"Ho ho ho ho! What's wrong, you Marine brat?" Diamante slid across the rippling ground, the Western Sword in his hand turning into a venomous snake as it thrust at Lorne's blind spots from treacherous angles again and again. "Where are your fists? Where's that strength of yours that could shatter mountains? You can't even keep your footing on ground like this, so how do you expect to fight?"
Slash!
Another flash of sword light swept past, leaving a cut of moderate depth on Lorne's arm.
The wound healed instantly under Battlefield Valor's passive effect, but the frustration of having strength with nowhere to unleash it only grew more intense.
"That strength you're so proud of is nothing but a joke!" Diamante's laughter brimmed with mockery and smugness. "If you can't hit me, it's worthless!"
"Is that so?" In Lorne's Beast Eyes, that suppressed frustration suddenly turned into cold killing intent.
He snorted, abandoning the foolish idea of tangling with his opponent on the ground altogether.
"The ground is your weapon?" Lorne grinned, revealing a mouthful of stark white teeth. "Then what if... I'm not on the ground?"
Before his words had faded, Diamante saw Lorne abruptly lower his body, seemingly about to punch the ground beneath him again.
"Ho ho ho! Still haven't learned your lesson? What a complete and utter fool!" Diamante laughed wildly to himself, ready to meet Lorne's futile attack and then deliver a fatal blow.
But the next second, the smile froze on his face.
Boom!
Lorne's legs erupted with force, stamping a deep, sharply sunken crater into the soft "fabric" beneath his feet!
He wasn't attacking. Instead, he used the reaction force to launch himself straight into the sky!
Six Powers: Geppo!
"What?!" The smugness on Diamante's face instantly gave way to shock. "He...