2818/WMAT BQ2 Kirito vs Saber of Silver

WMAT BQ2 Kirito vs Saber of Silver
Date of Scene:	16 August 2015
Location:	WMAT Arena - Spinach Wastes
Synopsis:	Kirito battles Saber of Silver in the WMAT Bracket B qualifying rounds!
Cast of Characters:	Kirito, 227, 415

---

Kirito has posed:
    Kirito likes to arrive in STYLE for these matches. Particularly after his streak of defeats in the prior matches. Both against girls. The first was a martial artist, the second... a shipgirl, however that worked.

    He doesn't really question those things.

    But today his opponent is a swordswoman of purportedly great beauty and skill. That has him pumped!

    A tiny blip of light flashes down from the skies. Moments after it's in view, the dark meteor plunges towards the ground at the starting position for one of the combatants. Kirito strikes the ground hard enough to kick up a plume of dust. Within a few seconds the winds have carried it away, revealing him standing in plain black clothes and seemingly unarmed.

    Not for long, though.

    A few gestures with one hand... and the air around him flashes blue. A heavy black coat materialies from pixels around his body, and following it... his blade appears, sheathed across his back. the scabbard boasts a tiny white wyvern emblem, the symbol of Lizbeth's Smithy. In one smooth motion Kirito draws the black blade, Vox Unitas, from its resting place. He expertly twirls the weapon several times before laying it across his shoulders, behind his head... smiling fiercely.

    He's not just confident. He's EAGER to see what'll come of this, win or lose. It's not everyday the Black Swordsman fights an opponent like this!

Saber of Silver (227) has posed:
Although she's not able to do anything fancy like teleporting in, the silver-haired Saber just materializes out in her place in the field. There are some advantages to being able to take spirit form, after all. She takes several steps toward her opponent, moving with serene grace, and inclines her head in greeting. "Kirito. I've heard a lot about you. Let's make this a good match, hm?" Her hand hovers on first one sword, then the other, and settles on the shorter of the two blades.

If Kirito has done any studying into Japanese cultural artifacts, he will probably recognize the sword the instant it's drawn: Kusanagi no Tsurugi, the Grass-Cutting Sword. Saber grips it firmly in both hands, once more inclining her head toward the swordsman to indicate her preparedness.

Kirito has posed:
    The Hero of Aincrad. The Black Swordsman. Every time Kirito's reminded of his slight bit of fame he inwardly flinches. Is he really worthy of people having heard of him?

    His expression twitches slightly, but the smile mostly remains.

    Until that legendary weapon's exposed for all to see. THEN his eyes widen slightly. For a brief instant he goes from confident swordsman to boggling, graceless young man, eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

    His expression soon narrows, and Saber of Silver finds herself being subjected to a rather intense extra bit of scrutiny. She's probably seen such looks before. She's being sized up extra-carefully now.

    "What a weapon to just suddenly bring out... this will definitely be a good one!" He's ON EDGE as it gets now. Being up against a legendary sword is bad enough, but it's very unlikely the wielder isn't worthy of it.

    "Let's go!" Battle fury flickering across his face, the boy ducks down and CHARGES... and dang is he fast on those feet. He eats up the distance in no time at all, coming in with a fairly straightforward upwards diagonal slash across Saber's body!

Saber of Silver (227) has posed:
Saber tilts her head just slightly at Kirito's reaction to her blade. "Ah, you know it, then. It's hard to keep some things secret..." Though others have seen her fighting with that weapon, so keeping it in hiding isn't an advantage anymore. At least she has a few secrets left.

As Kirito charges straight toward her, the silver-haired Saber blinks in surprise. She didn't expect quite so direct of an approach! The first slash catches her by surprise, and the blade strikes her kimono... which doesn't tear, though there is a visible line and a brief shimmer as the magic in the fabric absorbs some of the damage. It seems that kimono is her own sort of armor.

Shifting her grip on her blade, Saber takes a step forward and swings, bringing Kusanagi horizontally across Kirit's chest, hopefully before he can lower his arms to guard!

Kazusa Ujikane (415) has posed:
    Up in the crowd, one very vocal audience member can be heard shouting and cheering for Saber's from-thin-air appearance. "Sabeeeeer~! Go get him, I'll buy you three-course yakiniku if you win!" She's even waving a silver penant with a moon emblem on it.

Kirito has posed:
    Speed is paramount to Kirito's style! Speed, followed by strength. Acting before his opponent can react is all part of the strategy... and this time it paid off. His triumph is short-lived though. He was expecting some reaction of pain, maybe blood or a flinch and having to pull his blows. Instead... the blade cuts through a magical barrier of some kind. "What--"

    This leaves him open, of course. Kusanagi cuts right through his GreatWyrm Coat... sort of. The black garment he wears offers similarly tough resistance to Saber's efforts, and instead of shimmering... where it passes through it leaves a glowing crimson mark. A damage decal of sorts, that quickly fades. "Uweh... so that's how it is."

    But this leaves an opening of his own! Kirito plunges his empty hand forward for as straightforward a punch as one could hope for. Whether this lands or is simply a distraction, he uses it to put his sword into position for a follow-up. Vox Unitas glows crimson... and erupts with flame. The very next instant he steps forwards, twirling the blade around and upwards in an UNLIKELY-looking manuever that's nevertheless best not underestimated. A double-upwards slash from the spinning blade unleashes a wave of flames!

Saber of Silver (227) has posed:
"Mmm.. I see." Well, she doesn't completely see, but it's useful to know that's how Kirito takes damage. It means she won't have to hold back at all. She shifts a bit, preparing for a follow-up strike, when her opponent just punches her. There's another surprise, and Saber staggers back a few steps. He can't be planning to strike with his sword from there, so what is he up to?

Fire. It's what cost Saber her previous match because she wasn't ready for it. Here, though, she has enough warning. Though the wall of flames rushes toward her and scorches her kimono, Saber remains calm. "Kusanagi no Tsurugi, return those flames from whence they came!" She twirls elegantly, hair wafting in a breeze that picks up suddenly as she directs her sword forward gently, rather than swinging it. The remaining flames swirl around in front of her before the wind picks up, suddenly blowing the fire right back at Kirito!

Kirito has posed:
    No sooner has Kirito unleashed rage spike and he sees Saber deciding to tank it that he realizes his mistake. Crap, why did he use a FIRE MOVE there?! His eyes go wide in a flash of panic, but there's nothig he can do for that one second after the skill was unleashed.

    He lands right amidst the flame wave, getting splashed with environmental damage. His HP further ticks down!

    But he side flips away from it before it gets too bad and raises his blade in defense, grinning in a bit of chagrin. "So that really is what I thought... awesome. You must be someone special." There's nothing but respect and admiration in his tone once he regains his bearings.

    Vox Unitas is confidently twirled, then extended out in an en garde. "Sorry. I'm not making that mistake again." He promtly draws the weapon BACK, and this time it glows GREEN. A wind effect, white swirls and crescents, gathers around the blade. Just as fast he thrusts it FOWARD.

    He is, of course, several body lenghts AWAY from Saber of Silver, but this apparently doesn't matter. The thrust's sheer FORCE unleashes a pulsing kinetic impact at the speed of sound!

Saber of Silver (227) has posed:
"Mm... I may be." Green eyes twinkle mischievously as she glances from Kusanagi to Kirito. "I'm sorry to say that you won't be getting any useful hints from me, though. My true identity is something that has to remain secret." She fixes her gaze meaningfully on Kirito for a moment before finally relaxing her expression. "You're free to make the mistake again, if you'd like." There's a faint smirk playing on her lips as she watches the green energy collect around the weapon. She's not really sure what that means... at least not until it happens. And while she might normally be able to do something about it, the movement speed of that force wave is too fast for her to properly react. The blast strikes her fully, and though she leans into it, she's still forced back several inches, hair whipping violently around her.

"Nnn.. Green is wind. I see." Saber nods once, gripping her sword, then lifts it slightly back. "Come, winds of hurt and winds of healing. Strike down the one before me." The Servant's movements are powerful, yet elegant, bringing Kusanagi across her body several times before finally thrusting it forward and murmuring, "Kamaitachi."

A series of invisible blades of wind suddenly fire forward at Kirito, each one coming in sequence after the movement of her sword. True to the name, the first few have a forceful impact, while others feel like razor-edged blades, yet through wouldn't actually draw blood if Kirito's avatar had any.

Kirito has posed:
    Blow for blow, turn for turn, this is quickly getting out of hand! Kirito's thoughts accelerate within ther ush of battle, giving him plenty of time to consider his options. There really aren't many. There's nowhere to DODGE. Attempting to PARRY WIND probably won't go so well... but he has no choice here.

    His sword's held out just in the nick of time. It again hums sharply, gathers the wind... and promptly spins fast enough to BLUR. His wrist becomes a whirl of flesh-tone and black, leaving him slightly shielded by the propeller-like spin of Vox Unitas out in front of him. It's another Sword Skill, but one hell of an odd one!

    And it seems to be almost entirely worthless against the Kamaitachi! Wind blades strike against the Spinning Shield technique and are redirected slightly away from Kirito.

    But this is far from perfect. All it ends up doing is twisting their paths slightly so that his arms, legs, and gut take a hell of a beating. SOMEHOW or another he manages to move his head back and forth just enough to avoid anything worse than a few grazes to his cheeks.

    In the end, only his very center of mass and vitals were protected. he's COVERED in glowing gashes after it's over... and that fact has him looking pretty panicked.

    He'd better stop fooling around.

    The boy does a few odd gestures, reaching out to poke the air four times in different places in under a second. Clearly a very practiced motion. It's very practiced indeed, because it coincides with him rushing in with another maddeningly-quick charge!

    There's a flash of blue from his back, but very little time to see what exactly it is. But since his empty hand expertly reaches up to grasp SOMETHING, Saber of Silver will probably have no trouble figuring out jsut what...

    Because the moment Kirito's upon her his SECOND SWORD's drawn cleanly. A crystal-blue one-handed longsword seemingly, yes, made of some crystal-like material. And he brings BOTh weapons around. There's no glow this time! Instead he unleashes a series of fantastically swift strikes from every direction. it LOOKS wild, but it's actually quite well balanced.

Saber of Silver (227) has posed:
The first strike is cleanly parried, sword striking sword and giving off a shower of sparks. Saber pushes back against it, but catching that first blade leaves her open to the other, and Divination manages to slice through the sleeve of her kimono, drawing blood from the arm underneath. Saber brings her weapon around defensively to parry more of the strikes, but one more manages to tag her side, again slicing through the fabric of the kimono and drawing blood.

While Saber has two swords herself, she rarely uses both of them at once. Whether that's for a reason or personal preference, she still keeps that katana sheathed at her hip. One foot slides back, and Kusanagi is swung around again, this time without any special incantation. And yet, as it moves, a soft flow of mana forms around it, gathering the air into a sharper blade to sheathe the weapon and increase cutting power.

Kirito has posed:
    The Servant might detect a hint of guilt - or, perhaps, reluctance - the moment Kirito sees blood. This costs him pretty badly, though it's not exactly a mistake he'll feel real regret over.

    But the tiny mistake does leave a nasty opening and slows down his defense. Both blades swing around a hair too slow to establish a proper counter to Kusanagi's path, and the strike ends up drawing a nasty path right across his body! Kirito's blown backwards, tumbling through the air...

    But things just get WEIRDER as his HP meter drains down to match the damage.

    Weird indeed. Light flows from his back, forms almost instantly into four translucent black dragonfly-like wings... wings that vibrate with a sound like wind instruments, and send him zipping back down at bullet-like speeds with BOTh blades coming around for another series of high-speed strikes!

    This time, there's enough force behind all of it to CRATER the ground. A huge plume of dust and debris flies EVERYWHERe when the new skirmish starts!

Saber of Silver (227) has posed:
That guilt doesn't go unnoticed, but Saber is going to have to take advantage of every edge she can get. She knows she'll be fine, after all, and if Kirito wants to feel bad about hurting his opponent in a fight, well... maybe that will leave an opening.

Flight, however, was not something she was expecting to see on the swordsman. "Wings..." She defends as well as she can, but at best she's able to deflect a few of the strikes, but several of them strike home, crossing Saber's arms and shoulders with a number of slashes. This wasn't good, though... if she lost control of one or both of her arms, the fight would be over in an instant, and she couldn't dare use her Noble Phantasm in a place like this.

Despite the force of the strikes, Saber manages to stay on her feet, albeit feet now at the bottom of a crater formed from the sheer force of the impacts. "Kusanagi no Tsurugi, give swiftness to my strike!" Green eyes track Kirito as he flies, and she waits for just the right moment before darting forward. The result is like something out of an old period film, as Saber dashes by Kirito's side and several feet past him, trailing leaves, dust, grass, and, for some reason, sakura petals in her wake. She slowly lowers her sword, but how effective was the strike?

Kirito has posed:
    Once Kirito's got solid footing himself and sees what stance Saber's taking, he answers it with one of his own. His own stance staggers out with one leg forward and another back, weight on his back leg... and sword raised up horizontally as if ready for a thrust. "HUAP--"

    in the same exact moment that Saber of Silver blitzes forth for a slash, Kirito answers the charge with a lightning-swift motion of his own. Vox Unitas, gleaming bluish-white, cuts a brilliant line through the air as Kirito is seemingly one place one moment... and past Saber of Silver the next. The 'line' in the air frosts over, blossoming with icy fractals.

    A line's been also drawn across Kirito's gut and side, albeit a shallow one. The question is, what about his opponent?

    "She's strong... I'm barely keeping up!" The boy mutters to himself, alarmed.

Saber of Silver (227) has posed:
A few moments after lowering her sword and glancing back over her shoulder... Saber suddenly jerks froward, falling to one knee. A slit opens in the side of her kimono, and a bref spurt of blood stains the fabric, though crystals of ice soon form over the cut cloth and cover over the wound. This may not actually be better.

This will probably take more mana than she'd hoped to have to expend today, but Saber isn't going to give up just yet. She flicks a gaze toward the stands, inclining her head toward where she can see Kazusa is sitting, and slowly closes her eyes. "Let the heavens themselves heed my cry," she mumbles softly, lifting her head. The Servant shifts her grip on Kusanagi, lifting it high, then brings it down as she turns to face Kirito. Above, in the sky, the clouds begin to move... but maybe it's just the wind coming in.

Rather than charge in, Saber affixes her gaze on Kirito, green eyes suddenly sharp and intense. "Heavensfall." She makes a single stroke with her sword at the air, and nothing happens.

For about a second and a half.

Then an enormous force of pressure builds in the skies, and a harrowing shockwave of swirling winds slams down toward Kirito, coming from so high in the heavens that the clouds directly above split and separate.

Kazusa Ujikane (415) has posed:
    Up in the stands, Kazusa has gone quiet, watching intently... but her gaze meets Saber's just long enough to know that her Servant is going to need extra energy. She has more than enough to spare; all it takes is a bit of focus to push some along their link. "...do your best, Saber..."

Kirito has posed:
    According to most logic, Kirito would've assumed the fight would end there. Either he would go down, or Saber would.

    In this case it's neither. And that leaves him vulnerable for a second or so. His body refuses to budge in those few heartbeats after using a Sword Skill!

    Which gives Saber of Silver ample time to ready the kind of ultimate attack Kirito had feared that she might be capable of. Were the timing off just SLIGHTLY, everything would work out differently. Because the instant he can move again, Kirito's once again going for a straightforward charge!

    Just SLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHTLY too slow.

    "Huuuuaghk---" The wind POUNDS down on him right as he's nearly upon Saber of Silver. Pummeled by the tip of what feels like a tornado drilling into his back and driving him down into the ground. It has him down on his knees, struggling to rise. Debris flies everywhere as his HP plummets down, down, DOWN to a few slivers.

    Down, down to 20%... 15%... it's in the red!

    And it HAD been in the yellow...

    Up he stands though, with a berserker's battle fury in his eyes. "It's not over yet! OOOOAH!!"

    BOTh weapons are raised horizontally and out to each side... and this time, BOTH surge with yellow electric might! It all comes down to one last Sword Skill.

    Unlike the previous single blows, this one comes in like a raging wolf. The blades criss-cross, slashing back and forth horizontally again and again, several times a second. Each slash leaves glowing trails and every impact flares with lightning. It's top-notch video game special effects rendered in reality, and it's quite a lightshow. The technique transitions quickly into Kirito bringing each weapon to either side and spinning them swiftly like propellers with Saber their target! And FINALLY... the momentum's transferred into a double thrust for the belly!

Saber of Silver (227) has posed:
While it may have control over fire and wind, Kusanagi can't do a thing with lightning. At least, lightning elemental magic charged on a sword. As Kirito survives that final strike and moves in to attack, Saber brings her sword up, preparing to defend herself.

The first few strikes, she manages to parry somewhat, though with her wounds it's a painful process, and her strength is not quite what it should be. One misplaced block, however, and Kirito manages a clean strike to her side, dropping her left arm. Once her guard has been broken, the strikes hit one after the other, each one making another cut in that ornamented kimono, each oen prompting more blood...

And the final strike to her gut sinks both blades in deep. Saber's eyes go wide, and she slumps down to her knees, bringing a hand to her mouth as she coughs up blood. "W..well.. done..." Moving slowly, she returns Kusanagi to its sheath, taking a few more struggled breaths. She'll stand up again... once she's had some time to rest.

Kirito has posed:
    Perhaps taht was overkill. Kirito ends up wincing, eyes scrunched tight once Saber of Silver's guard finally goes down and she's beaten back by the onslaught! There's blood. Too much blood. Every spurt he sees is another guilty pang on his heart.

    Curse this darned tournament. He loses badly in the first round last year against a cute martial artist, then gets blown to bits by a cute shipgirl in this one's first qualifier... and now that he finally WINS a match it doesn't really feel like a victory at all.

    Siiiiiiiiiigh.

    Kirito doesn't execute his typical flourishy sword-sheathing and instead cleans both weapons carefully before sliding both into place into their scabbards across his back.

    "... That almost got me. Sorry, I went too far..." He feels bad indeed.

    But he extends a hand regardless to help Saber up when she's ready. His face is glum despite the praise... but only for a bit. It's clear from the way his expression wavers that he's not really HAPPY with this turnout for one reason or another.

Saber of Silver (227) has posed:
Ah, that expression. "Don't apologize. It weakens your victory." She manages a faint smile, covering her mouth with a hand. "Don't worry, though." She slowly reaches up her less bloody hand, taking Kirito's help to rise to her feet. "I'm very tough." Another cough, though she turns away to do it. The blood is wiped off on a sleeve, and she inclines her head toward the swordsman. "I wouldn't die even if you killed me." Her smile somewhat enigmatic, she glances toward the stands. "It seems I won't get that yakiniku after all." Not that she was fighting for food bribery.

Kirito has posed:
    That's relieving to hear, definitely. Kirito's expresion brightens suddenly. "Every match has a winner and loser. I'd've rather fought you in the finals, not the prelims." He finally says, after getting his bearings back. "I'm ready for a rematch at any time!"

    He can't stay down with her being so supportive!