Gremory Territory

[Apollymi]

Reiko won her match watching as this boy fell to the ground before her after the very physical attack she'd launched. Surprisingly enough, as this boy faded from this particular place, she blew him a kiss and offered yet another wink, a grin crossing her face. When she returned to Sirtreize's side in this match, she seemed unfazed by what she'd done, and moved right along without much protest. Meanwhile, Eira watched from her side, without seeming to be particularly stunned by this outcome. Truly she didn't believe in sacrificing any of her pieces, but she'd known that it was very unlikely that any in her peerage could in a straight forward way top any in Sirtreize's. Given this she'd initially not even been a fan of this fight, but, before he left and while he was fighting Hiroki seemed confident and happy. And she could do nothing but be proud of his efforts. As the announcement happened she stood once more and picked up a die to roll. 'Ugh, this is fast and slow at the same time. I am enjoying watching the fights, but it's heart breaking sending them out knowing the likelihood of them topping is so low...' she thought to herself, a gentle furrowing of her brow denoting her general distaste. She dropped her die into the bowl and the camera would show the number.

5

"That's a seven. Kings send out your next choices~" these were the words of Elsa Leviathan as she watched. Curiously, enough Eira turned around to speak, but, instead of her having to say anything, Youmu simply moved forward to the orange platform to be moved out. She looked back, with those icy blue eyes of hers seeming to shine with an unknown bit of fire. "I'm the closest you get to seven, Eir... You don't get to take this from me..." her normally apathetic knight seemed a bit spirited today. A small smile settled over Eira's face in this moment and she nodded. "I mean, if you want to stretch who am I to say no... Gambatte Youmu~" mentioned Eira as she watched this girl disappear to the battlefield apparently more than ready to put herself into a match with impossible odds.

[Bloodedge]

"Atta girl, Reiko! You looked like you were even having fun out there for a minute," Sirtreize commented as one of his Pawns returned to their booth. Soon enough though, his and Eira's dice were being mixed into the system to produce the number cap for their next match. Seven was the total given. Sirtreize took a single moment to think over the setup Eira's peerage had. "Hmm... Looks like it's going to be the Knight. She wouldn't send just the little girl," he said aloud during his time of thought. Much like the experience on Eira's end, Sirtreize was not allowed to speak his choice before one of his members stepped forward.

"I've seen that Knight of hers. I'll go alone," spoke Serde Astaroth who, judging by the expression upon Sirtreize's face at this time, wasn't going to be his selection. Either way, Serde stepped onto the transportation platform to appear momentarily in a vast terrain covered in grass. The combatants would be positioned atop a large hill with a steep cliff at its edge, and at the top of said hill was a grand scaffold over a hundred times the size of what could be considered normal. Without wasting any time at all, he began speaking with the opponent he expected to face. "You were the most interesting one I saw at the party. Show me what it is you do."

[Apollymi]

Reiko rather suddenly had a cupcake in her hand, from where this appeared or why none could say. But what she did have to say, was something concerning the Bishop that belonged to Eira. "That Bishop is strange. He managed to hurt me and I didn't think ones this early on could manage something like that... give him a while, and he'll be dangerous~" she mentioned as if amused, before sinking her teeth into the cupcake she held. "He was definitely fun~" she finished up. It seemed that beyond this, Sirtreize knew his sister would send her Knight. What he couldn't know was that such a choice was that of the Knight alone, much like what would happen on his end.

Youmu soon found herself standing in a vast grassland, and in front of her was none other than Serde Astaroth. "Oh? It's you... Eir speaks highly of you," the white haired young woman said her face seeming a stoic mask, but her eyes seemed to shine. It was as if Eira speaking highly of someone changed how she felt about them in some way. In this case, she knew this man to be Sirtreize's Knight, and wondered immediately how she compared, though that was obviously something which would happen regardless. She knew this man had shown kindness to Eira when she was younger and as such, was keen to figure out what he was like, and there was only one way to do that. She moved her hand from the wakizashi at her hip up to the sword across her back. This sword unbeknownst to most, was a sword created by youkai and passed along her family for generations. It was meant to kill Devils, and as such it being in the possession of one, was likely considered sacrilege. She drew it in a single moment and it was longer than any sword should be, almost four feet in length and she immediately aimed a vicious slash at Serde putting the weight of her body behind it, across his form from his left shoulder towards his right hip. But even as she did this, she seemed to be utterly calm.

[Bloodedge]

"I tried to warn you when we were preparing the party. Eira's peerage is never to be taken lightly. She's the Ruin Princess for more reasons than you would think. She's the type of person whose members will either become strong enough to destroy anything in her way, or destroy themselves trying to reach that level of strength... all for her." Sirtreize spoke while viewing the monitor that showed the ongoing match. If there were two members he knew from Eira's peerage who exemplified his clause, this Knight was one of them for sure. He was certain the rest of his members would understand soon enough what he meant, but he felt it could come from this very fight. "This one should be the former. Hanin Hanrei and Kaki no Saishi are the ones who've seen growth in her hands. At any point, they could destroy themselves with the amount of dedication they have, but so long as they don't... they'll destroy all opposition. They're the ones that make me wonder what will become of her newer members. What if the others continue along that path as well..."

Youmu's first statement to Serde involved how Eira spoke of him. She seemed to be looking forward to this match by virtue of that, but whether this was true or not, was not for Serde to assume nor look into. "Does she? I suppose I should be flattered, but let's focus on what we have here and now," he replied. Youmu had entered with her hand upon one of two weapons, but the one she drew was the other, much longer sword equipped to her person. Serde's eyes narrowed at the sight of this weapon, but his focus remained for the duration of her charge toward him. Her drawn blade was met by an outward swipe of Serde's left hand. The hand itself was not what would stop the sword, but rather, several hundreds of tiny blades reminiscent of sakura petals were produced in its wake. These blades formed an arc to parry Youmu's slash, though it seemed to cleave its way through a few inches of the collection before being properly ensnared. This event narrowed Serde's eyes more. "That isn't a Demon Sword. It's interesting that you would have it," he said as the fore and middle fingers of his right hand moved in unison, creating another wave of blades at his side to arc around toward Youmu's left side.

[Apollymi]

The words that Eira's peerage should never be taken lightly left Sirtreize's mouth and his wife seemed to smile about it just the same. She knew and understood the type of person the Gremory Heiress was, and understood why Sirtreize would say the things he did. She watched as she brought home the stray and lost members and made them into her family and watched as they gained powers or began to better utilize the ones they had. "Well dedication is important, and Eira will need that more than most at some point. Besides she adores them, in an equally destructive way," mentioned Cinder. She had nothing but good thoughts surrounding the young woman's peerage. And would be shown soon the growth of a certain half-phantom the young woman had within her peerage.

Youmu soon enough found her blade stopped. It appeared that Serde might have been flattered by Eira speaking highly of him, but much like his earlier moment he didn't seem to fret about it. She managed to push her way through a few inches of the blades before being stopped completely. Her eyes brightened in this moment, gaining an ethereal glow, which seemed to be spreading around her body. Within the time it took for her to think, her entire body became intangible, these blades of Serde's moving through her side without much of a problem to her. She had no problem with this instantaneous integration of her Spiritual Half, and used it to put a bit of distance between her and Serde. But surprisingly, she didn't make an immediate move, much like Hiroki, there was a lot to be said about a man who stood in the face of such a blade and didn't flinch at all. Again, her entire countenance was nothing but calm and she stood with her long blade in her hand. "Sou ka, that's what she meant. That's a lot of blades," she said seeming to think about it. "Roukanken came to me after I was born. It chose me, even though it was made by Youkai," she mentioned. Truly it had been a great point of her life that she'd been capable of wielding this blade, something normal humans cannot do. But the nature of her spiritual half, saw to it that her family could not accept her as she was, but she didn't think of this now, because it didn't matter.

[Bloodedge]

"What who meant by what?" Serde questioned. It was quite clear that Youmo spoke of something involving him, considering her follow-up statement about the number of blades he used. On the other hand, though, there was much room for assumptions. What he didn't need to draw assumptions about was the nature of Youmu's sword, which managed to cleave its way through at least some of Serde's defense. "You're no Youkai. That's why it's interesting." Perhaps she was just being cautious, but Youmu did not have a follow-up attack. He wondered what all she had to offer in this fight. Maybe he could draw something out of her before their time was over. "You can almost cut through my spirit blades... Almost."

Serde also took interest in the method used by Youmu to avoid his previous attack. There was distance between them now, but his blades from moments prior simply passed through the girl. His right hand rose and pointed toward her, and roughly a thousand tiny blades of energy formed around Serde's body to begin their seemingly guided assault. The blades moved in unison like waves of water, billowing as they ripped through the air with intentions of swarming Youmu on all sides, and closing in on her person.

[Apollymi]

"I told Eir once that there wasn't anything Roukanken couldn't cut... but she told me one day I'd find something," she mentioned. It was strange to note, that this conversation in particular wasn't one that happened recently, but instead one of many conversations had between this pair of young women at various points in time. Youmu was without a thought in her life, about her own existence, but Eira had once made her consider it was worth it to keep living. "Also, I'm half-Phantom, so I am more like... half-Youkai," the young woman mentioned seeming to have no problem revealing this information. It never seemed to change much of anything anyways. The always calm white haired young woman allowed her body to become tangible again, the glow surrounding her person disappearing as she watched a thousand blades swarm her. 'I didn't think such a thing was possible but, I believed in Eir...' she thought as she moved her left hand down the length of her blade, and for a moment it would seem as if that ethereal glow once part of her body would instead be transferred into the weapon. This was a move she'd prepared ahead of their previous Rating Game, not knowing what to expect from a different kind of peerage than their own. As the thousands of blades surrounded her she took a deep breath, her body fully corporeal she could potentially be cut up in horrific ways, but, she had no fear. She'd never known it, she didn't care for her own life, she cared about Eira's. At her exhale, she began swinging her blade about concentrating the speed boosting aspect of her Knight trait on the use of her arms so that she could individual aim to shatter every individual blade over the course of several agonizing seconds. But in the end, every thing she'd come into contact with had been properly cut and the orb of petals dispersed around her.

Eira watched as this happened with wide eyes. She hadn't known Youmu had taken her earlier advice to heart in such a way. "Youmu, you really can cut anything~" she chimed finding this development to be spectacular. She knew Youmu had the potential to be her ultimate Knight and always called her as such, but she still didn't expect such a showing from this member of a peerage. The Heiress was moved almost to tears by this young woman's actions.

[Bloodedge]

"Is that so?" Serde wondered aloud. Whatever the case, Serde had every reason to believe it didn't matter if this girl could cut his energy blades. As such, he was very pleased to notice her doing exactly that during his barrage that could have otherwise caused her to retire from the Rating Game. Something normally unseen occurred while Youmu utilized extreme speed to slash at every blade he produced... and that was a smile appearing on Serde's face. "Konpaku Youmu, was it..." he said in a very low tone while appreciating this young Knight. As she busied herself with his small blades, the skies of their battlefield darkened, being consumed by a dome filled with Serde's Demonic Power.

"Senkei..."

Within this dome, four rows filled with thousands of full-sized swords appeared to circle the pair in what could be considered a more intimate arena of Serde's design. This was the true form of his power, used only when he chose to cut down an opponent with his own two hands, and when he had eyes for only one opponent amongst many. In this particular case, Youmu had earned enough of his respect that he refused to face her any longer without proper swordplay. By the time Youmu finished with his previous attack, Serde was already charging toward her with one of the many thousand swords darting down into his right hand. When he reached Youmu, Serde took this blade and slashed upward with it, aiming to cut from Youmu's left hip to her right shoulder while still moving forward.

During the development of Serde's technique dubbed "Senkei," Sirtreize sighed. He'd seen this used many times since knowing Serde Astaroth, but that was over the course of many, many years. It could easily be said that the full use of this ability was hardly utilized. "Of all the times to use that, he picks now? This was supposed to be a friendly match, not a massacre."

[Apollymi]

It was the truth of course, but, it didn't much matter. Youmu succeeded in her efforts to clear all the blades around her, but she was in for something different than she expected. Serde moved right along, asking the girl's name, which she confirmed with a gentle nod of her head as the glow seemed to recede down her blade and back towards her hand. But before she could allow this to properly happen, she took note of the sky around them, darkened by Serde's mechanization, as well as the speech of a spell or power. And she was introduced to a world full of energy blades, of Serde's creation. "Sugoi!" Her eyes widened, but still, she wasn't afraid. That burning glow in her eyes returned, as this was as close to excited as the normally apathetic Youmu ever got. And soon enough she was being charged with a slashing motion, and she was raising her sword to meet it, trying to speedily will the phantom half of her back up the blade as Serde's slashed against hers, but it wouldn't make it.

"Well, that's bothersome..." she said as she pivoted, backing away from the clash and watching as about half her sword was cut clean off by the power of the man before her. She'd never thought something like this would happen and found herself looking at the blade in her hand, then at the man across from her, then back at the blade. She wasn't finished yet, but how could she be expected to keep fighting while holding her Phantom self within her blade at a constant rate? She gave it not a moment of hesitation, with a wide grin crossing her face. She looked over this broken heirloom sword in her hand, and quickly thought about her use of Spirit to enhance it before. That part of the blade had survived, so maybe there was something else to be done.

In the stands, Maiko went wide-eyed. "Why is she smiling at a time like this? Her sword is broken!" she asked the world at large. "Youmu always has a plan, and thinks quickly, she'll figure something out..." she said without a moment of thought. If there was one thing she could trust, it was the smile on Youmu's face. Nothing stirred this girl, not death or life, but... the challenges she faced on Eira's behalf, gave her happiness, through the pleasantries she knew it gave Eira to see them grow. At the same time, Cinder Fall laughed at Sirtreize's statement about the unneeded massacre likely to occur because of Serde's chosen attack. "You know Serde doesn't often find someone he can respect in a fight. This is like the biggest compliment he could give anyone."

"Gomennasai, this will hurt a lot, bear with me..." she said to no one visible, initially. But as she spoke her apology, the spirit constantly hovering around her made itself known in a brilliant blue light. She grabbed at this spirit, seeming to move it screamingly along the blade of her broken weapon. Everyone present got to bear witness to the half-Phantom reforging her blade with the power of the spirit connected to her. Its power vibrated around them, and Youmu's own demonic power shone in light blue as she aimed to fix her weapon. She infused this soul into her weapon, causing it more than a little bit of discomfort as she aimed to replace its broken cutting edge at its present length, not at all worrying over its lost length. Her eyes glowed and a light grimace crossed her face, as she too felt this pain, but it was worth it... to keep fighting, to prove here and now why she was Eira Gremory's Ultimate Knight.

[Bloodedge]

In response to Serde's slash, Youmu held her own blade against his. Serde's eyes caught a quick glimpse of the girl's blade - at least part of it - jettisoning in a direction other than where she pivoted. This sight in combination with the feeling he had in his sword-wielding hand during the clash, told him that the almighty Youkai sword of Youmu did not have the level of resistance boasted by Demon Swords and Holy Swords. This was quite an interesting turn of events; Serde hadn't actually expected this to happen. "Gomennasai. I assumed Youkai blades were as durable as Demon and Holy ones. Still, it may be salvageable," he said, seeming to actually care that he'd broken the girl's sword. On one hand, at least she had another blade that seemed usable for combat. On the other hand, she did say the sword she'd been using was one that chose her specifically.

Even while wielding a broken sword, Youmu seemed to have every intention of extending its use right away. Rather than saving it for potential repair later, she made tangible the spiritual being attached to her, and began virtually reforging what remained of her blade by using the spirit. It was apparent that this action caused the girl some discomfort, but it was that fact that made her efforts even more respectable. As such, Serde righted his posture and patiently awaited his opponent. "I chose the right fight. This is the most interesting thing I've seen in decades."