Emily: 4
Mizuki: 4
Noriko: 4
Shichiro: 3
The Aramitama sweeps and Mizuki vanishes reappearing above, blade in hand. What she now wielded could hardly be called a sword. Rather it is a hulking hunk of metal forged with no consideration for weight, for balance, or wielder. An oversized overweight guillotine torn straight from the pages of fiction. Impractical to swing, even with her gifts. But of course, she wasn't going to swing, she was simply going to let it fall.
And fall it does, falling towards Shichiro's head. She can see his eyes widen, his jaw clench that little bit harder, and then his body shift, twisting to meet the blade cigarette first.
"Don't let the Cigarette go out!"Darkness ripples forth, masking the cigarette and blowing Shichiro just out of the way as the blade sinks into the floor and shatters. The cigarette was the key to all this she figured. The Aramitama's freedom and Shichiro's demise. She was sure of it now, the former was trying to snuff it out and the former tried to protect it. That must be all that remains. The final part of their little covenant. One last smoke before it consumes his soul. Best not to aim for the face then.
Shichiro's body rolls onto its chest and pushes off the ground, scrambling upright as beams of arcane energy explode where he was mere moments ago. It raises its hands, catching Noriko's spear as she charges forwards, her momentum pushing the man backwards right into a spear that was rushing in from behind.
Blood. Blood splatter across Noriko's vest. Shichiro's blood. She had damn near impaled him, the tip of her windheld spear poking just out of his chest.
She can see his eyes bug out. Hear him as he chokes down his scream, his cough, the blood rising into his mouth. She can see Emily's shadow holding the cigarette, keeping it in his mouth. And she can see in that instant, that lapse of concentration, the Aramitama asserting an even greater control.
His hands and forearms glow. It is not a glow of otherworldly radiance, not a glow of baleful light. It is a deep orange glow. The glow of a gunbarrel heated from use. Smoke begins to rise. Gunsmoke. He grips her held spear with one hand, and his other fist crashes forwards in a vicious bodyblow. The threat is simple enough - let go of her weapon, or be destroyed.
But, there is one more choice to make. One more decision in all this. Vasavi Shakti. That old technique of hers. She could enlarge the spear inside him. Fuck him up real good. Course with Shichiro's state right now, he well, she doesn't think he'll be able to hold on. He will be consumed and the Aramitama will grow in power. But, it will be badly hurt, or be forced to use a good chunk of its new power to heal itself.
It's a simple enough question. Bank her winnings now, or hold off and try for a better payout.
Emily
Status: Fine, 1 healing potion
World Line: 5 5 3 2 1 2 5 1 1 3
Alterations: 5.0
Resolve: 3
Mizuki
Status: Fine, 1 healing potion
World Line: 4 5 2 3 1 2 5 3 2 5
Alterations: 4.5
Resolve: 3
Noriko
Status: Fine, the spear she is holding is currently being grappled by Shichiro, another one of her spears is lodged in Shichiro, 1 healing potion
World Line: 6 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 1 3
Alterations: 5.0
Resolve: 3
Shichiro
Status: Very badly hurt, impaled from behind by one of Noriko's spears, Skip A Beat (2 Turns Remaining), concentration has lapsed, cigarette is held in his mouth with Acacius' assistance
Location: Near Mizuki, Noriko, and Emily.
Details: Gripping the spear Noriko is holding and trying to strike her with a punch.
Well, kudos to Storm. If Emily hadn't intervened, Shichiro wouldn't been fully consumed and the Aramitama would have had a good chance to mitigate or avoid the damage her strike would have dealt as it would have snuffed out the cigarette before it struck him.
Noriko's interception couldn't be executed since the sweep-and-teleport sequence was so quick it happened before her spears could close in and Mizuki's position meant it wasn't really practical to fire at Shichiro until he rolled away from her. Noriko's subsequent actions were done through auto-optimization after I confirmed with Chev she would not like to alter anything in light of that new information.
Auto-optimization meant that Noriko struck Shichiro with one spear from behind rather than the two she had allocated since the nature of the collision meant that concentrating all the force of the impact to a single point was more effective.
Author
Topic: Tengoku no Owari RR IC - The Dragonslayer (Read 2632 times)