The Lieutenant’s heart pounded in his chest, a bead of sweat tracing its way down his temple. His grip on the sword tightened, but his mind raced. She’s fast. Faster than I thought. No one’s ever moved like that before. He swallowed hard, his throat dry, his mind replaying the moment again—her body vanishing in an instant, the raw power behind her speed. I didn’t even see her move…

For the first time, a flicker of doubt crept into his thoughts. If my body was just an inch off... The idea lingered, unsettling him.

But there was no time to dwell. Krista activated her jets again, the siphons flaring to life with a deafening roar. This time, the Lieutenant was ready. He launched himself forward, Cloak enveloping him in a rush of wind. They collided midair, the impact of their clash sending shockwaves through the air. The sound of their meeting echoed like a thunderclap, reverberating through the ruined landscape. To anyone watching, they would have been nothing more than fleeting blurs, gusts of wind colliding violently—here one moment, gone the next.

The Lieutenant swung his sword in a wide arc, the blade unleashing a torrent of wind slashes that tore through the surrounding buildings. Towers of steel and concrete crumbled like paper, reduced to rubble by the sheer force of his attack. Shattered glass rained down like glittering fragments of a broken world, the once mighty structures now nothing more than hollow shells.

But Krista moved like water, fluid and graceful, slipping through his attacks with effortless ease. Each gust of wind barely grazed her, missing by mere inches as she dodged and weaved through the air. And then, in a blur of motion, she closed the distance between them, faster than he could track.

Her foot connected with his side, a swift and brutal kick that sent him spiraling through the air. Pain lanced through his ribs, sharp and sudden. He crashed into the ground with a bone-rattling thud, skidding through the dirt, carving a path through the debris.

He staggered but quickly recovered, eyes narrowing. With a roar, he increased his speed, pushing his Cloak to its limits.

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But Krista was faster.

Although the Lieutenant had achieved the speed of 300 miles per hour, Krista's speed had already surpassed that.

What happened next was a one-sided affair on Krista’s part. A punch to his gut, a kick to his shoulder, an elbow to his chest. The Lieutenant struggled to keep up, his breaths growing ragged.

She hit him in the ribs, sending him staggering. Another blow to his chest, and his breath escaped him in a wheezing gasp.

Then came the uppercut. The lieutenant’s feet left the ground, and suddenly he was airborne.

Krista didn’t let up. She followed him into the sky, her siphons propelling her upward as she pummeled him again and again. Each strike sent the lieutenant higher, blood spraying from his mouth with every impact. His body twisted with every hit, bones cracking under the force.

The world seemed to fade around him. His vision blurred, and the blood pouring from his wounds painted his world red. He looked up, dazed, struggling to understand what was happening. Krista was above him now, silhouetted against the bright sky, her fist raised for another blow. Her eyes glowed with a fierce intensity, her hair whipping around her like a white flame. In his delirium, he saw her as a demon—horned, wings of shadow unfurling behind her. A creature of pure darkness, eyes burning with malevolence.

His heart raced in terror. I... I’m going to die.

Krista's expression remained stoic. "It's over," she said softly.

She delivered the final punch, her fist connecting with his chest with devastating force. The impact sent him hurtling toward the ground, the air screaming around him. He crashed into the earth with a monumental explosion of dust and debris, the ground quaking from the impact.

Silence settled over the battlefield.

Krista descended gracefully, landing beside the massive crater. The siphon protrusions retracted back into her body, her form returning to normal. She walked up to the Lieutenant's lifeless body, his once-intimidating aura now extinguished.

Krista tilted her head, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. “I knew it was a good idea to watch that old nature documentary DVD I found,” she said to no one in particular.

From behind her, Ken staggered up, still shaken from the sheer brutality of the fight. "Wait... what?"

Krista shrugged, the smile widening slightly. “Flying squid,” she said simply, as though that explained everything.

And in a way, it did.