“Subaru, you already knew the identity Touma-kun’s mother, correct? Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Nanoha.
“It’s not like I can work it into a regular conversation,” mumbled Subaru in defense before switching her tone to a fake uppity one. “Hi, Nanoha-san! How’s it going? By the way, did you know that this boy’s mother looks exactly like a grown up version of Vivio?”
“You could have said something!”
Upon seeing Nanoha try to figure out if she should be angry or disappointed, Subaru decided it was time to switch the subject to something else since this one was making her feel a bit uncomfortable. “Ah… so how is Signum-san doing anyway? I mean… if Olivie-san’s the real deal, then…”
“She’s been certainly demonstrating her capabilities as a warrior. Analysis, prediction, reaction are all top notch. But what I find a bit strange is that even with all those precise high pressure attack strings, she hasn’t been able to properly break Signum’s guard and force an opening.” Yuuno paused for a moment. “And then there were some odd instances with Signum’s movements at times.”
“What do you mean?” asked Hayate.
“I’m not entirely certain but… here.” The blonde man summoned a monitor and brought up some earlier footage of the duel in which showed Olivie scattering high and low attacks to confuse Signum’s guard stance. “Maybe someone with a keen eye for magical combat can help pinpoint where I’m getting at.”
All eyes briefly turned to Nanoha who managed to snap out of her earlier funk. “Sure, I guess I can help.” A few moments passed as she digested the footage of Olivie’s next set of attacks. “My word… that woman must have a lot of muscle power in order to maintain that momentum after doing a quad feint!”
“Stay focused please.”
“Sorry, Carim…” Nanoha turned back to the video replay and spotted what Yuuno had meant. In the middle of Olivie’s rushdown, Signum seemed to lose balance but before her opponent could capitalize, the Knight stabbed her sword in the ground and had her device load a cartridge to create a makeshift flame barrier. “I think I see it. That last defensive movement used by Signum… the execution was shaky. Because it didn’t have her usual sense of grace and control, I have to conclude that it wasn’t done consciously.”
“So she pulled that off by pure instinct? How come I don’t remember seeing that move in her arsenal when we sparred?” asked Vita.
“Well, she hasn’t faced a pure Belkan style opponent with an aggressive combat style like this. Even when she sparred with Sister Schach and other Church Knights, they tended to favour a more defensive style,” said Carim as she offered up her own explanation. “And while Vita is certainly not lacking in aggression, she tends to focus on power instead of speed and unpredictability.”
“Mom can do all that easy! She’s smart and powerful and fast and stuff!” exclaimed Touma.
“And because of that powerful combat style awakening her instincts…”
Hayate picked up on where Carim was leading. “That means Signum’s able to stay in the fight and avoid being overwhelmed?”
“It’s all learned reflexes,” said Shamal as everyone turned to her. “Muscle memory to be precise. Repeat an action and practice it enough and your body remembers how to do it without your brain telling it to.”
“Like how Mariel-san can disassemble and reassemble the main body of any low grade Device blindfolded?” asked Nanoha.
The Lady of the Lake nodded. “That’s a good example. Or take my case. I don’t recall any memories of my life before meeting Hayate but when I was awakened by her and saw her in the wheelchair, the first thoughts that came to my mind were surgical options on how to fix her condition.”
Subaru was surprised to hear such a thing as it was one of the rare times any one of the four Belkan Knights actually spoke about some of their history. Then a disturbing thought came to her. “If Signum-san’s body has those types of instincts, then she must have lived a life of endless battle before meeting Hayate-san, correct?”
“You have no idea,” muttered Vita.
‘So this is the strength of the Kaiser… with all that power coming down on me, somehow I’m still in one piece…’
Once in a while, when fragments of her old life surfaced, Signum would remember some of the stories that she had heard about the Kaiser. About how they were the essence of Belkan combat arts given flesh, fighters who obtained the delicate balance of grace, speed and power.
As she found out for herself, those stories were certainly true. Olivie’s focused and powerful movements were controlled tightly to maximize usage of energy. Honestly, there were times when Signum knew that her guard could have been broken but
apparently; the fates were smiling upon her today by letting her body’s memory remember some defensive techniques that she had probably developed during one of her past incarnations.
Both combatants took their time to catch their breath and revise their combat strategy. For Signum, she went through what options she had available against an opponent of this calibre while using this precious reprieve to put in some new cartridges.
Bogenform was obviously out. The set up time would be too long and Olivie would undoubtedly be in her face before she managed to get an arrow off.
Schlangeform seemed a bit more feasible but that would mean remaining stationery and relying purely on Laevatein’s ability to strike with that form. Would it be able to match up with her opponent’s speed? Or maybe… that woman would be crazy enough to try and strike the device in its extended form with her fists and damage it.
Yes… she would try such a thing. The Kaiser’s reaction time was beyond what the Knight had expected when she tried to counterattack earlier (although to be honest, Signum’s gut feeling told her that those mismatched eyes played some role in that). And with her strength, she could possibly cause some serious damage since Laevatein would enter Olivie’s attack range and be open for a powerful blow. If she was going to use that form, she would have to be certain that it can definitely land the blow that would finish the fight in her favour.
In the meantime, she would stick with her old reliable strategy of getting up close, waiting for her chance and striking the enemy as much as she could with Schwertform. It would take a lot of time but that was fine with the Knight of the Sword.
As powerful as that young woman is, she didn’t seem to have a lot of patience (most likely an attribute of her youth). In her last offensive, she appeared to be taking a few more risks to force an opening in Signum’s guard. If Signum kept her guard up properly, Olivie’s lack of success would cause her to take larger risks. And that would give the General of the Raging Fire that small window of opportunity to strike.
Speaking of Olivie, she seemed to be ready again as she planted her feet firmly into the dirt while concentrating on channelling energy into her right hand.
“Meine Hand leuchtet mit ehrfürchtiger Kraft...! ”
While she began to chant, a rainbow Belkan triangle formed under her feet and that hand of hers began glowing red.
“Mit dieser brennenden Attacke werde ich dich besiegen! ”
Signum’s eyes narrowed as the nature of that attack was made clear in her mind. Olivie intended to use that high risk, high reward technique that would end this battle. Now the question is how exactly would she execute it? Depending on the answer to that, it would affect the timing of her counterattack.
But the fact that she chose to use that type of move even when she had a lot of different options said something about her. That woman wanted to get her answer quickly, one way or the other.
“If that’s how you wish to finish it, that’s fine by me.” Signum dug her feet into the ground, one hand secured around the handle of her sword and the other hand holding the sheath in a defensive posture. “Abandon your hesitation. Shatter the doubts that plague you… and show me the answer that you have found, Sankt Kaiser!”
And Olivie transformed into a blur, only to reappear within striking range before thrusting her palm forward.
“Die ultimativen… SHINING FINGAAAAAAA!!!”
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(Posted Sat, 09 Jul 2011 05:47)
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