And that lead one to the conclusion. That, like Herb, Laharl ruled because he was the toughest fighter around. Herb had won their first match because Ranma had slipped up when he tossed Akane aside like... like trash. He'd snapped and gone fully on the offensive, directly into a trap.
But when the second time had come around, she was ready... but Herb had left, because his special technique didn't work over water. But the third time, Ranma had won. Granted, it had been a long, painful battle, but he'd won.
A sword appeared in Laharl's hand as he rushed forward, bringing it down in a brutal slash that Ranma only barely dodged by hopping into the air and pushing off the back of Laharl's head to get a little bit of distance away from that sword. Stupid dress. He'd never... well, seldom fought in girl form with this sort of thing on. He would have to make adjustments for that as well as for being weaker, but faster, and with shorter limbs. Good thing this kid was fighting like Ryoga, as that would give him a few minutes to get used to things and plan out how to win.
Meanwhile, Laharl was panicking. This girl was fighting like a Ninja. A HIGH CLASS Ninja! He hated fighting Ninja, and for a very good reason... they were so damn fast! He was the strongest demon around, but all the power in the world didn't matter if he couldn't hit his opponent. He forced himself to calm down and weave his sword in a pattern of thrusts and slashes that should have reduced the girl to the consistency of ground hamburger.
He didn't manage anything more than scratching her clothes.
Ranma had a plan. Granted, it wasn't very nice, and some might consider it overkill... heck, Ranma considered it overkill... but he had threatened Akane. After Saffron, Ranma had gotten a whole lot less tolerant about that kind of thing. He just... Ranma's eyes widened as his plan was temporarily derailed by the appearance of dozens of floating balls of power. The kid had an energy attack... Of Course the kid had an energy attack, who didn't? By this point, it seemed that even random people off the street in Nerima could launch blasts of energy. Okay... little bit of modification to the plan...
Ranma leapt as high as he could, spinning slightly to avoid the spheres rushing to slam into the patch of ground he'd just occupied and letting the blast push him further upwards, closer to the ceiling. That would have hurt a lot if he'd let it hit... no more playing around, then. The dust cleared below as Ranma fell, and Laharl's eyes snapped up from the empty blast zone.
"Double Mokou Takabisha!"
Laharl managed to get his sword up to guard at the last second, deflecting a good bit of the damage, but it still hurt. He held himself up by sheer willpower, even as his sword was bumped out of the way with a kick and a glowing palm was thrust to less than an inch away from his face.
"Mokou Takabisha!"
Laharl's vision wavered as he arced backwards. Not only was the girl hard to hit, but those blasts packed a wallop. How had she learned to use demon power so fast? It was like a horrible, horrible nightmare. He rolled as he impacted with the floor, coming up to a crouching position with his sword back in a ready position as he frantically chewed at the stick of gum he'd slid out in mid-flight. The reaction of the sugar to his demonic metabolism would keep him going a little longer, but a couple more good hits like that and he was through.
Ranma grinned.
"Is that all? Is that the best you can do? Ruler my butt! You're just a little brat who inherited a position, and lords it over everyone he meets. Weakling. Brat. You're pathetic."
"Graaaaaaaaagh!"
Laharl's eyes burned with rage at the mockery. He was the OVERLORD! He was the strongest! This little... gnat dared to mock him? He'd show her the error of her ways!"
He rushed forward, swinging wildly, falling directly into Ranma's trap as they began to move in a slow spiral. The outcome was obvious.
"Hiryu Shoten Ha!"
Laharl growled as the sudden winds launched him directly upward at gale-force speeds. No problem. He'd just let his cape slow his fall and get right back to... wait, wasn't he forgetting something?...
K-CRACK!
Oh, right... the ceiling. Ouch. His sword slipped from his hand with the pain. And then there was...
"Technique revision... Moukou Barrage!"
... the dozens of spheres of energy zeroing in on where he was embedded in the stone roof, much like his own 'Overlord's Wrath'. This... this was... this was going to hurt. Really bad.
Ranma caught the falling sword as the ki-blasts impacted, causing a powerful explosion of light and force. Laharl fell after a moment, slamming into the ground, clothes smoldering.
"Do you give up?"
Laharl's answer was to spit a few drops of blood at Ranma's shoe. Ranma frowned and stabbed downwards.
Laharl flinched, but then opened his eyes to see that the sword was imbedded in the stone next to his ear.
"I don't like beating up people who can't fight back. If you can stand up and pull the sword out, we'll call it a draw."
Laharl barely mustered up enough energy to scowl. This was not the way things were supposed to go. He was the Overlord! He staggered and wobbled as he slowly rose from the ground. Overlord. He couldn't lose. He COULDN'T lose! He reached out and grabbed the hilt of his sword.
And collapsed, as his willpower and tolerance for pain finally gave out.
XXX
"So, looks like your friend won. That's pretty impressive. So... what was her name again?"
"......... Ranma."
Etna nodded and stood up, clapping her hands and coughing.
"All hail..... the new Queen, Ranma!"
"Wait, what?" was all that Ranma managed to get out before the gathered crowd broke into cheers.
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(Posted Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:40)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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