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Gatrim & Kaizu vs. Nachi & Ipucco
“Welcome to the finals of the Lesser bracket, everyone! It’s been a much quicker bracket than the humans, and I wish they gave us a bit more time to recover between each round, but I guess there’s still a lot to get through!” Rallie’s voice remained a bit groggy, having only been woken a few minutes ago, and was now clutching an ice pack to the lump on her head. “I’d ask you all to keep this round a bit quieter and more relaxed for my sake, but that’s no way to treat the final showdown.”
“The first team has had an absolutely clean sweep, and needs no further introduction at this point. Gatrim & Kaizu! But the second is sure to give them a real challenge. I can speak for experience, since they just got done beating our butts. Nachi & Ipucco!”
《Rusa: So what do you think, Tize? Will Nachi ask Kaizu to dance too?》
《Tize: Only if she wants to get stabbed. Rallie was a performer at heart, so she played along for the show, but Kaizu shares no such ambition. And on top of that, Nachi won’t be able to goof off as she has been for the past fights.》
《Tize: While Nachi is an extremely capable fighter, and has beaten both of them numerous times in the past, they were both eventually able to overcome her. And with the two of them working together, I’d frankly say she doesn’t stand a chance against both. She and Ipucco will need to band together and really show some teamwork that they’ve otherwise been lacking this competition.》
“Listen up, Ipucco,” Nachi began communicating with her teammate right on cue. “We need to take out Kaizu first. Gatrim should stay pretty level-headed throughout the fight, but if we target him, it’ll only serve to flare up her instincts. She’s already on edge, I can tell that much. Attacking all these people without killing any of them, her addiction must be eating at her right now, even if we’re not criminals.”
“Very well. I will endeavor to subdue her as quickly as possible,” the gentleman readied himself. “The boy’s speed may pose a problem, but his attacks are predictable. Fending him off alone shouldn’t be an issue, but we need to keep an eye out for pincering. In the meantime, I’ll shoot in defense, not to kill.”
“Sharp eye, old man,” Nachi smirked and swung her polearm over her shoulder. “Now then, what kind of music do you like?”
“Hmph, anything before you were born,” the man chuckled.
“Fair enough,” Nachi pulled out her phone that was synced to the stadium’s audio system. “We’ll go classic, but with a punk remix!” As soon as the fight started, music began blaring through the speakers, and Nachi didn’t hesitate from dashing forward, sprinting each step forward to the beat.
《Rusa: Lovely. We get to see Nachi’s token rhythmic fighting style. It is one of the reasons I wanted to comment on this fight.》
Nachi lunged her polearm at Kaizu, forcing the woman to block. Since the woman had nowhere to hide, her usual stealth tactics were useless. She and Gatrim had actually elected for barricades for the first time in the competition, but lost the coin toss. Now she was forced to face their trainer out in the open.
The polearm reappeared in Nachi’s hands just in time for her to lunge forward at the woman. Kaizu blocked again, throwing her second dagger towards her foe, but right on the beat, the polearm swept in front, blocking the attack perfectly. From there, Nachi attacked relentlessly, swiping her weapon to each note.
《Rusa: It’s really something, and unfortunately not everyone can appreciate it. Her hits never waver, and her actions never miss a single note, even if she’s not actually attacking. Either her footwork or her movements, something is in rhythm. It’s a style that very few people can deal with. However, in the right hands, it could be used against her. Someone like Egawo who could tamper with the music and throw off her groove.》
《Tize: Kaizu on the other hand is very weak to the style as we can see. Basically all she can do is defend and pray for an opening. Well, if not for her partner helping her out.》
Gatrim had been targeting Ipucco, locked in a fencing match of rapier vs cane. The boy had been the one doing all the attacking, while the gentleman merely parried without riposting to make Gatrim think he had the edge. But when The Memory noticed his companion’s struggles, he abandoned his fight to try and assist.
A piercing thrust lunged at Nachi from behind, attempting to stab her in the back. But Gatrim suddenly had to pull the weapon back in panic. Just an inch before impact, the metal was shot with a paralysis round, courtesy of Ipucco from across the arena. While it wasn’t electrified or anything that threatened the boy physically, the round was corrosive to anything except for flesh, meaning he had to wipe it away immediately, before his precious rapier would be irrevocably damaged.
Ipucco took the opportunity to try and line up a shot on Kaizu’s head, who was still being pushed back by Nachi. But the moment he went to fire, Gatrim was back in a flash. Just as the trigger was pulled, his rapier slid into the barrel of the sniper-cane. Unable to expel the energy, the barrel suddenly exploded, sending shrapnel every which way.
The gentleman was the luckier of the two, able to shield his eyes and prevent any shards from scratching his face. However, a bit of the paralysis round managed to nick Gatrim right in the cheek, sending him collapsing to the ground on his back, frozen in place.
After he was finished reeling, Ipucco plucked the charred rapier off the ground, making sure not to touch any of the paralyzing agent that was coating the blade. He gripped the hilt with both hands and dangled the tip of Gatrim’s unmoving body. Ipucco planned to use it to pin the boy in place, since there was no guarantee that they could deal with Kaizu before the paralysis wore off.
Once he’d lined the tip up with Gatrim’s stomach, making sure not to puncture any vital organs, he slammed his hands down. But for whatever reason, they didn’t move downward. No, both gloved hands actually flung up towards his face instead, followed by the flickering of two blades.
Somehow in that short span of time, Kaizu had managed to wrench herself free from Nachi’s bullying and bolt across the arena. And a hair before Ipucco was poised to stab Gatrim, she’d sliced through his wrists with her daggers, severing both completely.
Before Ipucco could really process what had happened, and before Kaizu could perform any sort of followup attack, he vanished from the arena, severed hands and all. An automated announcement was played. 『A contestant has been removed from the fight for their well-being.』.
Nachi got revenge for her partner, having chased Kaizu relentlessly since the moment she got free, stabbing the woman in the thigh mere moments after the man’s hands were severed. But it was like Kaizu didn’t even register the pain, only noticing that someone had dared to attack her.
The woman whirled around, allowing her leg to be torn through to get even a step closer to Nachi. Before the trainer could understand what was happening, death was already approaching—two daggers striking down at her neck, like a viper lunging at its prey.
Pointed metal dug into the base of Nachi’s neck, just above her collarbone. But it stopped there, Kaizu’s arms unable to move any further, stuck on something. Metal protruded through them, and Gatrim panted desperately at her side. The insane boy had managed to fight through his paralysis, grab his weapon, and pierced his own ally through both arms to stop her from committing murder in the arena. But that seemed about the extent of his capability, unable to take another step, succumbed once more to his condition.
Nachi took the opportunity to sweep her polearm in Gatrim’s direction with all her might. It sent him and Kaizu flying across the arena. The boy didn’t soar too far, but the rabid woman fell just outside the stage. She immediately got back up, ripping the rapier out of her arms with her teeth, and then tried to claw her way back into the fight, only to be subdued moments later by a few paralyzing shots from the security team.
《Rusa: So this is the second reason that I wanted to commentate on this fight. Perhaps I can elucidate a bit on what just happened.》
《Rusa: When Kaizu saw Gatrim in peril, it spurred every adrenaline-rattled protective instinct in her body, and she used it to maim Ipucco. That much should be obvious. But what you all can’t see is how her Curse Marks reacted to that bit of bloodshed. It only riled them from their slumber, rousing their hunger.》
《Rusa: While Kaizu has morals about only killing those she deems evil, her parasitic marks have no such reservations. They just want to kill. And that’s why she then immediately bore her fangs at Nachi, not even thinking about the potential consequences or circumstances.》
《Rusa: Gatrim did the right thing, both as a competitor and as her friend. If she’d gone through with killing Nachi, not only would they have been disqualified immediately, but Kaizu would have to live with that torment, even though Nachi would have been fine after having her time reversed by Ahvra.》
《Tize: However, it seems Gatrim’s efforts are unfortunately in vain. Unless he can get back up soon, Nachi can eliminate him easily. And even if he can, he doesn’t have a weapon. This fight is all but finished.》
Nachi seemed to share this sentiment. She raised her polearm above her head, as if to symbolize her victory, but then she threw it to the ground. “I surrender!”
Clamor consumed the crowd, there was cheer and applause mixed with as much booing and outrage, likely from those that had placed bets.
“What can I say, I lost,” Nachi clarified. “If it wasn’t for the no-killing rule, the two of them would have won fairly. They were the better fighters. I can’t take pride in winning on a technicality.”
“So let’s give it up for our winners, Gatrim and Kaizu!” Rallie hopped up into the arena and announced the victor to help get the crowd back on the right track. “Can’t say I’m not a little upset since you just beat my team. So you’ll just have to make up for it in the grand finale! Isn’t that right everyone?!”
A reminder that there was even more intense fighting to come certainly won back the audience's favor, and the next bit really got them excited. “With that insane spectacle, the Lesser bracket is complete. And you know what that means, right?! The Fiend bracket is up next! Since it’s late, we’ll be starting tomorrow. Have to clean the blood off the stage.”
“But you have so much to look forward to! 32 Fiends competing in 30 fights to find our final two competitors. From there, they’ll join our top two human and Lesser teams in the grand finale, all competing for the ultimate prize: A wish! Whatever their heart desires, granted by the Drazahs themselves! This competition is just getting started! We’ll see you tomorrow!”
