Interlude: Tournament of Power (2/3)

Though it was clear that Heracles didn't look down on Kenshin, Vahn couldn't help but feel that the prodigious Demigod wasn't going all out.

While Kenshin certainly had the skill advantage, Heracles himself had mastered nearly all forms of combat. His Agility itself wasn't that much lower than Kenshin's and, while he couldn't use things like [Shundo], he should more than be able to make up for it with his natural mobility. It almost felt like he had given up the fight after realizing he wouldn't be able to easily catch Kenshin but, considering who he was thinking about, this didn't really seem that likely.

Vahn made a mental note to have a chat with Heracles the next time they went out drinking but, as there was still a tournament ongoing, he waiting for the field to be cleared before pulling two more names from the box. Seeing who had been drawn, he wasn't even surprised anymore. Rather, he felt a little apologetic as he did his best to avoid frowning as he, instead, announced, "The fourth battle is set to begin! Okita and Fenrir, please enter the arena!"

Much like Kenshin, Fenrir appeared on the battlefield using [Shundo] but, instead of a rather sloppy C-Rank version, her's was very near the pinnacle of A-Rank. While her raw capabilities were a far cry from Kenshin's, she had a distinct advantage when it came to learning Magecraft and Magic. Due to this reason, Vahn suspected that Fenrir would join the Magus' League, where she had a good chance of making it to the semifinals. Instead, she joined the Knight's League as, according to her, the path she followed was that of a Magic Knight, not a Magus.

Unfortunately, while Okita may be an Alter Ego, her base Class was still Saber so, as per usual, she had the [Magic Resistance] Class Skill. This made her immune to most of Fenrir's base attacks but, as Okita could not unsheath her katana, the battle should be interesting. As for why she was able to use her katana at all, this was due to the fact that Okita, for indeterminate reasons, simply could not use any other weapons. Even a simple kitchen knife was beyond her and, while she could store her sword away in much the same way as Artoria, she had a habit of carrying it around in its physical form. The only time it had ever left her hand was when she allowed him to hold it, leading to a peculiar event that was still fresh in his mind...

Rather than reminisce, Vahn raised his pistol for the fourth time and, without further ado, shot the now expected projectile into the sky. This time, nobody in the crowd bothered to mind it at all as they were afraid of missing even a single instant of the upcoming battle.

The moment the explosion of mana occurred, Okita bent forward slightly with her right foot forward. Though she could not draw it, she had her right hand hovering over the handle of her katana with an expression of extreme focus. Vahn wasn't unaware of Okita's capabilities as, shortly after summoning her, he was able to experience first hand how powerful she was. She was, for lack of a better way to describe her, terrifyingly powerful.

As one of the people present during the duel between her Master and Okita, Fenrir wasn't unaware of how powerful her opponent was. Rather, she chose to join the Knight's League because there was a higher chance of being matched against powerful individuals, many of which were, like her, loyal to their shared Master. Fenrir was determined to be the strongest person at her Master's side so, while it was almost impossible for her to egg out a victory, she would not be deterred in the slightest.

With Okita taking her stance, Fenrir began to move swiftly through the battlefield using [Shundo] and [Koku Shundo] in sequence. Much of the battlefield had been destroyed at this point but she could easily create footholds in the air, making it very difficult to determine where she would end up.

After reaching the effective, or instantaneous range for magic usage, Fenrir formed two complex magic circles around her paws. The structure of said circles was far more complex than any modern Magecraft and, with her understanding of Water, Ice, and Yin Elemental Laws, Fenrir could form a semi-permanant magic circle using raw elemental energy.

In much the same way as Aoko, Fenrir began to rapid-fire hypersonic ice-elemental [Sagitta Magica] at Okita. These bolts of magical energy were enough to freeze organic matter through on contact as, while their temperature didn't necessarily reach absolute zero, the ice element had the capability to 'encroach' upon a target's mana, slowing their movements and making it harder to muster their own internal reserves.

Okita made no attempt to dodge Fenrir's attacks. Rather, the moment they came her way, a powerful tempest surrounding her body as her right arm seemed to outright disappear. Her expression didn't change in the slightest as she began to cut down and destroy every single bolt of magical energy. To exacerbate matters even further, at least for Fenrir, the energy contained within the spells seemed to be completely destroyed.

It was common for a spell to disperse, leaving ambient mana behind that could be used to enhance more complex spells. In a battle between two 'real' Mages, using Eva's standard, victory was almost always decided by how well each combatant could make use of, not just their own magical energy, but the energy expended by their opponent. This was one of the reasons why Vahn was so terrifying when it came to a magical duel as, with his domain, it was almost impossible for a similarly skilled opponent to command the mana surrounding him.

Seeing that Okita was even able to destroy mana, despite not having drawn her katana, Vahn tensed up a bit in his seat. He never liked seeing any of his companions injured but, when it came to Fenrir, a tender spot in his heart always ached even before she suffered a setback. Though he tried to hold back his rising tensions, so as not to distract Fenrir, Vahn simply couldn't help himself. Since Fenrir would have an adverse reaction if he tried to weaken the connection between them, he could only hope things didn't end on a negative note.

Seemingly unaffected by his anxieties, Fenrir continued to dodge around at high speeds. Since her initial attacks hadn't born fruit, she began to target the surrounding terrain instead. This caused the ground to quickly ice over while, in the impacted areas, plumes of icy spikes, almost like lotuses, had started to 'bloom' on the battlefield. As a result, the surrounding temperature steadily decreased yet, in spite of this, a 'dome' of sorts had surrounded Okita. The icy mist forming in the surrounding was unable to penetrate through this invisible membrane while any magical energy that came into direct contact was simply dissipated into nothingness.

Vahn was reminded of Fafnir's Innate upon seeing this phenomenon but, rather than immunity, he knew this was just Okita's [Magic Resistance] at work. Still, it was quite the sight to behold as, even in the face of increasingly powerful attacks, she didn't flinch in the slightest as her pale silver eyes never lost their focus.

Okita didn't seem to have any trouble following Fenrir's speed and, every time the latter was about to try and attack, the former would immediately react by twitching her right hand. As a result, Fenrir would immediately take evasive actions as, with her enhanced instincts, she could tell that the battle would end the moment she tried to break the current equilibrium. The bubble around Okita seemed to be an inviolable space and, while it wasn't that large at most time, it would suddenly increase a great deal whenever she placed her hand on her katana.

With her other attempts failing, Fenrir gave up trying to attack at short range and instead began to vault into the sky using several footholds. Okita followed her ascent with her eyes and, realizing what Fenrir was about to attempt, she finally took action.

Just as Fenrir reached the apex of her climb and shouted, "Master, give me strength~!", a ripple in the void appeared at her back. In the next instant, before she could react at all, a sheathed blade tore through space itself, striking her with a tremendous force and dissipating the large magic circle that had just formed. Fenrir could feel an extremely painful sensation in her lower back, despite the fact her unique nerve structure made her numb to even intense pain.

As Fenrir was falling to the ground like a blue meteor, the result of her [Cantus Bellax] aura, Okita's figure faded from the ground like a phantom. At the same time, her actual body appeared in the air just behind where Fenrir had been standing, a cold and emotionless expression on her face. She had used one of her unique Skills, [Furthest Earth], which even made [Shundo] and [Koku Shundo] look like child's play as far as movement techniques were concerned. It allowed her to, very briefly, step outside of the axis of Space and Time, traversing through sub-dimensional space to reach her target in, quite literally, an instant.

While Okita's attack hadn't been enough to completely take her out of commission, Fenrir quickly noticed that she had lost all feeling in her legs as she attempted to right herself before slamming into the ground. Fortunately, while she was moving rather quickly, her Strength and Endurance were more than enough to mitigate any damage. Rather, it was the loss of her mobility that troubled her as, while it was very painful to even try to move, Fenrir felt like she could keep going.

Just as Fenrir was about to try and execute [Shundo] using her forward paws, another spatial ripple appeared at her side. By the times her ears had perked up in response, a black sheath was resting against her neck as Okita stated in a monotone voice, "This is my victory."

Hearing the cold words, Fenrir felt a heavy feeling in her stomach as her hair began to stand on end in a feral manner. Still, she didn't completely lose control and, to avoid causing a scene, she forced herself to stay calm as she looked up at Okita and plainly stated, "I will become much stronger. Until then, you must protect our Master."

As a result of her heightened state of emotions, a stark contrast to her calm demeanor, Fenrir's back had already healed up. This brought powerful hunger along with it but, as it was nothing compared to the hunger she had experienced in the past, it barely affected her mentality. Still, Okita was a little surprised to see Fenrir stand on her own, despite her expression being a perfect mask of neutrality.

For several tense moments, the two 'expressionless' girls stared directly at each other until Okita gave a small nod and answered, "There was never any doubt. I am as much a part of Master as my katana is a part of me. I will become his sword to strike down foes and, if necessary, use my body as a shield to protect him. Until one more capable than myself appears, this is my duty...my purpose."

Hearing Okita's response, Fenrir gave a curt nod before vanishing from her spot using [Shundo]. She would never accept anyone being in a higher position than her in the hierarchy beneath her Master but, until she had the strength to change things, there was nothing she could do to usurp Okita from her position as the strongest. While this wasn't necessarily the truth, Fenrir didn't count people like Artoria and Scáthach as, while they were important to her Master, they were not his subordinates...

Vahn breathed a sigh of relief after seeing things end relatively peacefully. He suddenly felt fatigued but, as there were still several more battles lined up, he wasted no time in drawing two new names after the field had been cleared. This time around, he ended up drawing Gawain and Boudica but, due to Gawain's [Numeral of the Saint], granting him a three-fold increase in strength between the hours of 0900-1200 and 1500-1800, the battle ended shortly after it had begun.

Boudica was, by no means, weak. However, due to the fact that she was not originally a warrior, her skill could not compare to someone that had trained their entire life to serve as a perfect proxy for Artoria as King. Since Boudica's unique Skills primarily related to her vengeance, she was stuck using simple swordplay against someone both older and significantly more experienced than her. With the boost to his parameters, Gawain would even be able to compete against people like Kenshin for a short period of time so, without any suspense, he ended up disarming Boudica before pointing his sword at her exposed neck.

Following the battle between Boudica and Gawain, Gray and Lakshmibai took to the field. This was a rather surprising matchup as, with her E+ Rank Luck, Vahn had expected the latter to be matched against someone like Scáthach. Gray was one of the easier opponents to be matched against but, as a being infinitely close to a True Vampire, it was only a matter of time until she emerged victoriously.

While Lakshmibai hadn't exactly slacked off in her training, she had to deal with conflicting energies in her body that made it difficult for her to progress. This was the result of her Divinity, tied to the Goddess of Misfortune, Alakshmi, and the fact that her power as a false-saint allowed her to draw from the Counter Force. This had led to situations where Lakshmibai's energy would run rampant and, in one instance, she had nearly lost an arm after trying to channel the energy into a beam of raw magical power.

Fortunately, even the loss of a limb didn't mean much in the Empire so, while it had been a painful experience for her, she made a full recovery after only a few hours. After that, she always made sure to prepare healing items before training and, in order to avoid a tragedy, always trained alongside others. She was determined to turn her misfortune into a blessing or, at the very least, learn how to weaponize it against other people. After all, while a God may embody their Divinity, they were also able to express it through the World itself by projecting it onto others.

As a result of her training, the audience got to see the rather peculiar sight of Gray wielding a giant scythe against Lakshmibai using a simple saber. During one of their collisions, the saber shattered under the force of the blow but, while this may have been a detriment in most situations, the shards actually impaled into Gray's neck and shoulder. If not for her nigh-instantaneous regeneration, she might have had to withdraw from the fight as the shard that had pierced her neck severed the artery cleanly.

Unfortunately for Lakshmibai, the only way to really defeat Gray was to restrict her healing factor or throw her from the arena. If she had made use of her superior speed to try and draw the battle out to the edge of the battlefield, there was a chance she would have emerged victoriously. However, due to her nature, Lakshmibai wasn't the type to retreat so, despite only having half a saber, she never backed down. It was actually rather commendable but, with one party having infinite stamina, it was only a matter of time before Lakshmibai ended up with a scythe's blade at her throat, bringing the battle to its conclusion.

Vahn was more than a little surprised by the outcome as, while Gray was indeed powerful, she wasn't quite at the level of a Heroic Spirit without using Add. Her defeating Lakshmibai was actually outside of his expectations. It ultimately came down to the fact that, despite her best efforts, Lakshmibai was still plagued by relatively bad luck while Gray, after undergoing the ritual to become his subordinate, had reached 50A in her own Luck parameter.

Regardless of how things had ended, Vahn was proud of both women and, while Lakshmibai was a little disappointed in her own performance, he knew a few effective methods to cheer her up. It was starting to seem as if this tournament was a segue for a lot of discussions and small events as, even with the other rewards prepared, Vahn intended to express his satisfaction with everyone personally once the event had completed. He wanted to talk with each and every contestant and, with a better understanding of their current power, discuss the future with them.

With this in mind, Vahn promptly moved on to the next battle, drawing out Siegfried's and Hati's names, automatically pairing Jeanne off with Galahad as a result. This ended up being very relevant as, with his [Armor of Fafnir], which was considered a passive Noble Phantasm, there wasn't much that Hati could do against Siegfried. As a result, he actually ended up surrendering the battle after a few exchanges due to the fact that it was simply unfair for Hati to have been matched against him.

In truth, Hati's own Noble Phantasm, [Star Eater] would have allowed her to overcome Siegfried's [Armor of Fafnir] but, as this was an active ability that turned her into a massive wolf, it was not allowed under the current tournament regulations. This showed a few flaws in the current system but, as they never expected it to be perfect from the very beginning, it was something they could work on for future iterations of the event.

After the rather awkward battle between the stoic Dragon Knight and an exceptionally mature Vanargandr, the final battle of the first round began. This, however, was another rather awkward matchup as, due to his principles, Galahad only brought a shield into battle. He was able to easily fend off most of Jeanne's attacks but, due to her ties to the Counter Force, there was only ever one outcome of their battle.

Jeanne had an advanced form of [Instinct] known as [Revelation] that allowed her to always pursue the most optimum path to secure victory. It essentially allowed her to see a few seconds into the future so, while the battle actually lasted longer than all the previous matches combined, Jeanne eventually managed to stab Galahad in the left thigh with her banner-like spear. Even this wasn't enough to take Galahad out of the fight but, with only one good leg, it wasn't long before he began to suffer other small injuries that ultimately resulted in his loss. Considering he had never actually attacked directly, however, this was a foregone conclusion from the start.

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Fenrir will never give up...!','Gawain is essentially Escanor!?','Like trying to crack open an unripe coconut...')

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