It was turning out as a hopeless fight. My luck had been bad from the start, with Waver missing 80% crits, Vlad understandably not getting any, and Karna's cards being all over the place, rarely aligning into the Brave chains I needed from him. Then, Ibaraki focused all attacks on Karna, forcing me to use the Master dodge to keep him alive for just a bit longer. It was a good call - Ibaraki turned her attention elsewhere the next turn, and Karna survived to be healed. Alas, that had a price. Waver fell first, his demise as if a harbinger of my inevitable defeat. Vlad bit the dust soon after, fortunately stalling Ibaraki's NP for another turn with his final action.
D'Eon stood valiantly, soaking damage for the team, shielding Tamamog and Karna, both of whom had less than 1k HP by that point. That was not the plan - his taunt had a purpose, a purpose it would not be allowed to fulfill, the circumstances forcing me to use it long before its intended time. He fell on the third turn, beaten, broken by the blasted "Rashomon"*. My secret weapon and last hope jumped onto the stage - Robin Hood, armed and dangerous... but not ready. And he were not allowed to prepare, as Ibaraki's barrage of crits took him out before his NP bar could be filled.
And so, only two remained standing against the monstrous enemy. Exhausted, with a turn of cooldown still remaining on their skills, they could only stand and prepare, understanding that one of them would fall as the oni's dreaded Noble Phantasm was ready once more. Alas, the Cat died, brought low from near full health, and Karna miraculously remained standing with but a sliver of HP remaining.
2 turns were left until the end, Ibaraki's bar was still near a third full, and Karna's HP was once more brought below a thousand.
Having never used a Command Seal to heal a Servant before, I hesitated for a moment. Was it worth it? I looked around the screen. If I got a crit on my Arts or Quick card and survived the turn, Vasavi Shakti would be ready again. A Command Seal disappeared from the Master's hand, restoring Karna's health...
...And with that, for just those two final rounds, luck seemed to turn my way. The Arts card did not crit, and neither did the Quick. The Buster between them, however, did, and Ibaraki's multi-hit attacks filled the rest of the gauge, just barely. I checked and realized that the Master attack buff could be used again, and Prana Burst was ready as well. It would still not suffice - I knew the numbers already. But luck graced me, stars fell on Karna's Buster cards and fulfilled their promise. If the damage dealt on that last turn had been but a few thousands less, I would have failed. But, it was
just enough - Vasavi Shakti, two Buster critical hits, and the extra attack dragged Ibaraki over the edge, and it was over.
Now, you may be wondering, what's the point? where is he going with that needlessly wordy retelling? Well, honestly, nowhere, really. I could have just said the following from the start and saved all of us a bit of time. But emotions sometimes drive us to do silly things.
Anyway,
Ibaraki can drop Kintoki CEs. I must say, I have never been so glad to have used a Command Seal in a battle.
* Yup, I'm calling Ibaraki's NP "Rashomon" until I get a correct name for it.
And by Rashomon, I mean sake. ![:V :V :V](/styles/sv_smiles/xenforo/emot-v.gif)