章 690: 33
Chapter 33:
Both combatants exploded into motion simultaneously, Ruby flashing across the distance between herself and Pyrrha in an instant. Rather than try to meet her charge head-on, Pyrrha instead shifted back slightly, the entirety of her attention focusing on the path of Ruby's sword. Shifting, Ruby launched a swift strike from above. Pyrrha parried with Akouo, angling her shield so that Ruby's attack was deflected off the surface with a loud clang of metal on metal.
Following up her defense, Pyrrha immediately went on the attack, stepping forward and slashing with Milo in a swift stroke. Ruby swiftly brought her sword back around, parrying Pyrrha's attack, before riposting with another slash, aimed at Pyrrha's side, trying to work the sword inside the arc of Pyrrha's shield.
Having none of that, Pyrrha immediately jumped, her leap carrying her over the path of Ruby's slash. Imparting some spin onto her body, Pyrrha executed a whirling flip over Ruby's head, spinning around to slash at Ruby, even as she came back down. Ruby responded by ducking underneath the path of Pyrrha's swing, spinning about and aiming her next slash at Pyrrha's legs as her feet touched down.
Having seen Ruby duck, Pyrrha swung her left arm around, not blocking with her shield, but throwing it downwards, at an angle. It struck the floor between her and Ruby, in just the right position to intercept Ruby's slash, surprisingly not being knocked aside as Ruby's sword struck it. Instead, Akaibara skipped off of Akouo's surface, while the shield itself ricochetted off the floor and straight for Ruby's face.
Throwing herself backwards, Ruby almost felt Akouo's edge graze the tip of her nose as it zipped over her face. Ruby pushed off the floor, launching herself backwards in a flip that allowed her to plant her right hand against the floor, then push off in a handspring that brought her back to her feet. Coming back up, Ruby went back on the attack, darting in at Pyrrha with lightning speed, her sword flashing as she launched a flurry of slashes, exaggerating the movements of her shoulders to flare her cloak, which served to obscure Akaibara's movements.
In the time it had taken Ruby to execute her maneuver, Pyrrha switched Milo into its javelin form, gripping the shaft in both hands, using it defensively to intercept Ruby's attacks. Even as she attacked fiercely, Ruby extended her awareness all around her. She knew that focusing on Pyrrha alone could be a fatal error. Having watched her previous matches in Combat Class, Ruby remembered full well that Pyrrha was more than capable of throwing her shield so that it would rebound and come back, often at an angle that caused it to strike Pyrrha's opponent from behind, or somewhere out of their line of sight. Ruby was determined not to fall for such a trick.
That determination served her well, as Akouo did indeed come flying back, its initial flight sending it flying up at an angle, before striking the safety barrier and rebounding off of that. That sent it skipping off at another angle, which sent it spinning down to strike off another portion of the barrier, which, in turn, sent it flying at Ruby's torso from behind and to the right.
Pyrrha had figured that Ruby would anticipate Akouo's return. She'd expected Ruby to switch her weapon to her right hand and use that to counter, which would allow Pyrrha to exploit the opening on Ruby's right. However, Ruby instead gripped the hem of her cloak and swept it out, the shield striking the fluttering section of red fabric and being bounced away, as though it had hit a solid object, Ruby's deflection sending the shield spinning off in another direction.
Pyrrha's eyes widened and she fell back as Ruby continued her onslaught. Whirling her javelin like a staff, Pyrrha brought the broad blade sweeping upwards, forcing Ruby to defend. As Ruby tried to close in again, Pyrrha spun her weapon up and over her shoulders, before bringing it around, using her neck as a fulcrum, so that the shaft of Milo rested across her shoulders, aiming right at Ruby. The rifle built into Milo's shaft triggered, firing a shot out of the butt end, the recoil sending the blade leaping forward in a sudden thrust at Ruby. Using the recoil to launch the attack meant that there had been no cues in Pyrrha's own movements that indicated an attack was coming, which threw Ruby off.
Ruby quickly whipped up Akaibara to fend off the first thrust. But Pyrrha fired the rifle a second time, then a third, each shot sending Milo leaping straight at Ruby like a striking snake. Ruby was forced to retreat in order to adjust her reaction time to Milo's unpredictable movements. However, instead of pressing the attack, Pyrrha instead leapt backwards, rotating Milo in her grip, the weapon shifting into its rifle mode. Taking aim, Pyrrha fired several shots at Ruby, even as Ruby herself tried to reverse directions again and charge at Pyrrha.
Grabbing the hem of her cloak with her right hand, Ruby swept it up around her, Pyrrha's shots deflecting off the Aura-hardened fabric. Not wanting to lose her edge, Pyrrha switched her weapon back into its javelin mode and thrust straight into Ruby's cloak...only for the whole thing to dissolve into a cloud of red petals that scattered through the air around Pyrrha. Gasping in surprise, Pyrrha spun about, looking for any sign of where Ruby went.
Amidst the dancing petals in her vision, Pyrrha caught a glimpse of something else red, something larger. Ruby's cloak! It fluttered in the corner of her eye before disappearing…Behind me!
Ruby seemed to flicker into being directly behind Pyrrha, her sword already slicing through the air at Pyrrha's unguarded back. Pyrrha was turning to meet Ruby, but her weapon was in the wrong hand to intercept Ruby's attack.
Despite that, Ruby's sword struck something hard and Pyrrha was launched, spinning, off the floor and into the air, riding the force behind Ruby's blow to escape her reach. Ruby's own eyes widened and she gasped as she saw Akouo, now resting in its customary position on Pyrrha's left forearm. How!?
Even if Pyrrha was capable of calculating the trajectory of her thrown shield to a T, Ruby deflecting the shield, when it had come at her, should have sent it flying off in a direction that Pyrrha hadn't planned for it to go in. What was more, Ruby's defense should have absorbed the shield's momentum, so that it wouldn't have gone much farther after being deflected. Not only that, but the direction of their fight hadn't moved in the direction the shield had gone. There was no point where Pyrrha would have had the opportunity to go over and pick it up...not without Ruby seeing it.
But now wasn't the time to ponder how Pyrrha had gotten her shield back. The spin she'd allowed herself to be knocked into allowed her to come down a generous distance away, already switching Milo back into rifle-mode and taking aim, passing the barrel of the rifle through one of the semicircular indents in her shield. Pyrrha squeezed off several shots at Ruby again.
This time, Ruby leaned forward and put her speed to use, dashing directly under Pyrrha's line of fire and closing in as quickly as she could, her body seeming to vanish, leaving brief flurries of red petals scattering in her wake, left by her footsteps. Closing in, Ruby swept Akaibara up, aiming to slash at Pyrrha from below her guard. She'd been gripping the sword in both hands as she approached. Closing in, Ruby released her left hand and slashed with her right hand, which had been positioned behind her left, giving her a few additional inches in her reach. The combination of the swift approach and the sudden extension of her attack's range appeared to catch Pyrrha off-guard, as she'd been aiming to dodge by leaning back and allowing Akaibara's tip to miss her torso by a slim margin, only to suddenly find herself within reach of an attack that was coming earlier than she'd anticipated.
However, in the end, it was enough, and Akaibara cleaved through the empty air where Pyrrha's torso had been a second earlier, its tip just missing Pyrrha's chin by the barest fraction of an inch. Once again, Ruby frowned in confusion. What just happened?
Normally, Ruby would have just put it down to misjudging her timing. Between extending her reach and slashing earlier, there was a margin of error that Pyrrha might have been able to exploit if Ruby had made a mistake of when and how far away she needed to be, in order to use her advantage to the fullest. However, there was something else, something Ruby couldn't quantify. The moment she'd attacked, Akaibara, and the hand wielding it, had felt...strange. Yet Ruby couldn't quite figure out how.
Once again, this strange turn of events became immaterial, as the pace of the match wasn't about to allow Ruby the time she needed to puzzle it out. Pyrrha was already counterattacking, not with Milo, but with Akouo, punching out with the shield, aiming to slam its sharpened edge right into Ruby's forehead. If that blow landed, it would do considerable damage to Ruby's Aura.
Ruby pulled back and braced the flat of Akaibara's blade with her left hand, catching the edge of Pyrrha's shield and deflecting her attack off at an angle, the shield making a loud grating sound as it slid along Ruby's blade. Ruby took advantage of the deflection and stepped in, slamming her right foot down and shifting to project her body's weight and strength out through her shoulder as she slammed the armored guard mounted there into Pyrrha's body, just below the swell of her breasts. The same movement brought her arm around so that she could follow through with a slash from Akaibara as Pyrrha was knocked back.
Once again, Ruby got a strange sensation from her arm, as though the air she was swinging her blade through had abruptly thickened. It was a minuscule shift, one that might have gone unnoticed to most people. But, to Ruby, who had trained to wield her blade as a full extension of herself, it was apparent, even if she couldn't place what that feeling was. Whatever it was, it seemed to slow her movement just enough that Pyrrha had time to move Milo, which had shifted back into its sword-mode, into position to block, deflecting Ruby's blade with a clang.
There had been a similar sensation when Ruby had struck with her shoulder as well. Even as her attack had made contact, she'd felt the sensation of something pushing back against her shoulder. If Pyrrha had gotten far enough with her Aura-training to learn Projection and Flow, Ruby would have suspected that Pyrrha had used a combination of those two to kill the impact. But that wasn't in the purview of Pyrrha's skills as they were now.
Distracted as she was with the conundrum of her sword, Ruby failed to notice that Akouo was no longer on Pyrrha's left arm. Even as the shield had been deflected, Pyrrha had released it, sending it spinning off. As she closed in to press the attack and solve the mystery of what was going on with her sword, Ruby didn't realize that Akouo had rebounded off the safety barrier and was now flying directly at the back of her head. Ruby sensed its approach at the last second, feeling the surge in the air stir her hood and her hair. Desperately, Ruby shifted her Aura into her cloak to harden her hood, but was a little too late. Pyrrha's shield slammed into her skull from behind and slightly from above, snapping Ruby's head to the side.
Hardening her cloak hadn't been enough to kill the impact and protect her, but it had been enough that at least part of the force of the blow was ablated. Ruby wasn't completely dazed by the impact. But she was jarred enough that she wasn't able to respond in time when Pyrrha abruptly switched Milo back into rifle-mode and fired at Ruby's chest from almost point-blank range, the bullet knocking Ruby backwards.
Akouo, after rebounding off of Ruby's cranium, bounced away, then off the barrier again, returning perfectly to Pyrrha's arm. Now Pyrrha went on the offensive, switching Milo back to sword-mode and sprinting at Ruby with all her speed. Compared to Ruby's lightning-fast moves, Pyrrha's advance should have seemed painfully slow. But rattled by receiving two blows in quick succession, Ruby was forced onto the defensive as Pyrrha closed in with a flurry of attacks, wielding sword and shield in succession to conduct a ferocious offense.
"Holy crap! This is awesome!" exclaimed Yang, leaning forward and watching with wide, excited eyes as Ruby and Pyrrha clashed, dazzled by the sparks thrown up by their clashing Auras.
"Hmm...Pyrrha-chan is a remarkable fighter," said Sasame. "It's been a while since I've seen Ruby-chan this hard-pressed."
"Well, Pyrrha is the four-time Mistral Regional Champion for a reason," said Weiss.
"Yes...a very good reason," said Sasame with a giggle. "With an advantage like hers, it's no wonder that she's so effective in the ring."
"What advantage?" asked Jaune.
He wasn't the only curious one. All of Ruby and Pyrrha's friends looked at Sasame expectantly.
Sasame chortled. "It's a secret," she said. "Given that it's Pyrrha-chan's secret to success, it would be unfair of me to spoil it for her. It's more important that you figure it out for yourselves. The fact that you're having so much trouble telling is a sign of just how skilled Pyrrha-chan is."
"What could it be?" wondered Blake, focusing her eyes back on the ring.
Ruby was unquestionably hard-pressed, working her sword furiously just to keep Pyrrha's rapid attacks at bay. Speed was Ruby's forte, but Pyrrha's attacks were brilliantly calculated to keep her off-balance, disrupt her rhythm, and also keep Ruby from finding her footing to use Shukuchi to escape. At times, Pyrrha would abruptly throw her shield, allowing it to rebound and come at Ruby from unexpected angles, making it feel like Ruby was fighting more than one opponent at times.
Sensing Akouo coming in again, Ruby went into a spin, flaring out her cloak and hardening it with her Aura to deflect the shield. At the same time, she let her Aura scatter out in a wave of red petals that swirled through the air around her. Pyrrha moved to press her attack, but balked when she remembered that those petals could do.
"Hanabi!" Sure enough, with a sparking sound, they abruptly ignited in a chain of rapid crackling explosions, intense bursts of lightning threatening to sear Pyrrha's Aura off her body. Her shield thrown away, Pyrrha cried out and threw herself backwards, unable to escape the attack entirely. Thin streams of smoke trailed off her body as she backflipped away from the explosions, landing in a crouch, while her limbs tingled from the aftermath of repeated shocks. Not only had Ruby's attack disrupted Pyrrha's offense and forced her back, but it had also cut off Pyrrha's view of Ruby.
The light from above dimmed, and Pyrrha gasped, looking up to see that Ruby had leapt almost straight upwards, spinning her body so swiftly that her cloak swirled around her, making her seem like a red comet, more than anything else. More petals streaming off the cloak's edges congealed together in the air around her, igniting, the congealed masses of electricity intensifying, until they were energized into plasma, turning a rich, violet color. "Hibana!"
Realizing what was coming, Pyrrha jumped back. The violet bolts of Ruby's attack rained down, exploding against the arena floor, shattering it and sending smoldering, flaming pieces of stone flying through the air. Ruby had spaced her attacks out, not so much aiming for Pyrrha directly as she was aiming for where Pyrrha might dodge. There was too much space for them all to cover, but the result was that the heat of the explosion and pieces of debris both found their marks on Pyrrha's body, burning and battering away a healthy chunk of her Aura.
Following through, Ruby descended, her sword raised in both hands. She swung down with all her might, putting the full force of her strength and weight into the attack. Desperately, Pyrrha switched Milo into javelin-mode and raised it up, bracing its shaft with both hands to catch Ruby's descending blade. The impact was incredible, the floor beneath Pyrrha's feet shattering, their Auras exploding outwards from one another with a shockwave that completely dispersed the smoke raised by Ruby's previous attack.
Pyrrha grunted and strained, the pain of withstanding the force of Ruby's two-handed blow echoing through her entire body. Finally, with a groan, Pyrrha forced Ruby back. Ruby flipped backwards, shooting forward as soon as she landed, trying to catch Pyrrha before she could recover.
Pyrrha ducked and Ruby's side-slash whistled just barely above her head. Once again, Ruby was confused by the unsettling sensation that something had happened. Her sword hadn't moved the way it was supposed to. It was a minute change, but Ruby felt the course of her swing change, almost as though her sword had been subtly nudged off-course. Unfortunately, Ruby didn't have the time to ponder what had happened, as Pyrrha's rapid counterattack drew a line of fiery pain across her stomach. Ruby barely managed to raise her sword as Pyrrha followed through by continuing her turn to bring Akouo, which had mysteriously returned to her left arm again, around and punched out at Ruby's face.
Ruby found herself on the defensive again, working furiously to to parry Pyrrha's sequence of attacks. Every time she found an opening to counterattack, she would once again get that strange sensation, the sense that her sword was slowing, or not moving the way it should. It had to be Pyrrha doing it, but Ruby couldn't figure out how, and Pyrrha wasn't giving her the chance to figure it out either.
Thus, despite the difficulty she was having, facing an opponent she was hardly able to land a blow against, Ruby found herself smiling as excitement raced through her veins alongside her blood.
This is unprecedented! thought Glynda, fixated on the match, almost completely unable to tear her eyes away. Both Ruby and Rose and Pyrrha Nikos are well above the level of the average first-year.
Both combatants had shown all the signs of greatness in their previous matches, both being undefeated. Glynda had expected an excellent match, with both fighters pushing the limits of their abilities. However, she hadn't realized just how high those limits were. It had surpassed her wildest expectations.
Though she'd been reluctant to admit it, Glynda finally fully admitted that Ozpin had been right to bring Ruby into Beacon when he had.
Though she didn't want to miss a single second of the intense melee going on before her, Glynda glanced down at her scroll, seeing the timer for the match counting down. They were already approaching the time-limit and, though they had both given and taken damage, neither Pyrrha nor Ruby showed any signs of flagging.
I wonder how long they could press this for? mused Glynda, looking back at the match. At this rate, it was likely to continue on until the clock ran all the way down. To Glynda, that seemed an unfortunate way to end such a spectacular match, with the winner simply being declared based on which participant had the most Aura remaining at the end. She doubted that either of the combatants would be satisfied with such an outcome either.
Hesitating another second, Glynda decided to cancel the time limit.
"Ruby's struggling," noted Jaune.
"Still, she did a lot of damage with those lightning attacks," noted Ren. "Perhaps she should use them more often."
"She fuels those attacks with her Aura, instead of Dust," said Blake, "so she may be trying to fight more conservatively."
"Hmmm..." Jaune cupped his chin, staring thoughtfully down into the ring.
"What is it?" asked Weiss, looking at him curiously.
"I was just wondering why Ruby's lightning attacks worked better than her swordsmanship," said Jaune. "Is there something about her sword that makes it easier for Pyrrha to fight against than electricity?"
"Well, Pyrrha has probably gone up against countless sword-users," noted Weiss. "And most of them would have weapons far more advanced than Ruby's blade. That must be the reason."
"She's probably gone up against Dust-users too," said Blake. "Ruby's lightning may come from her Aura, but the way she uses it isn't all that far removed from how a Dustweaver would use fire or lightning-Dust. Plus, she's seen those attacks before."
Sasame tittered softly. "You're on the right track, Jaune-kun. I suppose I can give you a hint. Pyrrha-chan's strengths work best against some things more than others, against people more than Grimm."
"What does that mean?" asked Jaune.
"You'll need to figure it out for yourself," said Sasame.
Jaune frowned, looking down into the ring again, watching as Pyrrha once again launched Akouo, this time at an angle, not directly at Ruby, rebounding it off the safety barrier so that it arced upwards, before descending down towards Ruby's skull. Ruby fell back so quickly that her body seemed to be in two places at once, Pyrrha's shield slicing through the afterimage Ruby left behind.
Even then, the shield struck the floor, the angle of its rebound taking it right back to Pyrrha's forearm as she followed up with a thrust from her sword, shifting Milo into javelin-mode mid-thrust, the sudden extension of her reach catching Ruby in the shoulder, employing a variation of the same strategy Ruby used whenever she switched hands. Ruby staggered back, but was then caught again as Pyrrha fired the rifle component, using the recoil to make Milo leap forward in her grip to rapidly strike the same spot another time.
That's not right, thought Jaune with a frown. He hadn't noticed before. With the fierce melee taking place between Ruby and Pyrrha, it was easy to forget about Pyrrha's shield, in a sense, until it rebounded back into the fray in some manner. While he wasn't an expert in physics, he was fairly certain that an object shouldn't accelerate after it had bounced off another object. Yet, he was now certain that Pyrrha's shield; whenever she threw it, even after rebounding several times; not only didn't lose momentum, but gained speed on occasion. He supposed that could be some secret, high-tech function hidden in the shield, but Jaune was fairly certain that Pyrrha's shield was just a shield.
There were other indicators too. Ruby had missed strikes that she shouldn't have, Pyrrha seeming to dodge blows that would have hit anyone else. Now, it could easily be assumed that Pyrrha was just that good. But Jaune got the inkling that there was something else in play. Ruby's attacks were just too fast for Pyrrha to dodge so perfectly and easily, even though, on multiple occasions, Ruby had taken Pyrrha by surprise with her speed.
He thought back to Sasame's hint. What do Grimm have that would make them less susceptible to whatever Pyrrha is doing? Jaune tried to compare them, but couldn't figure it out.
"At this rate, Ruby's gonna lose," said Nora.
"It does look as though it will be difficult for her to turn this around," noted Ren.
"Ah, don't write Ruby-chan off just yet," said Sasame. "She has a few surprises up her sleeve."
"She'd better use them soon," said Jaune worriedly.
Down below, the fight was picking up pace, Pyrrha throwing Akouo again almost as soon as it returned to her arm. Ruby was locked on the defensive, her sword whirling about her, deflecting attacks from Milo, even as the shield came at her from off angles. Pyrrha continued to press the offensive hard, keeping Ruby off-balance, and stopping her from using her speed to escape or flank.
There was no doubt Pyrrha had a serious advantage, Ruby had lost over half her Aura, and she was losing more and more of it with each exchange. In a few more hits, Pyrrha would knock Ruby's Aura below the critical level and win the match.
Jaune winced as he saw Ruby appear to find her footing, then vanish in a flurry of petals, reappearing behind Pyrrha, sword raised, only to turn and deflect Akouo, which Pyrrha appeared to have thrown in anticipation of an attack from exactly that direction. At the same time, Pyrrha was turning to meet Ruby, Milo sweeping around in a slash that would cut into Ruby's torso, and carve away her remaining Aura.
But then, both the shield and sword were stopped, each being met with a brilliant, rose-red blade. In that instant, the entire battle, and the mental process of everyone watching it, seemed to grind to a halt as they tried to figure out what had just happened.
Ruby's slender sword had split in two, lengthwise. Now Ruby wielded two, even thinner single-edged blades, one each hand, holding off Milo with one, deflecting Akouo with the other. Pyrrha's eyes went wide, and she gasped in shock.
"What the-?!" exclaimed Jaune.
"She had two swords all along?" asked Weiss, looking shocked as well.
"Indeed," said Sasame. "As I told you before, Akaibara typically means 'Red Rose.' However, when he forged it, Murasame-sama engraved it with the characters for 'Red Thorn.'
"But, in truth, both names are correct. It is a sword with two names in one, because Akaibara is two swords in one. Bara to Ibara...Rose and Thorn."
The lull in the battle lasted just long enough for the shocked gasps of the audience to fill the air. Then it began again...and the tide shifted.
Pyrrha's surprise was so complete that she almost forgot to react when Ruby went on the offensive, sweeping her swords through crisscrossing patterns in front of her. Raising Milo desperately, she managed to fend off the first pair of strikes, but several more followed on their heels and Pyrrha cried out as Ruby's blades cut into her Aura. Being able to attack with both hands simultaneously had enabled Ruby to more than double her pace.
Knocked backwards, Pyrrha quickly went into a backflip to get her feet back under her, sinking into a crouch, barely managing to duck beneath Ibara, Ruby's right-handed sword, which she'd slashed across her body. However, ducking left Pyrrha in a position to be caught by Bara, the left-handed sword, which Ruby had brought around low and now swept upward. Raising Milo, Pyrrha was barely able to parry. She raised her left arm as Akouo returned towards her, only for Ruby to reverse the course of Ibara and intercept the shield, knocking it away with a clang.
Jumping back, Pyrrha extended Milo into its javelin-mode, spinning it and using its shaft to deflect the next few strikes. Managing to catch both of Ruby's swords at once, Pyrrha twisted her weapon and knocked them out to Ruby's sides. Continuing the spin, she brought her weapon around, Milo shifting and collapsing into its rifle-mode, allowing Pyrrha to crack off a shot at Ruby's head from practically right in front of her.
The shot seemed to pierce through Ruby's head, except that her face had vanished, leaving only the hood of her cloak. Pyrrha's shot punched right through it, and out the other side, the whole thing dissolving into a storm of red petals.
Already anticipating what was coming, Pyrrha turned to intercept the attack from behind, but was too slow as both of Ruby's blades bit into her shoulders from above. Ruby had reversed her grip on her swords and jumped upwards, coming down directly behind Pyrrha, even as Pyrrha had originally pulled the trigger on her rifle. Rubys swords extended out behind her, and she swept them down and forward as she descended. Following through, she danced away, returning her blades to their normal grips as she raised them back over her head, leaving sweeping, red crescents in their wake.
Staggered, Pyrrha stumbled forward, knowing she had to get her balance back, or Ruby would follow through ruthlessly. She turned around, returning Milo to its sword-mode and slashing to try and catch Ruby as she charged back in. However, Pyrrha only caught a flicker of red as Ruby's cloak fluttered out of the field of her vision. Desperately, Pyrrha extended Milo into javelin-mode, whipping it up and over with her right hand and catching the shaft with her left so that the weapon was now angled diagonally across her back. She was just in time to catch Ruby's next slash, though the impressive force behind the blow threw Pyrrha off her feet.
Rather than try to fight it, Pyrrha put her weight and leg-strength into the motion as well, adding to the force of Ruby's attack to launch herself farther away, going into a twisting flip as she did so, allowing her to land upright and facing back the way she came. Pyrrha immediately sank down into a crouch, bringing her rifle to bear and firing off several shots.
Ruby's body seemed to flicker back and forth as she closed in, closing the distance faster than Pyrrha had thought possible. Barely managing to switch Milo back into sword-mode, Pyrrha raised it just in time to catch a downwards slash from Ibara. The shock of impact weakened her grip for a fraction of a second. In that fraction, Ruby brought Bara around in a sideways strike, aiming, not for Pyrrha, but for Milo, striking exactly as she raised Ibara out of the way, the force of the blow wrenching Pyrrha's weapon out of her hand, and sending it spinning away.
Not even missing a beat, Ruby swiftly raised both swords over her head and brought them down to deliver the finishing blow. Pyrrha raised her hands in what looked like a desperate attempt to ward off the inevitable. But her arms, with only her Aura to protect them, wouldn't stop Ruby from finishing her off. Bara and Ibara descended in unison...only to stop, just inches away from Pyrrha's outstretched hands.
Now it was Ruby's turn to gasp. Her swords had frozen in place, seized by...something...which held them fast and kept them from moving, no matter how much weight or muscle-power Ruby put into the effort. Then she noticed both her weapons were lined in some kind of black energy, a mysterious force holding them in check.
What is this? wondered Ruby. However, the time to wonder swiftly passed as Pyrrha grunted, then shifted her arms, as though shoving against something. Ruby felt her weapons pushed back. A rippling wave of black washed out from Pyrrha's outstretched hands, and Ruby felt something seize her by her shoulders and hips and launch her away from her opponent. She landed, skidding on her back a few feet farther, before pushing off the ground and coming back up to her feet, holding both swords at the ready as she faced Pyrrha.
Pyrrha stood upright again, panting for breath, her bare skin shining beneath the lights, thanks to the sheen of sweat that covered her. Ruby's eyes narrowed as she began to piece together what Pyrrha had done. Pyrrha had used some kind of force to disrupt Ruby's attack. Ruby might have thought it was telekinesis, like Glynda's. However, Ruby then realized that the force Pyrrha had used had only affected certain things.
Pyrrha had obviously used that power to stop Ruby's swords. However, when Ruby had been thrown away, the parts of her that had actually been affected by the power directly had been her shoulders and hips or, rather, the armor on those parts of her body. The main thing her armor had in common with her swords was that...They're metal! That power affects metal! It must be Pyrrha's Semblance, which means her power is...magnetism!
Pyrrha continued to pant. Then, her serious expression faded as her lips stretched in a smile, excitement filling her eyes as she looked at Ruby. Holding her arms out to either side, Pyrrha opened her hands, the same black energy that she'd used earlier covering them. A low humming sound met Ruby's ears, then Milo and Akouo both lifted up from where they'd landed, flying through the air and directly into Pyrrha's outstretched hands. From there, Pyrrha dropped into her fighting stance, fully ready to resume the battle.
Seeing the look on Pyrrha's face, Ruby couldn't stop a smile from spreading across her own. Reaching up, she unclipped the straps that held the armor plates on her shoulders to her outfit, letting them clatter to the floor. Then she did the same with the plates over her skirt. Having divested herself of most of the metal components of her outfit, Ruby suspected she was now less susceptible to Pyrrha's Semblance, though Pyrrha could obviously still affect Ruby's swords.
Well, I'll just have to make do, thought Ruby, sinking into a crouch, raising Bara over her head and holding Ibara out in front of her, both weapons leveled at Pyrrha.
Ruby and Pyrrha were so absorbed in their fight that neither had noticed that the stands had exploded into a cacophony of shocked chattering, as the revelation of Pyrrha's Semblance struck home.
"I can't believe it!" gasped Weiss. "Her Semblance is Polarity!"
"Correct," said Sasame.
"So that's what you meant," said Jaune, thinking back to the hint Sasame had given him about Pyrrha's Semblance being more effective against people than Grimm. I was caught up in thinking that Grimm had something that people lacked. But it's the other way around. People use weapons, wear armor...metal. That's what Pyrrha's Semblance controls.
"No wonder she's acquired such a record," noted Ren. "A Semblance like that would make her a natural enemy of just about any other person, unless they were the sort to fight completely unarmed."
"But why didn't anybody notice before?" asked Nora.
"Because she normally uses it so subtly," said Blake, her eyes wide. "I bet she's been using that Semblance in all her matches. She just normally uses it in such small increments that her opponents probably don't even realize she's affecting their weapons."
"That seems to be the case," said Sasame. "On top of that, by throwing her shield and having it rebound off surfaces, she can hide the fact that she's controlling the direction of the rebound directly, making it look as though she just calculates the course of her throw that perfectly."
"And her opponents, and even the audience, are usually so focused on her, they don't realize that her shield doesn't slow down after hitting something...or that it can speed up afterwards," added Jaune.
"Wow, that's practically a cheat," commented Yang.
"But it's not," said Sasame. "It's Pyrrha-chan's brilliant, highly-refined skill. She must have trained extensively to use her Semblance on such a small scale, in the midst of a heated battle. Even though she now realizes what she's up against, Ruby-chan won't have an easy time, because Pyrrha-chan's skill isn't the sort that loses very much of its effectiveness, just because an opponent knows how it works. There isn't an easy counter for that kind of ability, save for removing as much metal as possible from your person. And, of course, if you rely on a weapon, it doesn't change the fact that you're still vulnerable."
Weiss glanced around the spectator seats, her attention drawn by raised voices. She could see other students talking animatedly with each other, some of them speaking in harsh tones or using angry gestures. I wonder if anybody else appreciates how hard Pyrrha must have worked to master this. She would guess that many of them hadn't.
Ruby's cloak flared around her, the girl spinning like a dervish as she approached Pyrrha, the crimson color of blades masked by the fluttering fabric, making it almost impossible to tell where the next attack would be coming from.
But Pyrrha's Semblance gave her an edge that most other people wouldn't enjoy. When she used it, she could feel the attraction and repulsion of the magnetic charges on all metal in her vicinity. Thus, even if she couldn't see where Ruby's blades were coming from, until the last second, she cold still feel them. More to the point, she could still affect them.
Thus Pyrrha was able to perfectly deflect the flurry of slashes Ruby launched at her. Sensing a stronger strike coming, Pyrrha shifted slightly, dodging, rather than defending. At the same time, she slightly repelled the metal of Ruby's sword, just barely nudging it off-course and up over her head. Smiling eagerly, Pyrrha surged forward to strike...only to be stymied as Ruby used the momentum of her swing to launch her body into a spin that allowed her to bring her foot around, and clock Pyrrha in the side of the head.
Launched to the side, Pyrrha fell to the ground, bouncing, before managing to find her feet again. Ruby loomed above her, having already closed the distance between them again, both swords descending, aiming to strike before Pyrrha could get her weapons in position to defend in time.
A black wave rippled out from Pyrrha's body and Ruby's swords came to a halt. Ruby grimaced and struggled, Pyrrha locking the blades in place with her Polarity to keep them from moving easily. Normally, such an overt method was out of question for Pyrrha, seeing as she tried to keep her use of her Semblance subtle. However, now that Ruby had forced her to show her hand, Pyrrha saw no reason to stint on her full strength any longer.
Staying low, Pyrrha slashed across with Milo, aiming for Ruby's legs. However, Ruby surprised her once again. Hanging onto her swords, Ruby used the fact that Pyrrha's Semblance had locked them in place to her advantage, using them to pull her feet off the ground, lifting her legs so that Milo whistled harmlessly beneath them. Swinging on the still-immobile swords, Ruby swung forward to slam her feet right into Pyrrha's face again, blasting her over backwards.
Unfortunately for Ruby, landing that blow also broke Pyrrha's hold over her swords. Still suspended in the air, after her kick, Ruby dropped to the floor with a startled "Ouch!" Fortunately, she was better off than Pyrrha, and managed to get to her feet first. However, that accident also stopped her from following through, so Pyrrha was able to get back up before Ruby could close in again.
They charged each other once again. This time, Pyrrha didn't so much as throw her shield but drop it, only for her Semblance to take hold and send it whirling through the air on its own. Now that she was done hiding it, there was no need to disguise her skill by rebounding it off of the floor or barrier. Instead, it flew in tight, circular arcs, flying outside of Ruby's field of vision before rapidly returning on a curving course to attack her from offset angles, almost like an attack drone, rather than a basic weapon. At the same time, Pyrrha shifted Milo into javelin-mode and attacked from directly in front, spinning the weapon between her hands and using its spin and reach to launch slashing attacks from unpredictable angles. Ruby was forced to divide her attention, and her swords, fending off attacks from the shield and javelin at the same time. The pace of Akouo's attacks increased rapidly, the shield a bronze blur, outlined in black, whirling around her and attacking from every conceivable direction and angle.
Ruby herself was a blur, her red cloak whirling around her body, her swords practically streaks of light, moving independently to counter all attacks. However, she was now so hard-pressed that it was all she could do to maintain her defense.
Knocking Akouo away again, Ruby raised her opposite blade to counter the next slash from Pyrrha's javelin. Abruptly, however, her sword slowed a fraction of a second and Pyrrha's slash abruptly switched into a thrust as she drove it forward at Ruby. Gasping, Ruby retreated, barely managing to keep out of Milo's range as the blade of the javelin slid past her stymied sword.
As Ruby fell back, Pyrrha drew Milo back, reversing her grip on the javelin before jumping into the air and hurling it at Ruby, who brought her opposite blade around to parry. Milo struck with a ringing impact, rebounding right back into Pyrrha's hand. At the same time, Akouo returned, crashing into the side of Ruby's head hard enough for her to see stars.
Once again, Pyrrha closed in, Akouo attacking independently as she wielded Milo with her hands, both weapons pushing Ruby ferociously. Locked on the defensive, Ruby knew she was in trouble. There were still holes in Pyrrha's style, but Ruby knew she wasn't coordinated enough to fully take advantage of them.
It occurred to her that Pyrrha's skill with her Semblance was, in fact, more limited than she let on. While controlling her shield so completely, Pyrrha apparently didn't have the attention to spare on Ruby's weapons. In other words, prior to revealing the nature of her Semblance, the other reason Pyrrha had limited Akouo to rebounds was to keep the shield flying in straight lines as much as possible, only briefly intervening with her Semblance to control the direction of rebound and impart speed. Doing so allowed Pyrrha to switch to using her Semblance on her opponent's weapon and armor.
In other words, the moment Akouo stopped flying on a controlled course and went into flight powered only by its momentum indicated the moment where Pyrrha shifted from using her Semblance on her shield to using it on Ruby's weapons. If she hadn't been so busy reacting, Ruby could have taken advantage of the minute opening that presented. But the ferocity of Pyrrha's offense kept Ruby on the back-foot.
Fine then, thought Ruby, an even greater excitement welling up within her, time to pull out all the stops!
Pyrrha closed in from the front, while Akouo circled around from behind. Ruby turned to face both side-on. Throwing out her arms, she spread out her cloak to its maximum extent. The red garment abruptly flared outward, spreading out farther than it should have. Pyrrha gasped, seeing what she had always assumed to be fabric spread through the air, almost like a red membrane or...Aura! Her cloak isn't fabric! It's a construct of her Aura! How is that even possible?
Even as she marveled at the truth of Ruby's signature garment, Pyrrha also realized that it explained so many things: the way Ruby's cloak could be worn into ragged strips one day, but be completely whole the next, and the fact that she had never seen it when Ruby wasn't wearing it. It all made sense now.
However, Pyrrha's realization was abruptly tempered by an even greater shock as Ruby's cloak exploded with a thunderous boom, like the sound of a lightning strike, producing a shockwave of electrified air that drove Pyrrha back. Akouo, likewise, was blown away, Ruby's cloak igniting brilliantly in an explosion that almost completely blinded Pyrrha.
Landing on her back, Pyrrha quickly recovered, rolling back onto her feet. She squinted her eyes against the fading light and smoke raised by the explosion. When her vision cleared, Pyrrha's jaw dropped, hanging slack as she stared at the transfigured state of Ruby's cloak.
What had once appeared to be nothing more than red fabric now looked as though it had been woven from feathers...or petals...of pure energy, flickering with a scintillating array of reds, blues, and violets; forming feathery layers draping down from Ruby's shoulders and resting over her head. Sparks and crackling arcs danced off the transformed garment. Every few seconds, one or more of those broad, feathery petals would peel off and dance through the air. It was beautiful, one of the most amazing things Pyrrha had ever seen.
Pulling her jaw shut, Pyrrha clenched her teeth, then felt the muscles in her cheeks tighten, almost painfully, pulling her lips out in an eager smile, the feeling of excitement suffusing her so invigorating and intoxicating that she almost felt dizzy. Despite that, her vision was clear, and Pyrrha felt everything about herself and the world around her more keenly than she'd ever thought possible.
This was what she wanted. This was what she'd been yearning for; a true challenge, an opponent capable of fighting her as an equal, one that could push her to her limits and force her to struggle for victory. Even though her stamina was almost at its limit, even though her body ached from all the blows she'd taken, Pyrrha had never felt more alive.
"Tenyo no Hana," intoned Ruby, her tone almost solemn. "One way or another, this match will end in the next two minutes, Pyrrha."
"Fine by me," said Pyrrha, raising Milo.
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