Let's Enjoy [Klein, Amaranta]

That one strike alone meant everything to a combatant like Klein. Now he had something to feast on besides mere carrion and the bitter taste of his own wings. He'd been prepared from the very beginning to risk any injury for that strike, and sure enough, injury was upon him. He was strong, but he understood that she was stronger. He'd always understood that, of course. It was why he'd been drawn to her, after all.

As the flames rushed in, scorching him even through his hierro, Klein could only wait for an opportunity to strike. Regeneration kept the most severe possibilities of this bout at bay for now, leaving him in a perpetual state of burning and reforming, but it was better by far than just turning to charcoal, wasn't it? What was the best course of action now? Sit within her flames? Move closer? Flee? Ah, but to flee too far would only be the gravest defeat of all in these circumstances. No, that wouldn't be an option here. Klein sighed to himself, his wings firing another array of only ten feathers straight upward into the sky. He still had plenty up his own sleeve, of course, but he didn't like to make that so obvious.

"My, kitten. So flighty, even after I've thrown myself right toward you. You've learned a thing or two from me, haven't you?"

He was goading her, naturally. He knew all too well that his nature, cowardly and afraid of a direct clash, was one fundamentally opposed to hers. Of course, it didn't really matter if she took the bait or not. If she kept her distance, it only made it easier to flee. And if she did indeed take it, as he suspected she would, then he was fully prepared to deal with that outcome, as well.

For now, however, he was squarely on the defensive, layer after layer of hierro forming and burning away, all while his flesh continued to work tirelessly against the flames that threatened to turn him into nothing but dried out bones.

"What can I say, babe? I learned from the best! Remember how you avoided me in our first bout? I thought that was pretty fun, so why not indulge in it myself? When it comes to a temperamental feline like me, I guess that comes with the territory, huh?"

There wasn't a fiber in Amaranta's soul that wasn't tremendously enticed by the thought of asserting her dominance over Klein in this battle. Bold as it was to assume, considering the prior strike, Amaranta felt that the momentum lay on her side so far, wholly confident that her current battle strategy would merit the victory she aimed for. On the other hand, the leonine woman idly wondered about the cost versus the benefit. Klein was on the defensive now from her point of view, but that hardly meant this deceptive bastard was compromised. Even now, amid an incinerating tornado, he was casually exchanging words as if this was but a casual stroll in the park for him, a minor inconvenience with little regard to the fact she was swallowing him with an all-consuming conflagration.

Indeed, even under the duress of such monstrously immense heat, he appeared relatively poised. Recalling their last battle, with abilities so unlike the ones displayed before her now, he played the long game until those attacks of his drained enough energy to leave her compromised, all while acting from that crimson haze and attacking when an opportunity presented itself. Didn't it stand to reason that he might possess a trick or two even now? Amaranta was far from foolish enough to assume that the strike that tore across her flesh was executed out of mere fancy. Ah, the nature of his character truly was an enigma to her. He could toy around with his opponents like that brunette pain in the ass, but showcase something like this with her? What a tease.

"Fine, if you want to embrace me so much, I guess I shouldn't keep the sweet prince waiting for too long."

The speed of her charge had generated such a fierce degree of friction and heat that her body and silhouette were shrouded in a large column of flame. The intense temperature was drying out her skin, but the unending velocity of her body only intensified the fire. The fiery lance, now filled with a vast reserve of her spiritual energy, thrumming with anticipation, ached for release. If it filled any further, it would implode and that was less than ideal in her path to victory. In a motion that could only be described as some frankenstein version of an Immelmann turn, Amaranta ascended upward only to descend downward like a plummeting star soaring through the air. At once, bolting toward him at full speed, as though wholly intent on indulging him in his goading, the leonine woman executed her masterful plan. In much the same way he had executed that expanding arc of crimson energy, Amaranta had initially swung her arms forward to display the intent that she wished to return the favor.

At the last minute, the blazing lance was thrown toward him like an arrow at close contact, pinpointed directly at him alone. Before it even had the chance to physically connect, the true nature of the attack was laid bare as a calamitous wave of fire expanded at that moment, set off by a large explosion that dwarfed every other attack she had executed earlier in the sheer destructive mass of the attack. The roiling energy of her spirit power and her release state was proof enough that this attack was of no small import, having offered up a greater portion of her spirit energy to support it. A bold attack, to be sure, but it would be well worth the sacrifice if it tore through whatever kept him afloat. If it missed? That was fine. It would consume this tornado and everything around them in a resounding implosion.

Tch. Though he might have been fond of Amaranta, at the moment, there wasn't much other than contempt running through Klein's mind at the thought of her. She was being annoying, far too annoying in fact, and the sheer audacity of her to just act like she was in control here was enough to remove whatever faint degree of pity remained in Klein's mind. She wanted to play games now, when that was his domain? He'd show her why that was what he did, not her.

As the flaming projectile shot toward her, Klein grimaced, stepping away with Sonido as multiple hierro clones launched themselves toward the explosion. However, the wall itself came inward too, and so Klein had little choice but to eat the attack with little more than his most fundamental hierro to defend against it. Now that was bad, and the scorching through of his side, nearly down to the bone, made that quite visibly obvious.

But that didn't matter. One more wing incinerated itself, and the feathers which had soared upward now each turned into another miniature sun, intent on crashing down toward Amaranta now that she'd spent so much of her energy. Of course, Klein himself was running on mere fumes. He wasn't even regenerating any of his injuries, which told him far more than anything else. How annoying.

She was going to pay for this, one way or another. Any sense of amusement had been scorched away in that blazing inferno.

The maelstrom of fire accomplished her primary intention to shift the tide of battle in her favor, burning through the spiritual composition that comprised his defense in this battle so far, even if she wasn't particularly close enough to confirm that. Judging by Klein's momentary pause, perhaps that was proof enough, but instinct told her otherwise. The all-consuming inferno achieved the ideal results she sought outside of toppling him completely, but that didn't mean the battle was over. Pressing the advantage was her topmost priority now. The path to victory was far from assured, even at this phase of the fight. In her domain of fire, Amaranta's gaze swept through the flames in pursuit of her enemy until those radiant eyes recognized an unnatural phenomenon unfurling in this blazing canopy of crimson.

"Someone's upset. Guess I pressed too many buttons, huh?"

Like a wave of meteors hurdling into orbit, a multitude of miniature suns descend from above. Amaranta discerned that this attack outclassed his prior techniques by several orders of magnitude—a retaliation of no small import. In the face of those luminescent orbs plummeting toward her, an outline of a bestial grin tears across her face. Ah, so the scheming bastard had a trick up his sleeve, after all, huh? Of course, he did! Deceptive fighters always saved their best tricks for last.

Even so, the expectation of a counterattack had not been entirely lost on her. Although it was decidedly false to claim she predicted an assault of this nature, the leonine woman maintained her furious acceleration through the air until now for a secondary purpose beyond the accumulating momentum. After all, the nature of her prior attack was opportunity enough to exploit her momentary pause in motion, even more so if the slippery bastard managed to evade her explosive torrent.

In other words, the pillar of flame that currently blanketed her frame had been constructed in the event he came soaring in for another strike with his blade. Now? It would serve a different purpose. The diminishing spiritual energy and remaining conflagration would be her only means of defending herself, but that was fine. There was always her physical strength and natural speed to fall back on. Surviving this attack was crucial. Suffering defeat was out of the question.

Expending the remaining reserves of spiritual energy, her body was set aflame within the vortex of a colossal fireball. The boiling wave of heat within the atmosphere reaches its breaking point, rendering anything unable to handle its sheer intensity into piles of waste. Bolting through the sky like a thunderous streak of lightning, Amaranta shot ahead to contest every single orb of energy on her way toward Klein. Each of those bastards packed an immense hell of a punch, throwing her tall frame afar at every turn, tearing through and burning some degree of flesh as punishment for her dogged pursuit.

Multiple layers of flame was being forcibly ripped away from her body, but she paid it no heed in the midst of this onslaught. Booming laughter rung out through the air, singing a song of defiance as she forced her way through the merciless wave of destruction, vanishing and reappearing before Klein with her fist, ensconced within one remaining layer of flame, sweeping through the air to land one more decisive blow. No matter the result, she would have to give herself some measure of pause before she could pursue him any further, but such was the nature of battle.

Perfect.

In that brief moment of respite where she prepared her attack, so too did Klein. That taste for theatrics of hers would get her killed one of these days. Reaching into his pocket, Klein pulled out a single golden needle, jamming the reishi injector into his shoulder and taking a deep breath to soak in the rush of energy. He'd have taken more, but he didn't have time. Whatever. He didn't need time. He just didn't want to go into this last gambit on mere fumes.

Bringing her closer was exactly what he'd wanted, because it let him avoid using any of his energy for moving. That was the difference between playing around and actually being serious for Klein. If he wanted something done, he'd see it done, no matter what it cost. And right now, he was nothing he wanted more than to see Amaranta groveling naked in the dirt.

As her fist shot toward him, Klein's own arm moved to crush her as well. He wasn't trying to match her blow. That was just stalling. Instead, he simply accepted the impending wound that was going to take place, and readied his last strike. His arm coated itself in his Mercurio, and his last wing burned itself away to further empower it. As Amaranta's fist slammed into Klein, his own arm shot toward her with force several orders of magnitude beyond what Klein was capable of naturally. So much above it, in fact, that his own arm practically burst with the force, bone shattering outward like shrapnel as it slammed into her.

That had to be enough. They'd both been pushed to their limit by now, and having burned away his final wing, he knew his release would end soon. Klein could accept a draw, considering how many other resources he had left for after the bout. But he wouldn't accept a loss.

The mutual collision was nothing short of extraordinary in its sheer display of brutality. From her point of view, there was a measure of sincere admiration during the whirling typhoon of energy erupting between them. His body was the target of her aggresion, hers the target of his own. A collision with one unwavering notion behind their respective strikes ---that is, imposing their will on the other, two beasts ruthlessly vying for supremacy. Ravenous vulture and stalwart lioness...

What was the result of their momentous clash? The ever present layer of steely energy, consistently refined to suit her ideal form of combat, was no longer present, leaving her wholly susceptible to his ferocious attack. Outside of her naturally impressive durability, there truly was no layer of defense whatsoever to supplement her frame against the full contact of his mercurio-empowered fist.

The tremendous force behind that attack was enough to visibly distort her balance at the point of impact, tearing through flesh and bone alike, turning her midsection into a grotesque mesh of meat and sinew. One of lesser composition and mettle would have certainly died within mere seconds of suffering such a blow. Indeed, for all her bravado, that was simply an irrefutable fact that could not be ignored.

Even now, the only thing that kept her body upright was sheer will and the soulful flame of a warrior who never possessed an intention to falter before any foe, let alone a man who would have gleefully reveled in the poor display. Any notion of pain was supressed by a maddened mind that simply would not accept defeat.

Formidable as he was, the leonine woman was stubbornly resolute. Victory was what she desired above all else, even if he proved an interesting individual through and through. The notion of a draw was no different from an admission of defeat in her eyes. Regardless of his next actions, she simply stood in fierce defiance, grinning, through blood-colored teeth, at the ashen-haired male with rebellious confidence in her battle-worn features. Nothing in her current stance exhibited a desire to conclude their bout on anyone's terms except her own.

"How infuriating. When push comes to shove, you're actually a fine combatant with no shortage of unique tricks and abilities. What gives? Ya tellin' me you only get it up when the moment matters most? On one hand, I'm impressed. On another, I'm competitively frustrated."

The reishi injector had given Klein enough to work with that he could at least stand when it was all over, as his release came to an end and his hair returned to its longer form. Indeed, it was enough that even his shattered arm had slowly begun to weave itself back together, charred flesh flaking off and being replaced slowly, but surely. It would take a while before that was usable again, but it wasn't gone, at least.

"You might be the type who likes to give it all you've got no matter what, but I don't like that. I don't like to waste my time with nobodies. If someone's going to see me at my best, they better be worth it. Trash like we've dealt with isn't even close. Not like you, kitten."

Even now, he knew that he had to be ready for another attack from her. She was deranged. He liked that. He liked it a lot. But her blow, and his own self-sustained injury, didn't leave him with much left. If anything else happened, he might actually be at risk of a loss.

"So? What now? I don't know about you, but I could use a drink."

"I must be really special, huh?"

On one hand, Klein's words fattened Amaranta's bulbous ego. On the other, much to expectation, she clearly wasn't content with calling the match here. It went without saying, of course, but nothing in her body language displayed a woman ready to indulge in the blissful joy of alcohol. Natural agility alone guided her stride as she rushed toward him. A burn-marked fist shot forward like a thunderbolt, roaring toward Klein's chest.

"Come, now. You gave me one hell of a show just now. Do you really think I'd be content after all that? Sorry, babe, but I'm a greedy feline. Do you plan to leave me unfulfilled?"

To an observer, Amaranta was little more than the image of a maddened woman. Her entire body was layered in burn marks and torn skin, to say nothing of the grotesque mesh of muscle resembling a midsection. By all accounts, she should have been focused on healing and counting her losses, but did that matter to her? Hell no.

"Wouldn't spend time with you if you weren't."

Her next move, however, was one that Klein could at least mostly respond to, given the injector he'd used to rejuvenate himself. A single, very rough sonido moved him just far enough away from the blow to keep from being hole-punched, and his expression seemed almost unreadable as he stared down his wily lioness.

"You really are one hungry bitch, huh? You've barely even got any more in you, I'm hardly doing much better. I'm not trying to die, and I'm not trying to kill you, either."

Realistically, he could probably handle another injector. Maybe two, tops. He could even give her one if she wanted, but he wasn't stupid enough to think Amaranta would accept something like that anyway. Sighing, he simply manifested his spirit weapon in his hands one more time, the elegant curved blade pointing toward Amaranta.

"C'mon then. Last shot."

Sometimes, you just had to give a pet a treat.