Match of the Millennium

Description: Surrounded by the raw stench and stuff of death in the bowels of an Abattoir, Ragna the Bloodeye and The Red Wanderer, Ahmya Shiki match blades and wills.

[AHMYA]
EARLIER

Ahmya Shiki walks towards her home as the sun begins to set. Since the meeting with the Revenant Queen, she's been slowly trying to work her mind out. To stop the fugues. So far, so good. Until this very moment, anyway. She glances down at her bag, at the blue snake charm with one white wing and one black wing. A voice(?) speaks in her mind.

IT IS TIME

The world blurs.

NOW

Ahmya, called the Red Wanderer by the Revenant Queen, finds herself in the land of slaughter. She starts a little, looking around as she seems to come to. Normally, your average teenage girl would be horrified at the sight and smell, but she seems not to be. Honestly, she doesn't seem to have much of an emotional reaction at all as her eyes, one red and one blue, take in the dessicated gore.

She's dressed in what is apparently her standard fighting outfit. Volleyball style compression shorts and a black tank top, over which is a garment that is somewhere between a tunic, a long coat and a dress. It's a pretty shade of light nlue with two ankle length flaps in the back and one in the front. With low heeled boots on her feet and fingerless gloves on her hands, it seems she's prepared. The pair of swords with rings where a guard would be kind of say it too.

The snake mark wrapping around her left thigh is starting to fill in quickly as the fighting mind assumes control.

[RAGNA]
Well, a dingy meat plant sort of thing isn't quite where Ragna had been expecting to go to find NOL operatives.

Or anyone, really.

Yet, he's strolling in, the height of the door just a few inches from the top of his spiky head.

The Bloodedge peers around the place, frowning. The stench of gore is rather unpleasant and undesirable to the nose, but it isn't like he hasn't smelled such horrific or worse things like this in his lifetime before. That one day in particular from his childhood would forever be carved into his memory, with all the senses from that moment intact. The charred wood, the crackling fire, the smell of burnt and decayed bodies...

This place stinks, sure. It's nothing compared to his nightmares, though.

"Hello?" he calls, the deep baritone of his voice reverberating off the walls of the seemingly empty factory. Probably an idiotic thing to do, calling attention to himself when he actually wants to be the one stealthing up on any of those blasted officials. However, his ventures are cut somewhat short as he turns a corner from the doorway, meeting with a rather intense gaze on the other side of the wall.

The girl isn't at all what he'd hoped for, although certainly no one can compete with a whole-ass Librarium base meant for his destructive force to come plowing through. Heterochromia meets with opposing heterochromia as dark brows furrow down from his forehead, shadowing his suspicious yet awkward stare.

"Uhh..." he lamely attempts, straightening somewhat, because his posture is absolutely abysmal for someone his height. The blackened thumb of his Grimoire jabs over his shoulder in the general direction of the hooks suspended from the ceiling behind him. "You come here often...?"

Why are you being so weird, Ragna?

"... For the meat." As if that needs to be added on.

That very same hand tucks into the inner pocket of his crimson jacket, and with a rather incredulous sneer, the outlaw goes on to say: "Seriously, though. What the hell is a little girl doing here? Get outta this place before you get hurt."

[AHMYA]
Ahmya's eyes flicker towards the sound of footsteps, her head tilting slightly as Ragna makes his entrance. She takes a moment to look him over, her expression flat, but not in a disinterested or disgusted way. More like ... far away. The swords twitch in her hands before she speaks. She's very soft spoken, with very little intonation or change in pitch. Dreamlike, almost.

"It's my first time," she says. "The Revenant Queen sent me here. Are you my opponent?"

Some kind of power simmers within her. Depending on how sensitive Ragna is to that kind of thing, there's a tinge of the otherworldly in there.

"I am Ahmya, the Red Wanderer. Am I to Descend with you?"

[RAGNA]
Okay, first of all? This chick is kiiiinda creepy.

Second of all? She reminds Ragna too much of the experience he'd just lived through with his own day-dreamy little brother. Probably why he feels a little spooked.

The renegade can't help but stare at her in silence, apparently somewhat stunned, as he listens to her reasoning for being in an abandoned meat factory. It's not as if people publicly come to hang out in a grotesque place such as this. He, himself, had woken up outside the place, but his purposes seem to be far different than that of hers.

Maybe.

And indeed, he is able to get a whiff of that supernatural sense from her, even at the distance she is from him. A hand curves over the sharp juts of his hip, somewhat concealed by the length of his jacket, whilst heterochromatics gaze her up and down, almost curious. If a NOL operative isn't who he's going to fight today, then he supposes he'll have to plow through this Red Wanderer girl to get to that end.

Even if he does feel a little bad doing it.

"My guess is if we're both stuck in this forsaken place, then that means you're fightin' me," he grumbles his displeasure.

The Grimoire-wielder rounds his arm behind him, palming over the hilt of his great sword and withdrawing it from its encasement. Blade shimmering as it twirls around to his front, he crouches into a proper supportive fighting stance. "Better make this quick, kid. I got shit to do."

[AHMYA]
Whether or not Ahmya is irritated by Ragna's surly dismissiveness is impossible to tell. She just tilts her head slightly in curiosity. As he pulls the big sword free, her posture shifts slightly, knees bending, wrists twisting, but still utterly calm and relaxed. Her mismatched eyes flash, and that pressure begins building, radiating in waves from her body.

"I will move with haste. You are not the one who calls me, but perhaps, at the end, I will see."

The young woman moves suddenly, almost blurring as she charges Ragna head on. The two swords flicker out in quick, almost testing, slashes. The edges of the blades seem to ignite in violet fire as she lashes out, leaving thin trails of what now obviously feels like demon tainted chi in the air.

The creepy part is that despite the violence beginning, there is no intensity. No ''feeling'' on her face. She just is acting with no emotion in it.

COMBATSYS: Ahmya has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Ahmya            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Ragna has joined the fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Ragna            0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0            Ahmya

COMBATSYS: Ragna blocks Ahmya's Quick Strike.

[  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////////]
Ragna            0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0            Ahmya

[RAGNA]
"Whatever that means."

Ragna has no interest in idle chit-chat with someone that kind of resembles a ghost - which, the mere implication of that thought immediately sends prickles up his spine. With his sheer dislike for anything of that nature, it's almost akin to feeling spiders crawling up the length of his body. Thankfully, with there being an acceptable lack of ghostly apparitions, it is a sensation that abandons him rather quickly. He shakes himself of the reverie and refocuses.

Luckily, just in time for this Ahmya girl to start encroaching on his personal space.

Not particularly fond of that either, the renegade shifts, the whole of his body anticipating her incoming assault. The Red Wanderer may be light on her feet and speedy to boot, but his carefully trained eye is watchful of her every move, so when those blades come barreling down towards him, the Aramasa is lifted in kind. Metal grinds against metal, screeching slightly upon impact, but the sound is over just as quickly as it had begun, sharp and disruptive.

Yet, the Bloodedge wastes no time, as he originally has implied.

Making haste himself, as her words have alluded to, he steps right into his opponent's personal space, invading only long enough to spin his torso and drag his mighty sword across the cement floor. The edge scrapes loudly against the concrete, sparking. And then, as it draws near the emotionless fighter, suddenly the weapon is imbued with dark and otherworldly energy, clearly not entirely that of his own. It flares magnificently, the black embers igniting intensely with the intent to sear whatever it touches. Ragna aims for the midsection, his peripherals slightly keen to the general area in anticipation that he may land the hit.

COMBATSYS: Ahmya blocks Ragna's Dark Edge.

[   \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Ragna            0/-------/----===|=------\-------\0            Ahmya

[AHMYA]
Ahmya's eyes barely even flicker as her twin blades meet Ragna's massive slab of metal that he calls a sword. Demon touched steel flashes sparks as they grind against the Aramasa. With a shove, she throws herself back a bit, boots skidding on the floor and scraping up long congealed blood. It flakes almost like slate, if slate were disgusting.

Her eyes do seem to shine a bit as the fight truly gets underway. The big weapon scrapes along the floor, bursting into black fire, and the girl sets her feet. She crosses her blades and thrusts them forwards, catching the bigger weapon, the raw force of the blow making her shoulders shake. She shoves back, breaking free again, giving her blades a single twirl.

With no warning, she darts close, the blades igniting again. This time, she aims low, swinging for somewhere below Ragna's knees. It's nothing fancy, but those two blades do burn bright violet as they're engulfed, so that can't be great.

COMBATSYS: Ahmya successfully hits Ragna with Exodus Slash.

[       \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////////////   ]
Ragna            0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0            Ahmya

[RAGNA]
This chick is relentless, and just as stone-cold as some of the NOL adversaries Ragna has fought in the past. It's never eerie to the likes of him that someone doesn't bother to show any sort of inclination towards any feelings during a fight, but it's always something interesting to note, regardless.

And, well... Damn. His response to her encroachment isn't what he had been hoping for.

In a rather feeble attempt at enduring those twirling, demonic blades, his shins become a bit of a casualty during the collision in a way that stings a lot more than he'd hoped for. Twin blades carve into the fronts of his legs, not enough to incapacitate him by any means, but his legs definitely don't appreciate the intrusion. Blood lightly coats the hakama-style pants, darkening the black fabric in a way that reflects damp cloth, and he stumbles away a moment to recoup.

Not for long, however.

The Bloodedge renegade clenches his teeth, barring them almost animalistic in nature. Ahmya is, admittedly, probably annoying him only because she stands in the way of his goals here. If he isn't the one that walks away from this fight, then what was even the point in coming, god dammit?

The Grimoire-bearing arm grips the hilt of Aramasa tight between his digits, palming a good grip on the weapon as he brings it up and around his shoulder. Metal slices against cement once more as he unearths the otherworldly power once more, the black energy trailing after the edge of the great sword like it's suddenly been adhered by glue. Tacky and ephemeral, the power fires off just as easily as it had been attached to the weapon, using the ground as a projecting point to home in on the Red Wanderer, fully intent on blasting into her. It doesn't matter where or how, just that it engulfs her in some way or another.

COMBATSYS: Ragna successfully hits Ahmya with Inferno Divider.
- Power hit! -

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////          ]
Ragna            0/-------/=======|======-\-------\0            Ahmya

[AHMYA]
Blood coats Ahmya's blades as she draws back from Ragna, the crimson fluid starting to boil in the flames of demon chi. She flicks them to the side, slinging the sludgy liquid to the floor to join the rest of it. She can feel Ragna's power as it surges into his weapon, burning into black fire.

Her stance shifts a little as Ragna comes for her, his blade carving the concrete like soft plastic. As the burning blade comes for her, she tries to time her reaction. She vanishes about a half second too early. Her body is first consumed by a deep violet, almost black, aura and she is no longer present.

Her reappearance is, sadly for her, right in the path of the rising blade and pseudo-flame. Engulfed by the black, Ahmya is hurled away, burning in the fires of Ragna's chi(?). She crashes into a wall and clatters to the floor, winded. With gritted teeth, she forces her way upright. Violet flame licks at the corner of her eyes as she regards the Bloodedge.

With no words, she charges Ragna, bringing her blades up to strike. Closer and closer. Close enough that Ragna can see her muscles tense. That he can see the blades start to lift and burn, eager to pierce flesh. She starts to drive the blades towards his body and---

She vanishes in a burst of midnight purple.

She reappears, like any good teleporter, at his back, completing the strike. Whether it hits is up to Ragna's own senses and skill.

COMBATSYS: Ragna fails to interrupt Setsuna from Ahmya with Blood Scythe EX.
- Power fail! -

[               \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Ragna            1/-----<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1            Ahmya

[RAGNA]
It goes without saying that the blood coursing through Ragna's veins is utterly tainted by something out of this world entirely. Perhaps the demonic twin blades are able to pick up on this slightly off-human essence, or maybe the boiling of his blood is just an effect of being on cursed metal. Whatever the case, there is no denying that something is just weird about him and his body, especially now. /Especially/ after the Rosalia.

Thanks, Rachel.

This doesn't absolve him of cocksure human behaviour, as he watches Ahmya slam back into a wall rather aggressively. A slight sneer spreads across his features, contorting them as he says, "Had enough yet?"

Too soon, buddy.

The Red Wanderer is off again, wordlessly, and charges right for him. Anticipating her, he grinds his heels to the floor, preparing to take flight in an attempt to leap from her trajectory point. Before he can time it properly - or time it properly at all - his opponent is suddenly thin air, it seems. Stopping short, he stares a moment at the spot where she'd previously been, and then immediately shoots his gaze all around the room. It's to his misfortune that he doesn't think to look behind him.

Steel carves into his upper back and shoulder, burning hot, and he grunts angrily to respond to the pain. The slashes are deeper than the ones in his legs, two great cuts into his jacket and underclothes, stealing more precious life blood from him. Droplets fall thickly to the floor, along with tattered material, and the Bloodedge staggers forwards a little. Using his sword as a bit of a clutch, he embeds the tip into the concrete as he swivels, eyeing Ahmya now with a bit more of a disgruntled expression to his heterochromatic gaze.

"What are you? Some kinda soulless assassin? Jesus Christ..."

Yeah. He's not happy.

[AHMYA]
Ahmya lights on the ground where she reappears, flicking blood from her weapons as Ragna staggers away from her. She watches impassively as he tries to gather himself back to the ready, seemingly content to endure this little pause. She brings her weapons up again, flipping one into a forward grip and the other into a reverse when he askes a very pointed question.

For a moment, she doesn't react, but without warning, she staggers backwards, clutching her head and shaking it. She growls at herself and seems to vibrate.

"No. No! Stop! Let ''me''!"

As soon as the fit starts, it's over. There's a change to Ahmya's posture, but the grip on her weapons is the same. She catches her breath, looking at Ragna with some actual emotion on her face. In this case, anxiety.

"I'm--I'm not a soulless assassin. I just have ... A passenger." She's not ''exactly'' possessed, but it's simpler than the whole truth. "I'm taking over. I'm going to finish this as me."

Another deep breath, and Ahmya's stance shifts back to the way it was before, the only difference being that the emotionless look has been replaced with the determination of a young woman. Her boots scrape through the dried blood before she throws herself at Ragna again. She keeps it fairly simple this time, swinging the forward grip blade down and the reverse upwards in a scissor-like motion.

COMBATSYS: Ahmya successfully hits Ragna with Charged Combo.
# Disabling hit! #

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Ragna            1/--=====/=======|=======\=------\1            Ahmya

[RAGNA]
Welp... this looks kind of familiar.

The Shinigami stares on, regaining strength in the moments where Ahmya seems to falter between some other ego or another. It's not a strange sight to witness someone sort of battling with an inner voice - hell, he's seen his little brother do it all too recently for his liking. This has a touch of difference, however, but unsettling nevertheless.

Greeted now with some emotion post-fit, dark brows furrow across his forehead as he gazes upon the Red Wanderer seemingly renewed. And apparently with things to say in regards to his comment, which he can only snort and give his head a shake as an overall response. "A passenger? That's kinda fucked up, if you ask me."

Keeping it honest, aren't you, Ragna?

Still, she remains steadfast and quick. Some part of him doesn't think he's quite had enough time to recover from her last blow, but now she's upon him again and he doesn't have much time to think up a proper reaction. Lamely, the renegade attempts to side-step and get clear of the incoming scissor blades, but... alas. He isn't so lucky.

More blood paints the concrete floor as the weapons chop down on him. Another fresh assortment of cuts slice into his skin, one over the left shoulder and the other in his side. Gasping from the razor sharp pain, white-hot and burning, a sensational rush hits his gut like a train. Damn near ready to collapse, The Bloodedge makes use of his sword, leaning against the length of it as he begins to sink to the ground.

And perhaps, one might think him to be out of fight...

But then, a pulsating aura radiates from him, pounding like a heartbeat that exists outside of his earthly form.

"Restriction 666 released." The Grimoire-wielding arm rises, fist balled tight. Silver strands of from his fringe fall in his face as heterochromatics gaze up intensely, as if another creature is seeing through him. The shimmering red orb sitting atop his gloved hand begins to shine with crimson light, activating the mystical powers of the Boundary. Purple-coloured chi ignites at his feel, engulfing him in shadowy darkness unlike anything he has demonstrated before. "Dimensional interference field deployed." An inner ferocious wind picks up within, setting the stage for the beast that is to come. The Black Beast that threatens all of humanity, and him as well.

"Azure Grimoire, activate!"

Violet chi erupts all around him, eventually homing in and enveloping his right arm, as the hidden power awakens. Slowly, almost agonizingly, Ragna rises to his full height, but there is something entirely menacing about his aura now.

A low growl emits from his mouth, animalistic in nature, as he grips the handle of Aramasa and lifts its weight rather effortlessly to suspend it midair.

"Time to get serious."

COMBATSYS: Ragna returns to his normal state.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////////////           ]
Ragna            1/--=====/=======|=======\=------\1            Ahmya

[AHMYA]
Ahmya makes her pass, striking home again. Her boots slide on the bloody ground as she turns to face Ragna as he begins to intone his release. She has no idea what an Azure Grimoire is, or a Dimensional Interference Field for that matter. She can feel the power radiate, though. She can see it too, given his now effortless lifting of that massive sword.

"I-I thought this was serious!?"

Still, she's no quitter. Ahmya rolls her neck and shoulders, readying her weapons and, like a fool, she charges again. She starts low like before, but her arms keep swinging, slashing out with demon chi enhanced strikes. She rises to her (not impressive) full height at the apex of her flurry of blows.

With a grunt of effort, she caps the swings off with a standing backflip, swinging a heel of one of those boots for Ragna's chin. The flip lands her a bit away from the Bloodedge. Breathing room is important.

COMBATSYS: Ragna interrupts Cloudburst from Ahmya with Gauntlet Hades.

[                      \\\\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Ragna            1/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=======\1            Ahmya

[RAGNA]
This girl sure likes to charge her way into things, doesn't she?

Rather interesting approach, and one that Ragna doesn't have the capacity to care about all that much at the present moment.

His mind, currently flooded with the immense power of the Black Beast, shreds all of his senses in some regard. His awareness is heightened, keeping up with Ahmya's advance and looks rather... unbothered by it. At least, at first.

"This again? You're joking, right?" his baritone growls. To him, it almost seems like blind swinging as she encroaches on his space, hoping that perhaps one of the flurried blows would land. Likely, it would, if luck hadn't been on his side this time.

Before the Red Wanderer can get any closer to the fearsome embodiment of the Black Beast, a massive eruption of energy emerges from the earth. It arcs into the air, tremendous and mounting, creating a type of barrier that is difficult to penetrate in any sort of capacity. Not impossible, just a challenge.

And for a few moments, this volcano-like surge radiates upwards, searing into the ceiling a little, destroying practically anything it touches. Awaiting the moment when the assault submerges, and when it could be least expected, the Shinigami moves within the encirclement, finding where his opponent stands nearby and kicking out one of his bloodied legs in a brutal and impactful mule kick to small stature.

In the aftermath, he returns to a crouched stance, torso bent somewhat further than it'd been before the Grimoire was activated, truly displaying the destructive beast within him. "C'mon!"

[AHMYA]
Ahmya swings and struggles against the sudden pillar of power fuitlessly. Her demon chi cannot seem to penetrate the barrier. She lands from the flip, and Ragna bursts through, kicking her hard enough to crack bone and sending her hurtling back. She impacts the wall hard enough that the stone splinters and the chains hanging above sway in her wake. She slumps to the floor, bloodied and battered. It takes her a moment, but she manages to get to her feet, if a little shaky for a second. She draws a few shuddering breaths, trying to figure out her next move.

From somewhere outside of her, it seems, the idea arrives. Her head tilts curiously, her mismatched eyes squint, and then she just nods, muttering to herself. She takes a few steps forwards, her hands blooming in violet fire, and she crouches, driving a hand into the floor. The stone itself seems to ripple as magic(?) takes effect.

The chains in the room seem to animate, rattling and then launching towards Ragna. Their aim is to just tangle him up for a moment. As they go, Ahmya arches her back, looking at Ragna in an upside down viewpoint. She then promptly vanishes.

She flickers in a bit closer, taking a step and is gone.

She reappears in close, reaching both hands towards Ragna's face in an almost sensual way, pulling her own face almost too close. At which point, it might be too late to remember that she has two swords in her hands, which she drives in the rest of the way and slashes at the Bloodedge's chest in an X-shape outwards.

COMBATSYS: Ahmya successfully hits Ragna with Skandha Avidya.
-*- DEVASTATING HIT! -*-

[                                < >  ///////////                   ]
Ragna            2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0            Ahmya

[RAGNA]
Patience is wearing a little thin, as the life seems to drain itself slowly from the manifested Black Beast.

He's losing a lot of blood, the steady trickle of droplets hitting the floor now becoming part of the background noise. It puddles in thick crimson pools at his feet, but Ragna pays the injuries and the subsequent blood loss no mind. What little he has left in him is being reserved for what he can throw at Ahmya to potentially obtain his goal.

Unfortunately, that is to his disadvantage, because as she begins to move, his vision starts to blur in and out. Lucky for him, the timing falls in with when the chains begin to grope around him, tightening over open wounds and squeezing. It's hard to focus, a frustrated and pained low growl emitting from his throat as he tries to keep up with her apparitions. Flickering in and out, he can't quite keep track of where she's at, so when she appears right in his personal space, admittedly he's a little startled.

Uncomfortable by their close proximity, the Bloodedge attempts to deflect her away, but it is all to rash and not carefully planned, leaving him vulnerable to the assault that comes next. Blades carve deep into the length of his torso, absolutely shredding the front of his undershirt. Life blood splatters on the ground thickly as Ragna is left, suspended, with his head hanging down over his collarbone.

And for a moment, he sits there, practically bleeding out. Perhaps he's done for, but his mortal shell doesn't stand up to the ferocious beast that lives within him.

Threatened by the prospect of it's vessel expiring, the Black Beast roars to life. Another pulse vibrates the air and somehow, the chains snap and shatter, dropping him onto his feet. His fingers, which still held lightly onto the hilt of Aramasa, grip tightly. The great sword is lifted and immediately swings down, heading right for the Red Wanderer's front.

Should this land, his opponent would find the Shinigami at his full height, right arm raised as he channels the full strength of his Grimoire. The black chi bursts up from the sparkling red orb, swelling arounld the metal of his blade and insinuates a transformation of said weapon. From sword to scythe, the size triple what the original Aramasa appears to be, Ragna would then try to swing it down in a mass flurry of slashes, uncaring of where they would land.

In the final onslaught, he himself would begin to take a different shape, his human body blackened out and emerging as a large bestial creature that attempts to bestow one last impaling thrust to her middle.

COMBATSYS: Ragna has reached second wind!

[                        \\\\\\  < >  ///////////                   ]
Ragna            0/-------/<<<<<<<|===----\-------\0            Ahmya

COMBATSYS: Ahmya full-parries Ragna's Black Onslaught!!

[                        \\\\\\  < >  //////////                    ]
Ragna            0/-------/<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1            Ahmya

[AHMYA]
Blood sprays at her strike, and a line of it artfully slashes under her blue eye. She hops back a little to gauge Ragna's state, and it's apparently not as bad as she thought it would be. She thought he'd go down, finally crumble but... Now he's just infuriated. For a second, she looks like exactly what she is, a seventeen year old high school studen thrust into things beyond her comprehension and preparation.

Luckily her body knows what to do.

As the massive sword swings, Ahmya brings up her reverse gripped blade, shunting it upwards to catch and push the massive weapon aside. Sheet lightning blooms around the blades as their edges scream against each other, but Ragna is not done. The massive sword unfolds, transforming into a wicked reaping weapon of black chi and hunger. Ahmya's eyes widen, but whatever force propels her handles it.

The flurry is incomprehensible. Blindingly fast and inhumanly strong. Her swords bloom in violet demon chi as she, almost in a trance, seems to intercept and twist the burning wrath away from her. She pivots and sways, ducks and weaves. Each blow of the transformed Aramasa inexplicably turned aside. Even she looks like she has no idea how this is happening.

As Ragna slows, the Red Wanderer attempts to press her advantage. The blades first swing low to try and push Ragna off balance. As she straightens, she enacts what is almost a repeat of what the Bloodedge just did. Her arms move in a blur, lashing out again and again with both her weapons, violet fire trails left in their wake. To finish the flurry, she swings one blade upwards, following it up with a standing backflipping kick. Then, somehow, she does it again in midair.

COMBATSYS: Ragna interrupts Tenma Wave Cyclone EX from Ahmya with Inferno Eradicator EX.

[                           \\\  < >  /                             ]
Ragna            0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0            Ahmya

[RAGNA]
Well, Ragna didn't exactly plan for the event that she'd be able to deflect his assault entirely. Each strike had been met with its match, somehow the two of them perfectly in sync, to the point that Ahmya is able to walk away from that encounter completely scot-free.

Not many people can say they have walked away from the barrage of his Black Onslaught, yet here is the first.

And even though he's slowed some, he hasn't lost his awareness. Not yet, anyway. So, as the Red Wanderer makes her advance, the watchful heterochromatics hold their gaze... and he waits for the right moment.

The perfect timing...

When it comes, he doesn't hesitate.

Before she can even draw into his personal space, even before those blades come in low, his very own Aramasa becomes part of the fray. Much like earlier, Ragna's movements emulate the earlier motions of his Inferno Divider... except on a more grand scale, and with a slight bit of difference than before.

The great sword intercepts between the twin blades almost effortlessly, slashing broadly across Ahmya's midsection as a retaliation to the X-mark on his own torso. Following that, another great eruption of black chi swings around, carving the concrete like butter, as he fires off a massive dark blast of energy towards her.

Of course, this doesn't fare well with him, either.

The Shinigami doubles back some, feeling the full effects of the Black Beast's power trickling in through the Azure Grimoire. Body aching, he remains rooted, but it is clear he's on his last legs. If anyone could see close up, they'd certainly notice a bit of a tremble, as if it is taking all the effort possible to continue standing.

[AHMYA]
Ahmya never gets the chance to get the combo going. She lashes out, and that massive sword nearly bisects her vertically. It's only her reflexes and muscle memory that save her from dying instantly. Blood showers, starting to boil in the black chi of the Beast. It's a grotesque sight, her injuries horrific.

Her legs tremble as her body starts to shut down, but -something- keeps her upright. Her face snaps towards Ragna, but her eyes are completely rolled back, only the whites showing as she seems to be ... puppeted. Her arms move unnaturally, and her feet scrape on the floor.

The snake mark winding around her thigh ''glows''.

She starts moving in a chaotic, jerky fashion across the floor as whatever pilots her unconscious body goes for one last vengeful series. She twitches and skitters closer, leaping like a puppet yanked on strings. Her swords burst into violet fire as she twists through the air, lashing out as she spins up and over Ragna's head.

She lands on her feet, but only for a split second as whatever animating force was driving her flees, leaving her to add to the blood caked on the concrete.

COMBATSYS: Ahmya can no longer fight.

[                           \\\  <
Ragna            0/-------/-======|

COMBATSYS: Ahmya successfully hits Ragna with Lotus Dance of Oblivion.

[                                <
Ragna            1/------=/=======|

[RAGNA]
Perhaps it is a little ironic that Ragna is a little weirded out by the approaching puppeting body. It almost seems supernatural and spooky, like she /is/ in fact possessed, and he hates every bit of it.

Even in this fearsome form.

Disarmed and unable to fully comprehend what is going on around him, the renegade is panicked in his response to the incoming attack.

His own movements are rather jerky, which has him going right into the fray. The fire singes over his head, and the edges of the blade carve in over a previous injury, causing him to stagger a moment and nearly drop his great sword...

COMBATSYS: Ragna takes no action.


COMBATSYS: Ragna can no longer fight.


... And then he, too, collapses towards the earth.

His body wobbles down to one knee as the power of the Black Beast evaporates from him, where his heterochromatic gaze peers up and over his bloodied shoulder. All his weight is solely reliant on the steady presence of his weapon, which remains upright and rooted into the concrete. Behind him, he sees Ahmya laid out, her body absolutely shredded as much as his own.

Despite his injuries, he forces himself to rise up again, for two sole purposes.

The first has him walking to the Red Wanderer rather weakly to crouch at her side. With much effort, he uprights her and places her against a nearby wall so as to not leave her in a puddle of her own life blood.

Satisfied, he then turns away entirely. Slowly, he makes for the doors he'd previously come through. One is slightly cracked open, so he pushes through. The sun is bright, burning into his irises which have adjusted to the darkness of the factory.

Onward, to the next great thing...

If his body lets him, that is.

Log created on 21:45:43 07/11/2022 by Ahmya, and last modified on 09:01:36 07/16/2022.