Ryan's jaw dropped. "S-Stephen Lyhorn?!"
Yue nodded. "Yes, I recognize his face anywhere. Right next to him was an acquaintance, the leader of Eiden, Nox Vulisphere."
He jolted his body from his resting position with rage in his voice. "No way my brother would ever side with a despicable crime syndicate!"
"Yeah. Eiden is a crime syndicate that is known to slaughter thousands just to get whatever they want. How could the police chief of our city ever side with them?" Harold added.
Yue shivered, remembering the previous events that unfolded. "I-I'm unsure... it's just that I clearly saw it was them. They most likely wanted me dead because I was a witness."
Thinking about it, Mina couldn't figure out the purpose of the thugs she brutalized earlier. "But I wonder, who are the other people that want you dead? Ryan stated that those thugs we fought earlier were ordered to go after you, right?"
With a loud crash, an unknown visitor smashes through the bar's entrance, sending debris and glass everywhere. He donned the same colors as Eiden soldiers—red and black—but he wore bulkier armor and a mask that caused him to have a robotic filter over his voice. The sound of his armor plates shifting breaks the startled silence as he slowly rises from his kneeling position. Ryan's jaw dropped again, pointing at him. "T-That's the big scary man who ordered those thugs to kill Yue!"
He eyed Yue in silence before making eye contact with Mina. "So, you are the one the boss wanted." Putting his arm over his chest, he declared himself. "My name is Obliterator Kang, and I am a soldier sent by Eiden to dispose of the nun and her lackeys." The nun shivered in fear, hiding behind a nearby chair. "But it appears that a valued target is also here." Kang stated, eyeing Mina. "If you were to come quietly, I'll spare your meaningless lives." Jasmine gasped, covering her mouth. "Oh god, that's Obliterator Kang of Eiden! He's an infamous soldier in Eiden, and his strength is comparable to some captains in their ranks!"
Harold felt a powerful sense of urgency at hand. Just being in the presence of Kang triggered his survival instincts to skyrocket. He summoned his Artifact and readied it against Kang and his overwhelming aura that drowned the room. Mina also summoned out her two Artifacts, taking a deep gulp as she prepared for what's to come next.
"So you're resisting. Fine, I'll simply take you by force." Calling out his Artifact, a huge warhammer slammed onto the wood floor, creating a hole in it. Afterward, he dashed in Mina's direction, catching her off guard with a single blink. The distance closed in an instant, and it surprised nearly everyone in the room except one person. Harold Etton.
Harold swung his blade at Kang, making direct contact. The contact pushed him back midair, forcing him to land on the bar's counter. Harold hoped the blow would do some damage, but his hope dwindled as Kang revealed his gauntlet had blocked it last second. Mina used her agility to leap into the air, using a reverse grip in an attempt to use both of her daggers to stab Kang. Yet, Kang swung at the air in front of him, smashing away Mina's arms to redirect the daggers.
But, as her arms were redirected, she locked in. Gritting her teeth to bear with the pain of a massive warhammer smashing into her arms, she used Ruin's hellfire ability to propel herself midair. Spinning around, she swung Sorrow at Kang, activating Sorrow's ability to do an acid-infused slash at Kang. Feeling her dagger cutting Kang, she looked back, only to have his warhammer plow into her stomach. Being sent flying outside the bar, Mina rolled on the stone pavement, all the way onto the roadway. While Kang was distracted by Mina's ragdoll, Harold shot out a blast of divine light directly in front of him. In a quick manner, Kang somehow absorbed the divine light into his warhammer, stunning Harold in confusion for a moment. Then, in his bewilderment, Kang aimed the top of his warhammer at Harold before discharging his own divine light at Harold. "What the fu-"
The force sent him flying backward, causing him to crash into Mina. He held her tight and rolled with her on the floor to reduce the impact. They both stood up, letting out heaving breaths. "Mina, it's either we go all out or we die." he told her. Her eyes flickered red for a brief moment as Mina's glare fiercely intensified. "Yeah." she replied.
Kang stomped on the ground before dashing forward at an incredible speed. Harold and Mina followed suit, their gusts pushing the rain away. Coming into range with each other, they exchange a handful of blows. The sounds of battle couldn't be heard in the midst of the heavy rain, but people could still feel the intense vibrations from the battle that lingered outside their homes.
Harold swung at Kang's neck. He ducked under in a swift motion and retaliated by swinging his warhammer to Harold's side. Mina halted the blow with both of her daggers confronting the dagger. She then latched her body onto the hammer and aimed Ruin directly at Kang. Preparing to send an immense pulse of hellfire toward him, Kang aggressively swung his warhammer behind, hurling Mina flying down the block. In the middle of this, she had lost concentration, releasing a huge wave of hellfire that misfired into the surrounding buildings. The heat of this fire was intense. So intense that it boiled the heavy rains as it collided, creating a mass effect of steam in the area.
Amidst the steam, Harold hurled a divine light-infused slash at Kang, which he blocked with his warhammer. "You never learn." Kang speaks in a monotone voice as he absorbed Harold's divine light and swung downward at Harold. Harold sidestepped back, but the move that came next is what he didn't expect. With Kang slamming his warhammer onto the floor, he let out an enormous explosion of divine light from it, causing them both to take the full blow. Mina moving in from behind, sent out acid from Sorrow, expecting it to fall right on top of Kang. Yet, Kang absorbed it with his warhammer and shot it back out at Mina. Mina, seeing this, used the wet terrain to slide directly under her own acid, managing to avoid it. Stepping up mid-slide, she started to attack Kang head-on, clashing blows left and right. In this exchange, Mina desperately tried to break past his defenses. But even with his colossal figure and massive warhammer, she couldn't outspeed him in terms of attack speed. "Dang it!"
Harold emerged from the heavy mist in this exchange of blows, having his blade already charged to the max with his divine light. Putting his entire back into hacking at Kang's abdomen with this attack, he discharges all of his divine light at once. Flying away in a ragdoll, he crashes through a building called "PancakeHouse." Lying in the middle of the establishment.
Without delay, both Mina and Harold charged in. Seeing them up ahead, Kang stood up and felt the lower parts of his armor dangle on a single thread. Acknowledging the damage to his armor, he decided to step the battle up a notch. Focusing his arm at both Harold and Mina, the inscription in his gauntlet activated, sending out a bolt of lightning at the two of them. Mina managed to dodge at the last second, but Harold wasn't as lucky. Combined with the heavy rains and the sudden impact of lightning, Harold collapsed, wincing at the pain. Mina looked back in a panic, but through the groans of pain, he let out words that pushed her forward. "Keep going!" he roared.
Mina ran up to Kang, continuing their previous exchange of blows. Slashing her daggers at Kang, he blocked them before heaving a powerful kick to Mina's face. Dazed by the kick, she luckily managed to retain her composure as Kang was about to send another bolt of lightning at her. Kicking a steel stool in front of Kang's line of fire, it successfully blocked the bolt from reaching her. Doing this, she continued her onslaught of attacks.
The Pancake House turned into an entire mess. Napkins scattered everywhere as the tables and chairs were being knocked over. Kang and Mina were in a continuous loop during battle. Sometimes Kang would be pushed back in the clash, and sometimes Mina would be pushed back in the clash. Even when this cycle repeated, Mina would eventually get the short end of the stick. Falling short with one of her attacks, Kang took advantage of this and threw a hook right on her jaw. She fell to the ground, unresponsive. "Valiant warrior you were, girl. But it seems that this fight is over." Watching as her limp body stays down, he goes to pick her up.
A surprise kick by Mina lands directly on Kang's head, startling him. Recoiling back, a heavy punch smashed into Kang's face, shattering his mask. "I thought she was out cold..." he thought, looking at her as if she was a zombie standing on two legs.
Mina's fist trembled in pain as putting all of her body into that singular punch shattered it. A slight growl came from her throat, and her eyes glowed a bright crimson. Kang tightened his grip on his warhammer. "Impressive might."
A frying pan slams into the side of Kang's face, causing him to stumble back. Harold looked down at his frying pan. "Damn, I didn't think that would work." Walking over to Mina, Harold pats her head. "Mina, you did great. I'm proud of you." Taking a stance in front of Mina, he dual-wielded his two weapons. His Artifact, Grand Radiance, and his trusty frying pan he kept in his coat. Turning his head back, he smiled. "Come on, Mina, let's finish this fight." Mina summoned Ruin and Sorrow, breathing heavily. Both of their Rysen levels were low, but Harold's compliments gave her a small boost in determination. "Okay!"