“So, handshake before the match?” Ling smirked at Iris.
“Hmph. There’s no need for that,” Iris fired back just as self-confidently.
“Remember, you promised. If we win, you let Ichika go.” Houki stared down Djibril.
“Of course. A knight doesn’t go back on her word.” Djibril’s eyes gleamed with absolute loyalty to her princess as they bore into Ling and Houki.
“Then, let the battle for Orimura Ichika commence!” Cheers welled up from the crowd at Ms. Yamada’s announcement. There’s nothing teenage girls like better than a good catfight. “And... Begin!”
At the sound of a whistle, four IS shimmered into existence.
“Houki! You take the knight!” Without waiting for an answer, Ling charged toward Iris.
“Hey! Hey, wait! ...Ugh, why me?”
As Ling closed in on Iris, Djibril shot out a bolt of lightning. “I won’t let you get near her!”
Her sword leapt from its sheath, arcing toward Ling, but it was Houki’s turn to cut in with her own blade Amazuki.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself!”
“Ahaha! Thanks, Houki! All right, here goes!”
Clang! The new heavy impact cannon mounted on Ling’s shoulders leveled at Iris, yet she refused to give an inch.
“Only a weakling flinches!”
“Got you!” Her cannon charged, Ling fired. It looked like a direct hit, but when the dust settled, the paint on Iris’s IS wasn’t even scratched.
“Wha?!”
“Looks like you underestimated Seventh Princess.”
As Ling looked closer, she saw a shimmering energy barrier hover over her foe like a veil.
“A gravity shield?! Gimme a break!” Looking down at the analysis Kanzashi had sent, Ling’s eyes widened. The barrier covered Iris completely. There was no weak point.
“And now it’s my turn.” Iris could attack even with her shields up. Raising her right hand, she stared at Ling and Houki. “Take this! Graviton Cluster!”
Her hands flew forth, and a moment later, an unseen something collapsed on Ling and Houki.
“Ahh!” The pair were slammed down to the arena floor, then ground into the dirt.
“You’re sure bringing it...”
“So this is what a fourth gen IS is capable of...”
Dodging the lightning shooting from Djibril, they leapt back up, keeping their distance to avoid another Graviton Cluster strike.
“Where do you think you’re running to?” Iris moved forth regally, her wings spread, firing again when she closed the distance.
“Ugh! She’s better than I expected!” Ling’s mobility had been reduced by her IS’ newly-added reactive shielding. But at least it could serve as a defensive wall against the Graviton Cluster. “This time I’ll hit you at full power!”
Ling’s cannon barrels telescoped out to full scale as they began to charge energy.
“Not so fast!” Djibril carved her way into the line of fire. Houki moved in to block her, only to be hit by lightning as they clashed.
“Houki!” Ling’s concern for her friend was audible in her voice.
Houki bravely forced a smile and said, “Don’t worry about me! Go for it!”
“Roger!” Nodding, Ling let loose a full-power blast. Her twin cannon fired at once, scoring a direct hit on Iris. “Got her!”
At least, that’s what it seemed. But looks could be deceiving.
“Hmph. Not bad.” Iris’s seven wings wrapped around her, forming an even stronger gravity barrier. One which could completely absorb Ling’s impact cannon shots.
“Th-This is some kind of bad joke!” For once, even Ling’s face showed her frustrated terror.
Absolutely perfect defense. A fearsome offense. The Seventh Princess was truly a worthy foe.
“Ling! Look out!” Houki threw herself in front of Ling just as Djibril’s sword swung down.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Houki! Rin!” Ichika called out, even though they couldn’t hear him.
“Ichika... You need to be by their... You need to be by Ling’s side.” Ichika didn’t want to leave Liu Yueyin alone, as fragile as he looked, weakened by his illness.
“Huh? But...”
“Don’t worry about me. Right now, you need to cheer them on.”
“Yue...”
“I’m not dead yet. Ichika. When you’re old enough, let’s have a drink together.”
Memories of happier days welled up in Ichika. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“It’ll take more than this to finish me off. We Chinese are survivors.”
“All right!”
Yueyin nodded as Ichika ran off, then turned his eyes back to the monitor showing Ling.
“Ling... Do your best.”
Ling may not have realized he was out there cheering her on. But either way, she and Houki rose again. The battle wasn’t over. It had only just begun.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Rin! Houki!” Ichika made his way as close to the battle as he could. “Watch how she moves! She’s leaving an opening!”
The desperation faded from Ling and Houki as they heard Ichika’s voice, only to be replaced by anger from Iris and Djibril.
“You’re not cheering for me? Unforgivable!”
“Lèse-majesté!”
Two glares aimed themselves at Ichika— And this was the opening Ling and Houki had been waiting for.
“Houki! Covering fire!”
“Got it!”
Ling purged her package, not just lightening herself but also leaving two drones ready to make kamikaze strikes from the sides. Coolly, precisely, Iris tracked the drones. Ling had realized that, graceful and powerful as Iris was, her reactions were slow.
“Huh?! Are you—” Iris began to fire her Graviton Cluster at Ling, but rather than dodging, she kept pushing forward.
“I’ve found the one thing you can’t do! You can’t react fast!”
It wasn’t regal grace. It was her Graviton Cluster and Gravity Shield, together, pushing her reactor to its limits. Meaning, both were slow to activate. This was Seventh Princess’s weak point.
“Not so fast!” Djibril dashed in to keep Ling away from her princess. But they had seen that coming, too.
“CHESTOOOOOO!” With a single focusing shout, Houki slashed with both her blades, driving her back. “Five seconds, Ling!”
“That’s enough!” Ling slashed down with her Souten Gagetsu scimitar, kicking at the same time. And no matter how strong her defenses were, Iris was too slow to deal with a pincer attack from a single foe.
“Hmph. Is that all you’ve got?!”
“Too slow!” Somersaulting in the air, Ling finished by reaching out and grabbing Iris by the shoulders, her hands forcing their way through the energy shield. “Eat this! Zero-range Impact Cannon!”
Blam!, the blast echoed.
“You—!” Iris tried to push Ling away, but her inexperience in combat showed as all she could do was twist awkwardly.
✦ ✦ ✦
“You’re not getting away!”
Blam! Blam! Two more full-power shots at close range. The cannon barrels began to crack from the sheer force pouring through them.
“Hold on just a little longer, Shenlong!”
With one last blast, she crashed to the ground, taken down by her own weapons cooking off.
“Houki!” Ling called out for her teammate to finish the fight.
As Houki’s blades ground against her foe’s, her eyes gleamed. “I’m on it!”
Abandoning any focus on defense, Houki, blades still crossed with Djibril, fired her Ugachi energy cannon at Iris.
“Iris!” Djibril threw down her sword and dove to cover her princess. “Ahhhhhh!”
Taking the full brunt of the blast, she crashed to earth.
“And if this is on the ground—” Ling purged the dented, blasted scraps of armor she had left, and rushed at the disarmed Djibril with newfound speed. Meanwhile, Houki raised her blades over Iris.
“Look out, Princess!”
Iris heard her warning, but still didn’t know what to do in a situation like this. In every previous fight, her foes had fallen before her superior firepower. The flow of battle had always carried her forward. But that had changed. No, it had been changed.
“A-Ahh...” Iris’s will wasn’t strong enough to handle the true stress of battle. As she saw a blade swing for her, her face twisted in terror.
“That’s enough!” A cry flew between them like an arrow. It was Ichika’s voice. “You’ve already won. Right, Rin, Houki?”
They sheathed their weapons.
“I suppose.”
“Yeah, it was a piece of cake!”
The emotions swirling through Iris turned to rage as her opponents basked in their victory.
“What are you talking about?! I... I haven’t lost yet!” It may have been one last, no-one-wins desperate attack, but Iris was still committed.
Until Djibril’s voice pulled her back, “Please, no! Iris! Please! Please, this is over!”
“Et tu—” As her will wavered, a single tear fell upon her forehead. “You’re... You’re crying...”
“I... I just want you to be safe... Please, stop...” Djibril pleaded. Her usual force, her pride, her grace, were now only tears. Yet the tears were just as much for her princess’s sake.
“...Understood.”
Iris yielded.