"Kilat, you're quite skinny for a wolfman, are you?"
Kilat's time stopped as he exchanged fists with Pan, the familiar soft voice of the princess spoke in his mind.
"But I believe you'll become truly strong, you'll ride thunder and strike lightning with fierce valour."
Pan's fist connects on his cheeks, stopping him for a moment as blood splattered from his mouth.
"I believe that one day, you'll be someone you're proud of. Free of this kingdom's rules..."
"Lalahon..!" Kilat thought as time slowed down.
"I don't have anything to pay your kindness..!" Kilat stops himself as time continued, he dodged Pan's punches before returning with a slash powered by lightning.
"But as long as I follow your commands... And if the invasion is successful..!" Kilat followed with a kick to Pan's stomach area.
"Then we can smile happily again..!"
Time continues and Pan was sent back, crashing against the wall.
"My mana is draining..! I'm utterly outmatched..!" Pan grunted before jumping off the crater wall.
"But he's hurting too, he's not even jumping off walls anymore..."
Pan then plants her feet on the ground and prepares herself, her elbows gathering flour.
"That means I can fight at my best range!"
"Doughnut Shot!" A fist flies towards Kilat at great speed.
But Kilat's Instinto Lobo helped him dodge easily, it was somehow worse than Viktor's Forsight.
"Tch, it's not like Foresight. He's fighting purely by instinct..." Pan thought as she continued firing her doughnut shots.
"I could overwhelm Viktor's Oversight by being faster, but those same attacks are being dodged by Kilat!"
Kilat was getting closer and closer, his eyes focused on Pan's head. His bloodlust edged closer and closer.
"If he's fighting purely by instinct... Then his body is just used to getting hit by projectiles..." Pan thought before focusing up.
"Then I know what to do..."
Pan then charges up her arm, using more of her mana for a special attack.
But Kilat lunged forward and reaches Pan, claws ready to slash.
"Tch... Doughnut!" Pan punches towards Kilat but he quickly dodged aside.
"No matter how hard you try, your attacks are predictable, Pan! It's over for you!" Kilat swings his lightning claws at her chest.
"Pulang Kidlat!" Kilat slashes her chest and sends a surge of electricity into her body, damaging her core that's in her feet.
"Argh- Damn it..!" Pan then initiates her attack.
As her arm passed by Kilat, it stopped in mid-air as a smaller fist formed near Kilat's legs. And then it fired itself from her extended arm, hitting Kilat's leg, further inflicting damage on it.
"Doughnut Hole!" Pan shouted.
"Argh..!" Kilat grunted in pain, falling on his back as he held his left leg.
Pan dropped on her back as well, the electricity was so hot that her body smelled of cooked bread. But she dealt a massive blow to Kilat's mobility that he'll have a harder time attacking her.
Pan struggled to stand up, but with the few energies he had, she got up and prepared for the worst.
"I'm really losing mana... I need to stay in my original form..." Pan then slowly transformed back into her floursack form, but dough arms floated around her so she can fight.
Kilat slowly got up, but his legs were further damaged so he couldn't do any more lunging. Still, he had no choice but to keep fighting.
"I didn't see that coming... You're clever, Pan..." Kilat panted, struggling with the pain as it caught up to him.
"So that's your true form, huh?"
"Yeah... Haah..." Pan was on her last legs, she doesn't know how much she can fight but she'll try.
"Make no mistake, now that you're immobile... I can just beat you from here..!" Pan then shoots her fist, but it doesn't have flour explosion.
"Doughnut!"
Kilat barely dodged out of the way and he tried lunging forward but almost stumbled forward. Still, he charged towards Pan with all he's got.
"Kidlat Kalmot!" Kilat then releases a combination of slashes towards the small Pan, but she started dodging and jumping back.
With a smaller body, Pan easily dodged his already weakened attacks. His Instinto Lobo already dissipated and returned to its original light blue colour.
Pan and Kilat exchanged punches to no avail, it was close as Pan's cores was severely damaged, a few more hits and she would die.
"Baguette!" Pan swipes her arms at Kilat, hitting him square on the face.
"Argh..! I will not lose..!" Kilat jumps back, feeling pain on his left leg.
"Kidlat Ahon!" Kilat kicks Pan onto the air, electricity coursing through her floursack body.
Pan felt a part of her core break further, she winces in more pain as she stumbles backwards.
"What a pain... Aargh... We're on our last legs but... He's still stronger..!" Pan then stands up, stumbling.
Kilat drops on his knees, panting deeply. The accumulated damage catches up even further, he's losing energy.
"I have to end this... And report back to... Her..!" Kilat thought as he looked up at Pan, clenching the floor.
"I can't get close... I have to end it with a powerful attack... But I can't even use water or fire magic anymore... I can only use flour..." Pan thought as she breathes heavily.
"I can risk it and use more mana... But that'll break my core..."
Pan then looks down, thinking deeply on what to do. Not even a flour doughnut attack can beat Kilat.
But she noticed her surroundings, seeing flames dancing around and this put an idea in her mind.
"It's... Worth a try... I can't face him head on... But..." Pan says before she releases her flour form.
Kilat watches Pan float in the air as a cloud of flour before she uses the last of her water magic to form a doughy object.
It slowly covers the settlement in a thin layer of dough, trapping Kilat inside in the flames.
"Tch... You will not hold me here!" Kilat quickly stood up and rushed towards the edge of this dome.
"This will surely kill you! It's still your body, and I can cook it with my lightning!" Kilat shouted as his claws began to gather from his reserve.
"Kidlat Kalmot!" Kilat was about to swing his claws but noticed something different in the air.
"Huh?" Kilat takes a moment and sniffs around, this scent was familiar.
"Flour?" Kilat looks up and sees flour gathering in the air, and it quickly densed up.
"Haah... This one is... Took a lot to do..!" Pan mutters.
"Flour Plume..." Pan prepared herself, clenching her body together.
"New Years..."
And as soon as a speck of flour touches the fire, a chain explosion spreads through the cloud of flour and ultimately expanding into one powerful explosion.
Kilat's eyes widened but he had no choice but to take this gruesome attack as it sends everything flying with a loud explosion.
The fire spreads and debris rains in the air, but for a while, everything went silent. Burnt dough was everywhere and trees burning from that attack.
But the body of Pan and Kilat remained almost intact, both of their bodies were singed.
In the end, both were still alive and conscious.
Pan struggled to even sit up, her cores were severely damaged but still intact. Her floursack body was burning and she snuffed it out with what remaining flour she had.
"I-Is it... Over..?" Pan said weakly, looking around in a haze to see where Kilat was.
And then rummaging was heard, as Pan turns to see a silhouette struggling to stand up.
Kilat's body was singed, his tail and hair was on fire but he shrugs it off. His breathing was haggard, and his body has burns all over.
"Pan... Pan Disalo... Are you still..." Kilat muttered before taking a deep breathe.
"Alive!?" Kilat's voice echoed, and strong enough to push away some of the fire.
Pan was tired, but hearing Kilat's resolve, she had to show herself. With the last of her mana, she transformed into Dough.
"Child of Man... M-Masa..."
Pan stands up, but her masa form is weak and crude. She could barely muster any attacks with it, but she won't stop trying.
The two faced of each other in the destruction they caused, with only the moon slowly illuminating their weakened bodies.
"What's... Up..? Haah... I'm ready to throw down..." Pan smirked weakly, on the verge of collapse.
"Heheh... You're remarkable..." Kilat coughed but he slowly kneeled down, preparing an attack.
"Huh? The Kidlat Sibat..? He's going to try that in this state!?" Pan's eyes widened and she prepares herself.
"But I... I will not fall... Unless you kill me..." Kilat gathers his lightning once more, preparing to dash around.
"... I will not fail Lalahon!"
And Kilat engages, jumping forward and around walls to gather momentum. Even if his leg bones are broken, he bounced from wall to wall to gather a massive attack.
"Damn it... He's great at fighting like this, and he's a great at fighting up close... What the hell is his weakness..?" Pan thought as she tries to harden her dough.
"If only my attacks are hard enough... But I don't know how to improve them..." Pan was feeling hopeless, stumbling backwards in weakness.
But Kilat wasted no time as he passes by once and slashes across her body. And one of her core breaks away, and the other one hit till death.
"Gh... It hurts so bad... The next one is gonna be his last... I know it..." Pan held her chest before looking up to watch Kilat bounce.
"Think Pan... How should I beat him..." Pan closes her eyes, as her arms drops to her side as she stood in the fire.
"I'll remember you as a powerful adversary, Pan Disalo! So I'll make this final attack my very strongest!" Kilat shouted as he continued bouncing, now breaking the sound barrier.
"Pan, think... Think of a way..." Pan tried to focus but her arms felt weird, she couldn't focus like this.
But when she takes the time to look at her arms, they were no brown. They had cracks all over and some parts were burnt.
"What?" Pan thought.
"The fire must've burnt them..." Pan says before she closes her eyes once more.
"Wait..."
Pan immediately opens her eyes and finally noticed that her fist and arm hardened.
"Sure dough makes a lot of bread, but another snack you can make with just water and flour is exactly this!" Pan smiles with hope in her eyes, and then she finally poses for a final attack.
"They hardened... They turned into crackers! The hardest thing I can cover my dough is crackers!" Pan smiled confidently.
Kilat was about to finish up on his attack, and with one more bounce, he dashes towards Pan with bright lightning claws.
"And as for your weakness, Kilat..." Pan takes a step forward, swinging her arm low to the ground, aiming to the sky.
"You're great at close combat, and this technique of yours is fast and lethal..."
"Hari ng Kidlat..!" Kilat muttered as he aims his claws at Pan's chest.
"But It's the most telegraphed attack I've ever seen!" Pan thought as her eyes glowed with brimming determination.
"Krispy Doughnut!" Pan shouted as soon as her fist made contact with Kilat's stomach.
The impact was so powerful that the flames died around them, and Kilat's momentum went back towards him as Pan's hardened fist symbolically made a hole in his belly.
Kilat tried to held it in but in the end, he coughed up blood.
"This is what you needed... A harder punch, Pan Disalo...!" Kilat thought as he was sent into the air.
"Maybe... She can stop... Lalahon..." Kilat smiled before falling into unconsciousness.
"She can save... Her..."
Pan still had her fist raised in the air, while Kilat dropped on the floor as everything went silent.
Pan stumbled across the floor but she approached Kilat's unconscious body, tired and beaten.
"Heh... Not bad at all..." Pan says before kneeling down and carrying Kilat onto her back.
"Thanks..." Pan smiled before weakly walking away.
"You showed me a new way to get stronger..."
The winner of this bout is Pan Disalo. A hard fought but difficult victory.
The morning came and back in Anihan Village, the Ex-Knights gathered at the outskirts of the village to stand guard against Lalahon's forces.
There's been skirmishes around their posts, but thankfully they're only scouts or small forces that were investigating where Pan was.
Another group was finishing up on their work, cleaning and taking a break from a gruesome battle.
"It's tiring to keep fighting these D and C Rank Monsters." An Ex-Knight says, sighing deeply.
"Can we not ask help from the Adventurer's Guild?" He turned to his comrade, who was dragging bodies of monsters to be buried.
"We can't, we're not a part of the village's government. Besides, the Guild only cares for gold." The other Ex-Knight asked.
But their discussion was stopped when a goblin jumped from a bush. They didn't react with hostility though, seeing that it was marked with a symbol they gave to their goblin scouts.
Plus they weren't wearing any helmets to hide their small faces.
"Sirs! I found our great hero, Pan Disalo!" The Scout says with urgency.
The Ex-Knights quickly turned to the scout, they nodded before following the scout.
"Pan Disalo has returned!" The Scout panted with joy as they lead the Ex-Knights.
"And with her, she brought the commander, Kilat!"
And as the Ex-Knights arrived at where Pan was, they saw a barely awake Pan who's in her dough form, practically melting because of how weak she was.
"Pan!" The Ex-Knight approached Pan and took Kilat off of her, lending him to the other Knight to be carried.
"Hehe... Yeah... I beat that sucker for burning the settlement..." Pan says weakly as she looks at the Ex-Knight.
Her doughy form finally breaks away, returning to her floursack form as she lays in the Ex-Knight's Hands.
"Still... It took everything... Just to beat him..." And Pan falls into unconsciousness.
Quickly, the Ex-Knights reacted and ran to where Viktor.
Nervous and excited, they were eager to inform their captain of this crucial development.
Meanwhile... In Pan's mind, it wasn't the deities that visited her but the memories of her past.
"What..." Pan was in a familiar area, back in her days in middle school.
Her eyes widened, realising where she was. It gave her a chill in her spine, as her body was back to being human.
"This is..." Pan looks down, clenching her fists.
"... The Funeral Home..."
Pan slowly walked down the hall, and seeing a blurred area where a certain person was being honoured.
Pan felt a painful gut feeling in her stomach, as she steps into the room and looks up to see the portrait of the person.
And her breathing stops, as everything was distorted and whispers flooded her ears. And simple words were spoken to her before light came to save her from this torment.
"I tried"
"Ah-" Pan snaps awake, if she were human, she would be sweating bullets.
But for now, she sits up and sighs, thankful that she's awake from that nightmare.
Though she quickly realized where she was.
"Hey, this is Cali's Office." Pan says before turning to see a group of people discussing.
The Ex-Knights, Adventurers and Monsters gathered in the office. Viktor, Cali and Liit-Liit were present.
But also the two women that Pan loves are there, they wouldn't just leave Pan alone after being gravely injured—
"Pan!" Clara and Crispina jumped onto Pan, hugging her tightly. Tears running down their faces and sobbing heavily on her.
"Hey- Ow! I'm fine! I'm fine you two!" Pan says as she transformed into her flour form, but she calmed down and hugged the two, comforted that she's safe.
"Pan, I'm thankful you're awake." Viktor says as he approaches her.
"Are you well enough to discuss?"
"Uh... Yeah..." Pan says as she pats both her women.
"Why'd you ask?"
Viktor then looks to Cali, who approached Pan as well.
"Your catch is awake. And we're eager to learn from him..." Cali says before turning to a corner, Viktor looked as well.
Pan looked to see a familiar figure, and she immediately recognised who it was.
"Hold on you two, seems like there's business to be had." Pan cleans Crispina and Clara's tears as she stands up, approaching the individual.
"Sorry for being asleep, Kilat. I hope they didn't treat you wrong." Pan smiled as she approached the binded Wolfman, Kilat.
"Heh..." Kilat doesn't look good, but it was because of the injuries from days ago.
"3 days you were sleeping, did I really beat you that bad?" Kilat says before looking up at her.
"Well, I am a difficult enemy."
"I respect you for that, Kilat. But for now, let's get down to business..." Pan then sits down, looking at him fiercely yet calmly.
Everyone in the room stared at Kilat with mixed malice and curiosity, especially Clara and Crispina who loathed him for almost killing Pan in battle.
But Kilat just awaits Pan and her questions, he smiles smugly despite his injuries.
"Tell me about your invasion" Pan's smile turned into dark malice.
And so ends the fight between them, and now the interrogation begins.