Haste

Though it had only been for a brief moment, Hana releasing her flames within the Palace of Swords had reduced much of the Sword Altar's interior to superheated slag and molten stone. Despite this, Hon, Han, and Eduan could be seen standing around rather leisurely, unperturbed by the heat.

Using a pocket watch he had carried with him even before the Age of Ascension, Han, showing far greater concern than his two compatriots, asked, "How long are we going to continue idling? I trust in Hana's Immortality, but what if the Sage Dragon Emperor attempts to capture her? If he takes her into his Little Garden, negotiations will be difficult..."

Reacting to Han's concerns, Hon, who had been standing silently with his eyes closed, opened them to answer, "The Sage Dragon Emperor has illustrated, time and again, that he has no interest in the politics of the Tower. Do you really believe he would do something like taking hostages? What does he stand to gain?"

Answering in Han's stead, Eduan chimed in to note, "Hana is quite beautiful...." in a dull monotone. This earned him slight frowns from the other two, but, seeing a nascent smile develop on the blue-haired man's face, they quickly realized he was just messing with him.

Suppressing a sigh, Hon snapped his pocket watch shut before placing it safely within his Inventory and asking, "What do the two of you intend to do when all of this is over? I can already guess what most of our compatriots will choose. Still, it's better to know for sure. Truth be told, I wouldn't mind traveling together like we used to. It's been...a long time..."

Though he wasn't particularly fond of Han's implication they had already lost, Hon took a moment to spread his senses through their surroundings before answering, "Regardless of what happens in the future, I will most likely remain here. I realized, long ago, that I would never be able to reach the pinnacle. Now that I am being forced to abdicate my position, I will most likely act as a Guardian for my family. Once I have groomed a suitable successor, I will challenge the trials of the Tower with my own hands. After that...well, only the future knows..."

Surprised by Hon's honesty, both Han and Eduan showed varying degrees of astonishment on their faces. Hon, at normal times, possessed a rather frosty, borderline unfriendly, disposition. He was the type of person who wouldn't even bat an eye if one of his own children were cut down right in front of him. Rather, depending on the circumstances, there was a fair chance he would be the one to cut them down, not as punishment, but to 'preserve' their skill and power within the Arie Family...

Feeling that it was his turn to speak, Eduan was about to express his own intentions for the future when a not-so-subtle spatial ripple appeared a few meters above them. This was more than a little surprising, but, rather than showing it on his face, Eduan maintained an apathetic expression as he asked, "Back so soon? Hana might not have been the most powerful among us, but I can't imagine she would lose this quickly..."

Ignoring the man's remark, Vahn focused his gaze on Hon, saying, "There is no need to discuss the specifics. As for my representatives..."

Waving his hand, Vahn manifested Yuri and Mikoto out of thin air, adding, "There is myself, Vahn Aldrnari Mason, one of my personal Pokemon, Misaka Mikoto, and one of your former Princesses, Ha Yuri. As for the matchups-"

Before Vahn could finish, a small jolt of electricity entered his body, courtesy of a red-faced Mikoto. Though it made her feel a little happy, being casually introduced as Vahn's 'personal Pokemon' was more than a little embarrassing. Sure, she might have been the one to ask him to 'choose her', quite some time ago, but that didn't mean she was comfortable with him announcing it to the world...

Though he paused for a very brief moment, Vahn's expression ultimately remained unchanged as he pointed towards Han and said, "We'll start with the lowest ranking member of each team. Since you're Ranked 19, that means you'll have the misfortune of facing off against Yuri. Good luck."

A stark contrast to the uneasiness visible in Han's expression, a rather sizeable shockwave erupted from Yuri's body as she shouted, "Hell yeah! I've been looking forward to this! I can't wait to see the looks on those smug bastards' faces after I wipe the floor with you...!"

Further emphasizing her excitement, Yuri allowed her tail to uncoil from around her waist as violent red Ki exploded from her body. This surprised the three Family Leaders quite a bit, not because she had an overwhelming aura, but because Ki and Mana had been their main source of power prior to entering the Tower. Unfortunately, neither had been present within the Tower, so, the moment their internal reserves ran dry, it took days, if not weeks, for them to fully replenish their stocks. This was what had forced them to undergo Revolution all those years ago, as, prior to that moment, most of them had been entirely reliant on Ki and Mana.

Sensing the phenomenal power surging from Yuri's body, a glimmer of excitement appeared within Eduan's eyes as he remarked, "Remarkable. A truly splendid woman..."

Following his words, Eduan's figure vanished like a phantom, but, before he could grasp Yuri's hand and attempt to woo her with his heinous power, Vahn appeared between them, saying, "You've lost your fucking mind..."

Without waiting for the man's response, Vahn attempted to punch Eduan in his perfectly sculpted face, his fist forming a black trail as it ripped through both space and time. To the latter's credit, he was able to react to this, but, the moment Vahn's fist met with his guard, Eduan was sent smashing through the Sword Altar with such speed and intensity that he appeared to teleport from his initial location.

With vibrant blue lightning dancing across his left hand, Vahn flexed his fingers a few times before looking towards Mikoto and saying, "You might want to fight him in your Pokemon form. That man is even worse than me when it comes to women. Be careful of his right hand. I doubt he will be able to force a Tier 5 to submit, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Nodding her head, Mikoto promptly transformed into her Pikachu form, tiny gold runes appearing beneath her fur as a shroud of golden lightning enveloped her body. Then, far faster than even Han could perceive, she completely vanished. Moments later, the sound of a distant explosion could be heard, but, rather than focusing on that, Vahn shifted his attention to Yuri, saying, "Good luck." with a relaxed smile on his face.

Though she experienced a moment of panic when Eduan focused his intent on her, Yuri ultimately managed to retain a confident smile, asking, "Luck? Who needs that? I already won the lottery when I managed to sink my teeth into you. Now I just need to kick this brat's ass. Easy peasy."

Punctuating her words, Yuri drew the Black March and Green April from her Reel Inventory, igniting both as a violent red aura erupted from her body. She had been waiting a long time to teach the Ari Family a lesson, so, now that their Leader was right in front of her, there was no way she would back down. This placed Han in a somewhat difficult position, but, understanding the temperament of the Ha Family, he responded by drawing his rapier-like Needles and saying, "Let's see how much you've grown..."

Without thinking deeply about the meaning contained in Han's words, Yuri lunged forward faster than a flash, the Black March leaving an abyssal black trail as she attempted to bifurcate her rather petite opponent. To her surprise, fairy-like wings appeared at Han's back and ankle as he used the very tip of his Needle to deflect her attack, muttering, "Ari Style Secret Technique - Fairy Waltz..."

Faster than most people could react, Han's Needles began tracing countless silvery arcs towards Yuri's tendons and joints. He wasn't particularly fond of bloodshed and killing, so, more often than not, he dealt with his opponents by disabling them with extremely precise and swift strikes. He even coated his weapons in a special anesthetic, a medicine designed to numb the body and inhibit pain.

Though she did her best to deflect as many attacks as she could, Han's speed was far beyond Yuri's expectations. It felt like, for every two blows she deflected, eight more would prick various parts of her body. Fortunately, like the majority of Vahn's women, she had received a number of accessories that effectively made her immune to status abnormalities. This, combined with her inordinately high regeneration, allowed her to ignore minor injuries, so, rather than focusing on defense, the intensity of Yuri's eyes increased as she shouted, "Eat this, you little shit...!"

Punctuating her words, a phenomenal amount of Ki gathered at Yuri's left foot as she attempted to kick between Han's legs. This caused a violent tremble to pass through the latter's body, compelling him to evade backward as Yuri exclaimed, "Nuclear Kick...!"

Though the name might have sounded a little flashy, the massive explosion generated in the wake of Yuri's kick demonstrated it wasn't to be taken lightly. From a distance, you could even see a large mushroom cloud forming as the energy began to disperse and fold in on itself after breaching the upper atmosphere.

With a few beads of sweat appearing on his brow, a wry smile developed across Han's face as he remarked, "I understand your desire to win, but can we try and avoid aiming for each others' more 'sensitive' regions? Even if I'm Immortal, that's the kind of pain that can make one wish they were dead..."

Using the Green April to disperse the remnant dust and debris, Yuri eyed Han with an inordinately serious expression on her face as she asked, "What's your deal? You aren't behaving as a Leader of a Great Family should. I understand that the Ari Family is filled with petulant cowards and uptight assholes, but I didn't think it extended all the way to the top."

Aiming for the moment when Han was about to answer her question, Yuri extended the blade of the Black March, its tip impacting his chest like a bolt of black lightning. This caused a deep frown to develop across her face, not because the attack had failed, but because Han was clearly looking down on her if he couldn't even evade something like the extension of the Black March...

---

Observing the battle between Yuri and Han from the distance, Vahn stood in the air with his arms crossed, eyes focused despite the fact he was also linking his senses with Mikoto. At his side, fewer than ten meters away, Hon stood with a pristine white sword in hand, clearly indicating his intent to start their own battle. Unfortunately, even though he was looking directly at Vahn, he couldn't sense the latter's presence. This left him unsure about whether or not he should attack, so, at least for the time being, he just stood in the air, calmly awaiting the moment their climactic battle would begin.

Understanding the inordinately handsome man's thoughts, Vahn continued to willfully ignore him. His brief encounter with Hana had demonstrated that the Great Warriors weren't actually that great, so, while he had yet to lose interest in them completely, he no longer felt any pressure to deal with them. Even Hon's fangs had clearly dulled with the passage of time, so, now that he had confirmed their state with his own eyes, he was seriously considering just teleporting Jahad and the rest of the Great Warriors to him. He could always continue his journey after demonstrating there was nothing they could do against him, so, while Hon was eagerly looking forward to the fight to come, Vahn's mind had already started to wander to worlds beyond the Tower...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'At least they're being realists xD...','Eduan be digging his own grave...','Tier 4 is practically fodder at this point...')

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