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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[ When he defends and holds up under her inhuman strength, Saya feels herself stretching awake, her awareness and instincts flaring to life. It's been too long since she faced someone she couldn't fight while half-focused -- it makes her miss Childe both more and less. She pauses a short distance away, a distinctly approving grin on her face, red-glowing eyes burning into him. ]

Likewise. [ Since he can clearly see her with that gold eye, she doesn't need to worry about bantering while they fight. But it's just as likely she'll need her breath to try and beat him, and isn't that a very pleasant prospect? ]

[ Then she's off again, pelting toward him at her top speed, switchbacking her way across the colosseum floor, rapid-fire, her speed increasing with every direction change. Her charge on him is direct, for now, because there's no point in trying to hide her movements, and to satisfy a curiosity. With a ready eye for any fire or either end of his spear, she unleashes a fury of blinding fast attacks, with her sword in one hand and her scabbard in the other, being ambidextrous she's equally effective with both. Her strength is up a notch from a moment ago, and she hasn't hit her top gear yet. Her strikes come from all sides, taking advantage of her ability to dual-wield when he (so far) has one weapon to defend with. Seeing if she can get him on his back heel, if only for a moment. She deftly pivots around him as she seeks that opening, ready to dodge if necessary. ]

[When she darts towards him again, Rosen decides to greet her with fire. He thrusts his fiery spear towards Saya in hopes of striking her down before she gets too close. Fire is a great deterrent, after all. Not even someone as powerful as her would want to get burned. However, he instead ends up parrying her sword blow for blow in a deadly dance for dominance. She’s fast, probably faster than him but with that magical eye, he can see her coming. That’s why he was able to kick her scabbard out of the way when she tried to land a hit on him. It seems that the dear woman is ambidextrous. How charming. He lets out a jovial chuckle as her sword narrowly misses his head. That would’ve been a rather close shave otherwise. Saya is coming at him with the same ferocity he would expect of a wild beast. It’s quite refreshing but Rosen decides it’s time to put some much needed distance between them.

That’s why when he ducks low, he attempts to sweep the little miss off her feet with his spear. Whether or not she falls doesn’t matter here. What does matter is that he’s given enough time to weave his special brand of sorcery. The flames surrounding them suddenly explode into thousands of little butterflies with fiery red wings. It’s a call back to the power he demonstrated before but a much deadlier version of that little spell. The butterflies effortlessly swarm Saya, their fiery red wings terribly hot to the touch. It would be unwise to let any of these little menaces land on her, especially since the second they do—they’ll explode.

This is a nasty little spell, isn’t it?]

[ Saya is, in fact, a wild beast. Her human form is an illusion born of the first blood she consumed, but she has others. Perhaps she'll use them today. ]

[ A few of her sword swipes get close, encouragingly so. But she doesn't count almost as good enough, not even when facing an opponent of this caliber. Determined to draw first blood, she launches a thrusting attack, only to see his spear aiming to take out her legs. She easily leaps over it -- ]

[ She can't tell what those lovely butterflies will do, it doesn't much matter. Saya leaps into the air, spinning and twisting at her dizzying top speed, nimble and agile and petite enough to weave her limbs and body through the swarm without contact... almost. ]

[ One butterfly strikes the forearm holding her scabbard, and bursts. Saya grits her teeth against the sting and looks down to find a nice hole in her arm. She holds her sword at the ready, grins at Rosenkrantz, and her red-glowing eyes flare brighter as her wound heals and knits closed before his eyes. ]

[ She charges him again, flipping into the air to bring her sword crashing down over his head, her strength enough to crush concrete. Her scabbard-hand reaches down into one of her tall boots and as she flips over his head and toward his back; he might see a glint in her hand. Even before she lands she tosses a small array of five throwing daggers at him, twisting in midair to kick the hilts as she flips so the blades have every bit of velocity she can muster from her speed and strength. The effect is akin to a hail of bullets. ]

[First blood. A smirk curls upon his lips once he realizes he landed a direct hit. He knew sooner or later one of those nimble little butterflies would’ve caught her off guard. There were simply too many of them for her to avoid even with her supernatural gifts. However, this battle is far from over. He lets out a long whistle as he watches how quickly Saya’s wound closes. Enhanced regeneration. It makes sense that a creature like her would possess such a skill. What good would it do her to have enhanced agility, speed, and strength without the power to heal herself at will? This pleases him. Rosen doesn’t have to worry about the welfare of his opponent. He suspected she possessed such a skill but this confirmation changes everything.

Rosen draws away from the woman and she flips into the air, quickly changing stances as he holds his spear behind him with his left palm extended. The second she flips over him, he swings at her with in a whirlwind like motion in hopes of knocking her down. However, he misses. Instead, he hears something clank against the enchanted spear.

Daggers? He lets out a groan once one of those nasty little daggers cut right into his flesh. His left arm was wounded in that interaction judging from the deep lacerations along his bicep. The same could be for the dagger now embedded within his chest. They struck him like bullets, each one stabbing him in rapid session. It hurts, dammit! This little annoying barrage is enough to make Rosen put some distance between them. So just like earlier, those annoying little butterflies swoop down around Saya and begin exploding in unison like fireworks. He uses this moment to leap away from the woman in hopes of briefly accessing the damage.]

Fucking hells, it’s like dealing with Gideon Black again.

[He curses as a brilliant white light suddenly glows from his wounds. Yes, he can heal too. As he quickly heals, that peculiar left eye of his starts to shine a brilliant gold.]

[ About three seconds into dodging this new swarm of fire-butterflies, Saya figures it's less effort to detonate them by striking them with her sword and scabbard. She can heal sure, but it takes more energy and, though her donors are willing and lovely, they're not infinite and take time to recover. She flips and bounds with as much quickness as possible, deftly dodging the things as she takes them out. A few land on her, but it's easily fixed. ]

[ Finally, she lands and faces him from a distance away, no worse for wear. ] If I only knew whether that was a compliment, an insult, or both.

[ Another pause as Saya assesses his healing capabilities. ] I assume you're quite well? [ Her tone indicates that she expects he is, and is merely verifying. Saya's a fighter and a predator, but she's caring. Hurting someone means she waits to make sure before simply continuing on. For herself she's less careful. ]

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.]

[ 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. ]

[That’s exactly why he’s charging at her like an angry bull. He means to cover as much ground as possible to make it impossible for her to fire off more daggers. While he can deflect most of them with his spear, Rosen is doomed to be pinned down if Saya keeps hurling projectiles at him. Rosen might boast about possessing the might of twenty men but he’s far from invincible. There’s not enough magic or sorcery in the world to make anyone truly invincible, least of all him.

Just as he swings his spear towards Saya, she suddenly leaps high into the air out of his range. A curse escapes Rosen’s lips as he scrambles to find a way to reach her during her sudden transformation. At this point, he’s fucked. Rosen knows he’s screwed but his abominable pride refuses to allow him to surrender. Instead, he glances over towards the great big stone walls nearby and makes a beeline for it. He quickly climbs up the wall before continuing his hasty ascension towards the next level, the maenianum. It’s then that the lancer leaps off the side of the wall there in hopes of matching Saya’s elevation. It’s an insane maneuver, one that will surely have a rough landing but Rosen is utterly fearless to a fault.]

If you want me to say your name, then BEAT IT INTO ME!

[There's a flirtatious edge to his tone, one that is loosely masked by his pent up aggression. Nevertheless, he seems unwilling to backdown without a damn good fight. The only time she'll hear him call her "mistress" is if she manages to defeat him.

While attempting to slice at the bloody red spikes fired towards him. Rosen slices through a couple of them but the blood in his throat alerts his failure. He crashes back down towards the arena’s floor with a pained gasp as the spike within his abdomen is jostled violently by his less than elegant landing. Nevertheless, he managed to land on his feet despite it all. The man is like a cat, he always lands on his feet. Rosen lets out a wet cough as he glances up towards Saya. Wounded but unperturbed, Rosen rapidly twirls his spear deflecting the rest of those incoming spears with practiced ease.]

Edited 2023-03-18 19:48 (UTC)

[ Knowing he can heal means she doesn't lose her focus when her bloodred spike skewers the poor man. Normally she'd have landed and be dragging him to get some help by now, and the want to do just that is ever-present -- she shoves it to the back of her mind. He's down, not out. ]

[ Saya's impressed, actually. Landing on his feet with a spike through his abdomen isn't something just anyone could do. She's been impaled numerous times herself, once by her own hand, so she knows the feeling intimately. ]

[ Nothing to do now but press the advantage before he heals up. She intends to give him no time to yank out that spike and activate his regeneration. So she swoops down with her blinding speed and unleashes another volley of red-gem projectiles, these ones smaller and much more numerous. Her aim is concentrated on his speak hand, trying to wound him enough to get him to drop it. If he does, it might be game over. ]

[ With his vision he can probably see the smile on her face. Not because she's winning, but because she had to work for it. ]

[Feeling a bit woozy from the sudden blood loss, Rosen makes the executive decision to force that pesky spike out of his gut before the next barrage. This is going to be a bit tricky since he’ll need both hands for this crazy idea. However, he doesn’t have a second to spare here. The moment Saya starts raining more spikes down upon him, Rosen answers in kind by summoning those pesky red butterflies from earlier. Before those blood-red spikes could impale him for a second time, the fiery butterflies explode, lighting the sky itself ablaze. It's a risky maneuver but one that might prove favorable.

Without any hesitation, Rosen stabs his lance into the ground and uses both his hands to pull the spike. He lets out agonized grunt as he pulls with all his strength to get that fucking out of him. It hurts like hell, almost like his insides are being rearranged but somehow he manages to overcome the agony and yanks it out. A sigh of relief escapes the man as he carelessly tosses the bloody thing over his shoulder. The gaping hole in his gut is quickly healing despite bleeding profusely. He’s tired. Utterly exhausted, even. Nevertheless, he reaches for his lance again and gets into a low crouch.

This idiot still wants to fight even after all that? Of course, he does! After all, he’s bloody Irish. Don’t let the stupid alias fool you but this guy is 75% Celt and 25% loony. If there’s still some fight left in him, he’s going to keep going. However, this immortal lunatic is at his limit.]

Edited 2023-03-19 20:34 (UTC)

[ When the sky around her explodes, Saya resigns herself to being caught in the blast. Moving at high speeds causes a fair bit of air displacement which would probably make the fire worse, and it doesn't matter to her if she gets some superficial burns. She catches the edge of it and her wings get singed to the point that they need a second to heal up. So she falls. ]

[ Saya's silvery skin is cracked and blackened as she plummets out of the sky and toward the ground. It looks like an uncontrolled spiraling dive -- far from it, really. She knows what she's doing. She twists as she falls, making it look unintentional, her red eyes closed as though she's unconscious. She can hear Rosen's heartbeat, so he stands out like a beacon. ]

[ As she falls, her skin heals closed and regains its silver sheen, but her wings remain half-folded and her eyes remain shut, her body drifting along with the wind as she falls toward the arena headfirst. Easy pickings, right? ]

[ Not so fast. Just as it seems she's about to strike the ground, Saya's wings snap open in a movement almost to fast to be called movement at all, and she charges straight for Rosen at her top speed, which he might be able to see but also might struggle to react to injured and exhausted as he is. One hand reaches out for his lance arm to hold the weapon away from her, and the other for his neck as she aims to topple him over and knock the wind out of him one final time. ]

[Rosen watched with bated breath as Saya tumbled towards the earth in blinding speed. Did he do it? Has he won? Still frozen in shock, it didn’t register to Rosen that this was all just a crafty ploy. He watches for a moment before suddenly tilting his head back lets loose an unrestrained joyous laugh that echoes throughout the arena. It seems that he won! He truly has won, hasn’t he? His laughter is wild and raucous filled with so much joy and excitement. He has NO equals in this world, no one can humble him!

The Arkana of Vainglory strikes again! He has no equals even now halfway across the bloody galaxy.]

Ha! Do I stand among gods—

[His laughter is suddenly cut short once Saya suddenly springs to life.

What is this? What’s happening?! How did she–?

Before he could even react, Saya shoots right towards him like a torpedo. There was nothing he could do. The moment she wraps her hand around his throat, Rosen knew he lost this duel. He lowered his guard thinking that he won only for his luck to run out at the eleventh hour. He falls to the ground with Saya at his throat, his trusty lance knocked right out of his hand from the impact. This is embarrassing, horribly embarrassing. Rosen hasn’t known defeat in decades and yet here we are. He hits the ground with a pained grunt with Saya on top of him. As his body regenerates for the umpteenth time, he stares up at Saya in muted shock. Just how…how?!

Not only did she manage to knock the wind out of him but she honestly left him speechless. Fuck.]

[ Saya removes her hand from his throat, well satisfied that this is a victory. Up close she's simply stunning; though her features are the same as her human-appearing form, her silver-dusted skin and longer, tousled hair shine and make her glowing red eyes all the more standout. ]

[ Her fingertips graze his cheek as she sits up, still on top of him for the moment, and she smiles genuinely. ]

I haven't had a fight that good in a very long time. It takes a lot for me to have to shift in order to win.

[ At this point she does climb off him, though, since she's not trying to be a brat, here. Her hair and skin revert to their normal colors. She holds a hand out to him. ] I'm glad I answered your message.

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A Challenge | un: vainglorious (video)

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