#// (it's cuz he only knows maria as a healer and is assuming that's her role here :crunchy:)

[knighteclipsed]

The final match begins.

The battlefield is… generic, at first sense—as though their opponent didn’t require a particular terrain, or perhaps that they didn’t fashion one in particular either. Dirt and open space; arena walls, torchlit; a calm, though enclosed air; a dome overhead, closing off the world to just this battle.

And not one figure, but five. They announce themselves as human in shape, save for the one with wings and the other mid-air—and, upon closer scrutiny, they possess specific features and faces, the kinds that one might recognize from wandering about Garreg Mach Monastery (and perhaps, a bit of the below).

The wyverness, now atop a horse, seems to recognize the smallest of the group first, tucked away to the side as though she does not prefer combat if given the option, and Valter tilts his own head in recognition. (So they were facing real people then, like in the Battle of the Eagle and Lion.) Strategy, he decides, would be necessary, clearly communicated and neatly executed—for those of the war school are decidedly not weak.

“ We kill the girl first. ”

He doesn’t know what she’s wielding, but he remembers, from years past, seeing the girl on the battlefield, the strength of the magic she possessed. (It was the might to save all of her allies from death at the same time, and it is a might that would prove a threat should it ever come to that moment.)

“ I’m being perfectly serious, ” Moonstone replies, curt, pulling himself up onto his newest mount—a large bird of sorts: a falcon, one might even call it. “ If you won’t attack her, I will. ”

She’s much too strong to be left standing.

And the wyverness assents, though whether it was the result of Valter’s persuasion or an internal conviction was left unspoken—and Valter would imagine it was the latter, knowing his own track record of perceived immorality. One rider makes her attack, the two remaining at a standstill, unable to harm the other (sister, so she calls her, and Valter has to wonder how many of them there are), but he has never been one to be hampered by interpersonal bonds. An order given to his mount to take flight—

Valter attacks Sunny Sister with Gradivus! [d20 Roll]: 14 + 4 = 18. Crit! Sunny Sister HP: 5.5/10

—and he grins when his lance cuts through, a strength invigorated by the skies and the birds of prey who command them. In self-defense, the little bishop raises her arms, sparks of light and wonder taking hold—

Resonance activates! Sunny Sister counters with Nova! [d20 Roll]: 7 + 0 = 7. Hit! Valter HP: 6/10

—and though he yaws upwards, the girl does not miss. (He has the sense, however, that he still did not feel the worst that he could.)

Lifetaker activates! Sunny Sister HP: 6.5/10

Wounds fix over thereafter, the stars alight patching torn skin, and Valter determines that is more of Maria’s magic—because faith, as it is known, is trust in others, and also: in yourself. A full recovery was out of the question of allowance, however, and so he makes one final dive—

Trample activates! Sunny Sister HP: 4.5/10

—before withdrawing completely.

(Even after his blade had run through, the girl had continued to sustain damage.) It is an observation made in retrospect, once the wyvern general had seized the air and was granted the space to mull it all over.  Perhaps that was the trade-off for regenerative magic—to empower through self-sacrifice, something he doesn’t see as too far beyond Maria either.

“ She shouldn’t be standing much longer! ” he shouts, eyes turning to his remaining allies—in particular, the one upon a wyvern herself. He knows that weapon—has wielded it in arenas past—and decides the girl—Elise, she had announced last round—could be trusted to do good enough carnage with it.

“ That is a lovely axe you have there, ” he smiles, a crooked thing with ill intent beneath. “ Would you mind swinging it in that little girl’s direction for me? ”

death is a very special kind of kindness, wouldn't you agree @nohrslittleflower , @laruarva , @misutiera ?

tough decisions are tough

Team 10 Gold Round