"By the way, Kiba-kun."
"What is it, Sempai?"
The Queen, Knight and Rook of the Gremory Peerage are walking through the streets of the replica city after reaching the site. Their movements are slow and cautious, aware that the unfamiliar location offers a lot of possible hiding spots and ambush points that the enemy can take advantage of. That's why Koneko is at the front, using her enhanced Nekomata sense of smell and hearing to look out for the presence of the Phenex Peerage. Behind her trail Kiba and Akeno, the latter suddenly addressing the blonde swordsman.
"I can understand Koneko-chan, because she brings them everywhere she goes-" Akeno tilts her head in the direction of what she's talking about.
Kitten boxing gloves. There is no other term to describe the seeming bizarre-looking pair of gloves currently wore by the small white-haired girl. One black and the other white, the pair of boxing gloves are shaped like anime-ish cat's heads. The black one is grinning mischievously, while the white one has a stoic expression. But despite the eccentricity, both Knight and Queen know those are specially made gloves based on a design commonly sold to Devils participating in Rating Games. While nothing special, they are more durable than anything human made and thus a good weapon for Devils like Koneko that fight bare-handed.
"-But where you kept your armor?" She finishes, referring to the light armor Kiba is currently wearing: knee-guards, shoulder-guards and gauntlets. "Did you learn the spell to store things in a sub-dimension?"
"Alas, no. Theory is okay, but practical magic is still very difficult for me." He shakes his head while smiling, unbothered. "Try taking a closer look."
He holds up one gauntlet for her to see. Akeno stares at it for a few seconds before realization makes her eyes widen. "This-! Swords?!"
Indeed, at a closer look it could be seen that the gauntlet's surface is made of many tiny blunt swords no bigger than a nail linked by rings over the fingers and the palm and welded together on the back of the hand. A quick glance confirms that the other pieces of armor are the same.
"My Sacred Gear can only create swords." He explains. "However, I realized only using it to create standard swords limits me, so I decided to be creative and see how much can I push the boundaries of my power."
"Impressive." Akeno comments with a hand over her mouth, impressed at her kohai's resourcefulness. "Did you come up with it all by yourself?"
"Not...exactly."
"Uh?"
Kiba makes a strange face, a mix of incredulity and nervous chuckle. "Do you know that on the Internet you can find threads with hundreds of pages where people post what they would do if they had the power to create swords out of nothing?"
The black-haired buxom beauty puts a slender finger on her lower lips, feeling like she's missing out a hidden joke because of ignorance. However, before she could question Kiba-
"Look out!"
-Both are tackled by Koneko and pushed back.
BOOM!
An explosion goes off in the place previously occupied by the three. Instantly recognizing the danger Akeno pushes her hand forward, creating a magic circle that forms a barrier. Just in time for another magical projectile to hit it and detonates, straining the barrier but failing to penetrate it.
"Aww, I missed."
Flying up in the air with her wings spread, Yubelluna's tone is less disappointed and more mocking.
"...Cheap shot." Koneko glares at Raiser's Queen.
"Normally I wouldn't agree with an enemy, but she's right." Coming out from behind a building are two more Devils.
"Let's do this instead! I'm the Knight of Raiser-sama, Karlamine! Rias Gremory's Knight! I challenge you to a duel!"
"My name is Xuelan! I'm a Rook of Raiser-sama! I know there is a Rook among you: let's fight and end this quickly!"
"Ara ara." Akeno laughs, but her eyes have a dangerous glint as she spreads her own wings and takes flight to stand in front of Yubelluna. "Three versus three? How convenient. Then I will be your opponent, Raiser's Queen, Yubelluna-san. Or should I call you the [Bomb Queen]?"
"That name leaves a sour taste in my mouth." The enemy queen's smile dims. "Then again, [Priestess of Lightning] sounds ironic when applied to a Devil." She eyes Akeno's miko attire up and down with a challenging air. "I was hoping to fight you though. To make something out of this pointless fight."
"Ara ara. Fufufu. That, is what I honestly find strange." Akeno cups her cheek with one hand. "All the other members of Raiser Phenex's Peerage hold a grudge for the failed wedding. All beside you." She smiles mischievously. "One would think you're glad your King hasn't married, giving you more time to seduce him."
"So what?"
Yubelluna's blunt answer makes Akeno drops her smile to assume an expression of surprise.
"It's bad enough that my Master is a lecher who loves big breasts and a dumbass that wanted a [Little Sister] and [Tsundere] type character because of
fashion! Do you have any idea how difficult is to keep his interest from waving every time a harlot with big breasts happens to pass in his field of vision? And then he said he's going to marry! My family served the Phenex with generations, why I alone must have it so hard?!"
She said all that without breathing. Akeno blinks a couple times before an impish smile forms on her lips. "Ara. Do I smell the scent of forbidden romance?"
"No." A sphere of compressed fire appears in Yubelluna's hand. "It's the reek of your flesh burning!"
She tosses the bomb at Akeno. In response the black-haired beauty shoots a lightning bolt. The two attacks collide halfway and explode.
Both with smiles that promised untold pain for the other the two Queens begin to exchange blows, one using explosions and the other lightning bolts. They dodge when needed, using a barrier only when the attacks from the other come too close for comfort. Despite having wings their positions remain mostly stationary, because casting spells requires a lot of concentration.
Until Yubelluna releases explosions in a wide area trying to overwhelm her opponent, and Akeno answers by also releasing her lightning bolts in a wide area. The clash make the two attacks explode, releasing a smoke curtain that cover each girl from the other's sight.
A few seconds after the curtain formed however Yubelluna senses movement above her, and looks up in time to see Akeno dropping down on her ready to perform an axe-kick. Caught by surprise the purple-haired beauty could only cross her arms above her head to defend herself, but even then the blow's strength, increased by gravity, is enough to rattle her bones and slam her into the ground below.
Akeno does a graceful backflip, landing on the tip of her left feet-
And disappearing using super speed. Yubelluna has only the time to gasp before Akeno hits her side with a palm strike.
"Do you know that dance and martial arts have a lot in common?" The Gremory Queen asks with eyes closed and a sadistic smile. "In the past the former was used to hide the latter during governative oppression."
The Phenex Queen tries to raise her staff to retaliate, but her counterpart grabs her robes and tosses her over her shoulders and face first on the ground.
"Usually I torture my victims using magic, but I confess that using my hands, feeling your flesh giving away on my skin...is on a completely different level."
She kneels down and grabs both sides of Yubelluna's head, first gently and then with almost bone-crushing strength. Yubelluna looks up at her in horror.
"I hope you have Phoenix Tears stashed somewhere, because you are sooo going to need them!" Akeno says in a sing-song voice.
It's only a flicker at the edge of her perception- and the feeling of heat on her skin -that save Akeno when the body she was previously holding bursts into flame.
"How about
no?" Yubelluna hisses between gritted teeth as she stands up, a corona of fire bombs forming around her.
Akeno's smile just widens.
----
"Stop dodging already!"
Xuelan is frustrated. On top of being forced to endure the presence of the Gremory Peerage and those strangers because they are Lord Phenex's guests, she even felt intimidated by a human, a human! For her, a Devil, is unacceptable to feel intimidated by a lower being...no matter how scary.
And just when she thought she could get a good fight, her opponent decides to play completely defensive! How is she supposed to enjoy it like this?
Channeling her anger into the flames around her limbs she unleashes another combo of kicks that her opponent, a shortie called Koneko if she remembers right, defends against either by dodging with minimal movements or parrying with her gloves.
Were she in a calmer state of mind, she may have recognized the high, narrow stance with the elbows kept close to the body used by her opponent in time.
She tries to follow with a sweeping punch, and is rewarded with Koneko reacting for the first time by locking her arms around her own. Recognizing a joint lock attempt Xuelan prepares a kick to free herself-
When, in an unexpected move, Koneko's legs rise and hook around her own. "Kiya!" Losing her balance Xuelan falls on her back. Koneko wastes no time by pulling the trapped arm in the opposite direction and twisting it with one hand, forcing the Phenex Rook's torso to lean on its side, while her free arm slides around the chinese girl's neck and begins choking her. Finally she slides one foot between her opponent's legs, further limiting their movements.
Koneko has successfully pulls Xuelan under a [Submission Hold].
"W-What kind of style is this?!" The Phenex Rook chokes out, blanching as she realizes she can't muster enough leverage to break free.
"...Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, strengthened using Wing Chun's principles." Koneko whispers into Xuelan's ear. "...I am very flexible, but...are you?"
----
"I'm happy that there are warriors like you in Rias Gremory's group. Coming out here directly from the front. That's something people with normal sanity won't do." Karlamine says making a happy face. "But I love idiots like you. Now then, let's begin." She finishes, drawing her sword out from the sheath.
"This is the first time someone call me an idiot as a form of compliment. What a novel experience." Kiba remarks happily while drawing his own sword. "I'm the Knight of Rias Gremory, Kiba Yuuto. Would you like to have an intense sword fight with me?"
"With pleasure!" She starts slashing as if dancing, each blow flowing into the next gracefully. KIba replies with his own personal style of swordsmanship, created by mixing the Tennen Rishin-ryu style learned under his master Souji Okita and the more classical western style. In his hands is a double-edged pitch-black sword: the Holy Eraser, capable of nullifying Holy Energy. Karlamine, being a sword enthusiast, instantly recognizes it.
"Unfortunately, your Sacred Gear won't work on me."
Flames appears on her broadsword's surface. The moment the two swords clash again the flame-covered weapon cleave through Kiba's one, leaving him with half a blade.
Karlamine parts her lips to gloat, only to be abruptly interrupted. Her eyes widen as she sees a blade quickly forming in front of her face. She hastily steps back, watching with some dread as the blade's tip finish forming right where her right eye previously was. "What?!"
"Freeze."
Kiba slams a new sword, one with a blade made entirely of ice, into the other Knight's weapon. The flames start to freeze until Karlamine's sword is covered in ice. The next moment it breaks into many pieces.
Having lost her main weapon she reaches for her dagger, but has to abort the movement and raise her gauntlets to block two new swords forming in midair. Since this time she was fully looking at Kiba she's able to pin-point the origin, her eyes widening as she sees the blades forming, pommel first, above Kiba's right left shoulder and wrist respectively. "What trickery is this?!"
"No trickeries, only my Sacred Gear." Yuuto replies with a confident smirk. "Its name is Sword Birth. I can make and create any type of demonic swords. That is the name of my Sacred Gear and its true ability. And the applications-"
Pivoting on his right foot he performs a sweeping kick, more swords appearing on its surface and launched by the motion at Karlamine who finds herself on the defensive. Distracted by the unusual attack she fails to defend properly when Kiba slams the flat of his ice sword in her side, freezing it.
"Are more than I once thought possible."
Gritting her teeth Karlamine finally takes out her dagger and thrusts it in the air, shouting: "We are the members of the all mighty House of Phenex that rule over fire and wind! Taste it! The whirlwind of fire!"
A strong wind begins to blow with her at the center, flames boostered by the air until, as she said, a whirlwind of fire melt the ice on her side and looms over Kiba.
"Stop."
An unique looking blade with a hole on the tip appears in Yuuto's other hand. The wind from the Phenex Knight's attack is sucked into the hole until nothing remain, the ice sword in the other hand cooling down Kiba's body from the intense heat.
"Flame Delete-" He raises the ice sword in his right hand. "And Replenish Calm." He raises the other sword in his left hand. "I am sorry for you, but I have all my bases covered. The strength of my Sacred Gear is versatility after all. Pure swordsmanship is the only way for you to defeat me."
"...Ah. Ahahaha!!" Karlamine starts laughing. "You are an unorthodox swordsman! It's not a bad thing, mind you. But a demonic sword wielder...what fortune. I may have a destiny of meeting swordsmen who wield special swords."
Kiba seems quite interested after hearing that. "Hmm, so you meet another demonic sword user before me?"
"No, it wasn't a demonic sword. It was a holy sword."
"—!"
Instantly there is a load of killing intent coming out from Kiba. His expression changes after hearing that, going from interested to deadly cold.
"Tell me about that holy sword wielder." Kiba asks-no, commands with a low voice.
Karlamine looks completely unaffected. "Hmm, seems like that swordsman has some connection to you. But since we are warriors, talking would be rude. I will answer you with my sword!"
Yuuto merely tilts his head, his expression hollow as the swords in his hands disappear. "...Is that right...If your mouth can move, then it won't be a problem even if you turn into a state where you are on the verge of death."
A humming sound begins to fill the air, like a electric generator coming to life. Kiba's demonic power flares, intense emotions hidden under a cold expression fueling it.
"
Loading." Many swords start forming, not just above the surface of Kiba's body but all around him. Instead of falling to the ground they hover there as more swords are formed. Each sword, instead of a hilt, has in its place a smaller sword. "
Stand by. Fire One."
A whirlwind appears around one of the smaller blades before it releases a powerful jet of air along the blade's surface, pushing the greater sword in the opposite direction with the force of an arrow...directly at Karlamine! The Knight uses her dagger, strengthened with wind, to deflect the projectile.
"
All Fire. Sword Barrel Full Open."
And bites back a curse as more swords, a literal rain, is shot at her. "What kind of swordsman are you?!"
"One on a Revenge Mission. Now talk...before I bring out the
explosions."
----
I was tempted to have Kiba use a customized UBW chant...then I kicked myself and went back to serious writing.
Bright has dedicated millenia of work to recreating the Primordial's power in an attempt to restore the concepts that were destroyed in the War. Hell, Bright Shattered Ice isn't actually her name. It's the name of a Primordial she killed in the war whose identity she assumed in the hopes of keeping its concept from being lost. She is the single greatest expert on them that has ever lived bar none.
