<Nocturnal Harmonia>

[Bloodedge]

Bloodlust didn't seem to be working, even with Yugi's Sharingan active... or was it? Frankly, Yugi couldn't truly tell. Either it didn't work, or it did work and this boss was simply strong enough to show no notable differences. Yugi would have to find out the truth with more direct observation. Igris hadn't acted on Yugi's provocations; he hadn't attacked. According to Miko, another twenty seconds or so would be needed for her spell's completion. Well, surely Igris wouldn't just stand there and wait for it. Yugi couldn't risk waiting either. "Twenty seconds. Right. Yeah, sure. I can fight him off for twenty seconds... right?" Yugi said, having zero certainty about his ability to go through with that claim. Chokuto in his right hand, he charged its blade with arcing lightning to prepare for hellish combat. Yugi's right foot slid forward slowly, carefully in half a measured step. "Alright... come on. Fight me, bitch!" he challenged further. Yugi felt it would be stupid to be the attacker in this situation. No, he'd be waiting for Igris to strike first. . .

Igris held his high guard for only a heartbeat longer. Then, with sudden, explosive grace, he surged forward. The greatsword swept in a wide, rising arc—blade whistling through the air as crimson light trailed from the edge like spilled blood. The strike aimed not to kill outright, but to test: a powerful diagonal cut meant to force Yugi to parry or evade, the force behind it enough to shatter stone if it met no resistance. At the same moment, Igris's free hand snapped out. An invisible pressure erupted from his palm, targeting Miko's position to yank her off-balance with crushing strength, disrupt her incantation and pull her toward him across the stone floor. He'd closed the distance in two powerful strides, armor ringing with each step, cape billowing behind him like a banner of war. The crimson mane flowed in the wake of his movement, eyes locked on both Players with unyielding focus. No words were spoken. There was only the silent, relentless advance of a commander who had guarded this throne for centuries.

[Apollymi]

This fight was already seeming pretty daunting. Miko was already starting to feel like this timing was going to be an issue. Twenty seconds never seemed like a lot, until a fight was taking place or one was in a gym. Right just now, Miko knew this was going to be a terrible time for Yugi, but that was just a part of this dance she thought. "I know... I know... I'm also a bit sketched out by this whole thing," Miko confirmed quietly.

Still while Yugi took over the fight in earnest, she could concentrate on the next line of her incantation. "Target's marked beneath the heavens♪!~" she finished a line. There was only one more left, but in this one room, there was nothing else going on. She could hear every movement the Blood-Red Commander Igris. It was such a consistent noise, so uptempo and menacing. Every whistled movement, every swing of the blade, and every light step. "Oh no... that sounds so quick! I'm not going to like this..." Miko muttered softly an odd form of prediction made her realize she was in trouble an she was suddenly in pain that barrier around her person cracking and her body flying around. "WUUUUP♪!~ He has a fucking force powers!!~" Miko chirped in pure fear and a slight bit of admiration. She still had one more line to finish and technically she could finish it, as soon as she managed to scramble back to her feet. As long as she got those last few words out she'd be alright.

[Bloodedge]

Yugi's provocation did work the second time. Alas, that only meant he had to deal with Igris closing the distance between them before Sharingan could fully register the movement. 'Shit! Skill!' he thought, activating Knight's Bastion as an emergency reflex. As he established his defense in a rush, there was no time to form the shield; he had to settle for the armored form. If nothing else, that decision cloaked him in a defensive ethereal armor just well enough to avoid immediate critical damage. Igris's greatsword shattered the veil Miko had already placed on Yugi in the moment of impact, and was in the process of cleaving through his Knigh's Bastion Skill by the time his chokuto swept over to meet the offending blade. While Miko was being dragged toward Igris, Yugi was being launched away and disarmed, blood spilling from his side as the knight's blade couldn't be kept fully from his flesh. "Gah! Shit!" he grumbled. Yugi attempted to slide to an eventual stop near where his chokuto landed, holding out a hand to prepare a defense not for himself, but for Miko. He casted Knight's Bastion again, this time forming a shield between Miko and Igris.

Igris pressed forward without pause after the clash. The greatsword continued its arc, the crimson glow along the blade flaring brighter as it met the ethereal armor Yugi had summoned in haste. The veil shattered under the blow—fragments of spectral plate dissolving into wisps of shadow—but the impact was blunted just enough. The blade carved a deep gash across Yugi's side, blood spraying in a thin arc, yet it did not reach bone or vital organs. As Yugi was launched backward, Igris pivoted smoothly on one armored boot. His crimson mane whipped behind him like a banner caught in a sudden wind. Igris stepped into the space Yugi had vacated, boots ringing against the stone. He raised the greatsword in a high guard again, point leveled at the shield Miko had conjured between them. The glowing eyes beneath his helmet fixed on her—unblinking, assessing—then shifted to Yugi sliding across the floor, blood trailing from his wound. He did not pursue immediately. He waited, stance wide, blade steady. The chamber's silence returned, broken only by the faint drip of Yugi's blood and the low hum of Miko's forming disks overhead. Igris tilted his helmeted head slightly, as though acknowledging the shield. Then, with deliberate slowness, he lowered the greatsword's point to the floor once more—resting it there, both hands on the hilt, waiting for their next move. Yugi thought strangely of that hesitation. 'Is that Chivalry? Or is that prep?' he wondered. "Watch out!" he warned just in case.

[Apollymi]

Provocations worked and both Miko and Yugi were feeling the danger of the Blood-Red Commander Igris. Miko was being dragged across the room. Yugi now had a dripping wound Miko could hear, and just as quickly as Igris' assault started in full swing, Miko thought she was about to be dragged into hell, but soon there as a shield up in front of her allowing her to stop, finally. She sighed but was still on high alert. And all she could hear, was that dripping and the sound of her own magic humming at the start of its wouldn't be casting arc.

And in this moment, it was Miko's turn to feel oppressed. She was barely fighting back a shiver and the glowing eyes of the Blood-Red Commander settling on her for a few seconds had her pausing in consideration. She was told to watch out... "You don't have to tell me that... when he's not moving that silence is terrifying♪~" Miko's words were still coming out in chirps. It was like being scared was rising her natural speaking octave and placing a rhythm on words that shouldn't have it. "Yeah, I know... Chivalry. So... I have an opening, slight though it is. I can finish the incantation, and maybe put us under direct fire for the duration of it. Or... I can heal you and take the aggro for a second. I'll heal the damage almost instantly but it'll hurt like a son of a bitch, I know it," Miko murmured quickly and softly as if afraid to accidentally provoke the being in front of her.