As Wu and his crew silently worked in the background, the Winter Wars had to go on. The battle to the top was yet to be finished, and the attention of the entire world remained on the path that was literally carved out by Fatera's claws as she made her way into the fourth round, with only eight total fighters remaining in the entirety of the tournament.

Fatera, with a piece of steak hanging off the corner of her mouth, stood with her hands on her hips in front of the Winter Wars tournament bracket. The sign hanging in the corner of the restaurant showed the outcomes of the sets of fights on the other side of the bracket.

The bracket itelf was cleanly maintained, yet behind the tidy rows of handwriting are countless stories of blood, sweat, and tears; the untold stories of the defeated, and the ongoing legends of the winners.

She is so close to the end of it all, and she could almost taste victory itself. But right now, all she's tasting is the rich sauce of the steak, and it is fucking amazing.

"You looked like you are enjoying all this." A soothing girly voice came from behind her and Fatera turned her head to see Yuna strolling towards her. Despite both of them never really interacting with one another, they still recognized each other by their unique looks and their aura in the Wave.

"Of course." Fatera said nonchalantly, "I get to eat as much as I want, and I get to fight all the strong people around."

"I like that." Yuna smiled, cracking her knuckles before turning and glancing at the nearly empty restaurant now that most of the participants had been filtered out. A scattering of the remaining fighters each sat separately, and the two of them are the only ones that were talking to one another.

Before, there was a sense of comradery between the fighters, because the brackets' sheer size ensures that friends won't have to face off against one another just yet. However, when only eight fighters remained in the tournament, anyone here could be facing anyone else at any moment.

Not that Fatera cared. She simply lived from meal to meal and fight to fight.

"I look forward to our fight." Yuna said, winking towards Fatera as she picked up a dessert pudding and started heading back to her own table, "I am sure it will be a great one."

"It won't be!" Fatera said, letting her voice project out so everyone in the restaurant can hear it, "Cause I will be sure to dominate ya!"

Yuna gave her a playful smile and a thumbs-up before sitting down. That's when Fatera realized the word dominate might mean something a little different.

Then, from the other side of the room, Lily Watts stood up and pointed a finger at Fatera, "I will be waiting for you in the finals then."

"Count on it."

The time of battle couldn't have come soon enough, and at last, with Fatera and Yuna both stepping up towards the entrance of the Winter Wars resort, they found John King there waiting for them too.

"Hello, fighters." John King said, waving his hand before conjuring up a chariot big enough to house the three of them, "I know what you are thinking, but the top eight's battles have always been slightly different from all the stages before. I will be in charge of creating your battleground with my structure Casts, and your battle will take place within."

"Why, you ran out of ideas on the mountain?" Yuna asked, the remark making Fatera giggle lightly.

"I made the mountain. But yeah."

John sighed and nodded, admitted his defeat. It is true. As exciting as the battles have been in the various parts of the landscape, the mountain range setting gets old and irrelevant really quickly. That's why Principal Khan and John had been using this new twist into the final stages, literally injecting excitement and change into the air with every iteration of the battle.

"Each of the structure Casts will come with their own quirks and rules." John explained, "Those rules are pre-determined, and it will apply to both of you. So it's just like any of the environmental factors that you might experience in battles in the real world."

"Why can't we just have a good old-fashioned fist fight..." Yuna asked, reaching her hand up right as the chariot rattled off the ground and started climbing the mountain, "Isn't that what you want?"

"Doesn't really matter to me!" Fatera shrugged, "I just want a good fight!"

"I am sure you two will do just fine." John said, slowly standing up from his seat before he took out his brush pen and guided the Wave within his body and around him onto its tips. Then, as he drew strokes into the air, tracks of Casts rained down on the flattened plains below.

A structure that looked like a coliseum slowly started to materialize into thin air as Principal Khan's Scouting Eyes gathered around the airspace above before slowly sneaking into the various corners and compartments of the structure Cast.

"You will now be moved to your starting zone." John said, snapping his finger as the chariot they were on split into three. Yuna and Fatera both latched onto the handrails next to them so as not to fall to their demise, and their third of the chariot floated their way towards either ends of the circular-shaped structure Cast.

"Ladies...and gentlemen..." Principal Khan's voice came rumbling from above, "Allow us to present...the first of the quarter-finals, a titanic battle between the unstoppable force that is Yuna Hu, and the immovable object that is Fatera! Let the battle begin!"

Drilling her foot onto the ground, Fatera felt for the friction underneath her feet before she stomped around. Somehow, the texture of the floors felt exactly like dirt despite everything around her being made by the materialization of the Wave into various elements and materials.

In between herself and her opponent on the other side of the Colosseum are countless rectangular stone pillars. Each of those looked to be about two meters in its side length and varying in height. Fatera launched herself up onto the first pillar before jumping off it, landing on the highest one near her.

"FATERA!" Yuna shouted, her voice piercing through the air as she stood on a pillar of similar heights on the far opposite end of the Colosseum, and upon seeing her, Fatera launched herself forward, her body instantly counted in a thin armor of the Wave with extra concentration around her hands and feet.

Her footsteps sounded like drumbeats of war as she made contacts. As she moved closer and closer towards Yuna, leaping nimbly between the stone pillars, she suddenly missed the step, kicking nothing but thin air.

Fatera's eyes widened, and her body slammed into the side of the next pillar before she bounced onto the ground.

"What the fuck was that?!" She cursed, rolling up onto her feet rapidly and rebounded back in between the pillars, getting back up to one of the taller pillars. There is no way the pillar could have been that low, as Fatera made sure to judge the distance between each of the pillars at least three steps ahead and through her peripherical vision.

However, there is no time to dwell over mistakes in battle. That mistake has already made Fatera lose her initiative in battle, giving Yuna the advantage to engage. Though, like always, Fatera will just have to punch her way through the adversity.

"Surging Tiger style: The King's Roar!" Yuna said, puffing her chest out like a ballon as she filled it full with the air. Then, she launched her head forward, unleashing a massive conic-shaped blast of Wave-empowered scream. Fatera jabbed rapidly to the side, avoiding the blast as Yuna's ranged attack shattered the pillar that Fatera was just standing on, the rubbles raining down onto the ground.

As expected, Fatera's moving far faster than anyone Yuna had ever faced, and her combat instinct is also incredibly sharp. Yuna turned her head, sweeping the area with her destructive roar as Fatera jumped from one pillar to another. Despite not being directly hit by the wave-empowered scream, her ears still started ringing unpleasantly as a small headache started echoing in her head.

"In that case...have some of this!" Fatera said, tensing up her entire body and pulling all of her muscles and tendons tightly like a bow. Then, she threw both hands out in front of her, palms facing inwards before clapping them together, releasing all of that wound-up tension in an instant.

A bright white light flashed in the air between her hands before a massive blast Wave flooded through the layers of pillars in front of Yuna, blowing the pillars apart and forcing her to back off while shielding her face.

"Tsk." Yuna grunted, her forearms tingling after withstanding Fatera's initial attacks, "This is going to be fun."

"Ya bet."

Charging forward, Yuna channeled the traditional footwork of the Surging Tiger style, pressing aggressively forward with unpredictable rhythm and pacing. Then, when the time is right, Yuna struck, a pair of furious slashes cutting down diagonally onto Fatera's body.

Fatera's eyes widened, and she moved her body rapidly in response, swinging her forearm outward and deflecting Yuna's initial attacks. However, before Fatera could use her counterattacks at the instance of opening after Yuna's slashes, the attacker pressed forward even more, sniffing out the opening before launching another barrage of strikes.

Fatera's arms whipped, matching Yuna's own speed. Yet even if she's able to successfully defend against Yuna's wide arrays of slashes, kicks, and strikes, she was never able to find a moment to counter her.

The Surging Tiger's combat style is all about suffocating one's opponents with unrelenting attacks one after another. It's all about taking the initiative in the battle and never letting go, and Yuna's putting that on display masterfully, forcing Fatera to fall back and leap in between stone pillars as Yuna pressed after her.

However, despite the battle looking to be in her favour from the outside, Yuna can't help but feel a sense of deep-rooted nervousness.

The tiger may have been oppressing its prey for now, but eventually, the bear will wake up from its winter slumber. Then...

The Surging Tiger style may have been incredibly oppressive to fight again, but as soon as the tide of battle turns, things will be a lot different. Yuna had hoped to overwhelm Fatera, forcing her on the backfoot and making her make the mistakes, but after getting caught out initially, Fatera had quickly settled into the rhythm of the battle.

This fight is just starting, and both fighters knew it.

As Yuna launched forward towards Fatera once again, the latter let out a low grunt, spinning a kick and sending a blast of air forward with it, interrupting Yuna's rhythm. Yuna crossed her arms and guarded herself, when Fatera leapt into the air, her shadow looming over Yuna's entire body as the tide of battle had finally been turned around.

"Now...it's my turn!"