lucetilogs | Being unconquerable lies with yourself; being conquerable lies with your enemy.

[The keyword here is nearly. It's not quite safe just yet - far from it, in fact.

If the two are paying attention to any sounds that stand out, they may something flying through the air, as well as a more distant, but very distinct sound. Mere moments later, two of the stragglers will find themselves struck with rather strange-looking swords. They vanish within seconds, however, leaving no traces aside from the rather deep wounds caused by them.

The culprit? Look no further than the armor-clad girl standing a fair distance away. She doesn't seem to have taken note of Link and Minato yet; rather, she seems focused on the stragglers, already preparing to launch another pair of swords at the small group.]

[It's instantly panic. Several of the stragglers scream and Minato whirls, searching for the source. One of the men who was struck is grabbed by some of the other Malnosso. The other, a woman, stumbles and begins to fall. Minato immediately moves for her, fumbling in his pocket for one of the Beads he'd replicated. As soon as the object touches her skin its faint internal glow spreads to her skin as the healing energy is absorbed. She'll live - but the entire group is still in danger.]

[Oh, Din.]

Get them out of here! [Link shouts to Minato, drawing the bow back and letting loose an ice arrow. That should slow her down enough for Minato to get the stragglers back to safety - he hopes.]

[Because ignoring the frantic pounding of his heart, he turns to face Sheik's murderer, sword and shield steady in his hands.] Leave them alone, Nu, [he says quietly, ready for any attack she might level at him.]

[The shouting is enough to draw the Murakumo's attention - just in time for her to notice the ice arrow and bring up a barrier to shield herself against it. It won't stay up for long, though; shortly after the arrow connects with it, the shield dissipates once again.]

[...And that's when ν-13 realizes just who was responsible for the shouting and that ice arrow. Him again, huh? Sheesh... First that conversation with Bil, and now he's interfering. Link, you are not earning yourself any points here.]

...Target confirmed. Threat level: A. Activating termination protocol.

[That's the only warning Link will get before a row of spikes shoots out of the ground in front of the machine-like girl, heading toward him. ν-13 herself, meanwhile, dashes a little closer while the spikes are still appearing, launching another pair of swords once she's close enough.

...She doesn't seem to be paying Minato any mind, fortunately. As long as he doesn't do anything to alert her, it shouldn't be too hard to get the stragglers to a safer location.]

[This time, she most assuredly started it. He wouldn't have even considered going after her if she hadn't started attacking his charges.]

[Shield up to guard against the swords she's launched, he attempts to dodge the spikes - one, however, gets through his defences, slicing into his leg. He doesn't seem to notice, though - drawing his sword back, orange magic flickering along the blade, he swings it around in a huge circle as soon as she's near enough.]

[Eat spin attack!]

[Minato, meanwhile, is heeding Link's order and ushering the Malnosso out of the line of fire. The woman he'd helped is still slow and he helps steady her as they run. Fortunately the Third Party has cleared out of this area, so the only impediment is the battle now raging behind them.

It's not long before they're out of sight of the fight. He can only hope Link will be able to handle this on his own.]

[As far as she's concerned, he's the one who started this. He attacked her first; all she was doing was carry out her directive. It's not like any of the stragglers would actually remain dead if she eliminated them, unlike what would happen if the Third Party were to get to them. And thanks to that, this method also practically eliminates the risk of any of the stragglers getting caught by the soldiers on the way back to a safer location. Isn't that preferable?

She doesn't make any attempt to block the spin attack, only moving a little out of the way in what can only be considered a half-hearted attempt to dodge it. It still connects, however, leaving a deep gash across her side...

...but strangely, this hardly even seems to slow her down. Almost as if - the rather noticeable wound aside - the attack had no effect on her at all.

In fact, as soon as she's certain that it's safe to approach again, the Murakumo dashes a little bit closer, going for a low sweeping kick accompanied by the eight swords hovering near her back.]

[Link knows first-hand now that dying isn't fun. And that's what he's trying to prevent for the poor stragglers - the Third Party killing them permanently hasn't really occurred to him.]

[Frowning at the gash that does nothing, Link jumps back to avoid the kick - surely that should have at least slowed her down? He doesn't seem to realise that he's bleeding as well from the earlier spikes.]

[Still, no time to dwell on it - almost while she's still moving from the kicking, he stabs forward, aiming at getting through her defenses.]

[As she's still recovering from the kick, she doesn't exactly have the time to bring up her swords or the barrier in order to block. It'd take a little too long. So rather than do that, she opts for something different.

With one quick hand motion, that peculiar sound from earlier can be heard once more - seemingly coming from behind Link. Sure enough, there's another pair of swords appearing in the air behind him, launching toward his back. It's mostly an attempt to force him to dodge before he can hit her, albeit a risky one.

If he dodges, she'll use the opportunity to dash away a little bit. If he gets hit, however, she'll instead briefly vanish from sight, reappearing a slightly larger distance away thanks to her Act Parser ability. Either way, it's clear that even though the gash doesn't seem to affect her much, if at all, she seems to be attempting to avoid any further injuries.]

[He's really starting to hate that sound.]

[Stopping mid-stab, he darts to the side, stumbling as it clips one of his wings. It's not pain that makes him stop, but sudden weakness - his movements falter just a little.]

You just don't stop, do you? [he shouts, frustration written all over his face.]

[And that's more than enough to trigger the second option - as soon as one of the swords clips Link's wing, the Murakumo moves back a little, disappears from sight, and reappears a decent distance away.

She doesn't make a move to strike again just yet, however, instead... speaking up? Huh.]

...Obstructions to the directive require immediate termination. [At least when said obstructions also happen to be hostile. Which Link has very clearly proven to be by now. Of course she's not going to just cease her onslaught when there's someone like him around.]

Your directive? They were just trying to get to safety! [Oh, he's not lowering the sword or the shield - Nu is a dirty fighter, he thinks, and he doesn't want her to gain the advantage.]

[...She doesn't seem impressed by that outburst. At all.]

Our directive is... to prevent the subjects' permanent deaths through the elimination method employed by the Third Party. Escorting the subjects to another location is unnecessary. [This way is faster, and safer. Sure, it'll earn them a death penalty, but isn't that better than risking that they die on the way to a secured location? Not that she cares either way, but... a directive's a directive.]

[...Okay, that does give him pause for a moment.]

Of course it's necessary, it means they get to safety! If you want to make sure they don't die, attack the Third Party, not kids!

[Hands shaking, he pulls out the bow again, notching an arrow.] Or do you just like killing too much?

Temporary elimination of the subjects is... a more reliable method for preventing permanent elimination. Escorting increases the risk of failing to carry out the directive by 48%.

[Unlike before, her voice is no longer completely emotionless - there's an audible hint of hatred seeping into it. Why is she even bothering to explain her actions to him? This is pointless.]

[The feeling is more than mutual.]

Maybe for you. Killing just comes easily to you, huh? [And he looses that arrow, charged with ice magic, followed by another in quick succession.]

[... ... ...

That? That was NOT the right thing to say and do. Not at all. She explained her actions - if he still insists on painting her as some sort of killer regardless of her words, then fine. She'll play along.

Using a combination of dashing and hovering, the Murakumo quickly moves out of the arrows' paths, quickly realigning herself once the fire ceases. As soon as that's done, she raises her hands over her head, speaking up as she does so.]

...Everything... [She pauses for a moment...]

...Disappear. [With that final word and one swift motion, a portal appears in front of the mechanical girl, launching an entire barrage of swords in Link's direction.

Congratulations, Link, you're the first one to be on the receiving end of Legacy Edge while ν-13 is actually fighting with the intent to kill.]

[...Oh, this won't be fun.]

[Link crouches fast, the shield blocking as much of his head and torso as he can get it to do so. But he's not a child any more - it doesn't cover him entirely, and the blades slice deeply into his arms and legs.]

[There's no pain, but his legs no longer co-operate in holding him up - wounded and bleeding, Link collapses to the ground, still valiently trying to keep the shield up.]

((OOC: Should we let Minato step in here? Link's going to be zapped back to be patched up pretty soon, anyway.))

[Ensuring the Malnosso are all safely returned to the secure zone and patched up takes some time. But even with the delay, Link hasn't returned.

That enemy had looked extremely dangerous. Minato doesn't think he can stand up to her in direct combat, not without a strategy, but he can't leave Link out there fighting alone either. So, once the refugees no longer need him he quickly heads back towards the battlefield.

Rushing in directly could dangerously distract Link. Instead, he looks for a vantage point. There's a building to the side with a short staircase leading to the roof. Climbing it quickly, he crouches behind the upper wall and surveys the battlefield.

From this point he is high above the city, the road near the building they had followed before sloping downward until it reached the two combatants. It is immediately apparent that his return was necessary. Link is on the ground, and the woman is ready for the kill. Instantly, Minato formulates a plan.

He ducks back down behind the wall and presses his Evoker to his temple.

A Persona represents an aspect of the self, and inside each person there is both light and darkness. It's understandable that they myth behind a Persona isn't always 'good.' Helel, the fallen angel, is one such type. For obvious reasons Minato prefers not to use him often, but occasionally his raw power is needed. In this case, Minato hopes the appearance of the six-winged angel will be the deciding factor. Right now he's just one more Third Party soldier on the battlefield.

Helel bursts from the rooftop and swoops over Nu and Link, guided by Minato's connection. He circles once and then, with the distance gauged, unleashes his most powerful attack. Morning Star is a blast of non-elemental power that rips into the pavement. It isn't aimed at Nu directly - but should be enough to block the path between her and Link.]

[With Legacy Edge having successfully hit its target, ν-13 was going to approach Link once more to finish the job. Waiting too long would mean he might be teleported out - that's something she'd rather not have to deal with.

Before she has a chance to attack once more, however, she notices Helel circling above her and Link. Another member of the Third Party? This one looked a little different from the other ones she had seen so far, though, and it almost seems as if he were gauging something...

...Needless to say, the moment she sees the start of that Morning Star attack? She'll be dashing the hell away. Even if it doesn't appear to be aimed directly at her, that looks far too dangerous to risk being a little too close to it.

Of course, this also means that by the time the attack finishes, she's a little too far away from Link to be able to strike again immediately. That's a good thing, isn't it?]

[What in the name of the Three...]

[Link watches in mild shock as Helel attacks, although he's fast losing the ability to focus on the battle. It does do what it's intended, though - Nu is far away, and he's safe for a few vital seconds.]

[Giving the six-winged angel a weak smile, Link drops into unconsciousness with what's almost a sigh, disappearing from the battlefield and leaving nothing but a few spent arrows and a pool of blood.]

((OOC: Link will be back in/near sector one in about half an hour, patched up and none too worse for wear. He'll seek out Minato then, and they can go help more people - and stay well away from Nu :p We can probably handwave the rest, unless you particularly want to play anything else out?))

Being unconquerable lies with yourself; being conquerable lies with your enemy.

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Let me know when Link needs him to come back.

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tl;dr @_@

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