A Magical Anomaly
Chapter 9 Combat Turn 7
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Choice Made:
[x] Aim for the head, a fast and hard stab from this should be like a club smacking into him. No way he can stay standing if you hit him hard enough with this. (69% Success chance, +2 from Merciful Rep, -5 from Injuries) (40% Chance of Minor Injury (Cut Thigh) *See Codex ) (Inflicts Enhanced Stun for one turn on success. *See Codex) (+20 to Critical Chance from Graceful Deflection *See Character sheet)
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Rolls
* To Succeed = 44 = Success
* To Avoid injury = 53 = Success
* Takedown Roll = 59 = Success
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Effects
* - Mushashi Suffers Enhanced Stun
* - Graceful Deflection enters cooldown (1 turn remaining)
* - Takedown Opportunity
* -Takedown successful
* - Minon Groups defeated
* -5% Curtana Charge.
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You thrust towards his head, the purple energy vanishing as the cold chill makes you shiver.
[Curtana] shrieks forwards, that odd feeling of dissonance not here this time.
It strikes true, slamming into Musashi's jaw with the force of a metal blade and your own momentum.
A moment passes as he stumbles back, maybe long enough for him to take a step, maybe less.
But [Curtana] shrieks even louder on the hit, a pulse of raw force leaving the blade like a concentrated blast of its blaster form.
It doesn't pick up the large man in front of you, but it makes him stumble back harder as he grabs his head with one hand.
You lunge forward to strike again.
But his greatsword intercepts you. A heavy, one-handed slice around his body that forces you back.
The deflection this time is harder than before.
[Curtana] doesn't hum, a normal steel blade like ringing as you need to shove to push the blade away from your smaller form.
You back up as he continues to flail his blade around him, his steps shaking and unsure.
It's like watching a blender… but so much bigger.
Crates are shredded, the ground is scarred.
Musashi roars a challenge as he continues to hold his head, trying to shake off the effects of [Curtana]'s point blank blast.
You don't think you'll get another chance to end this… not without much more struggle.
You consider for a moment… but your pride tells you that now's the time.
The thousand voices and eyes urge you on.
And so you lunge forwards, into the storm of sharp edges and cuts.
[Curtana] moves with you, the defensive knowledge helping you to push further and further into Musashi's own barrage of attacks.
He shakes his head, the storm ceasing, and then grabs the sword with both hands.
Magic pulses on his sword, the ice crackling as more and more forms on it.
Huh…
Well, if there was any time for a final attack, you guess now would be it.
He heaves the larger looking blade around, spinning one, twice and then leaping up.
You doubt you can parry that, especially with [Curtana] not humming.
So, you dash forward.
The sword slams into the ground.
Ice explodes.
A wave of force launches ice shards in all directions.
You block a few with [Curtana], the rest being deflected by [Babr-e Bayan] or absorbed when they shatter against your pauldron.
When you move your blade away, you see a spray of ice along the ground, Musashi seems to almost steam as frost radiates off his body.
Down on one knee, with his sword held in one hand, embedded in the ground.
It would be so easy… to just thump him in the back and knock him out…
But your pride bubbles at the idea.
So you sigh internally, pushing the FEAR at the tiny sound away.
You walk up to him as he laughs.
A loud roaring that seems surprisingly fitting for his large form.
"An excellent duel Demon."
You're… a little annoyed that it ended so quickly…
Man… a Magical Girl against a normal person is so… disappointing.
An anger and frustration you didn't know you were feeling bubbles up.
"Hah, that's a nice expression you got there."
You kneel down next to him… a strange but… welcome feeling settling in as you do so…
An unspoken agreement of peace… or something you guess.
"I am Musashi. The first defeated on your journey of strength. My fight was honorable. Your victory was splendid. May you face one stronger than I, faster than I, and far, far more dangerous in your coming fights, Demon."
He slams his fist into the ground, and you watch as cracks of icy white energy stretch from his sword and up his form.
"Know this demon. A normal human should never bear the weapon of a Magical. It will break them."
His form cracks fully.
And then it turns to dust.
The only reminder of him is his sword. Still embedded in the ground.
You're… uh… a little confused by where all that came from..
Very confused…
What?
Idly, you feel your hand reach for the sword…
But when you touch it, the blade cracks.
The entire sword cracks.
Blue particles of light leak from the cracks, draining into your outstretched hand as the weapon cracks more and more.
The blade shatters.
And those shards float towards you, then past your hand as they collide with [Curtana].
The metals meld together, and the purple light from the swords runes glow just a little brighter.
…That leaves you with more questions…
Like… a lot…
What…?
You shake your head. Moment fading as the sound of running footsteps makes you turn.
You see some grunts rushing through the now open double doors of the warehouse.
You'd have to kill them to reach them at this range, so you let them go as you push off and rush towards where the girl was.
It takes a minute or two. Having to navigate the maze of crates, to get there.
But you manage to reach an intersection, a few grunts having hung around as one grabs the girl off to your left.
"Kill her!"
Oh great… the leader's still alive. Sans one arm at least.
You look to the right, seeing that the leader is about to rush through a door…
Time seems to slow ever so slightly as one of the grunts pulls a knife out, moving towards the girl as the leader behind this whole thing starts to move through the door.
You won't have time to do both… damn it!
[x] You save the girl, this entire endeavor would be pointless if you don't. Maybe you can find out more about what this whole thing is about. (Story Action) (Leader Escapes) (Girl is saved) (Merciful Action) (+ 1 to Merciful Rep) (Has Consequences)
[x] Take down the Leader with [Gae Bolg], he's too far for anything else to hit him in time. It means leaving the girl to die… but what's more important than stopping this guy from becoming a thorn in your side later… because that's probably gonna happen. (Story action) (Leader is killed) (The girl dies) (Lethal Action) (+1 to Lethal Rep) (Has Consequences)
BONUS (Unlocked due to having 2 remaining Chrono charges and not suffering a Major wound)
[x] Fuck it, you're a magical girl. And you have a Chrono core. If you can't save a girl and kill a villian, what's the point of being shunted back in time! Use your core, you've not done this before. But there's nothing like an stupid choice to give you some broken power in your time of need. (Story action) (Requires 2 Chrono charges) (Disables Core use for 1 day) (Girl is Saved) (Leader is Killed or Subdued (Choose)) (Has consequences) (+ 1- 2 Merciful Rep) (+1 Lethal Rep if the Leader is Killed)
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[]Subdue
[]Kill