Czarny was a calm man, and he would love to point himself out as one to the outside world. For all to see. However, recent comings and recent events haven't been too particularly on his side recently, such as a certain simple clean-up for the Armorless Union turning into an arduous task which required sending in a Platinum to aid in it. While it wasn't completely below a Platinum to aid in a clean-up task nor hasn't it ever been a rare occurrence, but it certainly put a wrench in relations and plans when it was discovered whoever had been killing the Armorless Union members put in the ghettos, had also slaughtered each and every one of Platinum's specialized squadron that was sent in. Worse of all, the man wasn't much better off, and was forced to retreat. How irritating, but at the very least, he had been able to see the face of the perpetrators off in the ghettos—so while he was receiving a verbal beatdown by his employers—Czarny would so kindly ask him for details on what the perpetrator looked like.
Right now, though, he knew he would also have to experience a verbal slaughter by the people he had decided to lend his aid towards, but that could wait for a moment. As it stood, he needed to deliver a small message toward an Independent Knight that one of their teammates hadn't been fortunate enough to make it to the Kazimierz Major. Whatever reason was given, the Kuranta man knew that he could never give the actual details of what had happened. So of course, a vague reason was given to the Independent Knight known as Viviana Droste, and then Czarny would be upon his merry way in order to fix the mess that had been caused in the ghettos.
That was until... a particularly interesting man had raised his hand just as he was about to make his exit, and asked if he could substitute in as the Independent Knight's teammate. They possessed black hair, Higashinese clothes, and overall, 'they have the eyes of a killer,' Czarny noted in his mind, staring into the crimson spirals that were supposed to be a "human's" eyes.
Well, he was willing to acclimate his request and pull some strings to register him as an Independent Knight for the sake of Viviana Droste—while also discovering a way to make a profit out of it. There were also many avenues to utilize this Higashinese man in order to make the Kazimierz Major more... profitable for himself and the stakeholders. That was if he had decided to follow his demands after all. So, in order to do so, he had decided to discuss in the now empty hallways without the interference of the Independent Knight in the other room. His condition/favor was simple enough to Fushiguro Megumi.
"You will be pitted up against the Blazingaxe Knight after this duo matchup—throw the match." Czarny placed his hands behind his back while holding a suave expression, as if his suggestion hadn't been an absurd one.
"Deal," Megumi replied without a moment's hesitation, "if that's the only request you have, then I'll go with it." There were already many ideas going through his head, but there was a rather scummy one he had to "honor" the favor that he owed the man known as Czarny.
"Oh?" Czarny stared at the black-haired man with a slightly raised brow, seeing not a change in his brows or facial structure, "not even a moment's hesitation? You must be quite a fan of Viviana Droste." He chuckled.
"Sure am," Megumi placed his hands in his pocket, "so? After the timer is up, I can just waltz into the arena and the announcers know what to say?" The Sorcerer pulled one hand out of his pocket to stare at his hand. The Muramasa Blade's influence had already worn off—meaning that the benefits of the Binding Vow had also followed along with its riddance.
"Worry not, keep your end of the deal I will mine," Czarny huffed, "I'll be off somewhere in order to complete our little deal, so just sit tight before the match starts. I take it this is your first ever duel, Mr. Fushiguro?" A smirk appeared on his lips as he took a slow step off to the hallways, head slightly still turned toward the black-haired man.
"Yes," Megumi replied, "I'll put up a good show." He watched Czarny walk away with a small chuckle, feeling his skin becoming more slimy. 'Whatever,' he glanced away from the Kuranta, before turning back to the door leading to Viviana's waiting room, and then opening it.
Out of the hallways and back into the room with its baking lights, Megumi stared at Viviana who was just in front of him, slightly catching him off-guard, but he had already had a vague idea what she had been doing. When assessing her posture, the Elafian woman's face was looking forward, but her eyes were slightly turned downwards and away from his own. Her left hand fiddled with the candle she held the pristine object twirling at the whims of her restless fingers—a sense of disturbance having provoked her interior.
"Viviana...?" Megumi felt his lips close, the corners of his lips turning down into a frown. She most likely felt guilty for his involvement, but it didn't matter to him, "listen—I could hardly care about my pride—"
"Did you ever want to participate in the Major?" Viviana cut him off before turning to stare at him, "you never held any interest in it whenever the subject was brought up, and you didn't possess any of the spirits the other viewers had. I'm not worried for your pride, but your well-being." The blonde-haired woman clarified.
"I..." Megumi uncontrollably blinked a few times, his mouth standing slightly agape for a moment "...will be fine. Don't worry." His hands left his pockets, letting his haori's sleeves loosely cover them after falling, "they probably pulled some under-handed tactics to leave you without a teammate, didn't they?" He shifted the subject after clearing his own.
"Well... I'm not particularly well-educated on the matter, but my mother had already told me of the many ploys that could possibly be taken in the knight's tournament," Viviana kept her voice soft and steady, turning her gaze to her candle's dancing flames. "It's dreadful to learn what they were. Many include loopholes between rules and under the table deals as you have suggested," she continued, "I pray your involvement doesn't bring upon you any troubles." The Elafian woman would have been completely fine with going in a one-versus-two match.
"Hold that thought for a second..." Megumi raised his hand to stop the woman from speaking, looking off to the side with a perturbed look "...Viviana, could you uh—tell me some of the rules?" The Sorcerer turned to stare at the woman, having heard a small thing from Viviana's words from earlier, those being... rules.
"...Oh my," Viviana met his gaze with the same energy as he did.
***
"Alright, alright! We're just a few minutes off the clock before these advertisements stop and you—the viewers—get to witness a duo match between knights from different Knightclubs battling against each other! Who knows what tactics they will employ? What synergy will they have with each other? But doesn't that just make the entire match more exciting to see—"
Click
"—Eh, huh?" The announcer who was leaning close to his microphone let out a small sound of confusion, turning backwards to see a well-dressed Kuranta walking through the door with one hand behind his back, "ah—hey!" His voice became a whisper while he frantically moved to turn off the microphone, "what are you doing here?! I'm announcing something right now—"
"I'm sure you know who I am," Czarny closed the door behind himself without a care in the world, speaking his piece, "there is a man known as Fushiguro Megumi who has just been registered as an Independent Knight, and will be the sub-in for Independent Knight Viviana Droste's missing companion. This is simply a heads-up, no need to be so surprised when a stranger walks in, do you understand?"
"Uh..." The announcer didn't know what to say in response to what he had heard, opting to scratch the back of his head, 'just registered...? But I don't remember that being a viable option when the Kazimierz Major has already started... maybe it's a thing for the preliminaries, yeah. How did I not know this?' He shook his head, before talking once more, "I understand—but—what should I even call him?" There was still a problem for himself, and it was that he knew nothing about the Independent Knight about to arrive.
"It's simple enough," Czarny waved his free hand in front of his face casually, "aptly call him a Higashinese samurai, I take it you know what they are?" He paused his speech to register a nod from the other man, before he smiled once more, "make things up, exaggerate his origins, and make his fight a Higashinese samurai against Kazimierz's knights. Rile up the country's pride, why don't you? This will surely catch more people's attention."
"Understood," the announcer replied without a single pause after the other man finished his speech.
"Good," Czarny nodded with satisfaction, his hand moving back to the steel door's knob, "this will surely make this match much more interesting. A Higashinese samurai against a Kazimierzian knight... take it as you will." With those parting words repeating what he had said before to send the main message through once more, he promptly made his exit.
Click
The door closed before the announcer's eyes, while he continued to scratch the back of his neck, attempting to wrap his head around what he had just been requested with, "alright... a revered Higashinese samurai against Kazimierz's dashing knights... I think I got the memo, okay...!" He nodded his head a few times while exuding more energy than he had before, tapping his foot a few times and shaking his hands. "Gotta get back to announcing fast!" He quickly moved to his microphone, turning up the volume once more before speaking into it.
"—Ladies and gentlemen! The young and the old! My sincerest apologies for the brief cut out I had for a minute there, some technical difficulties and all, I hope you come to an understanding, because I have some superb news to grant you all! But—wait! It will have to wait until the duo matches start in... what? Just a minute left! Wow, time surely does fly when you're waiting in expectation, doesn't it? Haha~! We just gotta hope that our knights and our surprise addition can move faster than it—"
***
The light shone down on Megumi's face, his hands moving upwards to cover the light diluting his crimson eyes that were leaking through. The clamor of voices echoing in the previous dark and monotonous steel tunnels behind him and Viviana were now at their peak, having nothing to stop their reverberating echo to pierce the skies himself. While it continued to reach a crescendoing frequency, Megumi took a glance toward the Independent Knight beside him, gauging her expression. She reciprocated the gesture, giving him a reassuring gaze.
"Have stage fright?" she asked out casually.
"Not really, just don't like unneeded attention," Megumi dryly gave his response. "This will be a one off thing, or... a two off thing, I don't expect to do anything after." Especially with what he was going to pull with the second match in order to spite the man known as Czarny, and the K.G.C.C. 'Terrible people, walking around like they're worth anything. Disgusting.' He still needed to do something with the Armorless Union. Even if he couldn't dismantle the top ranks entirely, he wanted to attract their attention toward himself, and hopefully take down (or traumatize) their top brass.
"With your skills and experience, I don't believe this will particularly be a hard fought match for you," Viviana turned back to the end of the tunnel, the bleeding photons of the sky starting to become more vibrant, "you hadn't been putting your full effort during our first dance, now did you? I could tell."
"Dance?" Megumi repeated the word with a softer breath, reminding him of the times Laurentina had called their own spars dances—along with the woman forcing him to actually dance with her as "lessons," "I have no comment on that."
"Of course," Viviana chuckled, "it looks like I'll have to pull my own weight in this one. I don't believe the audience would be aware of that, though."
"Hm," Megumi let out a sound of affirmation, and left it at that, seeing how they had already reached the end. 'Let's get this over with,' he could feel something boiling underneath his skin and inside the canals of his veins, coursing through with such heat that his body... was becoming excited. 'I should have expected this,' the black-haired man called Ame-no-Habakiri on his left hand, the O-Katana resting within the iron-grip of his left hand.
With the final step, he was in the limelight, toward the thousands upon thousands of cheering crowds stationed up the seats surrounding the arena. Without any echo or obstructions impeding their voice from reaching his ears, the Jujutsu Sorcerer had to bear the brunt of hearing them chant incomprehensible words. Whether they were confused or not because of his appearance or not didn't matter, because he stopped paying attention to them the moment he stepped on the moist dirt of the arena—sprinkles of invisible rain having already told their story.
"—Here we have the Independent Knight that has gained the hearts of multiple fans, male and female alike! The beauty dressed in a white and black cloak holding an ever majestic candelabrum in her left hand, and a sword fashioned in the shape of a candle in her right! With her Arts twisting the light around her to accentuate only herself as the star of the show, everybody welcome—Viviana Droste!!!"
The crowd erupted as a volcano would, potentially even surpassing the hot magma and lava the natural phenomena would be able to produce with their heated passion toward the Kazimierz Major.
"—On the left side we have a—wow—a handsome man dressed in black Higashinese robes befitting that of a noble! Everybody, yes! I would like you to welcome our special guest for the Kazimierz Major who has recently been registered as an Independent Knight! A Higashinese man from lands far off from our own, carrying their version of a code of honor and bearing a rich history. Yes, they even possess their world's own version of our famed knights! Carrying a sheathed Katana made of thousand folded steel in his left hand, everybody welcome! The samurai with a golden Arts Unit above his head! Fushiguro Megumi!!!"
...His Katana wasn't even made of "thousand-folded" steel, and neither was it of Higashinese origin. In fact, Ame-no-Habakiri was made from a Leithanian blacksmith.
Megumi scrunched his face ever so imperceptibly when the announcement toward his entrance with Viviana was made. The cheering of the crowd hadn't died out one bit, and he could have sworn he had heard more female screams in this one than male, but he didn't take much time to register it as he did the previous one. The announcer... they were just doing their job, but they certainly had no qualms with lying. Well, profit came first for the Kazimierz Major, that much should have been obvious.
"—For their opponents, we have an alliance between two Knightclubs never seen before! Only once has this ever been done in the previous Major where the Black Knight had to face down two knights on her lonesome when her teammate had called in sick that day. Everybody, welcome one and all the Left-hand Knight Tytus Topola, and Brassrust Knight Ingra Olmer, both from the Bladehelm Knightclub and Bloodboil Knightclub respectively! What a match-up between these prideful fellows!"
The cheering continued on as Megumi could hear, before he turned toward Viviana, "an alliance? This is the first time I've heard of it." The black-haired man turned upwards to the other side, watching as a knight dressed in black armor and multiple tags symbolizing corporate sponsors on their plates rose up. They utilized a glaive, and he assumed them to be the Left-hand Knight. To their other side was a knight also wearing armor, but it held a more dull gray. The tattered cloth he wore over the armor also looked like that of a butcher's, and it didn't help that the large handaxe he was holding looked to be worn out.
"It was a possibility when two Knightclubs had requested for such a happening, and it was eventually passed in the Knight's Association," Viviana said, her tender voice becoming a melodic sound to Megumi's ear in the center of an unstoppable crowd of excitement, "the first and last time it was ever used as against the Black Knight, after she had won two consecutive Major championships."
"Good to know," Megumi replied.
"—Now, will we see how far a Higashinese samurai can stand against our Kazimierzian Knights, under the aid of an Independent Knight of course, it would be unfair if he were to clash blades in a one-versus-two battle, after all! Ah—woah! Would you look at that?! The crowd is going wild at the sneer the Left-hand Knight had sent the way toward the Higashinese samurai! Would you look at that, it seems like we already have sparks flying before the match has even officially started!"
Megumi deadpanned at the taunt the "Left-hand Knight" had sent his way, a provocation that seemed to be sent in order to arouse a reaction out of him. However, he kept the same energy as he did before—but the feeling felt in his chest told a completely different story. For some unutterable reason, a sense of competition and irritation was arising from the action he witnessed before.
The crowd soon echoed their altered chants, not for the contestants who were participating, but for their own country.
"KAZIMIERZ!"
"KAZIMIERZ!"
"KAZIMIERZ!"
One single word, repeated over and over again.
"—Ahaha~! Would you look at that, it seems the excitement has reached a boiling point far higher than even the Blazingaxe Knight's previous match! Has this turned into a battle for Kazimierz's pride?! Well, it looks like the audience has already spoken for themselves with their rambunctious cheers!"
The commentator spoke in the middle, before his microphone was drowned out by the constant chants of the crowd.
"KAZIMIERZ!"
"KAZIMIERZ!"
"KAZIMIERZ!"
Megumi let his ears become deaf to the noise, waiting patiently for the announcer to start the match. One more glance was given to Viviana, and she just gave him the same reassuring smile as before. He turned back toward his opponents without much of a hitch, "Viviana, is it okay if I go after the one in darker armor? The Left-hand Knight?"
"That's fine," Viviana turned toward the Brassrust Knight, her newly designated opponent after Megumi had chosen his own. "The Brassrust Knight... known for his exceptional brutality in the arena..." She whispered to herself, pointing her Candle Sword forward as her opponent continued to balance his weapon between his two hands, rolling the handle a little bit across his palm.
"—It looks as if all the contestants are ready to duke it out! Their targets have been chosen, and our knights on the opposing side seem to be taunting their opponents! Who knows, maybe the pressure for Kazimierz's pride is already hot on their tails! Enough hyping up our match, though! Let's get this show on the road! Knights, and our samurai! In your positions, and get ready to fight, in 3! 2! 1! GO!!!"
***
Lugging a gigantic buzzsaw across a city that never slept was quite a difficult thing to do without being caught, for the average person. Laurentina was not such an average person, and possessed the capabilities to leap across skyscrapers at blistering speeds. Therefore, there was no need for her to be so paranoid about anybody spotting her. She had been taught by the best of the best, after all, and she wasn't somebody who would put Gladiia's teachings to waste. When her thought came back to her Captain, the Aegir became even more excited at her destined reunion with Skadi.
"—Would you look at that, the samurai from Higashi had just feinted out Left-hand Knight by placing his hand on his sheathed weapon, appearing to be ready to strike! We'll need a replay of what just happened, because that move had the Left-hand Knight flinching while his opponent just stood there as if he were staring at a fool—!"
The voice chimed in Laurentina's ears, making the Abyssal Hunter settle down on a skyscraper after having laned. She took a single step to rebalance herself from the force, before her hair started to flow a little annoyingle into her face. Moving her hand upwards to push it back while the bristles of her skirt settled down from the harsh wind she had fabricated, she turned toward the billboard.
'Kazimierz Major, huh?' Laurentina planted the non-bladed end of her buzzsaw against the ground while she gazed at what was happening on the screen, 'hm? Princess?' Her head tilted in confusion before she blinked once to recover from her stupor, 'he's one of the contestants? My, who would have guessed?' The shock she felt was soon replaced with amusement, as she saw him practically dance around the opponent. 'Heh~ I taught him that move,' Laurentina slightly dug the end of the buzzsaw into the ground to keep it stationary, while she crossed her arms and leaned her hips to the side in pride.
The woman continued to watch as Fushiguro Megumi continued to circle around his opponent, practically turning into a blur and threading through the strikes of the "Left-hand Knight" like a thin needle. Everytime he made his appearance clear, a strike would be executed from his sheathed weapon, before his body flickered once more from the limelight, reappearing for a devastating strike which rattled the helmet of his opponent. Rinse and repeat this practically ten times, and the Left-hand Knight was falling for it every single one of them.
It didn't look like the Left-hand Knight was inexperienced enough not to adapt to whatever was happening to him, but it was more accurate to say that the speed disparity made him fall for them every single time. The results were already obvious enough to Laurentina on who would win this match-up, a steep victory for Fushiguro Megumi.
'Now that brings up the question... how did my dear Princess get caught up in all of this?' Laurentina moved one of her hands up while her other arm kept propped up by the elbow, 'just thinking about all of the possibilities is amusing. Well, whatever, watching him dance around is much more entertaining.'
Flicker, blur, and pause. The amount of times the Left-hand Knight had to turn around to see where his opponent was, and fall for a feint every single time Fushiguro Megumi threw one out was a spectacular sight to see. From how pitiful the black-armored man looked, Laurentina almost felt pitiful for who he had to be put up against. The worst fact? Her Princess hadn't even drawn his blade—nor had he pulled out any of his summons to assist him in battle.
***
Maria Nearl sat at Marcin's bar, the glass in front of her having been filled with grape juice. The non-alcoholic kind, of course. She could hear the TV screen blaring at the corner of the room, showcasing the Kazimierz Major for the entire world to see. The loud sounds of the audience cheering along with the repeated pounding of steel blades against one another continued to emanate from them, forming what was the most prized and enjoyed event in Kazimierz. She looked upwards toward the object displaying such sights with a... complex look.
"You've been listening in, huh?" Marcin walked up toward the blonde-haired Pegasus, taking a look at the screen himself. "Heard the news? Says there was some sort of Higashinese samurai participating as an Independent Knight along with that... Viviana Droste, yeah." He glanced at the woman with the corner of his eye, noting how the other two companions that would usually frequent the place hadn't attended.
"Mhm," Maria was still absorbed in the scene to give a full response, but that didn't stop her from multi-tasking, "he's... the samurai doesn't wear any armor, and he's really quick on his feet. I haven't seen anybody move that fast in the Kazimierz Major..." continuously, while watching the black-haired samurai continue to dash across the scenery, turning into a literal blur, she couldn't help but compare him to a certain somebody she looked up to as an idol.
"Insane work up there, I tell you," Marcin moved to place the cleaned up on the back of the bar in order to let it fully dry or and be used for further use, "moving to the point where he's toying around with the Left-hand Knight? I'm sure Vogelweide would be pointing out how many times that Tytus Topola would have died on an actual battlefield. Won't even blame 'em, fighting against a young monster like that would have been scurrying off the arena, hah!" He shook his head, ignoring the absurd sight that he was gazing upon. "How lucky that Viviana is to have a teammate such as him, wouldn't you say?"
"Do you think..." Maria continued to watch the samurai keep his pace, not even drawing his blade for every single assault laid out by him "...he'd be able to surpass my sister? Does he surpass my sister?" The Pegasus asked. The more she watched him turn away from the black blurred form of his into a clear appearance, the more she gazed upon the malignant crimson orbs of his, and the face that seemed to display a sense of both annoyance and glee at the same time.
As if there were two completely different people in the body...
"Margaret, huh?" Marcin placed a hand under his chin, "complicated, I can't really say—"
"—Oh, HOLY! The samurai just grabbed the Left-hand Knight by the face and COVERED THE ENTIRE ARENA TO SLAM HIS HEAD AGAINST THE WALL! What kind of speed is that?! I could hardly register—ah, he's walking back, is the knight out for the count?! I never would have expected such an accomplishment from... from an outsider! Goodness! We better have medics on standby, because this looks like a whole slaughter!"
"—Damn..." Marcin paused for a moment, widening his one functioning eye, while the other was covered with an eyepatch. His left prosthetic hand moved up to touch the top of his bald head, letting out a huff of air, "it's... I don't think Margaret defeated the Left-hand Knight this easily during her match..."
"Wow..." Maria continued to watch with vested interest, her breath nearly dying out at the sight she was witnessing, "how... how do you think he became so strong? He looks quite young, but he..."
"There's a lot of talented people out there, Maria. Just like how I doubt I could have ever reached Margaret's level, there are also some out there—as much as it pains me to admit—Margaret herself would find fighting difficult. Just some real geniuses, and I assume that samurai up there is one of them." Marcin glanced toward the door to make sure he could take a small break from serving drinks, before turning back to the TV screen. "Still... he might even be on the level of the Black Knight..."
Maria continued to stare at the expression of the man known as Fushiguro Megumi, keeping zoning in on of his deadpan expression, "he doesn't look like he wants to be up there on the stage, almost... bored?" He carried an O-Katana as she knew it by studying how to craft a multitude of blades, wrapped in strange talismans that had black and red ink scratching its surface in symbols she couldn't understand. There was a rope wrapped loosely around its handle, too, the ends flowing in the wind along with his black haori.
"Yeah, I can see that," Marcin raised an eyebrow watching the Left-hand Knight shakily stand up, before the black-haired man disinterestedly turned away.
"—Is... is the Higashinese samurai turning away from the battle to watch his teammate? W-wow! I've seen many levels of disrespect happening in the knight's tournament, but this might take the cake! H-he's even crossing his arms and yawning, what the heck—?!"
The two watched in veiled stupefaction as the Left-hand Knight continued to get up, while Fushiguro Megumi seemed to space off to somewhere else, presumably where his teammate was fighting. It was as if—no—the Left-hand Knight was not an opponent who could stand toe-to-toe with the Higashinese samurai, as their disparity in both strength and speed was like the heavens and earth.
***
"Hey~ Platinum! You see what's happening in the match right now?" Roy the Lazurite called out to the white geared man as he sat in their break room, balancing his bow at its tip while he glanced at his phone casually, as he hovered it above his head. "A whole one-sided stomping match from a Higashinese samurai, apparently. Yeowch, looks like that's gonna leave a scar on Kazimierz's pride, heh."
"Higashinese samurai?" Platinum was wrapping bandages across his arm, the limb having suffered severe damage after having an entire cleared lot under Kawalerielki dropped on him, "don't bother me with the Major, never found them interesting. Show it to Centaurea or something. I need to figure out who that bastard was—who ruined the entire mission, tch." He stared at the target on the other side of the room, multiple bolts having landed on one single spot, every previous one before the next bolt having been split clean in half.
"Uh—you might be a bit interested in who they are, though?" Roy coyly called out to Platinum, the latter who kept ignoring him in order to finish his self medical treatment, "c'mon, you already pissed off the people who gave our mission by breaking off in an uncalled for outburst while they were lecturing you, so why not take a chill pill and look at this?" He still received no response, before he let out an exaggerated sigh, "well~ I guess you don't wanna know that I found the person who exactly matched your description participating in the Kazimierz Major, somehow."
Platinum, who was in the process of tightening the white fabric of healing, instantly paused his movements, jolting in a way as if an electrical current had passed through his body. "Run that back again?" His voice no longer held an annoyed berth, turning more to one of tensity, "what did you say?"
"Well..." Roy flipped the phone he was holding and presented the glass screen toward the other Kuranta, "take a look for yourself," the Lazurite whistled out, turning his head away while he did so. Without even looking at Platinum's facial expressions, he could already feel the turmoil occurring, as the person in the live footage he was showing the other man... 'completely on the mark, huh?'
"—The samurai just told the Left-hand Knight to dodge after the latter regained his bearings! Goodness, a gigantic mountain of blades just fell from the sky after a shadow vortex was formed, which MIGHT have killed him entirely if he hadn't been given the signal to do so! A-ah—what do you mean I still have to give an ad—ah, alright folks! You'd surely be able to survive an attack like that if you buy a product from the—"
"Wow, an advertisement at a time like that? Hah," Roy crossed his legs while slightly swaying his right foot, still waiting for a response from Platinum. "Hey... you alright there buddy? Looks like you've seen a... ghost?" He turned around to look at the man dressed in white, shortly looking taken aback when he had—indeed—looked like he had seen a ghost. Never once in his life had he seen the man look that way, and only when...
"...Roy, take this shit more seriously," Platinum's eyes narrowed, his forehead tensing as he continued to stare at the screen, "if that guy wanted to, I'm sure he could decapitate your head before you even knew it." His right foot began tapping against the ground impatiently, as brain continued to process every single move that the "Higashinese samurai" was producing.
"Oh... really?" Roy pulled the phone back, much to the other's chagrin as he stared at the footage for himself, "I get the jump on him, and he's gone. Come on, I'm doing you a favor? Why not just leave the job of killing him to me? He's been a wrench in your recent missions, after all." The Lazurite continued to analyze the footage. The miraculous speed of the black-haired man was absolutely not something to scoff at, and he knew well enough to not underestimate an opponent who could perform such feats. 'Whatever, I could always find a good vantage—"
"Getting the jump on him? Are you stupid?" Platinum crossed his arms, wincing at the pain of his scratched arms, "he somehow detected me when I was hidden in the shadows, not making a single sound with each of my steps, and I was a damn good distance away too. Yet he still was able to deflect all three of my arrows last second. We hardly know anything about this guy either!"
"Seems like a you problem," Roy casually called out, feeling the seething rage being poured down on him in silence. A small smug smile appeared on his lips, "we'll see that for yourself, yeah? You might be lacking a far bit behind, I'll have him cleared out in about two days or so, how does that sound?"
"This... ugh, fine, get yourself killed," Platinum rolled his eyes, grumbling to himself in a gruff way before walking to where he had dropped his crossbow.
***
Megumi watched as the Left-hand Knight moved out of the way of the weapons he had just dropped on him, before dashing toward where he was going, rearing back a fist. As if on cue, his enemy turned around, most likely expecting him to blur behind him after all the times he had done so on repeated occasions. Too bad, he had decided to change up his tactics at that moment, and went for a straightforward punch, completely throwing the knight's precognition off when his fist landed square on their cheek helmet.
"Gah!" The Left-hand Knight's voice echoed through his battered helmet, before he found pressure acting upon his chest, the sheathed blade of Ame-no-Habakiri digging into it after a successive rebound from Megumi.
The Jujutsu Sorcerer then let his O-Katana drop from his hands, as his own body fell down, both of the palms of his hands touching the around while his body spun in a 360 degree spin kick, sending his opponent off balance. Right after, he twisted his body and went for a straight upwards jab with both of his legs, producing a shockwave after it had made contact with his opponent's chest, and sending them upwards.
Right after he finished the motion, his body blurred once more. The process was completed when he was in the air, having taken a jump which left the ground cratered below him, delivering a harsh kick which sent the Left-Hand knight flying across the arena. The commentator continued to repeat his actions toward the crowd, along with Viviana's own—something that he ignored.
A golden blast appeared to his right as Megumi ran at high speeds in order to reach the Left-hand knight's now airborne body, the Arts attack having been produced by Viviana's enhanced Candle Sword. The damage was impressive, but he only gave it a glance, already aware of the Independent's Knight capabilities, and he was confident in her being able to beat the Brassrust Knight.
Without a moment's notice, he leapt up in the air, his body leaving afterimages as he was now where the Left-hand Knight's trajectory had been going. Raising his arm upwards, his hand grasped the man's repeatedly battered face again, before he executed a slam dunk motion, crashing the competition knight's entire body into the moist dirt on the ground, leaving yet another crater to form in the shape of spiderwebs rippling across.
BOOM
"Hah~ that was easier than I thought," Megumi had his knees bent, letting off a bored sigh as his opponent's body had practically left a hole the shape of his own after having been slammed down. "I guess that's enough, anymore and you'll die..." he whispered out, before standing up, "really, the arena's lights make this a whole lot more amusing." An off-handed comment left his lips, as the black-haired man dusted his hands off, turning toward where Viviana was.
At that moment, a flicker of all light being consumed entered his vision, as he was presented the immaculate sight of the blonde-haired woman's full figure. It was as if everything had been darkened in order for the rest of the world to lay their eyes upon her, and her only. The shadows she had produced from absorbing all the light twisted in the hue of dark blue, sending off a storm of slashes around her body and forcing the Brassrust Knight to back away and shield himself.
However, he would find that to be an unfortunate maneuver to execute, as Viviana had pointed her Candle Sword now used as an Arts Unit toward him, held upside down by the rain guard. The once orange flames were now an aureate ribbons of immolating heat having coalesced together to form something beautiful, completely accentuating her figure in the best way possible. It was then an explosion came out of it, blinding everybody's eyes as a brief kaleidoscopic flash was made—before the pure white experience of what was staring at the sun encompassed the scene.
BOOM
Complete, and utter victory, in the sights of a splendid display.
That day, an entire nation's public pride had taken a hit.
***
A/N: Shorter chapter today, because I slept the entire day yesterday. So my bad, but I'm gonna get through the Kazimierz portion much faster from now on. Expect multiple timeskips to happen.