Though it was clear that Heracles didn't look down on Kenshin, Vahn couldn't help but feel that the prodigious Demigod wasn't going all out.
While Kenshin certainly had the skill advantage, Heracles himself had mastered nearly all forms of bat. His Agility itself wasn't that much lower than Kenshin's and, while he couldn't use things like [Shundo], he should more than be able to make up for it with his natural mobility. It almost felt like he had given up the fight after realizing he wouldn't be able to easily catch Kenshin but, considering who he was thinking about, this didn't really seem that likely.
Vahn made a mental note to have a chat with Heracles the next time they went out drinking but, as there was still a tournament ongoing, he waiting for the field to be cleared before pulling two more names from the box. Seeing who had been drawn, he wasn't even surprised anymore. Rather, he felt a little apologetic as he did his best to avoid frowning as he, instead, announced, "The fourth battle is set to begin! Okita and Fenrir, please enter the arena!"
Much like Kenshin, Fenrir appeared on the battlefield using [Shundo] but, instead of a rather sloppy C-Rank version, her's was very near the pinnacle of A-Rank. While her raw capabilities were a far cry from Kenshin's, she had a distinct advantage when it came to learning Magecraft and Magic. Due to this reason, Vahn suspected that Fenrir would join the Magus' League, where she had a good chance of making it to the semifinals. Instead, she joined the Knight's League as, according to her, the path she followed was that of a Magic Knight, not a Magus.
Unfortunately, while Okita may be an Alter Ego, her base Class was still Saber so, as per usual, she had the [Magic Resistance] Class Skill. This made her immune to most of Fenrir's base attacks but, as Okita could not unsheath her katana, the battle should be interesting. As for why she was able to use her katana at all, this was due to the fact that Okita, for indeterminate reasons, simply could not use any other weapons. Even a simple kitchen knife was beyond her and, while she could store her sword away in much the same way as Artoria, she had a habit of carrying it around in its physical form. The only time it had ever left her hand was when she allowed him to hold it, leading to a peculiar event that was still fresh in his mind...
Rather than reminisce, Vahn raised his pistol for the fourth time and, without further ado, shot the now expected projectile into the sky. This time, nobody in the crowd bothered to mind it at all as they were afraid of missing even a single instant of the uping battle.
The moment the explosion of mana occurred, Okita bent forward slightly with her right foot forward. Though she could not draw it, she had her right hand hovering over the handle of her katana with an expression of extreme focus. Vahn wasn't unaware of Okita's capabilities as, shortly after summoning her, he was able to experience first hand how powerful she was. She was, for lack of a better way to describe her, terrifyingly powerful.
As one of the people present during the duel between her Master and Okita, Fenrir wasn't unaware of how powerful her opponent was. Rather, she chose to join the Knight's League because there was a higher chance of being matched against powerful individuals, many of which were, like her, loyal to their shared Master. Fenrir was determined to be the strongest person at her Master's side so, while it was almost impossible for her to egg out a victory, she would not be deterred in the slightest.
With Okita taking her stance, Fenrir began to move swiftly through the battlefield using [Shundo] and [Koku Shundo] in sequence. Much of the battlefield had been destroyed at this point but she could easily create footholds in the air, making it very difficult to determine where she would end up.
After reaching the effective, or instantaneous range for magic usage, Fenrir formed two plex magic circles around her paws. The structure of said circles was far more plex than any modern Magecraft and, with her understanding of Water, Ice, and Yin Elemental Laws, Fenrir could form a semi-permanant magic circle using raw elemental energy.
In much the same way as Aoko, Fenrir began to rapid-fire hypersonic ice-elemental [Sagitta Magica] at Okita. These bolts of magical energy were enough to freeze organic matter through on contact as, while their temperature didn't necessarily reach absolute zero, the ice element had the capability to 'encroach' upon a target's mana, slowing their movements and making it harder to muster their own internal reserves.
Okita made no attempt to dodge Fenrir's attacks. Rather, the moment they came her way, a powerful tempest surrounding her body as her right arm seemed to outright disappear. Her expression didn't change in the slightest as she began to cut down and destroy every single bolt of magical energy. To exacerbate matters even further, at least for Fenrir, the energy contained within the spells seemed to be pletely destroyed.
It was mon for a spell to disperse, leaving ambient mana behind that could be used to enhance more plex spells. In a battle between two 'real' Mages, using Eva's standard, victory was almost always decided by how well each batant could make use of, not just their own magical energy, but the energy expended by their opponent. This was one of the reasons why Vahn was so terrifying when it came to a magical duel as, with his domain, it was almost impossible for a similarly skilled opponent to mand the mana surrounding him.
Seeing that Okita was even able to destroy mana, despite not having drawn her katana, Vahn tensed up a bit in his seat. He never liked seeing any of his panions injured but, when it came to Fenrir, a tender spot in his heart always ached even before she suffered a setback. Though he tried to hold back his rising tensions, so as not to distract Fenrir, Vahn simply couldn't help himself. Since Fenrir would have an adverse reaction if he tried to weaken the connection between them, he could only hope things didn't end on a negative note.
Seemingly unaffected by his anxieties, Fenrir continued to dodge around at high speeds. Since her initial attacks hadn't born fruit, she began to target the surrounding terrain instead. This caused the ground to quickly ice over while, in the impacted areas, plumes of icy spikes, almost like lotuses, had started to 'bloom' on the battlefield. As a result, the surrounding temperature steadily decreased yet, in spite of this, a 'dome' of sorts had surrounded Okita. The icy mist forming in the surrounding was unable to penetrate through this invisible membrane while any magical energy that came into direct contact was simply dissipated into nothingness.
Vahn was reminded of Fafnir's Innate upon seeing this phenomenon but, rather than immunity, he knew this was just Okita's [Magic Resistance] at work. Still, it was quite the sight to behold as, even in the face of increasingly powerful attacks, she didn't flinch in the slightest as her pale silver eyes never lost their focus.
Okita didn't seem to have any trouble following Fenrir's speed and, every time the latter was about to try and attack, the former would immediately react by twitching her right hand. As a result, Fenrir would immediately take evasive actions as, with her enhanced instincts, she could tell that the battle would end the moment she tried to break the current equilibrium. The bubble around Okita seemed to be an inviolable space and, while it wasn't that large at most time, it would suddenly increase a great deal whenever she placed her hand on her katana.
With her other attempts failing, Fenrir gave up trying to attack at short range and instead began to vault into the sky using several footholds. Okita followed her ascent with her eyes and, realizing what Fenrir was about to attempt, she finally took action.
Just as Fenrir reached the apex of her climb and shouted, "Master, give me strength~!
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