Thi Lan’s grip on her whip and dagger tightened, illusory petals beginning to extend from her feet.

She had seen the recap episode. She knew that Grey was an absolute powerhouse. But the difference was that if she was correct, Grey’s recap was from a lot more recently. Hers was not. In fact, she had done that on her third day here.

Even so, that didn’t stop her from being cautious.

Dusk and the other wolfman suddenly raised their blades.

"Stay to the side. You aren’t a match for him." Thi Lan said.

"Grey. This is going too far." Amunet said in a whisper.

Grey didn’t reply. He had made his decision.

Right now, this wasn’t about him, and this wasn’t just about Thi Lan either.

If they didn’t gather, then her staying here would just have the same result that zone 234 would have had had Grey not been there. Maybe she could defeat one Dormaji on the level Grey had, but what would she do when the second appeared? The third?

Grey could tell that Thi Lan was smart. She had set the barrier likely after seeing the recap episode. As expected, she could draw a line of connection between The Great Udon first mentioning Zone 234 and the fact Grey had to fight alien races himself.

In fact, maybe she was in such a disheveled state because she was already fielding the poor results of what happened as a result of her own zone being mentioned.

She already knew what kind of uphill battle she was facing. What she really hadn’t accepted yet was that Grey was stronger than her.

The funny part about Grey having that thought was that he didn’t even know that with 100% certainty.

He could recall the recap he had seen of Thi Lan, how she basically stopped time and then defeated a Region Boss with a single touch. If he knew that she had done that on just the third day, it would be even more shocking.

Whatever lineage or inheritance she had accepted was truly on another level entirely.

And that was exactly why they had to fight.

Thi Lan thought herself to be stronger.

Grey thought himself to be stronger.

And neither would accept the guidance of the other in a situation like this.

"Thi Lan..." Nebb tried to mediate one more time, but when Thi Lan only slowly shook her head no, he lowered his head, knowing that it was useless.

"Ten moves." Grey said, his voice carrying a deep bass to it that he didn’t usually use. The light, joking inflection was gone, replaced by a man who seemed always hidden away within his shell.

"If I can’t defeat you within ten moves, you can stay here."

Thi Lan’s eyes narrowed.

"In that case, I will say the same. If I defeat you within ten moves, you will stay here and help me."

Maybe Grey would have usually grinned at something like this. But this time, he didn’t.

His aura flared, tendrils of crimson radiating from him like the solar flares of a blood star. The whipping of his hair in the winds increased, the land shaking around him.

Thi Lan’s dress fluttered, her hair flying out in a braid so long it seemed to extend over two meters all on its own.

Her wrist flickered and her whip formed a cyclone of thorns around her, her dagger resting in a backhanded grip in her own palm.

Her toes flexed, her calves.

The world suddenly turned a dense grey. Everything slowed around her, and Grey became little more than a painting of black and white in the landscape of her control.

She walked forward slowly, lotuses following after her. But when she looked back, she realized just how quickly they were wilting. It wasn’t just Grey...

Thi Lan’s gaze landed on Amunet who she hadn’t recognized from the recap episode. It seemed that trapping her within this domain was a mistake.

Thi Lan didn’t hesitate to shrink the range, closing in the distance on Grey and then reaching forward.

Chi.

Sparks flew.

Thi Lan’s pupils constricted.

Grey’s blood blade had blocked her dagger.

Her eyes narrowed quickly after. "One."

Chi.

Grey’s wrist twisted as Thi Lan’s own flexed. She had reached her hand through a gap in her rotated whip, but this time she tweaked it, sending its circumference expanding wildly outward.

It revved almost like a chain saw, the thorns ripping across the air and even sparking real flames through the friction alone. It felt like it was gripping onto the fabric of reality itself.

Grey seemed to completely ignore it.

Thi Lan’s expression changed and she pulled back, but that didn’t stop her skin from being nicked by Grey’s blade just the slightest bit.

Her blood pooled into a small droplet and Grey pulled back, yanking it out in a line of arcing crimson through the skies.

It was pulled right into his blood blade and Grey’s vision completely changed.

A whipping line of thorns lashed out against him, but his suicidal attack had bought him enough time. Because she was accelerating back, it took a fraction longer for it to reach him, and by then...

The Turning Shield appeared in its small parry shield form. Grey leapt off his feet, withstood the blow and flew back.

He landed softly, undamaged and uninjured. The Turning Shield wasn’t so much as scratched.

Veins of red appeared out of the corner of Grey’s eyes and the world turned to black and white for him as well. All he could see of Thi Lan were the veins running through her body and the beating of her heart.

Crimson Cognition.

There were other ways for Grey to win. He could even use mechs or a more powerful blitz. He could rely on his gloves and thrash her the same way he had Raze. But setting aside the fact he didn’t want to put his mechs through that again, and if his mechs couldn’t handle it, his flesh and blood certainly couldn’t...

He didn’t want Thi Lan to have even the slightest doubt about his victory.

He was going to systematically tear her apart until she felt like she was little more than a helpless lamb in front of him.

He stared at her not as a pretty woman or even an ally, but the same way he saw a man he slowly circled in an MMA cage.

She was prey.

A cold shiver ripped up the backs of those present.

Then Grey moved.