Capítulo 27: General Boudicca
A/N: Just a reminder, new chapter here officially means new chapter over on the P atreon now, where my patrons are currently voting on the future direction of this story!
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"I refuse."
Those blue eyes narrow even further, and Pyrrha's mother tenses up. Before she can give an order, however, Jaune responds in kind to her earlier provocation. When she'd used that semblance of hers, bolstering her troops and putting fear into the hearts of him and his allies. Did she think he would never acknowledge it? Did she think he would never demand recompense?
It's clear to him that General Boudicca has lived a very long time without facing even the passing potential of defeat. Hmph, Queen of Victory indeed. She goes still, as his Killing Intent washes over her and her army. She freezes up, if only for a split second, as he focuses the entire weight of a million different Grimm down upon her and those at her back.
To Boudicca's credit, she freezes for a moment at most. For the rest of her army, the same cannot be said. There is a general clattering that forces her to spin around and look as her soldiers are half-routed in a single instant. In spite of her Semblance, in spite of her reputation as unbeatable, dozens if not hundreds of her troops drop their weapons, turn on their heels, and run from him in a disorganized, disorderly mess of a retreat.
Her officers stand firm, at least. Some of Pyrrha's own troops manage to stand their ground. Most don't, however. None are capable of stopping those who are running from fleeing the battlefield… they're all too busy dealing with their own bullshit. Many of those who remain behind, who don't flee as Jaune ruthlessly smashes down upon their fight or flight impulses… collapse to their knees instead.
Private Lorelei is one of those. Poor dear can't keep her feet under her any longer, and she falls to the grass with a light gasp, her face ashen white, her eyes wide in horror, her breath coming out in short gasps.
The rest of General Boudicca's army fares little better. Many collapse to their knees. Some can't even move, for all that they manage to stay standing. Most… are taken out of consideration without so much as a fight. A scant few hold their own, to be fair. Shaking, trembling one and all, they nevertheless lift their weapons and manage to lean forward in a shoddy ready stance, or step towards him as if killing him will end their fear and thus their self-loathing.
To be fair, it would… but they all know, deep down inside, that they have no chance of killing him. None of them do… save, perhaps, for their leader. General Boudicca turns back to him, managing her own tremble much better. Then, she flares out her Semblance again, that power of hers ratcheting in strength. Jaune still barely feels it, but her troops… some more of them manage to take to their feet.
In the end, however, only a full fifth of her army is still fighting capable, and Jaune hasn't even moved yet. He can see that Boudicca realizes this, as he looks Pyrrha's mother in the eye.
"I have another counteroffer for you, General."
Silence roils across the battlefield, his words penetrating before being swallowed up just as easily. Boudicca's eyes flash, and the General grits her teeth for a moment, considering whether to deign to answer him. Finally…
"… What is it?"
Smiling beneath the Grimm Mask, Jaune makes a show of spreading his empty, wrapped hands nice and far.
"A duel, between you and me. You win, you do what you want with me. I win, you bow your head and stop getting in my way."
He sees a hint of hesitation in the General's eyes. He sees the way her jaw clenches, as she considers his proposal. Chuckling softly, though the sound carries across the space between them all the same, Jaune shakes his head.
"You could reject my offer. You could strike at me with all that you and your soldiers have, General. It would be the tactically sound option, wouldn't it? The smart decision. Ask yourself this though… can you protect them? How many will die, before you put me down?"
His words wouldn't have nearly the impact they have now, without the demonstration of a moment ago. Words were nothing but wind without action to back them up. Boudicca hears him and understands quite clearly that she's up against nothing she's ever face before. In the end, a lesser woman might have backed down. A lesser woman might have turned and ran, even. Sure, her daughter was still standing beside him… but it's not just for Pyrrha's sake that Boudicca gives a single sharp nod, stepping forward and holding her weaponry aloft.
"I agree to your terms. A duel, just you and me."
"Mother, please!"
Jaune holds up a hand, cutting Pyrrha off.
"Step back. This is between the General and I now."
But rather than obeying, Pyrrha all but leaps forward, grabbing hold of his hand, pulling in close, whispering into his ear. Boudicca stiffens at the sudden proximity between him and her daughter but doesn't dare move forward. Not when Jaune is still looking right at her, even as he tilts his masked face in Pyrrha's direction.
"P-Please, Jaune… please don't kill her."
Still not taking his eyes off of Boudicca, Jaune hums at that.
"Do you truly think so lowly of me, Lieutenant Nikos? Fine, I promise. Now, go."
He pushes her away, gently but firmly, and this time Pyrrha stumbles back. A space is already mostly cleared for them, and all Jaune and Boudicca have to truly do is walk forward into it. The two do so, stepping up to face one another as Boudicca brandishes her sword and shield and he… stands there seemingly unarmed.
Jaune smiles behind his mask as he notes the exact moment that Boudicca realizes he has no weapon. To her credit, the beautiful General has been focused on other things up to this point. So, in all fairness, the lapse is unsurprising.
"… You will not arm yourself?"
He almost says something incredibly cheesy. He almost says 'I am the weapon'. But god, that doesn't even sound good in his head, let alone out loud. So, he refrains, holding his tongue as he curls his fingers into claws instead. That's answer enough, and General Boudicca seems to agree, her lips tightening up, her eyes narrowing and- There!
She moves fast, splitting the distance between them in half in under a second. Her first step forward closes that gap, and her second has her already on top of him, swinging down at his masked face in a truly exceptional blow. She really is amazing. Absolutely phenomenal, even.
… But she's not a Maiden. In a proper fight, Jaune would still give her better odds then Raven. Not necessarily because Boudicca was stronger than Raven by that wide of a margin, but because of the difference in their two mentalities. At her heart, Raven was a coward. At HER heart, Boudicca was a hero.
And that, he supposed, made him the villain in her story. Stepping aside, Jaune dodges that first lightning fast blow with ease, watching Boudicca's eyes widen in surprise at how fast HE is. To her credit, she doesn't hesitate for even a half-second, quickly trying to take him on the backswing. That blade of hers is quite fast, but Jaune is undeniably faster. And so… he continues to dodge.
It's not like he's trying to draw this out too long. He'd not gone into this with some intention of toying with and teasing the good General in their duel. It's just… until a couple of minutes ago, not even he had known he was doing this. His decision to challenge Boudicca to a duel to decide what happened next had been spur of the moment, brought on by an instinctive desire to just stop running.
He was just tired of playing nice, plain and simple. Well, he certainly wasn't playing nice anymore. Boudicca, for all her vaunted speed and strength, couldn't so much as land a hit on him. He could see it in her eyes too. The realization that he was faster than her. To her credit, far from making her despair, it only seemed to make her more determined.
The cloak is the first of her accoutrement to go. And then, she even loses the shield. Fighting with both hands on the handle of her longsword DOES grant her a bit more speed and a bit more strength, but it's certainly not enough.
However, as their battle continues, as he dodges her while trying to figure out exactly how he wants to end this while keeping his promise to Pyrrha… Jaune notices something interesting happening. Boudicca seems to hit a breaking point of some sort. But rather than slowing down… she starts to get even faster.
His eyes narrow behind the Grimm mask he'd borrowed from Raven. He quickly figures out what's happening, as the soldiers who until now were managing to stand their ground, begin to succumb to his still-radiating Killing Intent. The weakest among those who are still left on the battlefield even turn and flee after all, despite his 'focus' seemingly being on Boudicca herself.
Those who remain after that retreat collapse to their knees one and all, shivering uncontrollably under the might and pressure of his true nature, as General Boudicca begins to outright shine and shimmer, glowing with power… power that she's taking back from her troops.
Whatever her Semblance was, exactly… it's true nature becomes clear to Jaune now. It could allow her to bolster her allies and strike fear in the heart of her foes, yes. But it could also seemingly do more than that. Or rather, it would seem it was a matter of Give and Take. Boudicca gave of herself, when she invigorated and energized her soldiers. And if she wanted to be stronger… she had to take back what she'd given.
For a General, it must have been hard to do so. But she'd clearly weighed the costs and benefits and come to the plain and simple conclusion that she needed the strength and speed if she was going to put an end to this. It was somewhat of a cutthroat decision, but in the long run, Jaune had to agree with her call. She couldn't protect her troops as she had been.
However, the question then became… could she protect her troops as she was now? This, Jaune reflects, is the true Queen of Victory. Boudicca is a whirling dervish, moving with lightning speed and chasing his dodging form across the battlefield. She's finally gotten fast enough that simply slipping out of her reach is no longer an option for him. She's catching up to him, much to Jaune's surprise… and amusement.
Finally, she strikes a blow that he knows he will not be able to escape in time. Her longsword comes down towards him too fast for him to get out of the way. So, he doesn't. Jaune's hand comes up… and he catches her blade upon his wrapped palm. His coverings are just that… cloth meant to hide his true identity. They are not armored, save for perhaps the Grimm mask that adorns his face. Boudicca's sword cuts deep into his palm, before stopping as it comes into contact with unyielding, impenetrable bone.
She would have cut any normal Grimm in two with such a blow, of course. But Jaune is no normal Grimm. Not to mention, his fingers close along the flat of her blade on each side half a moment later, fully arresting its motion, destroying her momentum. The General gasps as she tries to wrench her sword back but cannot. Jaune sees the moment where she realizes she will need to abandon her weapon to escape his reach.
But it's already too late. His hand closes around Boudicca's throat, and he grips down, choking Pyrrha's mother as he lifts her up into the air, holding her aloft.
"Surrender."
To her credit, she doesn't immediately give up. Her foot kicks out, impacting him in the side in a blow that would have felled a lesser man, that would have made even the strongest of humans drop her more than likely. But Jaune is so far beyond the strongest of humans that it's not even funny. General Boudicca, the Queen of Victory. She might be Mistral's strongest General. She might be one of the strongest humans in all of Remnant, to be honest. But she is nothing compared to him.
Her kicks prove ineffective, and though she never actually surrenders, he chokes the life from her until he reaches the point of doing actual harm. Then, remembering his promise to Pyrrha, he drops her, the General's sword still embedded in his palm as it falls from her weakened grasp, the General herself collapsing to the ground, to her knees.
Jaune watches her for a moment, before looking around the battlefield. No one is in any position to fight him at this point, even without Boudicca's official surrender. Her army is routed, and those soldiers that remain stare at him as though he is Darkness Manifested. He might as well be he supposed, though it was probably for the best that they didn't know his true nature. Well, Pyrrha did… but oddly enough, he trusted her.
Grunting, Jaune looks to Summer, Vernal, and Raven.
"Come. We're leaving."
He expects there to be no further resistance. Certainly, the trio of women all fall in line easily enough. But as he turns to go, a hand grabs onto the leg of his pants from the General at his feet.
"W-Wait… please, n-not my daughter. Take me instead. Leave… leave Pyrrha here and take me as your p-prisoner."
… This foolish misconception. Did she still truly think that Jaune had any intention of holding Pyrrha hostage? Honestly, he'd gone through far too much trouble to save the girl, he wasn't… with a low growl in the back of his throat that makes Boudicca freeze up in response, Jaune prepares to explain to her that he wants NEITHER of them… but before he can, Summer pipes up.
"We'll take you both. Pyrrha's presence will ensure that you don't make any foolish moves, General."
Jaune looks to Summer, but the blind woman just has a knowing smile on her lips… one that says 'trust me'. He wishes he could plumb her mind, to find out what she's playing at. She'd already picked up one stray in the form of Vernal. Now she wanted them to kidnap Mistral's greatest General and her daughter? Truly?
"Y-Yes! Mother and I will both go. You don't… you don't have to threaten Mistral any f-further… now that you have us."
Pyrrha's jumping in is just as unappreciated. Jaune glares at the Lieutenant, even if she can't see it under his mask. He grits his teeth as she all but leaps at the opportunity, moving forward to grab her mother by the shoulders and help her to her feet. Boudicca looks half-broken and half-afraid, but also like she would die rather than let him take her daughter with him… without her.
Seriously? He was of half a mind to leave both Nikos women behind and tan Summer's hide for trying to speak for him. But… the older woman likely had a reason, and hopefully it was a good one. Was he willing to bet on that reason being worth his time?
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