ellipsanet | A Challenge | un: vainglorious (video)

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A Challenge | un: vainglorious (video)

Champions of foreign lands and worlds of names I have yet to know–hearken unto me!

[This video starts off with a bang! No, literally. There’s a loud explosion in the background as towering flames suddenly jut out from all corners of the arena forming an orange-red haze around the entire colosseum. For any unfortunate souls here, it’s going to feel hotter than hell but for others just watching from afar; you’re relatively safe for now. Those wild orange flames won’t scorch anyone as long as Rosen has control of them.

Oh, for those of you wondering who’s talking right now–that would be the dapper old bastard with the long flowing hair dressed in bright red and blue tunic standing at the center of the colosseum. Don’t ask how he’s managing to film the entire stunt. He’s just doing what he does best, causing a disturbance. It’s been a little too peaceful here and he’s bloody determined to change all that. If there’s one thing Rosen hates more is peace and quiet.]

Many of you proclaim to be warriors of realms I have yet to explore. Some of you even pretend to be likened to gods all for the sake of vanity and nothing else!

[It’s amazing how this crazed fellow can project his voice. He’s not talking into a microphone or anything. No, he’s literally projecting his voice throughout the entire colosseum over the roar of the fire. That actually takes talent and a lack of shame for being that damn LOUD! Then again, the colosseum has great acoustics.]

Therefore, I challenge you!

[In a flash of brilliant white light, a magical fiery red spear suddenly appears within his right hand. He dramatically points it towards the direction of the camera, making sure that this prized relic is on display for all to see. While it might come into question as of how he’s recording all this, Rosen at least knows how to put on a good show.]

I am called Rosenkrantz, and I formally challenge every capable warrior and legend here to face in armed combat! Only the strong need to apply for those without strength will be turned at the gate!

[He’s not kidding either. If he finds any of you fools lacking, he’ll toss you out of the colosseum on your ass. That is an unspoken rule here.]

With that said, if you seek a worthy challenge–then face me.

[And just like that, the footage goes black.]

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Look, I understand that we must all work together to help save this world. I truly do understand but they can’t expect us to hand to “hold hands” with strangers to achieve it.

Not everyone is going to work well with each other. That’s just how life is.

It’s a little bit of both, missy!

[He admits while ripping the daggers out of his chest. Despite how much it hurts, Rosen seems remotely unfazed. If anything, he’s moderately surprised that Saya managed to wound him. That’s honestly a feat within itself. Nevertheless, he’s bleeding profusely now much to his discontent. It will take a moment or two for these to heal but as they do, a bright white light suddenly appears over the lacerations. His regenerative ability is just as fast as hers but he wishes it would’ve kicked in a bit faster.]

Let’s just say he would be rather impressed with you, dearie.

[He states with a playful wink as he idly twirls his spear. Injury or no injury, he seems to be just fine. That’s good since it’s too early for them to throw in the metaphorical towel. Rosen wants a memorable fight, not some little skirmish.]

Enough talk, missy! Let's get to it!

[Before she could say anything else, Rosen dashes right towards her with his spear drawn. She’s bound to be shish-kabobed if she doesn’t find a way to dodge or parry his incoming strikes. Unlike earlier, the old lancer is trying to close the distance between them now that he knows she has throwing knives. It would be foolish for him to not close that gap even though it goes against his fighting style. He thrusts his spear at Saya several times in rapid succession with blinding speed. It’s as if he’s thrusting a thousand or so spears at her. He’s doing his best to keep Saya from throwing more of this little daggers at him but at the same time, he’s slowly wearing himself out.]

[Finally... Someone who understands... Squall is looking at all these parties and people stress-baking cakes for each other and he wants to crawl into a hole.]

I couldn't have said it better myself. Maybe you've got a good idea here instead of just holding hands.

Should I cut off the rest? [ He's kind of curious what would happen, actually. Honestly the fact that he says it so deadpan and stoically as he watches the other through the myriad of knives swirling around him like a bladed shield is easy enough to determine that something is not right there.

Knives doesn't seem overly worried that the other is healing, actually. In fact, he looks on with some vicious amusement that is half hidden behind his shimmering and undulating hood. Regeneration like this would make it easier to vent his frustrations. He could chop the man's limbs off as much as he wanted and he wouldn't die? Most others he came across could not say the same thing.

Rosen dashing towards him is pretty stupid though since the tendrils he managed to knock away will turn back around and just lash out again, moving swiftly and calculated this time. If possible one of them might even wrap itself around Rosen's lance, while the other will try to slice at the man's leg. ]

[Death is nothing more than a momentary setback for this arkana. Rosen has died many times in the past, many of which were more gruesome than next. However, Rosen is cursed by his own vanity. Every time he dies, he simply comes back meaner and angrier than ever before. It’s an ongoing cycle, one that he has shouldered for centuries. This is his curse. While every miraculous resurrection comes at the cost of his memories, Rosen theoretically can’t die. That also explains why his limbs can regenerate so quickly. He just keeps coming back no matter how badly butchered. It’s a rather nightmarish curse but Rosen likes to pretend he’s not fazed by it.]

I would rather you didn’t!

[He answers while narrowly ducking in between those viscous bladed tendrils. The second Rosen notices one of them trying to entangle itself around his spear, he wills the spear to dematerialize into a plume of fire before attempting to summon it again within his newly forged right hand. Next, Rosen tries to nail one of the tendrils down by stabbing it into the ground with his spear. However, this leaves temporarily open for Knives to strike. One minute he has one the tendrils pinned and the next he’s falling. It seems one of them sliced off his left leg.

Well, isn’t that a bummer?

He manages to stop himself from falling by stabbing his lance into the ground behind him.]

What did I just say!?

[A frustrated snarl escapes Rosen once he sees his now butchered leg rolling away from him. Much like his arm earlier, his severed limb is quickly engulfed by the flames until it’s nothing more than just white ash. As for him, his regenerative ability is kicked into high gear once more as a bright white light replaces where his left leg should be.]

Edited 2023-03-15 02:53 (UTC)

[They all face it, but do they have to? Can't people just work together and live in peace? Why is it that humans seem to struggle with that so hard? Innocents suffer and for what?]

Sometimes, things that are the most worth doing are the ones that are the hardest.

[Despite being very different in style and execution, the two of them are very similar in power. From one pyromancer to another, it seems the two of them are evenly matched. The way Phoenix’s wounds stitch together so easily reminds him of his own ability to regenerate on a dime. It’s a bit fascinating to meet someone else capable of such a feat. While Saya does the same, Phoenix’s regenerative abilities are much closer to his.

Nevertheless, it seems that Rosen has the poor girl on the move. He was about to whirl his spear around for a quick frontal slash when the woman suddenly got within his hitbox and nailed him right under the chin with a well-deserved uppercut. He actually didn’t see that coming! While his gold eye can perceive what cannot be seen by the naked eye, it doesn’t come with the ability of foresight. Rosen was so certain that he had Phoenix on the run that he unwillingly stepped right into that uppercut much to his displeasure.

He’s knocked back several paces, briefly stunned after having his bones rattled by that punch.]

[Not even the promise of food lured Rosen to that little shindig. ]

I like to believe I do! In my opinion, the best way to know a person is to see how they fight.

If they fight with valor, then they're worthy of your time. If not--well, you know the rest.

Fair enough but do I need to remind you this a mess they caused.

[By they, he means the natives of this realm.]

I just don't see why we should assist them so readily and selflessly. Maybe I'm just feeling a bit growly lately.

I was in the middle of something rather important prior to being snatched.

[The smart thing to do would have been to chase after him and keep beating his ass into the ground, but deep down Phoenix didn't believe that anyone could be stronger than a Cosmic Will. No human could take a punch like that. She shook her hand out while waiting for Rosenkrantz to fall over, defeated. Part of her was worried she had gone too hard and might have seriously injured him.

Pretty rich, coming from the woman who had just warned him about being willing to "go all out."]

How very... overwrought.

[Emet-Selch does, admittedly, have no shortage of power to spare. But even here, where such things seem to be more common, he's not about to come out and directly admit to it, if he doesn't have to.]

[Overwrought? Well, that wins a chuckle from Rosen here. Maybe he is a little overzealous here and there.]

Perhaps you’re right about that! [He’s honest to a fault.] But it’s hard not to be excited when such an opportunity has crossed my path.

I suppose I can hardly fault such enthusiasm. Nor at least some aspects of the theatricality.

The results speaks for itself! I managed to get a few decent matches earlier and I’m still yearning for more.

[ The pinned tendril isn't even spared a second glance as Knives raises his arm into the air, palm up as now even more of those metallic tendrils spawn from behind him, as if from his back, and his suit. His suit will disintegrate, leaving a portion of his torso exposed for Rosen to see. The smirk on Knives' face as he walks toward the other is nothing short of vicious. He could end it right here but he knows that there would consequence for it. Though would anyone even care given that they all just come back alive anyway? Even if he's still seething and angry over the matters from a few days ago he wills himself to not actually execute the man, even if he had been annoyed by him. With his hand still raised he simply gives a short flick of his wrist as he lowers his arm in slow motion to point directly at Rosen's figure. The tendrils halt at attention before they burst forward with inhuman speed toward the other.

Rosen will get the full brunt of those knives and the absolute brutality of Knives himself. He's restraining himself a lot here, as the attack will only shred the man's limbs from his body. He might let out a short laugh, though there's little in terms of mirth behind him.

Once it's settled and the other lays there dismembered Knives will take his leave, turning to exit the arena. ] Seems you're still more human than not.

[It would seem that Hijikata is right on both accounts. That magical spear was indeed crafted from flame but not of his own. Rosen inherited his pyromancy ability thanks to this ancient relic. It's one of the ways he's capable of even holding the fiery spear, nevertheless able to wield fire itself. Mentioning fire, it will eventually start to get a bit hot as the lance slowly begins to heat up. It seems that Hijikata's uncanny abilities did indeed make those bright red flames turn green but now they're starting to change from a fresh minty green to a blazing white.]

Neat trick~! [Rosen praises as he watches the flickering flames. He honestly looks a bit astounded. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Well, not against his will.] Is that you power or is it something borrowed?

[Just as he asks, Hijikata suddenly hurls a fireball towards him. Instead of scrambling to get out of the way, Rosen rushes right through the fiery spiral like a lunatic. He leaps right through the fire with ease, aiming his lance towards the swordsman again. Instead of emerging from the flames completely scorched to the bone, Rosen emerges practically unscathed with only the ends of his hair lightly singed. The flames that swirled around him are quickly being absorbed into his very essence. It's like this bastard composed of fire itself.

The lance within his hand glows menacingly as he tries to stab at the swordsman with a piercing strike.]

Edited 2023-03-16 21:32 (UTC)

[ Dodging isn't a problem, and now she knows his weak point. That must be why he's charging her, close quarters is more advantageous. And she'd stand her ground, possibly managing well enough, but with this opponent she feels a need to show off. Call it respect. ]

[ While he's still dashing toward her, she casually leaps high into the air, dozens of feet with no discernible effort -- well out of reach of his spear, though she hasn't forgotten his fire magic. Somewhere along the way she sheds her jacket with blinding quickness, letting it flutter to the ground so she's wearing only a thin black chemise, backless. At the apex of her jump she seems to burst open, her skin turning a silvery white and her short-cut black hair lengthening to her waist, now also a gleaming silver. Most striking, huge bat wings sprout from her back, from nothingness to fully formed in a fraction of a second. Her short fingernails lengthen to claws, red-tipped as if dipped in fresh blood. ]

[ She looks down on Rosen, her glowing eyes seeming all the brighter as they stand out against her silver dusted skin. ]

Missy? I prefer Saya. Or, if you must use a nickname, mistress.

[ From above, she winks at him. A fighting partner as good as he is deserves some blatant encouragement. And then she gracefully extends and arm and proceeds to shoot a series of long red spikes from her hand, each one the length of Rosen's forearm and looking like a deadly, rough-cut red gem. They hail down upon him, rapid-fire, as she swoops overhead, equally as quick in the air as on land. ]

[Hijikata really should have tried to find out more about Rosen's nature before he rolled up to this challenge! As it is he still mainly assumes that his opponent simply got a much faster grip on his seasonal powers that he did. The samurai had some semi-success in trying to create immaterial weapons from fire, but Rosen's spear is actually physical and magical in one! How did he do that?!

When the flames change their hues again he wonders if white is Rosen's magical signature colour here on Ellipsa, like green is his, but the increased heat kind of speaks against the fire still being harmless... and why would he do that, anyway? (Of course Hijikata doesn't realise that he did that for him from the get-go, even when the fire was still red.)]

Borrowed!

[He won't pretend to be more than he is! And he doesn't get more of an answer out, anyway, because Rosen simply meeting his fire comes so unexpectedly. He was bracing for some kind of counterattack! The flames turn bright green again just before making impact - he, too, isn't here to char-grill anyone -, but it looks like it would have made no difference if he had just kept them harmful, given how the fire just... disappears. Did he absorb it?!

Hijikata doesn't enjoy fighting with caution, but he simply can't block that incoming lance, not with his sword and not with his fire. It would be foolish to even attempt that. So once again he dart sideways at the last moment, careful to not prematurely indicate his move with any careless twitch or blink, and delivers a targeted stab at Rosen's hand. By now he's pretty sure that any broad swings will be blocked by the twirling lance, given the other man's agility and speed, so his only hope may be a quick jabbing attack that'll weaken his hold on his weapon. If he can strike it out of his hands he'll be the winner! But that's an ambitious plan, especially since his stamina will run out before long. Each evasion maneuver will be a little bit slower than the previous one.]

[ Microdosing death by antagonizing men with enough muscles to snap you in half ]

Are you sure you remember it clearly? You even needed an escort out of the bar . . . hehe, allegedly.

[A little bit of research doesn't hurt anyone. Rosen is an oddity since he already possesses similar elemental powers but there's a clear distinction between the two. However, can Hijikata spot that distinction when this centuries-old lancer is trying to take off his head? That’s the true test here. While Rosen is trying his best not to egregiously harm the man, he’s still a bit vicious. It’s like having a tiger play fight with a shiba inu. Sooner or later this entire fight is going to veer left but for now, Rosen is trying to hold back his killer instinct.

It’s with this in mind that Rosen accidentally gets tagged right in the hand by Hijikata’s sword. The jab didn’t knock the spear out of his grip but the result is evident when Rosen hastily pulls away from Hijikata. A faint hint of red slicks Rosen’s fingers as he takes a hold of his lance with his left hand. He’s not ambidextrous like some people. Rosen likes to attack from his right, not his left. The lancer lets out a slight hiss as he wipes the blood off onto his clothes. It seems Hijikata struck first blood. Interesting. While there’s a clear difference between the two in terms of strength, they seem evenly skilled for the most part.

Either that or Rosen is getting a little tired. After all, this is fight number three isn’t it? Or is it four? He can’t even tell anymore.

Nevertheless, Hijikata better watch out for those little red butterflies floating around him. These fiery apparitions suddenly emerged once Rosen taps into his fire magic again. The second they get to close, these little butterflies will explode with a blinding white light unlike earlier. These aren’t packing much of a punch firepower wise but Hijikata is inbound for one nasty migraine later.]

[What? There’s more?! A sound of dismay escapes Rosen once he realizes how much deep shit he’s in right now. He attempts to dodge the tendrils by darting from the left to the right but suddenly, Rosen finds himself surrounded.]

Hey, this isn’t fair–[Whatever was about to say dies on his tongue the second he sees that bare chest.] Oh~! What’s going–AH!?

[Doing a strip tease in the middle of battle isn’t fair, you know?

Rosen didn’t even get a chance to ogle him properly before getting struck down. One second he was about to dash out the way, next minute Rosen is suddenly falling onto the ground in shearing pain. All four of his limbs, arms and legs both, were ripped off all at once. Those razor sharp knives sliced through his flesh like a hot knife through butter leaving him absolutely helpless. A pained groan escapes Rosen as he struggles to regrow his limbs fast enough to strike but by the time he manages to regrow his arms, Knives already left.]

Tch, cheater!

[He yells in frustration while waiting for his poor legs to regrow. While waiting, he gets an epiphany.]

…Thank the Earth-Mother that he didn’t cut off my dick.

[Yeah, that damn punch actually hurt quite a bit. If Rosen was fully human, he probably would've died. However, he's arkana. He can take it but it definitely stings. if he was anything else but a glorified eidolon, he would've died right then and there.]

Fucking hell! [Judging from his pained grunts, that friggin uppercut really hurts.] You pack one hell of a punch, missy.

[He lingers there for a second as he tries to regain his vision but the second he sees her silhouette, Rosen goes on the offense again. Phoenix should’ve attacked him while she still had the chance because the second he regained full consciousness, he leapt just about ten feet into the air. He draws his lance back before suddenly hurling it down at her like a heat seeking missile. Rosen isn’t messing around anymore. Now that he knows the true depth of Phoenix’s strength, he’s not about to play nice anymore.]

[Multiple fights in a row against supernaturally strong opponents would tire anyone out - and Rosen is still really giving Hijikata a very good run for his money. Still, he feels satisfied when Rosen draws back and even swaps his spear hand. This will put him at a disadvantage! (But who's to say how fast that injury may heal on such an adversary?)]

You know, I'm used to just cutting through my enemies like through paper! You're making it hard for me!

[The little success is making him more talkative, clearly, and the light-hearted complaint carries his enjoyment across. In some part of his mind he's fairly sure by now that Rosen could long have impaled him if he really wanted to, but he'll bury that awareness for the sake of his own pride.

When the butterflies appear he observes them only for a short moment before attempting to turn then green and harmless... and if that works out he'll just stay where he is and raise his sword in a challenging gesture. If it doesn't work, though... well, he'll have to think of something else then.]

That punch was a compliment for someone who seems like they could take it that hard!

[She didn't know how to deal with most social situations very well. She barely understood how to navigate modern society. But here, in the middle of a fight, Phoenix finally felt at ease in her own skin. She was BUILT for this.

She wasn't built for deflecting spears like that with her bare hands, though, so she angled the jets of fire sprouting from her back to the side, rocketing to the left just in time to merely lose a foot from the impact. It's fine, by the time she put that foot back down as she landed again, it had already regrown the bones. Not much of a foot, but enough to hold her weight for a moment. She kicked off the ground with her good foot to tackle him out of the air before he could reclaim the spear.]

A lot can be said about a person by how they fight.

Alright. Maybe I'll come by if I have the time.

[Shut up, he has more than enough time.]

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A Challenge | un: vainglorious (video)

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