Description: [Mission] Building a ship the likes of which the world had never seen before takes hard work and sacrifice. Sometimes, you must antagonize gods for their fruits. Two ninja engineers of different disciplines in the shadowy organization known as 'Kagero' join together to fight the self-styled deity known as 'Igniz' .. however their goal isn't to defeat him.
"No way you guys could be this strong... this is Gedo turf....aghk.."
A boy in a dark school uniform impacts the ground roughly, cheek leaving an impression in the damp clay gathered at the bottom of the wash. Kenmaro, he thinks his name was. Heedless of the boy unconscious at his feet, the young man steps over his body, white haori drifting, still bright even in the fading light of the setting sun. Trailing a milky white energy from the fingers of his right hand, that trail disappears into his sleeves again with that hand as he moves.
Seishirou Ryouhara steps along the very edge of the wash silently, his eyes without even a trace of guilt. Instead, they are intense and shadowed over with a darkness of countenance not often seen.
Dealing with the smaller NESTS assassin was about as troublesome as he expected, but due to his method, it would be some time before she was able to recover enough to be useful. Still, it was by a hair's breadth of his own skill alone that he escaped with his life. She was correct in that it was a foolish risk; but one that was necessary for him to take. He would take a number more to realize the goals set out to him in necessary. He would take them gladly. Speaking of..
Arriving at the location, he looks up, frowning.
"According to our research, the schools are a favored target. Here is where the seal was initially tripped," he speaks, to a target not entirely definite. From his left sleeve there is a click and a hiss, and a small ninkou deploys as his hand emerges, a small clamshell thing opening up and floating slowly in the air only a few inches above his palm. It glows, and internal components spin.
Senrisou, a small tracking ninkou extremely sensitive to any energy to which it is attuned.
Ryouhara studies the little machine's gyroscopic array intensely.
Seishirou Ryouhara works diligently within the outer grounds of Gedo, single-minded and determined in his task. The path he takes is a foolish one, and potentially damning -- and yet, he still goes on with raw determination to guide him. It's really--
"Such a scary gambit to take."
The voice originates from no particular location -- rather, it seems to come from far away, from some indiscernable darkness. Yet, even as the voice muses out in an almost carefree lilt, a single form from the depths of the riverbed emerges; drabbed completely in a thick, black cloak, the figure's visage is obscured by a cowl and hood wrapped around and overshadowing its face. Even gender is indeterminate within the deep folds of the cloak. But whoever it is... they're certainly here with the mischevious ninja infiltrating Gedo.
There is a soft series of clicks as the figures head turns towards Seishirou, and then to the body of the schoolboy. From everywhere and nowhere, there's a brief musing noise of wonderment. "But, I suppose that it's just your way to go the route most suicidal. I wonder, though...
"Is he really going to show his face here of all places?"
Igniz has been about lately. Not Gedo high specifically, even if he had fought Chun-Li in the name of knowledge for what such powers that many of them contain, away from the prying eye of privy spectators that are in turn there to use what they have to their own advantage. Of course, Igniz was a very secretive man. Plotting and manipulating his own hands and goals for whatever simple whim would cross him.
But he would not endanger his life long work that NESTS has been either. He stands, entirely straight, protected by a robe of prayer. One that looks more like it belongs to a acolyte than it does to a god. But it hangs about him, his figures ensnared in shadow for all but his smile which simply illuminates much of the area.
Many see this figure, few know who it is, and even fewer approaches him. Many are even afraid to be under the strange man's gaze. But he does not always appear in the most obvious place possible. Igniz, like many things, acts on force of habit, guided by logic. Here, there, this that. It all becomes relative to the god of NESTS. He plans to live forever, so living, like many things, does not entirely vex him. He is focused upon more present details than such.
But Seishirou's gambit does not fall through. Igniz does show up, along the river bend. Perhaps in an attempt to find a student of Gedo unprotected. Maybe simply to send back information in a more secluded area that isn't under the constant watch of the school itself. But Igniz's figure is there, the dull violet robe that hangs about him, the god of NESTS more than visible due to his great amount of forced chi, manufactured, amplified and then expelled.
He does not notice Seishirou and his kin immidiately, though they are upon the radar of reason in the vacinity of the many gadgets that are hidden in his suit that he carries about with him at all time. It is a very dangerous prospect to believe.
"It seems a little trite," Seishirou admits.
Like Igniz, the boy was very much defined by 'presence'--a creature of energy and heat, determination and will, forged fine. But the end result was something different. He was a little more than grandiose, but a little dirtier than exalted. Igniz was above everyone, including the eyes of even the ninja engineer, both of which were intent on studying the fine readings of Senrisou.
The entire thing was delicate, if technically cheap tool. A small spire structure in the middle drew in and focused the slightest amount of energy while 5 whirling scopes sat in delicate equilibrium surrounding it. There was a similar children's trick you could do with a needle floating on a cork in water, but this was a more advanced application of it. Because of the focusing process, the spire would disrupt the equilbirum when a field was present..
"But I've been here for three days."
He admits to it easily, his eyes not lifting from the floating device. Not to being suicidal, that much is left delicately by the wayside as a eccentricity of his odd companion as of the moment. But to being here three days. "Is the logic really so difficult to understand?" he asks plainly. Gedo High, due to its very nature, had the highest concentration of capable fighters of most of the schools and as such was a relative breeding ground for potential.
It's little known to Seishirou that that was not the reason his tracing seal was tripped, but that's really none of the matter today, is it?
"In the end, it doesn't matter. The organization occupies itself in Southtown. And because of the kind of man he is, where NESTS occupies itself, his hands are not far."
Wordlessly, the young man holds up Senrisou, as if to prove his point. The gyroscopes of the device are wobbling crazily, disrupted by the force and magnified strength of the suit that the 'acolyte' wears. Following its draw, Seishirou looks off in the direction of the river bend. Theirs was a initiation free of sight's necessity.
"It's pointless to believe a direct flanking maneuver will be successful," Ryouhara mentions. "But there are grades of discretion..." he concludes, mildly. Senrisou disappears into his satchel, secreted away in a ballistics-proof case somewhere within to protect the delicate mechanism. He shuts his eyes.
--And he flicker into existence before the man in dull violet.
"Igniz-sama," he beckons. There is no room for guile here. He knows exactly to whom he speaks. "It's a pleasure to meet you. In person, at least." He has been watching for some time.
Igniz's systems will be able to tell almost immediately.
It's just a matrix.
Just an illusion.
Even as Igniz simply occupies the space it chooses to, sometimes it could be impossible to find it. For the case of Seishirou, his waiting game has paid off. After the three days of waiting, Igniz has finally shown himself. Obviously the god of NESTS has much to do, many places to be, and an incredible amount of work to be done.
This would not be a terrible lie, but Igniz himself exerts most of his work onto Zero, and any menial task given to Krizalid. Krizalid is kept happy as long as he has a line of clones of the hottest models and other such continuing on.
But as Igniz is notifed easily. The suit itself finds the flicker appearing in a moment, existing only to exist. Igniz looks over, peering entirely at it. The god of NESTS, if anything, is certainly interested in who has such technology to somewhat even contest to that of NESTS. He can already tell it was the same man to took K9999's arm.
"Ah." Igniz begins, "It is a pleasure to meet the thief of my property." Igniz states with a grin that crosses his face once, twice, maybe three times. The smile is imaculate. There is nothing terrible about it at all.
"You see, I am glad that I have finally met you. I had thought you would have hid from me for a great while. I... trust tha you will stop hiding now?" Igniz exclaims with a tone of voice that indicates that he is done, in fact, playing this waiting game for who to reveal themselves first.
He has sent men to deal with him. But the ninja does not die.
"I'm saddend to see that you still are alive however."
Kyosuke rofl
Kyosuke says, "it didnt say when ;)"
Kyosuke snicker.
Kyosuke hahaha
Kyosuke :)
"Not particularly," muses the voice of Seishirou's companion to his question.
"I just enjoy learning new things about interesting people."
The cloaked form that accompanies Seishirou does nothing; it'd seem almost as if its completely immobile and lifeless as it hovers nearby, its only movement the occasional whipping of its cloak with an errant breeze. "You are a very determined individual, and so prone to taking risks. I can appreciate that in a person. It's a show of good character, you know."
The whispered voice comes to an end, though, as Igniz begins to approach. The cloaked figure suddenly moves, twisting its seemingly bulky, cumbersome body around to stare directly at the approach of the powerful man. There is an odd series of clicks as something within the cloak shifts, moving around in a most unnatural way underneath the cover of cloth. "So that's 'Igniz,' is it?" the voice questions, the form inclining as if to get a better look.
"How unassuming. But... that just makes him all the more frightening, doesn't it?"
For now, though, the voice goes quiet, deferring to Seishirou. The cloaked form takes a single step back behind the man, allowing him to say his peace. This is his show, after all. He is the one calling the actors, moving the script.
For now, his friend just plays the bit part.
He looks to his left at the thing floating next to him.
"I don't fear .. anything," he insists, though his voice lacks conviction.
Elsewhere, the matrix evinces a faint smile.
Will he stop?
"For a time. If you can call it hiding?"
You see, Seishirou has an incredible amount of work to do as well. There is research to be done. So many things to create. When you're dreaming an entire reality into being, it can be a little tiring. In that vein, Seishirou hasn't had time to deal with the hunter-killers Igniz has dispatched as almost a kind of formality. A kind of formality.
Standing some ways away from the conversation between the matrix and the god, Ryouhara's haori shifts in the wind. He wouldn't compromise his position by standing directly before Igniz. Not just yet. That time would come momentarily. He leans to the side, murmuring quietly to his eerily still compatriot.
"We aren't here to kill him. That much is beyond our abilities for now. We have a goal to accomplish. I'm relying on you," he instructs quietly. That much in itself.. is risk. But to Ryouhara, it is no more so than the risk a man takes putting his trust in a well forged blade.
"I'm glad we could talk like this," he agrees, lightly. "I'm curious."
The copy is so exacting in specification, so clearly a reproduction of Seishirou, were it not for the data streamed into Igniz's mind at all times it would be easy to forget it is what it is. A copy. The thing steps to the side, to more exactly match Igniz. "Is it really your care what I do with that thing I took?" he asks, lightly. "Or is this a matter of pride, for you?"
He turns, to face the demigod.
"It is my intent to face you today, without guilt. I'm coming."
"Let's go."
Ryouhara explodes into motion up the wash towards the distant figure, rolling in hundreds of steps in a minute but none of them making and more of a sound than a whisper, he flicks his haori high, revealing an array of tiny rockets under the coat at either side of him.
A score of them take flight for the NESTS master, drawing conspicuous multicolored trails out as they fly in a swarm at him. They are small, and pitiful. But then they land, their white-hot explosions are enough to drive evaporating silt into the air at least 6 meters high.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou has started a fight here.
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Seishirou 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Igniz has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
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Seishirou 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Igniz
COMBATSYS: Yuu has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Seishirou 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Igniz
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Yuu 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Igniz reflects Medium Fling from Seishirou with Nega Genesis.
- Power hit! -
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Seishirou 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Igniz
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Yuu 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Yuu has left the fight here.
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Seishirou 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Igniz
COMBATSYS: Yuu has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Seishirou 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Igniz
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Yuu 0/-------/-------|
There are things to be said when mortals walk among gods. Small men against monsterous giants that have ruled through the ages by their own accord. This meeting is no different. Igniz is the god of NESTS, and Seishirou, he is but a man? It could simply be true, but otherwise, Igniz is not one to judge terribly. There are many fighters that are good at what they do. Seishirou may be one of them.
Or he could simply attempting to follow in Igniz's deep earth steps, ones that make Seishirou's look like simple river beds, while his create canyons so wide that they become the very seas that the water fills. Seishirou is a credit to normal humanity. Igniz is far from it. He's much higher than what a normal man could attain.
He stands even as Seishirou explains what he has. he has no fear. He has not dealt with Igniz's men. Even as the matrix and Igniz speak, another is busily preparing. Igniz stands, looking still at the matrix as if it truely was Ryouhara. It is a believable image. Even beyond the Overlord's receptors, Seishirou is planning, plotting silently with Yuu. It may come in handy.
%Igniz stands, looking out upon the figure as it states all the god of NESTS needs to know. It's intent. It's thought. And then, for Igniz, asks why he is here. A figure explodes into motion, the god of NESTS acting immidiately, turning swiftly as the matrix hangs in the air, gracefully lifting a hand towards where a flock of tiny rockets come, a powerful white light eminating from the palm of his hand, each rocket striking it, but turning about, held together by some unknown force, infused by Ingiz's own chi as it turns about on its master with unforseen speed and accuracy. None of them make it through. Their all either explode, or are sent back towards their master.
Igniz's transformation is quick, his cloak being sucked away, transfixing into a suit of jade black armor with a cape, two chi amplifiers hanging from it on either side. A soft light appears only to be centered on Igniz, and a somewhat vexing prayer. In all, Igniz has been summoned.
Pray for your forgiveness of your sins.
"That's unfortunate," whispers Seishirou's unseen companion in an empathetic tone.
"Fear is a good motivator. It's the depth of one's worth in oneself... or so I've heard."
The cloaked figure continues to observe, a series of soft popping noises issuing as its right arm rotates upwards and towards its back at an unnatural angle. Fingers prod within the cloak at its back, as if testing something. The actions come to a hault soon enough, as its attentions seem to turn at the sound of Seishirou's words.
"Kill?" intones the voice of Seishirou's companion, almost sounding... disappointed.
"Honestly, you shouldn't think so little of me.
"As if I'd even -want- to kill someone as fantastically unique as this."
The intent behind the words are never made clear; soon enough, Seishirou is acting in a sudden and potentially brash manner, exploding upon Igniz, intent to catch him by surprise. He doesn't. The figure is left to watch without any movement or even cringing of surprise as it sees a brilliant flash of light... and all of Seishirou's rockets are either disabled, or turned upon him. Like they were guided by the hand of God.
"... beautiful..." The voice almost sounds breathtaken.
Only a second later does the figure react, though, jerking with an unnatural motion as if guided by someone else, 'tugged' forward into a leap towards the air. The person, if it is even that, says nothing. Its body rotates, clacking and clattering in mid-air as it bends backwards, falling into a crouch only a step behind Seishirou. Its right arm lashes out.
And from the depths of the figures cloak, a single cable springs outward, rushing through the air like a serpent in an attempt to ensnare Igniz's leg and, with a sharp tug, fling him straight off his feet.
"Mm. I've never enjoyed such direct approaches."
COMBATSYS: Igniz successfully hits Seishirou with Reflected Medium Fling.
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Seishirou 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yuu 0/-------/-------|
On the contrary.
While it is true that Seishirou has not in fact dealt with Igniz' men, he has dealt with those he would call elite. K9999. Krizalid. And finally, Kula. All of these were faced directly by Seishirou, and none but the latter have proved any significance in challenge for him.
But Igniz. Igniz is a different story entirely.
Approaching the god as a lighting crow, the rocketry array turned against Igniz in that moment was a mere diversion. He hadn't expected it at all to succeed against him. But for all of his calculations, Seishirou hadn't fathomed that rockets could be flipped in midair by that eerie force deployed. He hadn't believed that they could be turned back at him, trailing crackling ions of Igniz' own force and will.
"Shit--"
It is interesting to note that Ryouhara's mouthpiece still stands there, some ways away from the summoned god. Watching the suit crystallize into being around Igniz, he is motionless, his hands limp at his sides, as if only an artifact of Ryouhara's attention.
The ensuing explosion is great enough to cause the copy's matrix to flicker.
His countenance grows distressed.
"... Nice," the matrix comments.
A moment later, Ryouhara spreads the smoke far and wide with his hands, his haori now completely scorched over in a ragged black pattern, and the young man's stance is wide and buckled underneath the massive shockwave.
But despite the blood, he is still standing.
The puppeteer is mounting an attack. Seishirou steps on air, force enough underneath the sole of his feet to blow dust and smoke away across the ground. As if walking on air, he kicks off.
Disengaging the catch at his back, a long crescent blade snakes out from a harness secured somewhere underneath his shirt. Snaking past the multitude of sheathes at his side, it hangs loose. The blade is larger than a man's arm, with no discernable handholds. It is only tethered at the middle of its spine by the chain at Seishirou's back, and it is this he uses to swing the massive thing at Igniz from mid-air, the thing catching fire with the motion of wrapping against Seishirou's elbow, his body weight working against the thing like a large penduluum gone berserk.
It's his goal to slice into Igniz just after his agent lets him fly.
He has to gather as much data as possible before he uses anything serious.
Let's see if he can penetrate that armor with this..
COMBATSYS: Igniz blocks Yuu's Miyama-Karasu-Ageha.
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Seishirou 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yuu 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Igniz counters Calculated Tactics from Seishirou with Void Genocide.
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Seishirou 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yuu 0/-------/-------|
Direct approaches will be the end of Seishirou. To fight a man - no, a god of such calibur with an aura to match and to flaunt ones skill and strength. Even with Seishirou's want and need, there isn't anything to stop a god. Unless Seishirou is carrying some mythical instrament of ninjas to shatter gods, than his direct approach is unwarented. It is, as one might say, completely ineffective in many different ways.
No matter what Seishirous had dealt with of his underlings, there are only a few that can match or even meet Igniz's own potential. The ninja is blasted out from where it hides. Ryouhara's speed will do him no good here. This is Igniz's territory. Even as the matrix credits Igniz to his own gain, the god of NESTS smiles brightly, giving him an entirely serious answer. "Thank you. I am quite pleased with your attempt," The overlord begins, the smoke dispersing Seishirou for a moment. Enough to cause Igniz to miss critical seconds. The blood spatter is not enough to tell the tale that was told mere seconds ago. Something else moves. Seishirou is not alone.
If by will alone, the god of NESTS speaks softly. "Full scan." For others, it may seem an uninspired message. For Igniz, all things are told. Strengths. Abilities. Styles. Weaknesses. Even the estimated amount of damage that may occur if said strikes would land upon him. Yuu's position and Seishirou's intent are also given away. Critical information to the god of NESTS, flooding to him in an instant.
Yuu's presense is no longer ignored, the man leaping into the air before firing off a single cable as he spins about. The cable does attach to Igniz's leg, getting a firm grisp about it before, almost miracuously, Igniz's cape moves on its own. With its own life, it uses its serrated edges to cut into the single cable, cutting it with a combination use of chi and a sharp edge, once more leaving Igniz free to react.
Which leads Seishirou right into his hands. Seishirou leads forward, the long, crescent blade striking out towards Igniz, the chi infused blade immidiately recognized upon the sustained sweep of the area. He was pulled to the right just slightly before the filament was cut, and now, there, as Seishirou comes with the weight of a large penduluum, slicing towards him as he 'flies'. The plan goes awry.
Igniz is waiting for him, a soft smile across his lifts and and his hands across his chest. The cape itself once more moves, another chi amplifier lifting with a sustained ball of white chi, Igniz merely waving a hand to fire it forward, errupting on his whim painfully into Seishirou's chest.
"You're an interesting operater. I can see why you have interest in my breakthroughs. But what is it that you really want?" Igniz asks, "What does your ally want? I am sure you have came here for more of a reason to molest a god." His hair, unwavering, his cape, ever flowing in the absence of wind. Igniz's own aura is unlike others. Impressive does not begin to describe.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////// ]
Seishirou 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yuu 0/-------/-------|
With the swing of that rip cord, the cloaked figure fighting alongside Seishirou finds its assault is suddenly deflected... by Igniz's cape?! The result, perhaps a bit oddly, doesn't seem to draw any surprise from the figure -- at least, nothing visible. The cord is cut and instantly it snaps backwards, as if retracted. But the voice that speaks, almost in stark contrast to the figure that it so seemingly eminates from, sounds shocked -- surprised. Awed.
"A mobile armor? Goodness, that's impressive; especially from such fine materials! I wonder if it's his chi that powers it, or something else? I'd like to take a closer look..."
Yet, as Igniz's scan activates? He might find something is amiss. The figure before him provides no sign of discernable life. Whatever the figure before him is -- it's not human. And aside from a core within its body where a distinct surge of chi can be detected...
... it's not even alive.
Still, the figure leaps back only a moment later, falling into a clicking slouch as it holds its ground. From behind it, down at the river bed, there is the rustle of movement to be heard; brief whispers of activity that die down and build up in erratic bursts. Something else is coming. But for now--
--the puppeteer is content to just try to soak in the knowledge.
"I wonder... if I come in from another angle... if he can be disabled..."
Seishirou's plights and defenestrations go unnoticed for the moment.
COMBATSYS: Yuu focuses on his next action.
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Seishirou 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yuu 0/-------/-------|
His body compresses.
That scything pendulum of his cast to the side, it better resembles an anchor after Igniz repulses it with that amplifier-based chi, sucking the young man's body into the new eclipse and crushing him against the violet-white sphere of effect. Ryouhara grimaces--forcing his body not to fold through will alone--even as ribbon curls of blood tear from his lip into open air. Even as his body crashes into the muck with authority, dirtying his haori further--not with just dust and silt this time, but blood and mud.
He stands slowly, irrespective of the artificial creation's musings.
"As expected. A similar threat level to that of Vega.." he mutters, words opening in the air to reveal the reason as to why Seishirou can even remain standing underneath this kind of shock. Though he has come closer than most to godhood, Seishirou's mind is turning, his eyes flicking about the world quickly. What Igniz' suit can reveal in an instant, it takes Seishirou moments to replicate the same, but his is born entirely in his 'mind.' Ryouhara Santeijutsu is made of use, forming a complex mnemonic of the battlefield and opponent's abilities rendered in pure chi in Seishirou's mind, umbelievable amounts of pure data being wrestled with by the shinobi, forcing each into a shorthand form, a mote code of energy residing in his mind only readable by him. Though Igniz has come closer than most, to see where his goals are short is his goal today.
He blinks once, intensely.
In that vein, it almost seems simpler for him to delegate the responsibility of talking to the matrix still bearing silent witness to the mayhem.
"That answer is simple. I am surprised you have not yet intuited it," the Ryouhara construct speaks simply. "As you have noticed, our goal cannot be to end our squabble today.. So we must have come for a 'resource' that only you have." An odd trapezoidal blade slips out of its leather sheath silently and with a flick, spins slowly to Ryouhara's side. A blade sharper and finer than any sword ever before forged.
"Something we can take by force, if needed."
It is said through the real youth's mouth, his attention shifting abruptly to the here and now.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou calculates his next move.
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Seishirou 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Igniz
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Yuu 0/-------/-------|
Igniz awaits his attackers. There are more of them than there is of him, but he awaits, planning, thinking. Aiming for a weakness or an opening one of them may give. But nothing is given. Silence prevails over the undertones that the ninjas proceed with. Igniz has only given himself moments free for him to move as he wishes.
But the piercing eyes of Seishirou and Yuu do not go unrecorded. Data is not a simply one way stream. From what they find out, Igniz finds out as well. Learning that they can too assess structural integrity. Fatigue. And many other sorts. But can they to his degree? He has yet to find out, but as he stands, he may not need to.
The god of NESTS awaits at first, imagining that he would be assaulted. Precious seconds disappear, and nothing changes. Igniz grows impatient. "Another? Do you plan to ask for it? Pay for it today?" The overlord asks, his head twisting towards Seishirou's vision. The odd trapazoidal blade and Yuu's string tells many tales of their fighting style, but only the present data is actually manipulative enough to work with. He will have to deal with that later.
The gross inaction of the duo prompts action from the god of NESTS. There is only one rightful proceeding to continue with, and that is that Seishirou, the main head, but be cut. But Igniz would not simply leap upon Seishirou. He had, if anything, things to prove to the god of NESTS. He was a vengeful god, but he would not move upon Seishirou too quickly.
Instead, his attention is diverted elsewhere, upon the other that had accompanied him. Yuu. Igniz's gaze is almost piercing, his eyes looking out towards where the ninja recoils within an almost lifeless like shell. He had created a fighter that was not even truely alive. Candy Diamond, and yet here stands a construct that has evaded his attention?
"You amuse me." Igniz responds to Seishirou, his figure lifting off the ground, the heavy battlesuit following in tow as he moves towards Yuu, his figure stiff and rigid, fluid in the next second without a sign.
The edge of his cape grasped as he powers forward, the serrated edges of the cape tearing through the foliage and fauna that surround, all in an attempt to get a hold of Seishirou's apprentice and infuse life him off of the ground, juggling him with the chi infused side of the strike. The god of NESTS was fair. And this was his judgement upon interlopers.
COMBATSYS: Igniz successfully hits Yuu with Cape Sweep.
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Seishirou 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yuu 1/-----==/=======|
"Oh, dear," muses the voice of Seishirou's companion.
"It seems that even gods can make mistakes, eh, Seishirou?"
The figure has stopped moving, once more going stiff and lifeless, as if something has stopped guiding it for the moment that the voice takes on that musing quality. Igniz advances --
-- Fast. Too fast. While the motion itself would normally be slow enough for the figure to respond to, the voice that seems to control and compel it has lost itself within an all-consuming interest in the capacities of his target. Such it is that the unusual cape of the would-be god slings itself forward like a hand of judgment. The figure is grasped, hurled upwards--
"GUHRK--!"
And introduced to a 'god's' wrath in a most personal way.
Powerful torrents of energy rip through the figure as it goes airborne, juggled with pure, amplified chi. The surge is so great that the robe of the figure briefly catches on fire before contact is broken, and the fire is snuffed, leaving Seishirou's strange 'companion' to fall to the ground with a lifeless -whud- of impact.
There is silence. The figure does not move. Should Igniz look, he'll find most of the concealing robes burned away to reveal... a female form. Lifeless, glassy eyes stare upwards towards the sky, unblinking as black hair pools outward beneath her. Her skin is glossy, almost wooden; appendages from her back sprawl out, sharp blades rotating slowly in a slow curve guided by momentum. Her jaw opens briefly, and clatters shut, the whirr of gears and click of life sputtering within her chest as she suddenly spasms violently, twisting around the ground. Her body bends upwards until it takes a position like an inverted V shape. The voice chokes off a pained gasp -- but it comes with a chuckle to accompany it.
"Ghh... hgghhh... hahaha... haha HAHAHA! That is brilliant! A suit capable of channeling your own chi and amplifying it-- ghh -- so frightening!! If you were not so strong, in another life, another time--"
There is movement, not from the puppet before Igniz, but -behind- him. Another cloaked form falls, this one much less distinctly human in appearance than the other. Four arms bulge outward from the cloak of the slim figure; the lower left, considerably larger than the other arms, snaps outward, thrusting towards Igniz.
"-- I might have politely asked if I could carve into you to see what makes you so unique. Alas..."
The arm, at this point, literally explodes open from the forearm down as dozens of smaller arms sprout forward from various compartments, spreading outward like a virtual sea of appendages that seek to grasp onto Igniz, and then -crush- him into the ground, compressing him downward in an attempt to hold him in place.
"... business before pleasure is a motto I always choose to live by."
Gods are hard to define.
Creatures of ideals and will and unlimited strength. Those beings that exist on the lips of prayers and hope are beings beyond the reach of mortal comprehension, necessarily. To comprehend that sort of power for a man is to go mad. Indeed, Even a taste of it is enough. His eyes focus on Igniz, and images of Vega and the inspiration that ideal can create surge within his heart.
The reality of the situation reaches him as the last of the values are tucked away in the recesses of his skull, a slow blink detraying the method of the tilt of his head when that voice questions him.
"No," he answers, only paying half attention.
"Gods don't make mistakes at all."
It happens in the next instant.
The interlopers are assaulted in a grandiose sweep of that all veiling cloak. The 'body' of the puppeteer is caught of a razor edged wave, thrown like a toy. And in that instant, Ryouhara moves.
The young man a literal blur with not even a waver of hesitation behind those dark eyes, he attacks Igniz directly, meeting the sweep evenly. Ryouhara has counted the probable vectors of attack of Igniz. His arm is one, sweeping the cape wide--a second. He moves with absolute speed. The calculations roll in his mind, referred to at a dizzying pace. If Igniz was anything like his creations, if he was truly built upon the same foundations of 'science'--there would be limits. Kula's defenses formed a kind of 360 degree defense, but that was ultimately limited by what she could focus on and her intentions. Seishirou attempts to move 'beyond the speed of recognition.' While Igniz attacks Yuu, Ryouhara attacks him, a single-cell fine blade that shines with heat beyond heat flicking forward into the middle of the man's chest, fast, intensely--
"I have a prayer on my mind.."
It isn't him.
At the last instant in Igniz' All Seeing Eye, Ryouhara flickers out of existence, replaced with a matrix much like the one that serves as his mouthpiece, attacking with a replica of the blade, but ultimately, having no substance at all.
The strike that comes for Igniz when he opens his guard is insubstantial. But Seishirou moves like a shifting ocean, becoming indistinct and /almost/ untracably fast for a heartbeat. It's not something that's beyond Igniz--the youth spins in the air just behind the god, curling his body as he is briefly upside down. His skull aches with the vertiginous momentum he launches himself into, twisting in the air with his free hand wrenching open at his side to increase the speed of that rotation. Senchakiri, a loved tool, flicks out straight down as the shinobi uses an aerial technique that once formed a piece of foundation for his family's weapons arts sketched. Dual curving slashes that seek to /open/ more than kill. He occupies Igniz on multiple levels. Whipping around with that blurred speed, Seishirou doesn't so much seek to cut through Igniz, but lay him open along his shoulder.
To slice through that armor..
And reveal flesh that lay underneath.
"But you'll never hear it," he whispers, one eye visible over the flash of that blade.
Everything that is mortal can bleed.
To assume that Igniz can't multitask is just foolishness.
But is his attention multiplex?
COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Igniz with Prime Tactics EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////////////// ]
Seishirou 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yuu 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Yuu successfully hits Igniz with O-o-Goma-Shijimi.
Glancing Blow
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Seishirou 0/-------/-------|=======\-------\1 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yuu 0/-------/-------|
It all changes in a moment. The god of NESTS slows down from his terrible speed, the fighter infront of him... a doll? A female doll as well. He's entirely surprised to see the body double being used, if it is indeed a body double. This is surprising to say the very least. For even the god has made a mistake. Not only does a figure come from behind, four arms and different points before assaulted on his figure at once. Even aerial projectiles come to slam into him.
Seishirou follows as well. A well placed strike attempting to make as most of what he has in the simplest way possible, driving it towards the god of NESTS, brought to life by his own chi. The god of NESTS did not have the tools that he had wanted entirely, but he made do with what he could, finding himself attempting to foil Seishirou's rush with a forcefield. Four shields raise up, but none of them hold in place. Seishirou is too quick, thrusting himself between either and hurrying, striking with as much force as Igniz anticipated. There was only so much he could do. The sheer speed of the strike was questionable.
Put off his guard, a second strike sought him. Moving as fast as he can muster, the god of NESTS is unable to entirely get out of the way of Yuu's strike, two points are struck, firing Igniz into the ground with a crushing blow, but failing to produce as much as hoped, pieces of his armor are crushed as he manages to escape in a flash of chi, easily traced as he once more appears, floating in the air, eyes perceiving those about him. Choices, choices. He had seen much, gazed into their strikes and saw what that had planned.
He did not like being forced into options. But he did not like losing said options either. "I am glad," Igniz speaks, hand raised as poises himself towards Seishirou, before a blade appears in his hand. Striking out, it extends, serrated edges line each and every conjunction as it moves out towards Seishirou, moving directly into his trap.
The overlord of NESTS sees what he had prepared, and walks right into it. The blade lashes out towards the air where Seishirou may be. "Then no one will hear it." Igniz smiles. He's entirely happy about the whole thing.
Multitudes of arms smash into the ground -- into nothing. But there are many of them, spread across a wide distance; eventually, those small, grasping hands press and crush into Igniz if only for a moment. The god falters.
And by the laughter, Yuu seems absolutely delighted.
"They don't, do they?" The voice muses as the female automaton makes a sudden, violent jerk upwards. It snaps into an upright position with a clicking sound, unmoving eyes staring without depth and without focus towards Igniz. "Then this is unfortunate.
"I was looking forward to meeting a god today, but it seems all we have are false ones."
The sprouting of arms buried into the ground detach with hydraulic shunts from the male puppet's arm; they all collapse with a heavy series of thuds, the artificial limbs sprawling across the expanse of the river bed. They won't be able to be used again. But once is enough.
"I'd like you to meet my friends," the voice muses out as the female puppet's arms rotate a full three hundred sixty degrees, as if working out some kinks. "Samudaya and Marga. Let me show you what they do."
Shimmers of what would seem to be threads waver in a path leading towards the female doll, Samudaya; practically invisible lengths of chi apparent for all of a moment before the automaton lurches forward, spring with unnatural deftness from one foot. Rushing forward, the bladed appendages extending from its back begin to spin rapidly, the series of blades whirling around in a circular motion as they sweep -forward-, seeking to carve into the impressive armor of the would-be god.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou fails to counter Trans-Axial Slice from Igniz with Ryuuouin EX.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Seishirou 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yuu 0/-------/-------|
That is the nature of Senchakiri.
It is not so much a sword as much a scalpel. To go for base butchery with the ninkou would be to insult its very nature, and it does not suffer such foolishness well. Because it cuts as finely as is needed, Seishirou can move as quickly as needed. To engage with a flick of the wrist instead of a shoulder chop. This is part of what allows him to outspeed Igniz' defenses. But he isn't done yet..
You see, even despite the countless facades Ryouhara musters against Igniz to confound his eye, sheer velocity of the mind still makes up the majority of his skill. He had planned not to confound the NESTS master's eye with not three levels of attack, but four, and a fifth that will never really see the light of day.
The 'rotational momentum' of Seishirou was being leveraged in a second move even as Igniz attempted to deal with the first. Forcefields flicking into being all around him, the shinobi's blade slips through still, biting into it's target in twin whispering impacts. But in truth, Seishirou couldn't stop if he wanted to. Instead, he accelerates into the triple axle spin until his spine threatens whiplash. His free hand arcs around to drive a complex milk white trail of smoke and 'force', a complex matrix of energy--
If he can just follow the path of his teleportation--
--And then evade the extending blade--
"Ngh!!"
Four plans do not necessarily always match ludicrousity as it stacks. Exhibiting bizarre movement and physical dimensions, the facts of Seishirou's calculations are corrupted mid-action, forcing him to recalculate--and because of that distraction, ultimately fail. The blade of Igniz extends, coming just shy of simply tearing Seishirou open only by his own speed alone. The youth catching the blade's stroke in the midsection, being ripped open but rolling with it, sacrificing stable footing for blood, his body impacting the ground hard. Though the wound is not fatal, it is nonetheless severe. He'll have to leave it to Yuu for those precious seconds he recovers.
His once-white sleeves splay across the ground as he stands.
His eyes, deadly critical.
COMBATSYS: Igniz blocks Yuu's Mesuguro Hyomon.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Seishirou 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yuu 0/-------/------=|
Recoiling, the god of NESTS finds Seishirou moving against him. This weapon was designed with that in mind. What looks like a sword was in actuallity a chain whip. Even for one with a sharp eye and an even sharper wit may not imagine that the blade would appear out of thing air, and then have a second purpose entirely. Igniz is a man of fine tastes, and upredictability. Able to adapt to almost any envrivonment to suit his need, the god of NESTS is an opponent that getting around is neigh impossible.
Seishirou is thrust towards the side, allowing the god of NESTS to sweep his eyes towards his compatriat, Yuu. Yuu's laughter is almost impossible to ignore, or even imagine. A laugh that seems to multiply over a period of time, the god of NESTS's visage does not change even against that, a smile to the very end. "I don't know what you are talking about. There is a god before you right now, puppetmaster." Igniz declares, his eyes moving towards Samudaya and Marga. Ah, so they were automatons. Igniz had imagined it before, but now it's painfully obivious as the suit looks close. Even the soft strings of chi are visible to the god of NESTS. It's a wonderous feature.
Samudaya rushes forward, bladed appendages strike forward towards the god of NESTS armor, but meet only four forcefields about Igniz, striking in but slowed down immensely so that very little of the blade actually cuts into the armor, leaving Igniz with an automaton infront of him, blades whirring as they cut into the air.
"You and yours should be more respectful when in the presence of a divine being." Igniz announces, folding his arms across his chest as the the very cape moves for him, a small amplifier acting by itself, forced through Igniz's chi to move aiming for an uppercut of sorts towards Samudaya in a hypothesis. Could they be effeciently hurt? Damaged in any way necessary? There was only one way to find out.
If the elongating strand of the amplifier connects, it rears back, aiming to bludgeon Yuu's puppet, forcing its thick shaft upon it, and using it to drive it backwards upon itself, thrusting it into the ground and back without Igniz even having to direct it physically. With Seishirou out of the way, it leaves only Yuu to answer to such the self proclaimed deity.
COMBATSYS: Yuu blocks Igniz's Red Noah.
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Seishirou 0/-------/---====|=======\===----\1 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yuu 0/-------/---====|
"A curious situation we're in, then," the voice of the puppet master drawls thoughtfully even as Samudaya's rotating blades meet nothing but forcefields. It's a wonderful capacity; to be able to control his chi so well, so efficiently as to create such constructs. It's a beautiful thing.
"You seem to believe yourself to be a god, but god doesn't make mistakes, does it? We've come to something of an impasse! Well." The puppet clatters as it drops down onto all fours, its head rotating upwards until it faces perpendicular to the rest of its body, staring upwards at Igniz with an unblinking gaze. "We'll just have to test your theory, won't we--"
One swing, and the thick fabric of Igniz's cape surges like a wave of force towards Samudaya. The female automaton suddenly -springs- as guided by deft fingertips far and away. The cape sweeps upwards, and legs and feet snap forward. They connect -- the cape suddenly /crushes/ into the odd, waiting guard. Samudaya's right arm splinters and cracks from the sheer force exerted; spiderweb cracks form throughout the other limbs with the groan of strange materials that compose the puppet. The voice of its controller lets out a strangled gasp of pain as Samudaya seems to literally ride on the edge of Igniz's cape, springboarding off in a distinctly inhuman series of aerodynamic twists and flips; it lands on all fours, its right arm snapping completely off before it collapses.
"Ghh... very... impressive...!"
But Seishirou wants time. And Yuu so generously provides it; Marga, even as Samudaya is recovering itself, flings its upper right arm through the air. Compartments across the forearm open up as from them, kunai attached to a series of rip cords explode forward, weaving through the air in a straight path for Igniz. They seek to ensnare his torso, his legs, his arms, kunai intent to stab in to take hold before Marga -yanks- backwards, intent on whipping Igniz straight through the air; regardless of what they connect with, though, those throwing knives explode only few seconds after making contact, creating ripples of flame and shrapnel.
He stands slowly, bleeding.
The tactics of the situation had shifted, and his understanding was slowly draining from his skull. Santeijutsu was like that. Though it creates an almost picture-perfect rationalization of the battlefield, as mostly relational data, eventually it corrupts, or more appropriately loses relevance as time goes on. The introduction of that snaking blade was a new variable. While as one variable alone, it wouldn't be significant, in addition to the knowledge base he's built based off of Kula Diamond, K9999, K' and Igniz himself, it turns out to be an anomaly. And furthermore, a problem.
One that gives even Seishirou's finely honed mental state fits.
Looking over the edge of the banded collar that stood up form the fringes of his haori, Seishirou's attention grows ever sharper with the amount of fun his fellowmen were having, constructs whirling together as if in a feverish dance. Covering for his brief weakness, as expected. But for all the fascinating data they were gathering..
He operates under no illusions.
The game's stake was their lives.
And the realization he comes to, watching Igniz engage Samudaya, was that Igniz was gaining as much insight into their operation as they were his.
His eyes narrow dangerously.
A knifepoint appears in his sleeve.
"Yuu. Come."
Seishirou's already turning on a heel, legs working quickly as he basically turns tail and bolts from the scene, sleeves flying in the wind.
He looks back.. only for one instant.
The pristine white fabric of a haori flies up, as if at the site of a massive explosion, unconcerned as his body bursts. But that cloak and neither that body were his. The matrix of Seishirou's represent, having kept a cool and unoffensive distance from the affair now destabilizes, the mouthpiece of Ryouhara swift growing black in the machine eyes embedded in Igniz' suit. Breaking down at Seishirou's will, that seems to be at least part of the purpose it was initially made of use. A conceit to speak with Igniz, but secondarily... an extraction plan.
Dark smoke, pitch oil black, suffuses the riverbed nigh instantly. It permeates everything--and more concerningly, it seems to be infused with the chi from the copy Ryouhara used. For someone like Igniz, he'd understand the meaning immediately.
Interference.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou successfully hits Igniz with Kunai Critical.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Seishirou 0/-------/----===|=======\=====--\1 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yuu 0/-------/----===|
Blades fly through that black cloud, relying on information carefully secreted away with his calculation ninjutsu far in advance, anticipating this kind of scenario. Each blade is in a sort of equilibrium with that cloud, but only one is actually aimed for the weak point created earlier with Ryouhara's Senchakiri.
Though only a parthian shot, that blade, such a small kunai, is a larger threat than one would imagine.
It will detonate when it finds blood.
COMBATSYS: Igniz reflects Hisamatsu-Midori Shijimi from Yuu with Nega Genesis.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Seishirou 0/-------/----===|=======\======-\1 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Yuu 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Seishirou has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Yuu 0/-------/----===|=======\======-\1 Igniz
COMBATSYS: Igniz has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Yuu 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Seishirou
COMBATSYS: Yuu has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Seishirou 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Seishirou has ended the fight here.
There are some things that even gods cannot see.
Igniz is immensely puzzled by the assault of the ninja, Seishirou. What should have been a simple choice instead found Igniz at the end of a devilish trap. He had maneuvered right into it, the filaments the ninja hurls towards Igniz striking in and detonating on his armor, ripping it into pieces as the god of NESTS recoils from the strike.
The interference had driven the kunai into a position where it rips through the armor and into Igniz, something that he has not experienced in some great time. His blood flows freely, but it is not easily spilled. Igniz makes no angered or frustrated noise to give Seishirou the pleasure of having Igniz broken upon his will.
Instead, Igniz gives him a smile, turning towards the ninja with respect for his techniques. Just like how he kept himself able to see all, Seishirou makes it harder to see any.
But it wasn't just them... yet.
Yuu still stands. Igniz's vision passes over towards Yuu, even as Marga pushes forward, firing off kunai towards a series of ripple chords that follow out towards Igniz. And the god of NESTS allows it, waiting for it to get ever so close, the knives exploding into flames and shrapnel.
It collides magnificently. Not with Igniz, but with the Nega Genesis system. Igniz's own chi used in a violent force to over power flame itself, to once more give it an extended burn and even send the shrapnel and all back towards Marga and Samudaya, spreading their strikes across them as one would fire a mortar.
"You are as well. I had thought that my follower was a common mimic. I had thought wrong."
COMBATSYS: Igniz successfully hits Yuu with Reflected Hisamatsu-Midori Shijimi.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Seishirou 0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Igniz
[ \\\\ <
Yuu 1/-----==/=======|
And it's all come down to this.
What an interesting ending.
The heavily damaged Samudaya is still twitching and writhing in inhuman spasms across the earth as Seishirou speaks. By the time the words are registered, Marga's right arm compartment opens. The voice of Seishirou's companion sounds thoughtful as he speaks.
"... Already? I suppose we've pushed things a bit too far. I didn't quite bring enough resources for this--"
And then, Yuu's puppets are introduced first-hand to the Nega Genesis.
The wall of light that intercepts those chords and kunai is almost blindingly bright; Samudaya and Marga stare unblinking at it, glassy eyes seeing but not comprehending. But Yuu sees, from wherever he has hidden himself. And he comprehends.
But seeing and comprehending does not equate to ability. While he knows what's coming, the redirection of kinetic force, of shrapnel and even Igniz's chi is all too blindingly fast for him to guide his automatons out of the way of. Chunks of sharpened metal skewer the two puppets like bullets through tissue paper, punching holes through both dolls as the raw force and chi blows off pieces of armor, limbs -- anything and everything. Throughout it all, Yuu's voice lets out a strangled cry of pain -- as if he were actually /feeling/ everything that Igniz was inflicting upon them.
"Ghh... extended too... much... I'm dropping my connections..." groans out the puppeteer's voice weakly as those strings begin to shimmer once more.
"Collect my... toys for me... would you?"
And at that moment, the lines are snapped; the automatons shudder in their forced stands, and both spasm violently, wrenching around for all of five seconds before they both collapse lifelessly to the earth.
There is no more voice.
Landing from the whirl of his pinpoint accurate dagger throw, Seishirou skids to a long suffering stop, his shoes griding long furrows in the clay to bleed off momentum, continuing in an idle controlled crash, even as the Ryouhara shinobi looks back sharply.
Nega Genesis was a system that he'd tasted only moments prior. It doesn't take any calculation on his part to know just what forces reverberated through Marga and Samudaya as Igniz spread waves of flame over them both. His interference jutsu had the weakness in that it didn't work as well for others who weren't attuned to the spreading night. Seishirou's concern was not without founding. Igniz's ability of perception was enough to take advantage even in the spreading night.
That dark cloud conjured in demand of Ryouhara's piece sacrifice raises slow, the aura of shadow becoming an ill defined haze that chokes out even the sunset, snapping with ember and occaisionally distorting with heat and steam. Seishirou's form is visible through it, an indistinct thing to most, but crystal to someone of that--
"Great power..." Ryouhara murmurs, barely catching the words of the distant god in response in favor of Yuu's request. Shit--intentionally the heel of his sole catches a divot in the earth, popping Ryouhara head-over heels into an inverted flip in the air.
His limbs whip out in all directions, causing the diffused smoke curling about him to react as if it were his own chi, twisting and churning the haze like butter. It becomes a thing alive. It bakes the earth. Then it boils it. Surrounding himself in a field of intensity, Seishirou dances on the air, flicking lines from a winder at his sleeve out with the second revolution of his body on the horizontal plane, two of which are wrapped around kodachi that spear in turn Samudaya and Marga. He arrests his dizzying movement finally in total, draining all of his momentum in yanking on those lines. Were it not for the chi that enhances them so clearly, one would easily make the mistake of thinking Ryouhara a telekinetic when his body weight sets the creations to flying. He snaps his sleeves wide--
--And lands in slow motion, the dirtied white silk of Byakuren Hagoromo yet still holding the lift of an intense thermal underneath him. He lands on a pile of wood and brass and steel, the downed puppets, as if a bird of prey perching atop a fresh kill. Looping, the lines cinch tight the speared puppets against the soles of his shoes while others wind back into his sleeve. Literally, the mud and silt of the collected riverbed churns underneath him-- the concrete itself churns underneath him, ground turning to literal liquid. The heat bales intensely, causing Ryouhara's form to drift into the air lazily. The intense heat follows him visibly in the form of that churning effect. He has to time this perfectly, else he'll have squandered the retreat--
Right now, Igniz is too strong for them to stand against wholly.
"Someday, would-be god Igniz. When everything is in my reach.."
He needs not say the rest, as he sucks in huge lungfuls of the heated air, dragging him slow and lazy into the air.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou calculates his next move.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Seishirou 0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Igniz
[ \\\\ <
Yuu 1/-----==/=======|
Yuu says, "oh, right"
COMBATSYS: Yuu takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Seishirou 0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Igniz
COMBATSYS: Yuu can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Seishirou 0/-------/----===|>>>>>>>\>>>>>>>\2 Igniz
Yuu falls. Yuu falthers under his own power mixed with the gods terrible power. Igniz begins to turn a he cries out about his toys and for Seishirou to get them. It surprised Igniz that he did. He went afrter both Samudaya and Marga, moving to unhook the very chi strands about them in hopes for that they would aid him. Igniz is entirely surprised.
If it was Kula, the god of NESTS would have assured her that her dolls and stuffed animals could be replaced.
For Seishirou to care of his allies 'toys', mere tools, Igniz would find it entirely assuring that this man, no matter what his goals, will never fully realize them. He must be devoted entirely to the cause, and for the Overlord of NESTS, standing as he looks over towards Seishirou with piercing vision, it's a simple tool. Everything for him. All for the imaculate Igniz.
Seishirou wades, stumbling backwards as he moves attempting to disappear. Disperse. Igniz will not allow it so simply.
The god of NESTS explodes forward, no longer hovering but flying, his hand stretched out, grasping for any sort of handle that he can get on Ryouhara. And if that handle is the mans neck, Seishirou is not going anywhere.
He was going to experience it all.
Once the god of NESTS hand reaches Seishirou's neck, things turn from bad to worse. He doesn't stop, accelerating through bram and brumble as it pushed on towards the trunk of a mighty tree that stands, rigid and powerful akin to the eldest of elks. Its figure is raked by a the monsterous strength of a god scorned, Seishirou thrust into it, leaves only the trail of sheer power eminating across the ground.
They do not walk or run. They fly.
Igniz leaps back upon the choke slam, slashing forward at the night, the chainwhip cutting out across his figure, up and about, slicing into him without remorse.
"You cannot mimic such power." Igniz begins, his arms wrapped around his figure as his cape comes, piercing Seishirou's figure up front, cutting into his armor, his body, his everything. It cuts worse than any sword or kunai could ever possibly hope.
Four bolts, matching the same Seishirou had felt earlier, float up, four orbs about Igniz, thrust out towards the ninja with a single passing hand wave, Igniz focused intently upon destroying Seishirou utterly.
"If this is what you want, than I will give it to you!" Igniz quips, raising a hand towards the sky, a soft prayer and powerful light beaming down upon his hand, a monsterous amount of white chi gathering at once, manufactured and volilte, it exists, only to be shot out into Seishirou's chest, expanding upon impact to wholey encompass him, a white ball of chi searing out past Seishirou and into the tree itself, its glow able to be seen from Gedo High and the many streets about. The light is brilliant, but the force inside. The force inside sears, burns, disitegrates all inside of it.
There is no known prayer for mercy.
COMBATSYS: Seishirou counters Brutal God Project+ from Igniz with Kawarimi.
[ \\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Seishirou 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Igniz
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Seishirou 0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0 Igniz
It's a miracle he even survives through it.
Eyes widening, Seishirou can only grip Igniz's arm, the wires securing the puppets to his boots stretching taut between his sleeve and his midsection as the limb splays. Times seems to move in slow motion, as Igniz's iron grip seals off even his ability to speak, crushing force enough to send a crack three feet long into solid oak with his soft body alone. He is lashed, almost bisected from that alone, torn open with the chain-whip that foiled him before.
He cannot even begin to track all of the cloak's staccato blows, ripping over his body like a machine gun, folding him against the onslaught and causing the tree to spiderweb fracture, inflicting scores of impalement over his form, one knife for every bone in his body, punctuated with a quadruple blast that seems to almost distort him on the physical level--sinking him right into wood like a ripping nail.
He looks up briefly, brown eyes drunk with suffering as the charging /sun/ cuts through the darkness of his night. Dim though they are, they recognize that thing.
Shit--
"AAAHHHHH!!!!"
The mighty oak cracks... and pitches over slow in the wake of that force. Vaporized, eaten through. Leaving not even so much as a splinter along the shorn edge still crackling with force. All that is left of Seishirou is some base portion of his upper half. A miracle even that much survives, given that he took full damage from it. His eyes are turned to the sky in disbelief. "Is... is that.. what.. it's like.."
He reaches up.
In the wind stirred by Igniz' magnus opum, his fingers crumble, winding into the air as ash.
A duplicate.
Charged with a massive amount of Seishirou's chi, the only explanation as to why it was able to survive the full brunt of that attack. Not to prove a thing. But to erase himself. Leaving no trace. The skies above hold nothing. North, south, east, west. There is no sign of Seishirou.
Surviving only by that plan alone.
He is a ghost.
Igniz finds that Seishirou vannishes into thin air, even as the duplicate is erradicated from the living world, if it was ever introduced to it again. The god of NESTS finds himself with much strength left. Much of it in reserves and about. The overlord of NESTS finds no body after the assault as well.
But the energy, he can feel it was a duplicate even in his pulsating madness. Disappearing into the air itself.
The god of NESTS turns, and moves back towards Gedo High, the ground itself scarred from the encounter, and Igniz not worse off at all. What was the purpose of this encounter he thinks? It does not matter. He had easily turned his attackers away into a fighting retreat, and has found that what may have been a palpable threat something that K9999 and Kula may be assigned to, if not Krizalid and Zero.
For now, he must deal with certain other things. The ninja had his talents though, and his followers skilled in rather original fighting styles. The data he had recieved was tremendous, and the suit had seen all of it. Fighting much of the battle from what they could see.
Seishirou is left to live, Igniz giving no thought to following him and tracking him down. If he wants to find Igniz? He will be here.
And he will always be ready.
Hours later...
The ground of the riverbed cracks.
Then a dusty head breaks the surface.
Streaming fragments of rock, dust, crumbled dry mud and dirt from his body, Seishirou surfaces from the earth itself. For someone like Igniz, a flying escape would have been pointless, especially laden with the freight that he drags from the earth with him, the limp forms of those puppets.
Seishirou didn't escape to the sky. Nor did he run.
Focusing the aura of Shinrou Kiritsu directly underneath him, he melted the earth and esconced himself within it. He used a functional duplicate of himself using a large portion of his chi to make it more easy for him to suppress his natural energy until he was functionally a corpse in the ground.
He buried himself alive while his copy was killed in his stead.
Shaking dust from his hair, he slings the jangled puppet bodies over his shoulder with his left hand, his right slings limp at his side. He looks down to the container secured at his obi, with glowing fittings. A single shard of grey sits there, the single effort of recovery. He looks up into the night sky.
".... mission complete."
It was still a long walk back to base...
Seishirou gets started.
Log created on 20:00:52 10/12/2008 by Seishirou, and last modified on 04:28:10 02/20/2011.