Infinity, The Arcade Age

Swish!

A cold flash of light streaked through the air as Balrog launched himself forward at a terrifying speed.

But fast as he was, Mai Shiranui was even faster—and far more unpredictable.

Her body ignited in blazing flames as she shot forward to meet Balrog head-on. Just as they collided, her figure exploded into a cloud of blood mist!

Caught off guard, Balrog was startled. The sudden burst of blood knocked him back, sending him tumbling to the ground.

He had barely managed to steady himself when Mai reformed behind him from the swirling blood, striking with her Fluttering Butterfly Fan Dance.

The specially crafted fan, wreathed in fire and blood, landed clean hits on Balrog's body, forcing a grunt from him as he turned and slashed with his claws to block the blows.

Just as he knocked the fan aside and looked up, a fireball was already racing toward him.

Mai spun rapidly like a flaming comet, launching her Super Secret Technique: Ninja Bees as her opening move.

Seeing this, Balrog's pupils contracted—he instantly realized he was facing a top-tier fighter. He quickly crossed his arms and slashed out an X-shaped claw arc.

But before his claws could even make contact, the fireball exploded again right before his eyes!

BOOM!

The fireball burst into burning blood mist, rushing past him in a wave of crimson flame!

Reforming behind him mid-stride, Mai finished her combo with another devastating Ninja Bees, slamming into Balrog once more!

Balrog screamed and twisted to counterattack—only for Mai to explode once more into a mist of blood.

Condense. Strike. Detonate.

Condense again. Strike again. Detonate again.

Spinning like a flame-drenched shadow, Mai darted back and forth around Balrog, her body wrapped in blazing fire. From a distance, she looked like a moth dancing within firelight, commanding the flames themselves.

Balrog couldn't land a hit. He couldn't escape either. He was completely suppressed and could only scream in agony with each impact.

At last, as Mai reformed one final time, her flowing skirt spun outward as she struck with a powerful Dragon Flame Dance, sending the scorched and battered Balrog crashing to the ground, spinning lifelessly.

One of the Four Heavenly Kings, famed as the Speed King and master assassin—Balrog had just been dominated from start to finish by Mai Shiranui's speed.

This was the terrifying power of the Shiranui Blood Style, a fusion of the Shiranui clan's ancestral ninjutsu and blood-based techniques.

With a snap, Mai opened her fan and gently hid half her face, revealing only her eyes, squinting into crescent moons with delight.

Easily defeating such a powerful opponent had clearly inflated her ego—if she had a tail, it would have been wagging furiously.

"Mmhm~ This is the might of the ultimate Shiranui art—Blood Nine-Tailed Fox! The strength of the strongest Shiranui in history—Mai Shiranui herself! And to think some tasteless idiot dared to look down on me, calling me a burden! Hmph! What a short-sighted fool!"

Clearly, this petty woman was still holding a grudge—even after an entire day—over Qin Ming calling her useless.

Naturally, Qin Ming heard her muttering and rolled his eyes, not even bothering to respond to his shameless senior.

Honestly, you really couldn't blame Qin Ming for looking down on her—because Mai Shiranui truly was unreliable.

That so-called "Ultimate Technique: Blood Nine-Tailed Fox" was really just a fancy chained version of Ninja Bees!

Sure, Mai now had the strength of a first-class fighter. With the mutated vampire bloodline inherited from Qin Ming, she was even one of the stronger ones among them.

But the problem was—everyone who had inherited Qin Ming's direct bloodline was strong!

Take King, for example: that martial arts fanatic had even developed an entirely new fighting style by perfectly integrating her original techniques with her bloodline powers.

Even the lazier types, like Blue Mary, had developed several unique super moves and created a range of practical combat skills.

Only Mai Shiranui—after gaining the vampire bloodline and learning that she would now live forever—had simply chosen to lie flat.

She stopped practicing. She stopped developing new skills. She just coasted on her old fame and completely gave up!

Now, in the official King of Fighters handbook, her ranking had fallen all the way to the bottom tier. Even that little brat Yuri Sakazaki could bully her around, and she had to rely on her title as "Qin Ming's senior" just to strut around pretending to be important.

How could Qin Ming not be disappointed? If she'd shown even a bit of drive—leveraging her innate flame bloodline combined with her newfound vampire powers—she would have become a top-tier master by now!

It was only because Qin Ming remembered their... brother-sister bond from the past that he even bothered to give her an S-rank skill to fuse with.

And yet? She still couldn't beat anyone! All she could do was bully story characters! Completely useless!

As for Qin Ming's internal disdain and increasingly exasperated expression—Mai Shiranui didn't notice at all. And even if she did, she wouldn't have cared.

Right now, she was striking a dramatic pose, fully soaking in Chun-Li's stunned expression.

Sure, she had slacked off to the point of being bottom-tier now, but Chun-Li didn't know that!

Her own people knew that Mai Shiranui had taken a winning hand and played it into a pile of garbage—an absolute letdown.

But in Chun-Li's eyes? Mai was a top-tier master—one of the rare few elite female fighters!

She had just defeated Balrog head-on! That alone was enough to label her a first-class powerhouse!

And that bizarre, otherworldly technique… Could it be some rare and mysterious style?

While Chun-Li was still in awe, and Mai was preparing to smugly boast a little, something unexpected happened.

Balrog—who had just eaten Mai's entire combo—wasn't dead!

He proved, with actions, that Street Fighter characters really did have absurdly high HP. All those exaggerated muscles weren't just for show.

Lying there breathless just moments ago, Balrog suddenly sprang up and stabbed forward with a single claw, aiming directly for Mai's back—clearly intending to pierce straight through her chest!

Seeing this, Chun-Li cried out in alarm and rushed forward to help.

But Mai, upon hearing the commotion, simply raised an eyebrow and snap—opened her fan. In an instant, her body burst into blood mist once again, effortlessly dodging the ambush.

Her escape was so smooth that she didn't suffer a single scratch. This blood mist transformation was seriously overpowered—without a specific counter, it was nearly impossible to land a hit on her.

However... while Mai had evaded flawlessly—Chun-Li, who was standing right in front of her, was now fully exposed to Balrog!

And Balrog, already mid-pounce, didn't hesitate in the slightest—his claw lunged forward, aiming right for Chun-Li's chest.

Or rather... maybe Chun-Li had been his target all along!

After just a brief exchange, Balrog—an assassin with rich combat experience—had already analyzed Mai's fighting style.

Realizing that with his current strength, he couldn't kill Mai, he decisively shifted tactics.

He would complete the mission first. Deal with Mai later.

(End of Chapter)