"Yeah, you're pretty awesome, no doubt."
The boy took a moment to stand back up. He rolled his shoulders, shaking himself off as his own blazing aura flared into being. "That little stunt with the rocks was freakin' sweet, by the way."
"The hell's your game, Blue?" Lyric could see right through his compliments as no more than battleground fodder, but hiding that was only the beginning of a plan.
"What, am I not allowed to say something nice?"
"I'd just prefer that you saved the fluff for when we're living this down; out here, you and I are rivals."
"Jeez, okay, way to kill the mood. Let's pick that back up, then."
"WITH PLEASURE!" As anticipated, it took no time for Lyric to fall for his taunt; her immediate, reckless rush perfectly lined her up for a counterattack. She ended her dash with a slide, springing upward and sending another arc of electricity toward him.
Kyoya intentionally took the brunt of the move, barreling straight through it and landing a compact blow to her abdomen. She wheezed and recoiled hard, completely caught out of sorts by his rash decision. Her stupor opened room for a following kick, sending her just high enough to be socked right back down with another downward-angled slug.
She tumbled for a moment before stopping herself by jamming the spear into the ground again. This time, she threw herself forward off of it and right into her own rush of swings and slashes. She closed with a feint, forcing him to play the dice and block low, whereas she swung high and broke his combo, blowing him away in the process.
Without anything to stop himself, he stomped hard and kept his heels dug in until he came to a skidding stop while still standing up.
When Lyric came at him again, he tried playing things riskier.
Her attempt at a greedy upswing was met with his catching the staff once again, but she ripped it away before he even had a chance to fight for it. He was left wide open, and quickly found himself being pulverized by a rampage of punches that eclipsed even his own—each following hit was akin to being jabbed with an electric prod.
She concluded her string with a fierce headbutt to his collarbone, a sly laugh escaping her as he was sent into recoil.
Seeing the tables turn like that threw Rory into a frenzy.
"WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND! AND JUST LIKE THAT, LYRIC SEEMS TO HAVE GOTTEN A SOLID HOLD ON THE MATCH!"
"Don't count either out just yet, Alberick. Making it this far is no fluke," added Solitaire.
Lyric eyed him, the pair's competitive auras clashing like monstrous waves against a ravenous fire.
"You seriously can't tell when to give up, huh?"
"Never knew how, never gonna learn. You wouldn't be all that happy if I did."
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"I really can't stand that side of you, y'know."
"Sounds like a you problem to me!" Once more, Kyoya led the assault, taking to a new style of split-second change-ups to keep her from seeing his next move.
To his immediate surprise, the Seraph's main defense of prediction-based counters missed one connection after the next. He wouldn't have long before she adapted, but keeping up his offense had to be a priority before she managed to turn it back in her favor.
The Miscreant slashed away at her dwindling defense, burning talons head-to-head against the electrical spiral of her polearm. However, her defense grew stronger during the push rather than weakening—to the point that he was becoming overpowered by her block.
"I said not to bank it all on attack! Try Storm Wall!"
Ryder looked to Solitaire, who simply nodded while still staring out at the battlefield.
"Like you heard, that sudden change in tides is a result of Lyric combining her Affinity with a move she calls Storm Wall, taking attacks head on while spinning the staff and absorbing impact to power itself back up. Looks to me like she's got something big in mind."
The thunderous spiral was bearing down on him now; Kyoya grimaced at the chance of even getting clipped by that wheel of raw electricity. He held up his own block to keep that from happening, but she pulled away before he even knew what happened. The Miscreant was left to lurch forward on account of pushing so hard.
Lyric stepped to his side and cracked an elbow down on his back. Sparks and rubble erupted from around him as he was smashed into the ground once more.
"Not long now, Blue! We'll be done before you know it!"
She threw him out of the dirt with her staff, knocking the Miscreant back into the air with a wicked kick to his ribs. He was robbed of his breath again, not even given time to inhale before another, harder kick from around the pole sent him rolling into the wall.
Again, he was able to scrape by and duck a guillotine swipe from the weapon's blade.
He rolled under another swing, attempting a shoulder-tackle. However, when she began spinning the staff, his eyes widened—a realization of just how exposed he'd made himself. "IT'S OVER! STEER THE STORM!"
A blast of electricity surged out from the center of the spiral; paralysis finally set in and locked him in place after the sparks died out. All of the roaring cyclones she conjured earlier began closing in.
She made a wide, sweeping motion with the staff—it transferred all of the typhoons' energy to her weapon as she leapt up and reared it back for a decisive falling overhead.
In the moments before the battle would have been decided, a thought found its way to him.
Kyoya, even rooted down, clenched his teeth. Just biting down wasn't enough; he kept going until his jaws throbbed in brutal, crushing pain.
He winced and squirmed, but above all, that shock to his nerves flooded his system with adrenaline—the purest and rawest defense and a natural cure to the sudden ailment.
The boy's body began to respond to his movements, Lyric's eyes widening on her way down. "Wh-what!? You shouldn't be able to move!" Despite that, the knowledge that her tactic of keeping him still had failed seemed to only intensify her aura, now a cloak of screaming hurricanes ready to end any chance of victory left for him.
Kyoya roared and lined himself up with the incoming attack, the Seraph's confusion morphing into rage as she swung downward with animalistic fury.
No one could have predicted that he'd take such a hit head on, but the true extent of his idiocy was revealed when the shockwaves and dust settled.
The audience was silent, commentators slack-jawed, even King Altar staring in complete disbelief.
Kyoya stood with a massive crater at his feet; he'd completely withstood any and all force that came with her finishing attack. His body was absolutely quaking, from both sheer adrenaline and unfathomable levels of electricity coursing through him...
...Yet, none of that could even hold a candle to the crunch that rang out in tow of clanging metal.
He'd caught the staff in his teeth.