"Both in position, ready? Fight!" shouted the referee, looking at the fighters eager to start the match.
"Time!" Alice's master shouted as he saw his student being completely suppressed by her rival.
The referee looked at Alice and nodded, raising his hands, and each of the competitors returned to their masters for a few short minutes.
The master, seeing his only female student in the semifinal of such a prestigious tournament, was proud but understood perfectly what she was going through, so he asked, "What's wrong, miss? You're doing a great job, but you're losing in the mental game."
"It's pointless to fight if Jake is out of the game; we wouldn't advance anyway." Alice didn't see the point in this fight, as both could maybe continue fighting.
Jake on the side shook his head and said, "Don't underestimate your opponent like that; she's doing her best even though her partner can't continue. Don't offend her and keep fighting."
"Everyone here believes in you; regardless of the outcome, what you must do is feel the fight and know that where you are, none of the girls who have been defeated will ever know what it's like to fight your rival."
"Destroy your opponent, Alice; use your strength!"
Alice looked at her friends' expressions and nodded. She filled herself with competitive spirit, so after renewing her desire to continue fighting, she walked back to the mat.
Devon, who was waiting for her, raised her guard; unlike Alice, she fought for many different reasons. Dash couldn't continue fighting, and that made her angry; losing bothered her, but she knew that the opponents they faced were too strong, a pity they had met at this level of competition.
A look of weakness should not be witnessed by her mother, so she couldn't allow herself to feel a sense of weakness in this tournament. Also, being one of the competitors that Sakura Bushido had for the competition, she had to do everything possible.
Remembering Dash, who should be back, Devon couldn't allow herself to feel a sense of weakness.
"Ready?" The referee looked at both competitors, and after knowing they were okay, he said, "Fight!"
"Now!"
Facing Alice's desperate attack, which was draining all her energy, Devon remained calm as her defensive blows evolved continuously by incorporating traces of attack when meeting her rival's blows.
At the moment their blows connected, Devon's arm suddenly shook, lifting her rival's arm into the air.
Boom!
The audience watched as Alice's arms were lifted into the air by Devon's defense, and with a final stagger, Devon jumped and struck Alice's face, knocking her down completely.
An absolute silence dominated the surroundings; no one could have imagined that Devon had improved so much in recent years. And above all, how she had defeated a much bigger and stronger opponent so easily.
"Well... Excellent!" Mr. Han looked in awe at Devon's standing as she received the trophy for the women's division. A second later, all the members of Sakura Bushido entered the arena to celebrate her fourth championship.
"Devon! Devon! Devon!"
Daniel LaRusso watched Devon's crushing victory and shook his head. "Even though Alice made it to the semifinal, the experience was such that I couldn't do anything throughout the entire match."