[] Go up and challenge this Legendary Warrior to one on one combat. The potential for an honorable duel aside, it should also open up the rest of the Host to trying to break through the blockade. This could be your chance to earn renown.
===
A
Legendary Warrior stands in front you, a worthy opponent which the martial artist inside you had so craved to battle ever since digivolving to champion. So much as
Duty calls out for you to focus on helping end the siege and
Logic dictates that fighting such a powerful opponent by yourself is foolish but... personal
Desire and
Instinct triumph through. The possibility of fighting a worthy opponent was one of the reasons why you accepted HolyAngemon's offer to come. You
refuse to throw that away simply because Wolfmon's capabilities may outclass your own.
This is my path to choose. I seek an honorable duel for the fight and to help fulfill Flamemon's dream... perhaps this could also give my allies the chance to break through while I occupy my opponents attention.
Despite the giddiness and pulsing excitement, your movements when plodding forward are entirely unchanged. All the energy and emotion is carefully controlled, then channeled, you'll need every shred of it for the conflict to come.
"Sparks." you state calmly, rotating your head to look at the much smaller champion on your shoulder. "Get down."
"What? Your intentions cannot be to-" the cripple protests, looking upon you with open confusion, that is until your eyes meet. His dubious look warps into an unhappy glower, but the Wizardmon nods nonetheless.
"Thine life is... I shalt interrupt the fight if-"
"I understand." the reply is swift, and you're careful to keep annoyance out of the words. Sparks plans to intervene if it looks like the opponent will delete you. While the idea of such an interruption is rankling to your sensibilities, it's understandable. He's your friend, and there's nothing you can do to convince him not to act in such a case. With that he hops down, the fourteen feet and lands lightly on the rocky ground.
"Hrmph. Fine."
Beside you, the squad's Pidmon is oddly silent, watching the proceedings with an uncharacteristic restrained intensity.
"Pit. I will draw his attention."
"Alone? Comrade Verge that is... Hyuk, hyuk, hyuk. Acceptable." An almost evil-looking grin appears over the two-winged angels face as he nods once. "May God be with you." After thanking him, you start forward.
Eighty-four feet away Wolfmon finishes off the last champion still attacking him with a pair of slash's to the unfortunate Angemon's knees, then leaps back to his starting position in front of the square-cut passage. He doesn't interfere as the broken assault force grab up their lost body part's and flee, only watching with an impassionate disdain as all eighteen soldiers retreat from battle. Judging by the many dozens of wounded mon you'd spotted all over camp, this hadn't been the first wave he'd defeated on his lonesome. But it
would be his last.
Rearing up to the full height of nearly twenty feet, you take a breath and make your presence known.
"Wolfmon!" The air itself shakes under the force of your roar,
as it should. As expected, the Legendary Warrior turns to inspect you. "You are challenged to personal combat! Face me here and now in a
honorable duel!"
"Friggen stupid."
The champion in question seems distinctly unimpressed by your challenge, somehow managing to actually looks down his nose at you despite only being half your height. Infuriating
disdain, radiates from his loose stance and his only response is to give out an exaggerated, exasperated sigh. However, you refuse to let the anger from his disrespect gain control, instead tightly channeling the emotion into your reserves.
Calm mind. Clear focus. A single mistake could mean defeat. With his speed, Frame reinforce is useless and I do not believe my fire enough to harm him... Hasten Burst would be of immense help.
Unfortunately you haven't learned that particular bit of High Programming yet. Now, all that remains is the approach.
Your core thrums with
satisfaction, ready to set upon this path.
Your mind is calm, focus narrowed to a razor-thin edge. All distractions slide away, leaving only room for the opponent and yourself.
My claws are heavy.
Wolfmon's body shifts minutely, his legs bending to gather strength-and is suddenly in motion. Between blinks the Legendary warrior goes from stationary to a dazzling leap his blades flashing with elemental power. As a rookie the champion would have appeared as nothing more than a streak of light, but now? You can see his motion, the arcing motion and blow aimed to severe your left forelimb at the shoulder. More importantly however, you can counter his strike.
Against a normal mon like the soldiers he'd just finished defeating Wolfmon's speed would have been overwhelming. But now his course through the air is set and you will prove yourself a worthy opponent. There is no point in roaring, you shift your feet, twists your hips and meet him head on.
With immutable trust your war-gauntlet of black and gold arcs down to intercept the leaping strike. Wolfmon is faster than you, even now when he's not taking the encounter seriously. But you don't need to match his speed. All that's required here is greater reach and the correct timing.
These are two aspects which your body excel in.
A dual strike will not work. The size difference is too vast. Single swipe.
"Crescent Dawn!"
It's only halfway through his motion that your opponent notices that something is wrong, but even that is far too late. Delight explodes from your core as surprise rolls over Wolfmon's face. He switches from offense to defense admirably fast, barely managing to raise his light blades up in time to meet your claw.
For a brief instance, metal wars against heat energy as his blades seek to rend your armor in two. Then the second has passed with fervor, your equipment victorious presses down on his blades crossed guard without so much as a scratch before proceeding
down.
Wolfmon's feet impact the ground with enough force to shatter rock, spraying shards of the material to harmlessly splash against your fur. Your worthy opponent's limbs visibly shake with the effort of halting the blow, keeping it mere inches away from this head. Yet indeed no matter how hard you press down, the Legendary Warrior keeps your forelimb from further pressing down so much as another centimeter.
He is unbroken.
"Such… weight." A new burning light leaps into the mercenary's eyes, wiping away the disdain and boredom and replacing it with glee.
"Yes!" Wolfmon
roars, muscles surging to push your paw aside. Naturally, you're other arm is already sweeping in from the side, to exploit the newly gained momentum. But instead of simply getting hit, Wolfmon twirls away dual swords sweeping out to half-parry the follow up.
The resulting clash sends him, skidding back through the ground, carving two deep, nine foot long furrows in solid stone before the force of your glancing attack is fully dispersed. Wolfmon, looks you in the eye and
grins. It's impossible not to return the look even as your data sings in joy.
"Mach Jab Combo!" You cover the distance with a single bound, and unleash a series of short punches, pushing him further away from the passage. Not unexpectedly, the Legendary Warrior dances out of the way. He avoids your strikes with an almost effortless grace, stepping and leaning just enough to avoid being struck and not a fraction more.
So the gap in speed is this vast. No matter. I will persevere.
"Hohohaha! Yes! Such speed, such power! Come! Show me the depths of your strength!" Wolfmon, ducks your final jab, transfers the momentum into a rising strike that catches your arm on the recoil, throwing it up into the air. How his small frame holds so much power is a mystery, but not one you're willing to question. Not when you're having a battle like
this.
Instead of following up, the mercenary slams his blades together in a cross salute and nods.
"My apologies for underestimating you. Enough holding back." You return the gesture, take one step back and raise your paws up in the standard defense stance.
"Zwei Sieger" The Legendary warrior unleashes a ball of light from his blades, and instinctively you shift to block the projectile. But Wolfmon dashes alongside his first attack, closing into melee before you can register more than surprise.
"Licht Sieger!" pain flares up as he scores a pair of cuts along your left side.
Shallow.
Ignoring the burning sensation, you whirl after Wolfmon, but the mercenary is one step head, unleashing another paired strike on your right leg.
"Hohoha! Too slow Gryzmon!" You let out a low growl turn again, but it's a struggle to so much as follow the smaller, much more agile digimon. A third strike lands on your knee, then a fourth on your belly. Within moments it becomes clear that catching the mercenary while he's inside your guard like this is impossible.
If this continues, then I have already lost. I cannot depend on speed.
So you change things.
Half of the stance keeping your upper body safe from the darting blows drops, as you pull back an arm for
Megaton Punch.
Wolfmon doesn't let the sudden opportunity go, leaping up and joining his swords together for a single powerful, and wholly predictable strike.
The energy you'd gathered flows not down the length of an arm, but up into your mouth.
"Drohung Strahl!" his connected weapons strike down, and you attempt to shift enough to catch it on your pauldron. You'd planned to let it rebound off armor instead of severing vulnerable flesh, unfortunately the opponent recognizes your slight shift in movement, and accounts for the difference.. Wolfmon moves his attack slightly left, bypassing the armor entirely. True pain, a cutting heat slices through fur, flesh and muscle, effortlessly working through your data.
Victory flashes across Wolfmon's features-then turn to open shock as his blades hit bone, and the attack
halts.
"Sharp Fangs!"
The mercenary's body attempts to twist away as your mouth snaps shut, but you knew exactly where he'd strike, and how he'd try to escape. Eight of your teeth strike armor, and even reinforced by a technique crack from the impact.
Wolfmon however emits a satisfying bellow of pain as you feels something in his limb give way.
"Licht Kuge!" A blast of energy from his arm strikes your jaw at point blank range, loosening your grip for just a fraction of a second. And that is all the time your opponent needs. Wolfmon bends forward and drives his light sword into your mouth, wedging it open long enough for him to drag his leg out, then kicks off your nose.
"Rgh!" the snarl comes out unbidden as you follow his path down.
"Nice try! But don't expect that bluff to work twice!"
It wasn't just a bluff.
"Megaton!" You bring your right forelimb forward, then down, modifying the technique on the fly to follow his descent.
"Daemonshit!"
"Punch!"
His cross guard is strong.
The strike Sergeant Scratch taught you is stronger.
A single golden spike punches through his defense and tears into the center of his armor.
Data pours out from the wound-and then your claw is moving past. The ground at your feet
explodes, a dozen feet of solid rock erupting outwards from your strike and throwing a haze of dust into the air.
Wolfmon glowing even through the debris, dashes backward and you follow, dropping onto all fours to give chase.
"Strahl!" You see his glowing eyes start to pulse and raise your right paw to preemptively block whatever is about to happen. Which obscures your view for one vital second.
"Himmelfahrt!" A whirlwind of light rises up from the earth like a pillar with Wolfmon at the head. The whirling champion is able to strike directly at your upraised elbow.
Agony, flares from your arm as hard light wraps around the highly vulnerable joint. Every shred of digital flesh holding up the latter half of the limb is severed, leaving your claw to hang limp.
However even through the pain you see a flash of opportunity. While it may have crippled you, that attack left him hanging in the air once more.
"Crescent Dawn!" For a second time that day, you strikes the airborne mon at full force, smashing him into the earth with every ounce of your remaining
power. This time, the champion's cross-block doesn't hold up. Weakened by your first smash and the Megaton punch, Wolfmon's attempt to defend himself crumbles. Your paw crushes him against the ground back first, pinning the Legendary Warrior in place. A second passes, he doesn't move.
Did I win?
"Fantastic!" One word. That's all it takes to send a chill down your spine.
He can still fight?!
Wolfmon is battered, the white portions of his armor cracked, broken and even bearing a hole from where your knuckle had struck. One leg is twisted around, broken and unusable. But your opponent is still smiling.
Don't let him up!
You unleash another roar of effort and press down on the Legendary warrior with every ounce of your being. But sadly, despite your best efforts, inch by inch, Wolfmon forces it way for a second time. A slight sinking feeling whistles free from your digicore as he creates enough space to roll away. He wastes no time in pressing the advantage, popping the handle of one sword in his mouth of all things before dropping onto all fours. Despite his humanoid appearance, the Legendary Warrior darts out of the way of your desperate strike with surprising agility.
With only one arm usable, your ability to defend and retaliate is halved and this time, there's not a way to trick the mercenary into exposing himself. This time, after getting into range, the elemental warrior doesn't let up. Dozens of blows strike your legs, belly and sides, each one barely consequential, but together adding up to a hefty sum.
He hampers your mobility, drains your strength, and there's nothing you can do to catch him.
It's frustrating but... you roar with an undeniable happiness and continue the struggle. .
If I lose then so be it. But I won't let this branch of my path end pathetically!
A strict pattern begins to emerge through the cuts. Wolfmon attacks both your legs, then your left side, then your back before moving onto other parts. The order of the first two blows might not have been consistent, but the third was. Which gives you a final chance.
Gritting your teeth through the pain, you drop down to a knee, twist painfully around sweeping out to intercept the third blow-only to be met with... nothing.
"Nice prediction."
*Slice*
The Legendary Warrior draws his blade around the joint of your right rear-leg.
"I saw it coming."
... I see. Our skills are also this far apart.
"This duel is over." Your foe declares, hopping into sight and leveling one sword towards your lowered head.
"Prepare for defeat."
"Zehahaha." a low rumble escapes your throat. "Come then. Take your victory."
My path does not end here!
With another roar, you fall back sweeping out a claw in a last ditch attempt to end the fight.
Wolfmon leaps into the arc of your attack, his
shining with sudden brilliant radiance. The head of a feral beast knocks your forelimb away and dashes forward. With your guard open, there's nothing you can do to stop the incoming attack.
Defeat... It's not so bad.
"Licht!-"
Is as far as Wolfmon gets before an arrow formed of lighting smashes into his back. The Legendary warrior's attack disintegrates, and his body flies overhead. He smashes into the ground a mere foot from your snout, a hole in his gut.
...
What?!
Up above in the distant sky, an Angewomon raises her bow, preparing a second shot to finish
your opponent off.
That can not stand.
Wrath flows out from your core, empowering exhausted muscles and giving wounded limbs new energy. And as the next arrow streams forth, your remaining arm rises up. Once more your war-gauntlet proves its worth, as the projectile of pure energy shattered against its black surface. However the force still swings you around.
Just in time to see the form of Wolfmon rising to a knee. There's accusation in his eyes, disappointment and fury. But... there's something else.
Acceptance.
The fact that your duel was interrupted is infuriating, even if you were on the cusp of losing, honour dictated taking said loss. Not... cheating.
But now… you have the potential chance to delete Wolfmon. A worthy opponent, and a source of immense power. There's a chance he might not be able to escape this place even if you do show mercy.
=== Choose One:
[] Delete and Load him. You need his
power to
fulfill your oaths, he is a worthy opponent. It may be something you'll regret but... so be it. You'll make that sacrifice.
[] Show mercy and honor. You do not
desire to see his path end here. And letting someone else delete him would be an eternal stain on your
honor.
[] Step aside. Let the Angewomon finish him off. Any victory now would be stale, but your
duty to the host prevents you from assisting him.
===Stats/Skills
- General Fighting: 38/100->39/100
- Martial Arts, Maul (Gryzmon) Style: 16/100-> 18/100
Sparring:
+Agility
+Fortitude
- Strength: 2358.00->2365.00
- Fortitude: 2148.25->2160.75
- Endurance: 1520.25->1525.75
- Agility: 1441.75->1451.50
- Special: 1703.50
- Spirit: 1484.00
===Authors Note:
Hehe, that took a while, but I'm pretty happy with the result!
