Seaside Fight Night: Freyja vs Lerna

Excitement burned within Freyja's spirit as Lerna reengaged her, her spirit weapon clashing against that hardened skin once more. By now, it was the expected response concerning this woman. Ideally, this was the moment she had been waiting for. In that precise moment wherein Lerna held the woman's blade in and aimed to grab her by the throat, the layer of reishi that acted as a cloak around her body transitioned into it's second function.

"Schildform - Brunhilde...!"

Each line around her skin that resembled the azure veins of a quincy's blut began to transmogrify into a set of solidified chains that launched toward any part of Lerna's body that could be ensnared. However, that was far from the end of her plan. With brutal strength like hers, a mere set of reishi chains likely wouldn't keep her down for long but what if she amplified the chains hold through her crystallization spellcraft?

Touching one of the chains immediately as her body was lifted up, those crystallization effect would spread rapidly throughout each of the chains that sought to trap the woman in place. Of course, with her neck grasped, it was possible Lerna might ignore the hold and follow through with her slam, but in a scenario where she was ensnared with some measure of success, the slam would not be executed as well as the woman intended. Of course, while Freyja expected the ground and pound approach, she hardly foresaw the spray of fluid in her face.

As a result of her prior actions, there really wasn't a way to avoid this. To be certain, it wasn't as if she lacked the reaction time necessary to evade, but the sudden nature of the act left her dumbfounded. What equally threw her off was this weird effect that setting in as a result of the liquid covering her face. A light spell of dizziness had set in as her eyes locked eyes with the taller woman. She really was full of surprises. Even so, Freyja steadied herself enough to remain focused - to the best of her ability, at least. Finally adding a layer of commentary to the battle, Freyja listened to the woman speak about how her slashes would have no effect on her as this battle went on. Inebriant spell or not, her words were entirely correct. This woman's skin was far too sturdy to strike at with half-hearted intention. She would have to dive ever further within the depths of her repertoire to grasp her victory.

"You... are.... correct! I find your thick... skin... annoying. Every cut is... thrown right back in my face, but at... the same time, I find it... exhilarating. I have to cut, I want to win...!" she spoke through a light hiccup as she shook her head. Why did these vapors reek of alcohol? What was she saying? What sort of ability was this? Kido? A zanpakuto? No, none of it mattered. She had to take her advantage and use her trump card. With a drunken stutter, Freyja uttered two words.

"Die... Walküre...!"

A pair of azure wings formed around the woman's head, resembling a royal crown, her legs outfitted with a pair of greaves resembling a similar hue. Vollstandig. To be quite honest, Freyja had no intent whatsoever to employ that, firmly operating under the belief that she could defeat Lerna without it... but the momentary spell of dizziness had indeed opened the doorway to a lapse in judgment, to say nothing of studious forethought. Turning towards her, Freyja repositioned her spirit weapon within her palm, generating a large crystallized swathe of energy in the form of a crescent swing, swinging the arc towards her, following it up with a set of clumsy but surprisingly agile swings, closing the distance between the two of them simply by charging in again.

At the moment, she was fighting two enemies. A spell of inebriation and a spell of attempting to force her way out of this state through sheer will. No matter how much she goaded her, she wanted to win in her own way, but maybe she wasn't entirely wrong. A little extra force wouldn't hurt~ Tch. These thoughts were growing quite bothersome.

The true mark of a warrior was bravery, and Lerna remained stalwart even in the midst of those resounding strikes. The grip on her neck did not lessen, but neither did Freyja's ambition to assert her will in this battle. There was no need to hold back so as long as she refrained from using fatal force. Prior strikes cast against the woman's hardened frame exemplied her resilience. Paying no heed towards the destruction of the chains she constructed to keep her bound, Freyja followed one slash up with another in a display of agressive repetition, intending to strike the woman true, to cleave through her hardened skin. On one hand, there were a few glimpses of success, though her attention was clearly drawn away by what occured next. Her sword was held in place by the woman's skin, almost as if the structure of her body was locking it in place. What type of Substitute Shinigami was she? To begin with, could she truly be considered a Shinigami? It begged the question, to be certain.

Even so, there was no time to contemplate those thoughts as her eyes followed the woman in preparation for her next trick. To her admission, she could have certainly conceded defeat, but this was an exhibition hosted in front of many who were watching the battle with awe.

Freyja gazed at that grinning woman with curiosity only for her eyes to widen at that crimson ball of energy that formed at the tip of her finger. Kido...! She had to defend herself immediately. With the hold on her neck, there would be no time to soar out from beneath her taller opponent. The only action left to her now was a precise execution of time to activate the defensive function of her Blut. There was no way to gauge this woman's expertise with the Shinigami's mystic skill. Therefore, she set up the only preparation she could employ, hoping to mitigate the damage.

The spell detonated, casting the pavilion within an erupting explosion of crimson, forcing the area to rumble fiercely as a result. In the aftermath of that explosion, with clouds of smoke clearing away, Freyja blinked softly at the large charred husk as it lay atop her frame. What the...? Shaking her head at the sheer oddity of the sight, the woman pulled her spirit weapon from the husk, rolling from underneath the weapon as she grasped at her neck. The last-minute execution hadn't been executed with as much precision as she would have liked, evident by the severe burn mark around her neck. Even so, it was not entirely fatal nor was it enough to keep her from carrying on with the battle.

Rising up fully, Freyja used the reishi around her to remove any debris that remained on her weapon, turning towards Lerna with a humorous smile, noting the way her skin was regenerating. As she expected, this woman was no mere Shinigami. What a deceptively entertaining combatant she proved, to be, though. Full of tricks at every turn.

"I've seen better days. Neverthess, the sheer unpredictability of this battle has left me entertained beyond description. How about you, Lerna?"

Judging from the way she stood after shedding her skin, she didn't seem as if she was ready to bow out of the dance just yet, but Freyja was not one to read minds. Thus, even during the banter, she held Sigurd at the ready, poising her blade in preparation for an attack.

Gruesome a sight as Lerna's skin shedding and flesh regeneration was, Freyja had participated in far too many battles to be opposed to it, regarding it as one would a pebble on the side of the road. There was an air of glacial calm in those eyes, a soft chuckle escaped her lips in response to the woman's banter. Special was certainly one way to describe it. Indeed, Freyja had concluded that she was no mere Shinigami. Substitute was indeed an apt descriptor. Maintaining a stalwart gaze as she observed the woman pulling countless pieces of debris from the pavilion, Freyja shifted her body forward in preparation for her next move.

With her vollstandig active, there was no longer any need to hold back. Racing in without a game plan would be unwise, however. Through sheer force of will, she forced out the effect of inebriation. It still held a light effect on her, but certainly, it was nothing to prevent her from seeing this battle through to its conclusion. A conclusion where the final result ended in her favor. Alcohol seemed to drip from Lerna's frame. No, even the air itself was thick with the scent of intoxication. The fluid that hit her the last time was enough to overwhelm her senses with a slight spell of inebriation. She had no intention of enduring that particular phenomenon again. There was a pause where Lerna spoke to no one in particular, causing Freyja to tilt her head. The alcohol surrounding her vanished, converted into energy as her spiritual pressure pulsated. Then, she strides toward Freyja, zanpakuto in hand.

Vanishing in the blink of an eye, Lerna roared towards the woman in the blink of an eye, executing a powerful upward cleave towards one of her arms. Prepared beforehand for a direct engagement, Freyja matched her shunpo with Hirenkyaku, backpedaling to evade her strike. Her intent was to engage her directly after her evasive movement, but the arcing splash of acid that followed forced her to quickly erect a crystallized shield of reishi as she moved in to attack.

Of course, her azure gaze widened in response to the result that took place. The shield rapidly dissolved as though it were being melted away. Freyja expected a splash of alcohol, but this fluid seemed to be a different beast altogether. Small droplets of acid landed on her skin, and though that seemed fine in the grand scheme, a sensation akin to feeling as though one's skin was being eaten away assaulted her senses. Truly, this was by no means similar to the alcohol that had touched her skin earlier. It was acidic in nature. How bothersome. Nevertheless, she would rise to the challenge. If she wished to push her this far by employing such techniques, then certainly there was no need to hold back.

Activating the defensive function of her blut to mitigate the acid from spreading, a significant source of ambient reishi in the atmosphere would gather around her spirit weapon. Another sword equal in size to Sigurd would crystallize within the palm of her hand, Freyja would send the weapon careening toward Lerna in a direct line. Moving ever backward to avoid her, Freyja resolved to end this with one strike.

She needed only a moment longer to gather the energy required to execute her attack. She had certainly learned that merely going at this woman as it stood now was a fool's errand, an effort that only reaped moderate success. Her next move would be the one to end it. Entertaining a bout as it was, she wasn't aiming to prolong this anymore. If it was a trump card this woman craved, she would grant with unrivaled generosity.

In the midst of acid raining against her skin, Freyja's expression remained stalwart as she fought through the excruciating drops of flesh-eating fluids biting through her Blut. Maintaining that defensive function was crucial. After all, she would avoid Lerna no longer. Each confrontation had enlivened her spirits, had seemingly, even for a moment, washed away that detestable sense of inferiority that had rooted itself in her soul.

The roaring applause from opposing voices in the crowd had set her soul aflame. There were those who passionately cried out for Lerna to secure victory, while her own supporters roared her name with exultant applause in the hopes of pushing her forward toward the mutually desired conclusion of victory. Ah, how exhilarating. For a single moment, the notion of shame no longer held any dominion over her soul. Representing the sword and the shield, she was every image of the ideal warrior she aimed to be - for her sake as well as the Vandenreich!

Whether that blade landed or not didn't matter to Freyja in the slightest, merely serving as little more than preparation for the one attack she hoped would land true. If it pierced her, by now, Freyja didn't expect the woman to be felled so easily. Her resilience was inspiring to an extent, and for her to bow out now would be anti-climatic. Weren't battles of this nature meant to end with resounding attacks? Momentous strikes that would forever remain imprinted in the memories of those that surrounded this pavilion?

For the first time, a determined grin formed against the outline of her lips as she charged forward. Lerna's acidic strike would strike true, slicing through a significant portion of her shoulder. A direct hit. A nearly severed arm. Of course, that was fine. She only needed one arm to strike her down with her blade. Perhaps a soul of lesser mettle would've cried out in pain, but Freyja roared through the pain, exultant as the arm holding her spirit weapon was swung forward. Collecting every particle of ambient reishi she could attain at her current level, amplifying her spirit weapon with a significant portion of Reiryoku, everything was brought forth in preparation for one decisive strike.

"Schwertform... Thor!"

A large pair of azure wings converged around her spirit weapon as she swung her blade forward, hurdling that attack directly toward Lerna. There was no specific area chosen. On the contrary, even if Lerna happened to shift back, this attack would engulf the two of them within a large wave of reishi since it was executed at close-range. It was a reckless form of the technique, but Freyja hardly cared about the particulars anymore. Thor had been brought to bear with the intent to end this, no matter the result. The nearly severed arm would certainly be bothersome, but there were more than enough resources here to heal her wounds. For now, all that mattered was the boundless joy this spar had brought her, a glimmer of a chance at victory.

Even till the bitter end, Lerna remained unwaveringly tenacious, stabbing her hand through the gruesome wound she had created in Freyja's arm, even in the midst of that titanic attack. What a frightening sight to behold. Freyja acknowledged that, were they fighting to the death, that this woman would not fall until she was eliminated entirely, until everything that composed her was reduced to atoms. Such resilient durability was astounding, to say nothing of her fearlessly dogged approach. Truly exhilarating even till the very end. What was less exhilarating, though, was the blood she felt being drained from her arm. There was nothing she could do to prevent her current action. Her nearly severed arm was motionless, and Rasotengai did not occupy a place in her arsenal a this moment in time. As it stood before and would stand now, the entirety of her victory lied in the hands of this final strike.

To relent now, even in this crucial moment, would be an act of foolishness. Striking true, the entire pavilion was engulfed as the large wave of reishi crashed forward, surrounding the both of them within a dazzling array of azure reishi. When the dust settled, Freyja felt excruciating pain in that nearly severed arm as she stumbled forward, focusing reishi around her azure gaze to survey her surroundings. Then, in the very next moment, she felt a blade pressed against the tip of her chin.

Tch... Gazing downward, a wry smile caressed Freyja's lips as she marveled at the sheer perseverance this woman displayed even after suffering a direct strike. She had already suspected that Lerna was no mere Shinigami; the fact she still stood to any degree was only a reminder of that. It was but another testament of her dogged nature. Truly, an admirable trait. Ah, it was a somewhat of a shame that she didn't serve under the banner of the Vandenreich. Countless spars with her would be equivalent to of a year's worth of training in this woman's company.

Her body was drained of a significant portion of Reiryoku, offered entirely unto that one strike. With a severely compromised arm and faint energy resource, Lerna could theoretically press the advantage here. Even after all that, would she be the one to suffer a defeat here? In the midst of such contemplative thought, half of the zanpakuto broke, clattering to the ground. Flashing a grin towards her, the woman announced that victory was hers. She lifted the broken zanpakuto upward as all the acid around her vanished. Turning toward the crowd, she made it official. She had conceded. Freyja's spirit weapon dissipated into an ambient flow of reishi as she held onto her wounded arm, walking forward to pay her respects as she gazed to the crowd. Directing her gaze toward Lerna, Freyja offered her hand as she smiled.

"That was an entertaining battle, Lerna. There is hardly a need to remind you, but your resilience pushed me into a corner several times during our battle. I must admit, to be pushed that far... it was quite exhilarating. You were a remarkable opponent. I am somewhat thankful that these battles are being held to strengthen bonds between our forces. The prospect of being your enemy is far too frightening to imagine," she humored, allowing herself some banter in the aftermath.

To some degree, that statement wasn't entirely false. She supposed it was a half-truth, even.. Entertaining though it was, fighting someone with her level of fearlessness reminded her of the next gear she needed to pursue to truly embody the unyielding sword and shield she yearned to be. A stepping stone towards progress, certainly. Turning towards the crowd, she offered Lerna one final smile as she stepped forward to exit the pavilion.

"Farewell, Lerna. To think, you're still an academy student... I certainly look forward to your progress. I hope your peers were watching. You are certainly deserving of an official seat in your division in my eyes."

Till the very end, she spoke with utmost honor and cordiality, as befitting a noble woman of her class. There were still things to worry about in the future, and perhaps her mind would wander elsewhere once the adrenaline of the moment truly wore off, but for now... she simply basked in the exultance this battle had awarded her.