> Ice against Fire. Divine against Mortal. God against Beast. A clash of utter timelessness.
----------------------------------------
Shwey hurled the weapons of frost at Couch with great vigor, seeking through them to gain some leverage during this battle. With his superior speed however, Couch managed to maneuver as each weapon rained down upon the area.
He began running opposite to Shwey. Those weapons must have a limited range…
This prediction was proven correct, as upon running past a certain point, the rain of swords and spears immediately came to an end. And for his accurate record, he grinned mischievously.
"So, that's it?”
《A "supergenius" in his own right.》
"Grrrr! This cub truly seeketh out reproach,” growled Shwey in an irritated tone, gnashing his teeth.
"Hmph! Howsoever shall thou counteract this?!"
He widened his mouth, beginning to inhale a great amount of air into his lungs.
He subsequently breathed it all out in an instant, but the air was different: it was now cold, cold enough to instantaneously freeze anything in its path.
The air passed through a portion of the platform, cogealing whatever it came in contact with, and was fast headed towards Couch.
Apprehensive of the imminent trouble, Couch started to run ahead of the air, most of his body avoiding it.
Except his left forearm, which was caught by it a little, and would begin to refrigerate.
"Gaah!,” winced Couch in response, immediately picking up the pace and moving far from the reach of the area the air had occupied and frozen over.
He panted as he rested and restrategized, holding said arm and trying to figure out how to defrost it.
"Hmm-hmm-hmm,” chuckled Shwey. "Might thoust be out of luck, Torrerian? And possibly that sharp tongue as well?"
"Nevertheless, I applaud thine efforts at gaining the high ground. Shame it all but results in fruitless yield.”
“Then again, thou not dare engage in combat against a deity and hastily claim victory with bold vigor…”
Then, Couch looked up with a laser-focused determination, highlighted by his daunting expression.
"Huh. Maybe you're right…or, maybe…”
“You're a damned prick who looks with a far too damned surface-level mindset!"
"What was that, boy?" Shwey responded in a sharp tone, deeply disgruntled.
"You'll see,” said Couch, placing all four of his limbs onto the ground and postured akin to a feline.
This boy…what is he planning?, pondered Shwey.
Suddenly, the area around them had a rise of strong currents of wind and force, looking now as though Couch was transforming into something, to which Shwey responded by placing his hand in front of his face, blocking out the wind while looking to decipher what was occurring.
But, as he looked closer, his eyes widened in shock, as he saw what was to be deemed and unexpected sight.
Couch was transforming, into a fabled being known as an Ōyōkai, well-known across multiple archversal models.
《Ōyōkai. Legendary creatures of the omniverse.》
The beastly figure would undergo a mold to take more proper shape, being of a tigery form, made completely of red flame and black horizontal stripes, with yellow eyes and two tails. Now, Couch had completely transformed, and the prior ice had melted completely.
《Coalesces of pure essence and energy, existent across multiple realities.》
The creature, now not solely Couch, began staring down Shwey, ready to strike.
Then, it shot from its mouth a large fireball in Shwey's direction.
Shwey anticipated, just managing to avoid the flaming attack in time.
Couch would go on to repeatedly fire off these bolts of flame, prompting continuous evasions from Shwey, and bringing about a cyclic pattern that was replayed a few more times.
Eventually, Shwey was prompted to an opening, releasing a ginormous ice ball towards the fiery beast, which was evaded just as well.
"So…an Ōyōkai, huh? Then surely, thou art a Specter Host…,” spoke Shwey, seemingly slightly impressed though very wary.
"Grrrrr….,” growled the beast, snarling its teeth as it stared down Shwey.
"No matter. This battle's end shan't be swayed by such.” The Asgardian then created two weapons of ice, noticeably taking forms of a mighty longsword in one hand, and a strange-looking shield strapped onto the other.
“~ICE ARMORY: HEIMDALL AND LOKI!!!~” He exclaimed, now charging head-on at the beast, which in turn charged at him also, kickstarting a clash of a shared aim to draw first blood.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
But none of their attacks proved successful, as Shwey's shield could shift through a variety of forms, and the beast's body was untouchable to a degree, in a vein similar to the very flame it was constituted of.
The exchange between both would go on for a while, as swings of paws and swings of the blade were either blocked or phased through entirely in either case of the dyad. Thrusts and lunges commenced as well, but bore no true fruit either, and even their defenses with their offensive utilities seemed to provide aid in preventing damage of any sort
It would finally conclude when the beast struck Shwey with a solid swipe using its paw, sending him flying, and leaving him with a deep graze of its paws across part of his left chest. "Ungh!"
After his thudding fall, he slowly began to rise, holding where had been injured as blood oozed from the scars, plastered onto and covering that very same forearm and soaked in by his upper garment as well.
"Haa..haa…what crudeness.…It appeareth thus, withstanding form or power, with the sun's setting …”
“A wild beast remaineth a wild beast." He retorted with an ired scowl.
This visibly outraged Couch and the beast simultaneously, seen from the great roar this Ōyōkai form produced, a roar which echoed well across the landmass of a platform.
Facing Shwey, he began to gather energy directly in front of its mouth, creating a black sphere of that power.
That is–!, thought Shwey, as his eyes widened and mouth squeezed in a heightened sense of urgency.
~GRAND SPIRIT BALL!!!~ Then that sphere was instantly launched upon the fullness of its charge.
It was aimed near Shwey's vicinity, and there it landed, culminating in a tremendous hemispherical explosion.
《The power of these majestic beasts. The Grand Spirit Ball.》
All the audiences looked upon the ongoings with shocked and anxious expressions, desiring knowledge of the current state of the versus.
Couch returned to his normal form with the regression of the beast, observing the area surrounded by dissipating smoke, believing without doubt his opponent to be defeated.
But as the smoke depleted in volume and cleared away, Couch's mouth opened in shock, bewildered by what he saw.
Fronting Shwey, who was standing and well and with his prior wounds healed, was a ginormous mirror of ice, which seemed to have negated part of the explosion.
"H-how the-!? You should be dead by now!!,” yelled the Torrerian, with anger and frustration.
“Well, boy, thou sayest I see from a…surface level.”
“But alas! YOU werest he unable to truly see. That is why this…,” said Shwey, as he tapped on the giant mirror, "...which I hast amply titled, ‘The Pane of Freya’, granteth to me divine protection.”
“Because my view…is far superior to yours!”
《A deity's proclamation!》
Slowly he raised his hands, creating and erecting large ice mirrors that reached hundreds of yards into the space above, preparing the next set of attacks.
Couch crouched ever so minimally, glaring forward in steadfastness as he as well readied.
Probacon, watching from the stands, looked upon the intensity of this battle, and thought in his mind of its nature. A fiercely intense battle, just like the last! But, this time it's for a different reason. The last was out of the respect each man was gaining for each other, and their drive to win. But this…
"Hey, what did I miss?" A voice asked from beside Probacon as someone sat beside him. A voice which the Djin instantly recognized.
"Ehhh!? D-Drizzled?,” exclaimed a bamboozled Probacon, carrying a rather cartoonish expression of surprise, as he turned to look at Drizzled.
"Don't be so loud about it!,” replied Drizzled, slightly annoyed as he pushed Probacon's head down.
Probacon looked at Drizzled, who sat to his right. His treatment was done, as of the many wounds procured during his strenuous battle he had but none, helped by both the Jmlehvu and his regeneration. He had had a change of clothes, though it was a similar set to what he had worn before, and was allowed to return to the participants' area, as Dgiag had stated before.
"Haha. Well, great to see ya here! You put on one hell of a fight!,” said Probacon who pumped his fists forward with enthusiasm.
"...Thanks. Part of my self-pride is in how well I kick ass, y'know." "But…where's David?"
"Over there,” said Drizzled, as he pointed to a different point outside their area, an area similar to it, which David was in, also healed of his wounds and with new clothing similar to his old set, though he now wore his jacket normally, with the zipper undone.
"Move to the next round, you go over there.” He said, signaling to David, who has sensed his past adversary, signaling back to both Drizzled and Probacon.
"So, what's up with this fight, Pink?”
"Well, it's been intense, for reasons different from yours, that is. (Also, the name's Probacon, not Pink.),” responded Probacon.
"Figures. Didn't expect Moody Gold to exactly give a fight based on mutual respect, considering that's just how he's been.” He said as he sighed, referring to Couch. "Yeah…wait…”
“YOU KNOW COUCH PERSONALLY!?" "Duh! We're obviously both Torrerians." "That's not good enough a reason…"
"But….we've also got some…close history.” Drizzled revealed, lowering his tone significantly, and carrying on his face a stare of dead neutrality.
Probacon looked at him with a troubled expression.
However, he instantly turned his attention back to the fight upon noticing its growth in ferocity, evident by the chants and cheers of the spectators.
Couch was constantly being pressed by Shwey, who relented in his attacking with various ice attacks, showing not a sign of fatigue.
This ticked off the Torrerian, who scouted around for an effective opening.
Couch then began to steadily increase his pacing, which caught Shwey off guard, being far slower than his opponent's top speed, and struggling in that regard even before now.
He countered this however, by creating a titanic ring wall of ice around him, large enough for a lunar body to be placed within.
Shwey would begin to prepare himself, for a great special attack unlike any before, as the icy steam emitted from his body, and he placed his hands together with concrete intent.
"I shall show that impudent mutant how to hand respect.” He whispered to himself, then raising his hands to the sky, as the weather and environment around it began to change.
The Field began to terraform yet again, rapidly and with untethered urgency, for Shwey was about to display the global power the mean god could attest to on this plane. The expected might of the destructiveness of the providences. The capacity in the most normal, of a deity.
~WINTER VALHALLA!!!~ Shwey swung his hand to each side, releasing an omnidirectional burst of ice, snow, and cold wind.
The entire environment was affected, slowly turning into an icy tundra.
This was excluding Couch, who protected his face with his forearm, uneasily anticipating the upcoming hurdle…
----------------------------------------