entirely on his first effort to control the pace.

In fact, the only reason he hadn't already lost was because Sana had half expected a trap of some sort.

"You have quick reactions, and your body is abnormally strong for an Intermediate Stage. That attack would have broke Kaito's arm and skull, but you retain the use of your arm." Sana commented clearly, complimenting him and adjusting her level of expectations from Cifer.

Because of how he'd been focused on increasing his Cultivation itself, Cifer had only learned the two Techniques. And Child's Fist was the only one that could be used without a weapon. That mean he needed to find a way to force a Child's Fist down Sana's throat if he wanted to win this. To do that, Cifer would have to completely betray her expectations.

Sana approaches again, this time ghosting past the point of being in his range and into her own in the same moment. She'd seen a change in his eyes that meant Cifer had steeled his resolve for something. Sana would give him the chance to try himself against her again, but the genius would control every aspect of that chance herself.

Cifer punched Sana in full expectation that she would be able to dodge the attack. He set his teeth, planning to endure her next hit. Giving up his flesh to crush her bones was the plan he had left to him as his Child's Fist was overwhelming enough to even out the damage or more.

Sana dodged his first attack, then met his Child's Fist with a kick that was like a bolt of lightening, charged with insane strength. Sana was able to use one of the Skull Sect's Bottom Origination Techniques and could withstand the price in Essence easily enough to repeat it multiple times.

Cifer stumbled back from the impact, but so did Sana. However, Cifer fell back almost to the edge of the ring, while Sana only went back two steps. With her baseline far superior and a Technique from a tier higher, it was already amazing that Cifer and Child's Fist were able to block her and make Sana take a step back.

Cifer recovered and got ready to close in again, but Sana used a movement Technique to slip past his guard. Cifer only had a fraction of a second to respond and could only react based on his last second judgement, remembering Oji's soft defense.

Sana hit with the same palm Technique that Taichi had used against Cifer, and it seemed hers was similar to his in power as the Essence Taichi Cultivated was better suited for it. Cifer rode the force of the attack, blocking and jumping away to ride the attack as best he could. He still had both arms blasted aside and felt the air crushed from his lungs.

But Sana could feel the reduced, hollow impact. And unlike Elder Naoki who hadn't a clue why it happened, she was also able to deduce the theory behind the maneuver. And thus spotted it's weakness. Using her movement Technique again, she got behind the still retreating Cifer and kicked at his back with her Bottom Origination Thunder Leg. This time Cifer's momentum was already carrying him the wrong way, and the attack was so fierce that it would overwhelm any soft defense in a crushing instant even if it was possible.

Cifer knew he was doomed this time. He'd only lasted about 5 moves against Sana including this kick! He almost blacked out as the kick landed, feeling bones crack easily under the pressure and blood vomit from his mouth as he was brutally thrown from the arena.

As he slowly tried to get up he had only a single impression of Sana left. Strong!