The Price of Prizes.

Yup!
Speed Sylphid somehow made it through her last match!
I know! I'm just as surprised as you are! Hell, even more so by the looks of it!

I gotta admit, back then I didn't wanna bum myself out by seeing her pummeled to the ice by that Frosty Lady. That's part of why I didn't stick around to see how the match ended. How could I know she'd turn the tables somehow just seconds after I left?
Turns out Sylph was holding back all that time! Once she let herself go, she tore through those icey parapets like papier mache! Within seconds that Flattery Floe got impaled on her own icicle!

That was cooler than the coolest ice-magic!
I'm glad I missed out on it though. See, what I loved about the way Sylph fought was the carefree vibes she radiated when busting her moves, flowing naturally into a playful rhythm.
But all that vanished the moment she let herself go. No carefree vibes remained in the way she fought. There was no rhythm to her movements. Only senseless chaos and destruction.
She unceremoniously cracked the Ice Princess's spine with a brutal kick.

That wouldn't have been very inspiring now, would it? Hell, if I watched that I'd snap right out of my good mood.
That's why Sylph didn't start out fighting that way to begin with I bet. To her, it's not really winning if she can't win with style. Of course, if Sylph's anything like me, being told she couldn't win would be all the reason she needed to give it her all.
You say there's something I can't do? Hell, I'll just go ahead and do just that!
And if she gotta pull out some of her tricks for that, then so be it!

Let's hope she's got more tricks up her sleeve just like that!
Cause you know, her next match is gonna give her quite some trouble if that was all she could muster.

See, I checked out that Sally chick once more.
Poor, poor Sally... Turns out whatever prancing providence control this world granted her a special gift, one that lets her powers increase exponentially in inverse proportion to her bank account.
In layman's terms, the poorer she gets, the stronger she is.

The Sama Syndicate found out all about that. Their leader, Ojou Sama, pretty much **** her business into the ground and bought up her debts. Like that, she used her influence over her to drive her further into a massive debt, one that would be paid exclusively through services to Ojou Sama.

Let me be clear now: At the time of that match this debt amounted to no less than 7 500 gold. And yes, that stacks with poor, poor Sally's power in accordance with her special ability.

Poor, poor Sally indeed.
She'll never be able to escape her debt. **** to fight in the Tournament on Ojou-Sama's behalf, manipulating events in her favor. All because of the way she was born.
Just another monster that Ojou Sama kept on a leash; doomed to get further and further into debt the more she pays off.

I gotta tell you, I think this time Sylph really met her match. I respect that she's a talented, free spirit who relentlessly pursued perfection of her technique through training. But this kind of exploitation of curious tweaks is not anything that can be overcome with only a bit of gumption.
The system was simply stacked against her.
Just like it was propped against poor, poor Sally.

The smoke subsided across the Arena, leaving both fighters standing face to face with one another.

"FIGHT!"

Sylph's leg swept the air in a devastating hurricane kick. Now, that was a proper hurricane kick. One that actually made a gust of wind from the drag.
Sally didn't budge. Not even when her hat flew off her head.
The hat floated downwards slowly in a spiral dance, landing lightly on the ground upside down between both fighters.

Sylph approached the hat with a calm yet confident stride, pulling out a huge leather purse from her satchel. She dropped the bag right into the hat, gold coins spilling out from the mouth.
God damnit!
That must've been a huge amount of money! No idea how much exactly, but if I were to make a guess, it'd fall on something like 7 500 gold coins.
Sally shot her opponent a phlegmatic smile, "Thank you kindly, ma'am. Have a pleasant day."
"No problemo, missy!" Sylph chuckled back, "Now, don't go spending it all in one place."

Sylph turned into a blur, bridging the distance between them in an instance. She punched Sally in the guts. Her fist sunk into her solar plexus. Hunching over, a spray of spit and blood shot out of her mouth. Air was knocked out of her lungs and wouldn't get back in.
She collapsed at Sylph's feet, who looked down at her with a satisfied smirk.
"The winner is Speed Sylphid!"

...Goddamnit. Sylph is so cool.