The Baka Iramasha Vs The Martial Arts Master! [Platinum Heart Tournament Arc]

'Relax and open your mind, Cirno. You are tense and heavy.'

Those words were echoed into the consciousness of The Angel Iramasha's mind as she ascended into the air. It was quite the familiar one and was no doubt Shiro, The Former Angel of The Ice, communicating with her. And, given how stiff, wild and radical her attacks, counters and defenses were -- it was for good reason. Something was wrong here and she needed to find a sense of inner balance in order to clench this battle. Otherwise, this just wasn't going to end well.

Therefore, the sense of perception started to slow down and come to a close within the brain of Cirno. Internal mechanisms were diffusing, thoughts were becoming more susceptible to suggestion and free flowing ideas were maneuvering all about and coming to life within the child's mind. It was expanding, growing and reaching a point of actualization.

This would further come to a pass when The Iramasha would hear the tale of what came to be of Earth following the results of the supernatural entering into their realm. And, from what she digested from it, it was an absolute nightmare for them. A point of view she did not consider because of the fact The Angel always assumed there was strife in the world.

For, after hearing the story of how the world changed from the perspective of someone whom lived through it, Cirno felt a sense of understanding of why he would want to take part in this tournament. If the world was already in conflict from the overpopulation of races in existence, a tool which is fabled to be that of the holy grail would only throw it into further turmoil. Even in her childish form, Cirno could understand that much and what danger that might cause if fallen into the wrong -- or right hands.

Since -- that is all she had when she herself first came to the world. And based upon her adventures up until this point, a good portion of them have gone south more often than not. Despite the earnest intention the child possessed, things just never seemed to go as they planned. If these inner conflicts were amplified to the grand-scale of a divine object, there is no telling what recourse something of that scale might have on the planet.

...

That is when her decision was made.

"I can't make up for what my race and other races have done, but you have my hand in wanting to dispense of the Platinum Heart. It is...quite dangerous when you put it like that. And...even though I want to be heroine, I can't allow something that risky to be brought into existence..."

When speaking, the childish tone of her voice seemed to fade away and the sound of an older woman started to utter out of Cirno's mouth. There was something that was different in her eyes following that realization and the wavelength of her energy seemed to be shifting and evolving. Churning, contorting and twisting into something more refined. It wasn't quite there, and may not be even after this fight, but a force within the child was attempting to come out and change.


For now, however, she needed to contend with the male's radical movement before making her ultimate offer. There was no doubting the foe's speed was incredible, but there was an assumption in the Iramasha's mind that he was going to come from behind or to the side. The reason for this is because even if his movement surpassed her, a full frontal assault would be too far easy to counter. So, on a gamble, she tilted her body downward and attempted to evade his sword slash at her shoulder.


CRASH

...

Drip, drip, drip.

Those sounds signified the shattering of the armor around her shoulder and the blood beginning to ooze from it. The mark had been made and a burning sensation ran down that very arm. The sword strike damaged the area, as the ice became unstable and hard to maintain around that region. However, instead, a glow of white energy replaced it and started trying to mend the injuries with light regeneration through their own utility of magic.

[Refer to spell used here]

Spoiler:

[Note: Cirno has a master in Chaos Energy and can adjust it to try and mend 50% of the damage done to her in this instance]

Yet, even these adjustments for the injury -- it hurt. The Iramasha's eye was even seen wincing out of a reaction of pain and her fist curled up into a tight ball. However, while the Iramasha bit her lip to surpress the grinding sensations of this blow, it did not deviate her focused state of mind.

Instead, Cirno realized there was no way she was going to top his speed in her current form. Therefore, if she could not step beyond it, the Iramasha would force him down to her level. Memorizing the calculations needed to induce spells which yielded the capacity to alter the flow of time, The Archangel released a summoning of chaos energy in order to activate an alternative usage of Chaos Warp. Within a ten meter radius, this would grant her the ability to decrease the way in which time passed for the environment around her; while creating a patch of accelerated time around her own body to increase her motion.

[Reference to racial ability used]

Spoiler:

[Note 2: Cirno has an advanced in this ability; so she is eligable to utilize it in order to slow down time within a small area.]

Therefore, if nothing else, the speed in which Sagumi move could be halved and made more readable when approached by this zone. And, given the speed in which Cirno could unleash her energy together with feasibility of this being timed right; it seemed all but likely this outcome would be induced. Specifically when she understood clearly that another follow-up assault would come due to her own battle instincts understanding that attacks do not simply come in single blows. Indeed, with assaults seeking to cause maximum damage following a release, the motto was to always strike hard, fast and multiply it as much as possible.

Ergo, when he came in again for the repeat assault, the field was ready and went into effect. Provided everything went as planned, Cirno would dash above him as he descended from the heavens and emerge behind his backside. With both arms devoured by a glow of neon white energy, The Iramasha sought to deliver a powerful double chop to each of his shoulders with the conjunction of an Iramasha Fighting Style known as "Chaos Impact".

[Reference to racial Chaos Fighting Style technique here]

Spoiler:

If a normal punch from Cirno is capable of destroying a city block, then it stands to reason that a single blow from her hand could rampage four when empowered and determined. Combined with each of her hands chopping down on both his right and left shoulder, you'd have an attack with a sum total of potential damage rivaling that of eight city blocks crushing down upon the male. And, this is not to factor the increased kinetic explosion which would occur at the altered speeds Cirno would move in order to heighten the speed of her own body through her manipulation of the time stream.

Therefore, Sagumi would be facing critical injury if these hits were to land. They were designed to travel through his body, paralyze his arms, shatter the shoulder bones and induce a heavy sense of damage upon his being and send him hurdling into the earth with a resounding bang. Of course, he'd be restored back to prime fighting speed when outside of the doom, but this hit was important and needed to be made in order to at least make him weakened in some form or another.

Hence, which is why if he even so much as narrowly evaded it, the attack's effects were meant to bounce off within the twenty meter radius where this field of Chaos Warp was in effect. In doing so, Cirno sought to have a lesser version of the attack's effects rebound through the air via her energy being used as a medium to carry it out.

All the while, she would seize it's burst and attempt to twist, weave and bounce her body around Sagumi's in order to deliver further chops at his sternum, pectorals, ribs and liver because there is often little protection within these regions of the body. Instead of going full frontal and assaulting his most guarded areas with the most enriched muscle; Cirno risked trying to make her strike on these prime targets.

While, at the same time this was occurring, Cirno sought to extend the length of her frigid wing and knock the sword clear out of Sagumi's hand during one point. Of course, as she elongated it, the Iramasha engulfed it within her Chaos Energy in order to have that mark the weapon instead of her ice. So, what was the ideal situation? That weapon would shatter upon impact. If not, then she'd hope it's durability and striking power were meant to be lessened. If that could not happen, then the force of it was designed to at least disarm him and allow her time to pounce on his potential injured state.

None the less, this was all tiring work, and Cirno herself felt the strain placed on her muscles, body and mind. Yet, in spite of this, she would work through it. Blood was still dripping from her wound, aches were gnawing at her legs from the precise and controlled movements and energy was leaving the girl from using such extensive techniques; but she needed to give her effort to defend, counter and attack against the male.

So, provided all went as plan, The Angel of The Ice would then push herself out of the temporal zone and leap back down to the solid ground below on the arena floor; provided Sagumi did as well. If not, then she would keep her guard up in the air and state this simple proclamation to him:

"You are a challenging opponent, one that can test my skills no doubt. But, what would you say to us not playing by the game of the Platinum Heart and dispensing of this tournament altogether for the greater good?"

With a breathe of deep air, Cirno would let her opponent soak in that moment and then proceed with her final bit of dialogue:

"We can either continue this fight if you wish, or we can try and figure out a way to thwart the Platinum Heart Tournament so we don't play by it's rules. The choice is yours...."