"I'LL BLOW YOU UP TO PIECES!!" Pyro sprinted his way to Claire. "SHIFTER CANNON!" His left arm transformed into a cannon in a matter of seconds and directed at Claire.
"Persistent bastard!" Claire used her shifter spring again to dodge Pyro's attack. When Pyro's attack landed in some place else, it happened to destroy one of the allied tanks and harmed several fellow soldier. "Shit!!" Claire panicked as she failed to defend her surroundings.
Pyro continues to direct all of his attacks on Claire, eager to see his opponent destroyed and rendered to pieces. Claire had a hard time dealing with his attacks and thinking of a way to stop his destructive attacks from harming her allies around her.
Allies that tried to attack Pyro was only blown up and got sent away flying from Pyro's explosive attacks. "Damn it, I gotta do something!!" Claire got really frustrated since she can't get near Pyro.
"Hah! Just die already!!" Pyro yelled at her, but he seemed to be catching his breath. Making explosive attacks with the shifter weapon requires a lot of energy, and so his reckless attacks are slowly taking its toll on him.
Claire noticed then notices, 'That's it! He's weakened!' She thought. She charged right at him with a shifter katana as Pyro couldn't make another explosive attack anymore. "You really are a moron!!" She swiftly and forcefully delivered a side kick with her shifter katana on the right leg.
Pyro blocked her attack with his left arm that was still on the form of a cannon. "Don't think you can beat me just yet!" His cannon transformed into a missile once again, making Claire jump back to evade the explosion.
As the explosion clouds faded, it revealed Pyro with burns and injuries from his own attacks. The reckless man was not immune to his own explosive attacks and suffered damage from it. "...d-die... already..." he muttered.
"He's still conscious after that!?" Claire was surprised to see him still standing and talking. Before he can do anymore damage, she aims a shifter shotgun at Pyro to put an end to this disaster.
But it completely shocked Claire when she saw Pyro on the move again. He was able to close the distance between them and tried to punch her with his missile. Claire couldn't dodge right away and got infuriated with his persistence. "You fucking lunatic!!"
It was obvious how Pyro wanted to take Claire down with him on his last breath, and at the last minute, Claire countered his attack with a shifter missile as well. Their collision created a bigger explosion and completely damaged their surroundings.
Their bodies were sent flying by the powerful force of the explosion. Pyro's body was completely devastated, while Claire was able to shield her whole body at the moment when the explosion ignited but still got damaged on her right leg where the explosion occured. "Ah, shit! It hurts!" She cried out and a few went to rescue her.
"You killed him! You killed the explosive maniac!!" They cheered.
"Right, but everything got destroyed. I was supposed to defend my ground." Claire said, she was really disappointed in herself for failing.
"Don't sweat it, that enemy was really hard to deal with. Our platoon commander could have handled him easily though, but she's got to deal with way more powerful enemies at the front there."
"I see..." Claire realized that she's still far apart from a commanding superior's strength and power, she truly must work harder to rise up from the ranks. When the pin attached on her uniform was able to analyze and assess her fighting prowess, it ranked her as 194th. Though everyone was too busy to notice the changes in their rank.
Once a new fighter is added in the troop, it'll completely change and adjust the rankings. Rank adjusments are continuous during a battle, it can either rank a fighter higher or lower, and it all depends on how they engage in the battle using their strength and skills.
Meanwhile, back at the E.D.L. base, Raphael was able to regain consciousness after two days. He got up from his bed and was ready to go back into the battlefield to retrieve Claire Duvent.
"Raph, stop it! You need to rest first!" Devian yelled.
"I just can't stay over here and let Claire be on her own out there!!" He's deeply concerned about Claire's safety on the battlefield. He worries that she could get hurt or killed in the line of duty, and he can't rest until he gets her back.
"Claire who?! Who are you talking about? Is it your lover?!" Devian was surprised by Raphael's sudden display of concern for someone, he was previously known as a cold-blooded character and had not shown any interest in forming relationships with others.
"I don't have much time to waste. Please cover for me if anyone drops by to check on us. I'll be back as soon as I can!"
"Wait, Raph!!" Devian couldn't stop Raphael as he sprinted away. He grits his teeth and pulls on his hair from frustration. "You damn jerk! Like hell I'd cover for you!!"
And within minutes, Raphael was able to reach Gate N. Even though the gate might not be opened for him, he ran on the walls to reach the top and jumped his way out of the base. People who were guarding the gates were left speechless and dumbfounded by Raphael's course of action.
Whilst on his way back, he recalled Claire's words before he lost consciousness. '...I'll never need someone like you.' He can remember every detail of Claire's expression as she said those words to him.
To Raphael, the way she looked at him and telling him those few words were enough to hurt him. He also felt a sense of guilt and regret when he remembered the way he told similar words to Claire. This made him realize that Claire hurt him in the same way he hurt her from before.
Memories of that time flooded into Raphael's mind. From seven years ago, he can remember a seemingly meek and timid Claire standing before him.
She gently speaks his name. "...Raphael."