Difference between revisions of "3030/WMAT B2 Victory vs. The Masked Knight"

Revision as of 04:04, 16 September 2015

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
Welcome to the desert. The Diablo Desert, specifically. This place is a wasteland of rolling dunes, mushroom 'trees,' and not a whole lot else. It's probably a very boring place to most people, but when the wind is low, the visibility's great.

One of the combatants is already here, arms folded, standing with her head slightly cocked. Lucatiel of Mirrah is well accustomed to deserts, reminded of Mirrah and its merciless heat -- though everyone here knows her as the Masked Knight. No one knows what her face looks like, for she wears a metallic mask over her face, forged in the guise of an unsmiling, neatly-bearded man with obfuscating vertical slots where the eyes should be. There's little to speak of for armour; a fine white silk shirt, black leather tooled with gold ornamentation, and a strip of blue cloth folded through her belt at the waist that might have once been a cloak. For weapons, she wears a massive greatsword slung over her back, an estoc at her hip, and a metal shield slung over one shoulder.

An odd figure, maybe, but she's got to have something going for her to have gotten this far. For the time being, she waits for her opponent, arms folded, seemingly impervious to the hot desert wind.

Victory (810) has posed:
    Hot and arid, the two things Victory would expect of any desert she could encounter. Today it has become the sight of her next battle in the World Martial Arts Tournament! The tall digimon warrior doesn't appear to be phased by the heat, despite the amount of armor covering her form. The reptilian figure's strides are confident as she knows the experience she has resting within has brought her this far. Today, perhaps, it will take her further.

With only her own large sword at her back, The Dramon Breaker, Victory draws near her opponent, offers a nod to them, and then pulls the weapon from her back only to stab it down in the ground before her. It's hard to tell? Is that one bigger? Would size really even matter anyway? "Well Met! Lets give the people a show."

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
Shifting her weight, the knight examines the fingertips of one glove, the plumes of her broad-brimmed hat fluttering in the wind as her head tilts slightly to one side. She has no particular problem in waiting; truth be told, she was here earlier than her appointed time.

Since she left Mirrah, time's gotten a little fuzzy for her. Being on time for something just isn't as important to her, but this /is/ a significant event... and better early than late, right?

The masked face lifts up at the sound of an approach, although how she hears it over the wind is anybody's guess. The head tilts slightly to one side, a gesture of both acknowledgement and greeting. It freezes for a moment, as though the woman behind the mask were sizing up Victory, before the brim of the hat finally dips once, slowly, in greeting.

"Good." Although the armour is obfuscating, the voice is a woman's; albeit with tones too low and hard to really be considered 'feminine.' The long blonde braid down her back also suggests some small trace of femininity, caught and tossed every so often by the wind. "Well-met."

With a single practised motion, she reaches up and draws the greatsword over her back; either she's stronger than she looks, or it's lighter than it seems, for she wields it one-handed, unslinging the shield and letting it rest over her left arm.

The Masked Knight waits that way for several moments, silent.

"Begin when you are ready. I am prepared."

Victory (810) has posed:
    "Excellent," is the only word that escapes Victory's mouth. The reply was as stern as her voice. It left no doubt as to how Victory felt about their fight. A chance to put skills on display for a broader audience beyond just the Diablo Desert.

    A step, a hand reaches out to the Dramon Breaker, and the weapon is pick up in stride with practiced ease. A second hand takes hold of the the weapon, the blade level with the ground, pointed toward its owner's opponent. Steps quicken, lighten, and before long, Victory is speeding across the space between them both with a pace unbecoming of someone with so much armor. With the gap nearly closed, the blade would be stabbed outward, then lifted upward, in an effort to cut across the masked knight's form. Let the fight begin!

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
Leather creaks as the Knight of Mirrah tightens her grip on her weapon. It's a notched and scarred old blade, and though it's hardly ugly, it's clear that it's seen many years of heavy use. Once upon a time it must have been a splendid thing, beautifully crafted.

The mysterious knight remains silent and still as a stone, waiting patiently for her opponent's strike to reach her--

--and suddenly the Masked Knight erupts into motion. Twisting around to evade her foe's sword, her own whips around in an attempt to swat Victory's blade away, although not without a thin line of red drawn along her forearm. A trivial blow, but it does sting, to go by the hissing intake of breath from behind the mask.

No sooner has she lifted Victory's sword out of the way than she whirls her own around, trying to shove the business end of that calary greatsword into whatever gaps may be in Victory's armour. A testing blow, despite how savage it may look; an attempt to gauge Victory's defenses and reaction time.

She must be used to deserts. Some people fumble on sand, unable to find their footing, but she moves light and quick as a dancer in her light armour. Neither does the heat seem to bother her in the least, despite the fierce sun and arid wind. She almost seems to embrace it.

Victory (810) has posed:
    If truths were told, Victory would go on at length about her preference to the heat of the sun and the dryness of a desert over the unforgiving cold of other climes, and the snow and ice that coated them. In deserts she felt at home, and in this desert she hoped to find another win.

    As her first blow seems to go wide, it becomes clear to the digimon that this will be no easy fight. They had both bested their previous opponents and only of them could move on once the fight was over. The armored creature still had some tricks up her sleeve, however, she felt it best to test her opponent in the same manner as they were testing her. The blade finds an opening in her armor, cutting into Victory's side, leaving it's mark and a spray of... something. It wasn't blood, to be sure. Instead, it was as if pixels and code were vanishing off into the air around the wound. "Mnf." A small noise, and then the warrior is on the attack.

    The Dramon Breaker comes whirling around in an attempt to find the knight's form. It's a flat slash, but with the momentum of her spin one could only imagine how it could cleave something such as a tree. Certainly, this knight had better defenses then a mere piece of wood in the forest.

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
Hmm. That creature moves much more quickly than she had anticipated. This is good; she had been hoping for a challenge, and thus far the tournament has provided for her with every single match. This one will be no exception.

The Masked Knight manages a brief double-take at the spray of... seriously, what even is that? It's not blood. It's not even ichor.

That moment's distraction is all Victory needs to score a telling blow. The digimon's sword whirls around and manages a cruel strike, biting deep into the knight's side, slicing cleanly through padded leather armour. Lucatiel staggers back, reeling and hissing, but not before she swats the other sword away with her own. Her retreat leaves a spatter of dark blood on the sand.

No sooner has she retreated than the swordswoman is on the approach once more, moving more like a dancer than a stalwart warrior. The estoc seems like a more fitting weapon. Even so, the greatsword seems almost light in her hands, with how easily she flicks it this way and that; testing Victory's defenses in a flurry of checked swings.

All feints, because the real blow comes when she suddenly whips the blade low, trying to score a slash across Victory's legs.

Victory (810) has posed:
    Feint, feint, another feint, and yet another. The more false blows that come, the more irritated Victory appears to become with her opponent. All the while, however, she's managing to keep her footing, parry blows that seem unable to be dodged, but then comes the true strike. One that Victory was certain was another feint! Alas, it is not so. The weapon finds its mark, cutting both at the digimon's white hide and one of the two straps holding her leg guard to her limb. Frustrating!

    Given a moment, Victory leaps backward, landing first on the unharmed leg, follwed shortly by the other along with a telling wince. The reason for the spacing made is obvious after a moment. Victory causes the Dramon Breaker's blade to split, causing the single weapon to become two. "Lets make this more interesting," Victory states before whirling forward, slicing, slashing, carving, and hoping to reduce the modest amount of armor the knight has to nothing at all.

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
The flurry of blows may be frustrating for Victory, but they're an educational experience for Lucatiel. She learns more about her opponent in those few seconds of sparring than she has with all the information the tournament's published on the dragon warrior.

As she withdraws, she eyes the Dramon Breaker warily. It's a pretty thing, and dangerous. All it's going to take is a few solid strikes with such a large weapon to put her down, and she knows it. Her priority will have to be staying out of its reach... an interesting proposal, considering the fact that she has no ranged weaponry to speak of.

Oho, and apparently it has a few hidden tricks, too. Behind her mask, Lucatiel squints as the blade splits, revealing itself as more of a dual weapon than a singular blade.

It's not the armour that suffers for the onslaught of blows, but everything else. By the time Victory finishes, Lucatiel's shield arm is left in red ruin, blood spattering onto the sand with every movement, breathing ragged and echoing hollowly behind the mask. The arena sand swims before her eyes, and she has to take a moment to shake her head to clear it.

"I had not expected... a trick like that," she rasps, cocking her head to eye Victory from the corner of the mask's eye slot. "I am impressed."

Also bleeding profusely, but she's trying not to think too hard about that part.

Staggering slightly, she circles again, watching Victory and searching for an opening -- and once she thinks she's found it, she leaps forward, all but pouncing on the dragon warrior, attempting to shove that blade straight into Victory's side.

Victory (810) has posed:
    Even with two blades and a lot of armor, the blades of this knight are finding their mark each time their owner asks it of them. An attempt to move away from the strike simply ends up with the blade sinking into her side. A howl erupts and then, in anger, one of the blade swings for the Knight's own, trying to remove it from where it pierced. That one -stung-.

    More code drifts into the air, the wound seems to pulse a dull red light, flicking between red, orange, yellow, and back again in a cycle, like a warning light. "You have tricks of your own," Victory replies, favoring the side that was pierced. Her frame turns, presenting her uninjured side to the duelist, hoping to keep her already weakened defenses from being damaged further. There is no sudden rush for the knight this time. Instead, a long step tries to take Victory within range before one blade comes in from the side with the other close behind, both swinging upward and across violently as if to try and launch the knight into the air.

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
In direct contrast to Victory's visible agitation, the Masked Knight is calm and methodical in her approach to the battle. Maybe that's why she's risen so far in the ranks. Where she lacks the brute strength to challenge her opponents directly, she relies on keeping a clear head. She seems to favour bleeding them, rather than crushing them.

The code is given another odd look, although from outside the mask, it's not much more than a deliberate tilt of her masked face. She really ought to ask what that nonsense is, once this is over with.

Lucatiel hisses like a cat dumped in water as the blades come for her, swung with all the force the dragon warrior can muster. Although she prevents them from cutting into anything critically important, they still cut into things that are slightly less critically important but nonetheless excruciatingly painful. The blow also sends her sprawling into the sand, launched by sheer momentum.

It's a long moment before she can pick herself up, although the desert wind thankfully snatches away the sound of her pained groan as she does.

Staggering on the shifting sands, she retrieves her greatsword, flexing gauntleted hands around its hilt and circling once more. Even with the mask obscuring her face, it's clear that she's studying Victory closely; very closely indeed, looking for even a ghost of an opening she can take advantage of--

--and she finds it. No sooner has Victory moved to take a sideways step than the Knight of Mirrah lunges forward, whipping that greatsword around in a deceptively quick strike, trying to savage that already-wounded leg.

Victory (810) has posed:
    There was little room for doubt, this was a duelist that was able to catch sight of the smallest weakness. The reaction time needed to find, and then take advantage of, such weaknessess was impressive. Just a single step putting Victory at risk was enough for the knight to lunge forth. While one of the blades moves and deflects a fair amount of the momentum in the strike, the blade still finds a way to reach the injured limb. While not the most damaging strike, it still causes Victory to drop to a knee. That -hurt- and it was clear that focusing on the injury would slow the digimon further and further.

    Still, even from one knee, Victory wasn't going to be an easy opponent to lash out at. After a breath is sucked in through a clenched jaw, the warrior pushes off of her good leg before trying to just ram a shoulder into the knight's frame. No blades, no fancy footwork, just a simple shoulder-check. Brute force was something that Victory had in high amounts. With her size, she was certain to use it as an advantage eventually!

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
In spending a few seconds scanning to find those swords, Lucatiel overlooks the clear and obvious threat of Victory's large, armoured shoulder, which makes kind of a 'crunch' sound when it smashes into Lucatiel's ribs. She reels back with a huff of displaced air, shield-arm curling protectively (and gingerly) around her side.

She's not off her balance for very long, though, attempting to drive the sword straight at the join of Victory's neck and shoulder while the dragon warrior is still in reach. It's a brutal and straightforward thrust, one made with all of the Masked Knight's weight behind it.

Strategically, it might make more sense to bide her time and strike out at that wounded leg, but... well, you do what you have to do! In this instance, faced with a bigger and stronger opponent, biding her time is probably the more dangerous game to play.

Victory (810) has posed:
    With her neck in such a position, it was an opportunity waiting to be taken. The feeling of steel sinking into flesh causes enough worry that instead of reeling in pain or howling in anguish, Victory instead drops one of the blades and throws a vicious blow with a fist, the limb rushing upward to knock sword and owner away before staggering backward from the bite of the Knight's blade. That one was -bad-. If Victory had been a creature of flesh that could have been far, far worse.

    A moment passes, she quickly moves to retrieve half of her weapon, the other blade ahead of her to ward off a counter attack.. She'd only need a moment, she just wasn't sure the duelist would allow her to have it.

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
Oh dear gods that is a very strong fist. Knocked back by the force of the punch, Lucatiel coughs and wheezes, as much for the air robbed from her as to check and make sure important organs are still in their proper /place/. It's bad enough that even stagering back a few steps, her eyes are watering.

"Touched a nerve, did I?" she wheezes. She also gives a thin sound that might have been a laugh, in better circumstances. "Good. I prefer my opponents to have some spirit."

Already she's swatting at Victory, trying to prevent the dragon warrior from retrieving her half-weapon, but Lucatiel isn't fast enough. They're back on an even playing field, although it seems to be tilting very slightly into Victory's favour. The Masked Knight is in visible pain, breathing hard and clutching her side, where she's probably nursing a few broken ribs.

As she'd done before, she circles, although this time she proceeds in a different direction. Victory is studied closely, the tip of that massive greatsword flicking this way and that, wielded easily in spite of how heavy a blade it looks to be.

There. Lucatiel rushes her opponent again, striking at Victory's wounded leg with a series of savage blows. Her breath saws against her throat even as she tries to ignore the pain of her own wounds. Such an offensive seems to cost her, and dearly, but it seems she doesn't have any more intention of backing down than Victory does.

Victory (810) has posed:
    More feints. SIGH. While Victory has used them in the past, the amount of testing blows that have been used against her were becoming a nuisance. Perhaps the knight was right about hitting a nerve? "Better to protect the neck then lose it," she points out in a rasp. Both the blades of the Breaker play the knight's game...

    And then, once more, she finds the opening. The first strike stabs in clean, the second slids off one of Victory's blades, and then the third stabs in once more. It is very clear how heavily Victory is favoring the limb, now, though with so much of the sword fight behind them, Victory decides to protect the injured limb in a very different way.

    Quickly, one of the two blades is attached to the digimon's bracer and pointed at the knight. No slash or stab comes. Instead, the length of the blade glows with a bright orange energy before a series of plasma blasts start to rush off the blade at the duelist. Victory doesn't look like she'll be letting up the barrage anytime soon! And she still has the other blade for defense as needed..

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
Lucatiel has about enough time to tilt her head curiously at the blade pointed at her. When wielding a blade, isn't the idea generally to--

Orange is the last thing she sees, because there are suddenly blasts of plasma eating through her armour and finding very painful purchase in the skin beneath. With another huff of breath, as much from pain as from exertion, she throws herself aside before they can damage the mask over her face. Or, you know, her face.

The tally of damage is pretty bad, though; her shield-arm is looking pretty bloody and burnt, and she's clearly favouring the arm. So much so, in fact, that she simply drops the shield; which is warped on one edge where it ate a blast of plasma. No great loss, there. That frees her up to wield the blade two-handed.

The Knight of Mirrah simply forces her way through the barrage of plasma, ignoring the smell of singed cloth and flesh and leather. She'll pay for it later, although she frankly feels like she's paying /now/, as that hurts terribly. As the saying goes, though; no pain, no gain.

Bracing a boot against the dry desert sand, she takes a swing as quick and hard as she can with that sword grasped in both hands, trying to do the maximum amount of damage to that already-wounded leg in a minimum of time, because she's probably going to get blasted for getting this close.

Again.

Victory (810) has posed:
    Shot. Shot. Another Shot. Victory's attack wasn't going to slow down! When the knight rushes in, in spite of it, the digimon's other blade is brought up to deflect. While the duelist may not have found her leg, she found something a bit better. A piercing strike right through her midsection. The deflection did -not- serve Victory well and seends her reeling away from the knight's asssault.

    A spray of pixels and code explodes outward as Victory backpedals, her free hand clutching the wound left behind. It smarted, there was no doubt of it, and for the first time in the tournament Victory wasn't feeling quite up to her name. A rather violent shake of her head tosses away any thought of doubt and clouds the pain long enough for her to take one last shot at the knight. Multiple shots. The full greatsword is reassembled and then, with a surge of whatever digimon have for andrenaline takes over. With the blade clenched in both hands, a massive overhead swing comes down, trying to crash into the warrior's body with the flat of the blade. Why? So she can follow up with a series of slashes from three other directions!

Lucatiel of Mirrah (66) has posed:
Once more Lucatiel finds herself eyeing that strange amalgam of data where there should be blood. Don't living creatures bleed when cut? Well, excepting a particularly far-gone Hollow, anyway. That stream of data is just unnerving.

All too quickly she finds herself scrambling to try and parry or block Victory's onslaught, greatsword flicking its way to each attack as though it were a living thing. She's not fast enough to block everything, though, and each blow that finds purchase earns a grunt of pain from the Masked Knight, voice echoing hollowly behind the mask.

Rather than sit there and take that vicious overhand chop, Lucatiel attempts to twist away, at the same time raising her greatsword to try and deflect what she can. It's not enough, but it does turn what would have been a mortal blow into something considerably less serious. Victory's greatsword instead bites into one of Lucatiel's upraised arms with a decidedly unsettling 'crunch,' and the snarl Lucatiel gives as she reels away is decidedly a pained sound.

Immediately, almost reflexively, she attempts to slam the business end of her blade into Victory's exposed torso. The gut works, but she'll take just about anything she can get, so long as her own cavalry greatsword can shimmy past that armour. She's not picky!

Victory (810) has posed:
    And as simply as the battle started, the battle comes to an end. There was supposed to be another large downward swing, however, in trying to bring down such an assault, the duelist found a mark to tempting to pass up. Struck, Victory freezes, peers at the knight for a long moment, actually -smiles-, and then teeters backward, dropping the breaker, and hits the ground with a thud expected of a warrior of her size. Game Over.