Virtual War Drome 1: Enchanted Forest

[AMimsyBorogove]

• Sword of Hisou's Power Level: 40/100 - ACTIVE
  
• Borogove's Starting Power Level: 615 Concepts
  
• Concepts Gained in this post: 1 x 3 x 3 = 9
  
• Concepts Added to Weapons in this post: 9
  
• Weapons Created in this post: 0
  
• End Concept Power Level: 615 + 9 - 9 = 615 Concepts
  
• Current Rate of Charging: 9 Concepts per turn at the start of the post, 18 Concepts per turn by the end.
  
• Current Weapons: Black Lightning Sword x2 (Total energy of each: 29 Concepts, 3 from its base makeup tripled by Muramasa, 9 from Masamune recycled to Muramasa and then tripled by another Muramasa, 3 from Wind, Lightning, and Void, all tripled by Muramasa, and 1 each from Fire, Water, and Aether, as well as from the Light and Ice Concepts. 3 additional Concepts for the "One of Two" concept added to each.) each bearing Muramasa, One of Two, Wind, Lightning, Void, Fire, Water, Light, Ice, and Aether concepts, both destroyed this turn.
  
  Sword of Hisou (Total Energy: Off the charts) bearing Double Masamune, with 1 Concept Fire, Water, Earth, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Light, and Darkness concepts and a 2 Concept Aether concept added this turn.

............................................................................................................................................................

For a moment, it seemed like the Archer had won. He smiled slightly, pleased that his monumental usage of 150 Concepts and near-death at the hands of his own bomb hadn't been in vain. And yet, that smile swiftly turned to a look of distaste as something all too familiar happened. The enemy's body reformed, he stood up, and proceeded to tap into some sort of high-level energy, gleaming gold in the light of a second sun which he'd just created, apparently just because he could. Tch. A super form. So this was his second trump card, huh? Why is it that everybody I fight has the power to grow massively in strength and regenerate themselves from certain death? I swear, if he's just summoned some kind of god to back him up like the last guy, I won't stop with just destroying the planet this time. I'll- Oh, well that's just great. He just threw the sun at me.

It stood as testament to the tremendous speed of the projectile that, despite the distance Borogove had placed himself at to avoid the explosion, the attack took very little time to reach him. So little, in fact, that, overbalanced as he was from just blocking his own bomb, he had no choice but to brace himself, crossing his swords over his body and powering up as best he could to avoid the attack. He could feel the overwhelming heat of the thrown sun even before it reached him, and yet, heat only served to give him power-

Or at least, he thought that way until, to his bafflement, his swords began to crack and fall apart almost instantly, shattering into dust as the projectile threatened to engulf him. Frantically, he raised his hands - now engraved with several runes, as the blade-dust had touched his arms in several places, as well as the hilts having been in his hands at the time - and, snapping his fingers, activated all of them at once. "BIND!" He roared, and in the instant before the sun consumed him, a blazing ward of power took shape, the defending wall of his own soul. Flashing with light, it shattered a few moments later, but this time, the sun was sent hurtling away along with it.

Slowly rising to his feet, Borogove gasped for breath. Even with the destructive force of the sun kept from reaching him, the sheer impact had sent him skidding back for several feet, knocking the wind out of him. Glancing at his opponent, he found his eyes met by a literal swath of destruction, a giant trench melted into the earth by the sun that had just passed through it. Oh, and the world was on fire now. But, more importantly, he noticed, much to his annoyance, that the sun was starting to come back around for another pass, weakened but not stopped.

That... was not any element I've ever seen before. It seemed to be some sort of bizarre fusion between Fire, Lightning, and Water, but... There was something strange about it. Something happened to it just before it broke my swords. It seemed to... change forms, maybe? Or rather, a part of it dissipated. Does it sacrifice a part of itself to deal damage? No, it burned through the earth just fine. But when it met my swords and my barrier, and had some of its energy absorbed, I could feel it. Some of it changed into something else. So... it can only exist at an exact level of energy? Well, no need to find out the hard way. Since he's breaking out his A-Game, I don't need to hold mine back any longer! Reaching out to his side as he thought, the Archer cast away the broken off handles of his shattered swords, and then extended his grasp into the rippling golden vortex that was already taking shape behind him. In an instant, what remained of the snow in the air and on the ground was converted to a whirling tempest of scarlet mist that collapsed around Borogove, whirling upward and inward until it finally vanished, revealing him standing with his most powerful sword in his hand. The sun, striking against the outside of this scarlet tempest, was turned away yet again before it could reach him, but again it failed to be destroyed.

"Heavenly Blade," He said, smirking as he felt power rushing into him. "Sword of Hisou." Swiftly dispatching nine concepts from his reserve, he added one of each element save void, which was incompatible with the blade's holy nature, to the sword. While, he supposed, this might have been a problem, since he needed the void to harm his enemy, the Sword of Hisou had its own mechanic to get around that problem. With its enemy's spiritual body analyzed, the Sword took on an aspect specifically designed to counter both the enemy's defenses and his newfound power. Concept: Physical-type, Anti-Energy. With this, everything Borogove did, no matter how obviously magical, would be considered "real" by his enemy's armor, and be able to damage it. And, at the same time, his energy absorption capabilities would be massively increased, allowing him to move the enemy's plasma away from the exact point of duality at which and only at which plasma was able to exist, transforming it into something his enemy couldn't use against him. In short, he now had an offense and a defense that would be able to counter his enemy's. The question was... did he have enough energy in store to use those powers? Well, judging by the fact that the enemy's sun was coming in for yet another pass, largely unaffected despite being blocked twice... The Archer wasn't sure.

Great. Looks like I'll have to use that after all.

(*CAUTION* 235 CONCEPTS UNTIL BOROGOVE FINISHER IS CHARGED! *CAUTION*)

[Endless Sea]

A chuckle escaped Alaki's lips as a psychic scan identified Borogove frantically beating away at the plasma sphere with his barriers, looking off-balance and genuinely worried for once. A bit ironic, maybe, he thought, that the only element nobody expects out of people like me is the one hanging over their heads twelve hours a day or something.

Still, the archer seemed to be regaining his composure with each strike, and a few thoughts lurking slightly below the surface of his mind revealed that he was still preparing some sort of finishing move, one guaranteed to harm Alaki despite the shell of superheated death that had built up around him. That was not acceptable. The Forged took off towards his opponent, the ground melting and frothing behind him, and sent out a more focused version of the mental probes from before, seeking to cut into Borogove's mind and start ripping it to shreds indiscriminately. He raised the hand holding his blaster, but once again, there was no beam of energy when he pulled the trigger; for the purposes of that particular attack, he considered the detonation of the plasma sphere destructive enough.

[AMimsyBorogove]

• Sword of Hisou's Power Level: 50/100 - ACTIVE
  
• Borogove's Starting Power Level: 615 Concepts
  
• Concepts Gained in this post: 1 x 3 x 3 x 2 = 18
  
• Concepts Absorbed in this post: 50 (I'm equating your sun to a condensed version of the anti-matter explosion I used earlier, so...)
  
• Concepts Added to Weapons in this post: 0
  
• Weapons Created in this post: 0
  
• End Concept Power Level: 615 + 68 = 683 Concepts
  
• Current Rate of Charging: 18 Concepts per turn.
  
• Current Weapons: Sword of Hisou (Total Energy: Off the charts) bearing Double Masamune, 1 Concept Fire, Water, Earth, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Light, and Darkness concepts and a 2 Concept Aether concept.

............................................................................................................................................................

Unfortunately for the Forged, his strategy of a mental assault, combined with an abrupt detonation of his plasma-sun, was perhaps the least effective plan he could have employed during that engagement. While a practical tactic in theory, there were several factors that turned it to the Archer's favor.

As the construct charged, beginning his assault on Borogove's mind, he might notice almost immediately that something very bizarre was occurring. Although his thoughts could penetrate down to the Archer's Temperament, they could go no further, for something, a mysterious, almost divine power rendered the boundary between his thoughts and those of the construct sacrosanct, and impassible, preventing him from reaching into Borogove's actual consciousness. This wall of Temperament was none other than the influence of the Sword of Hisou, and the power of its foremost concept: Holy Sword, a divine blade that banished evil, and purified the thoughts of its wielder, protecting from temptations and from external evil alike.

Borogove smiled, raising his sword vertically before him as the sun came in yet again. The gleaming scarlet blade flashed in the sunlight as he closed his amber eyes, assuming an almost prayerful stance. "I shall advance with sword in hand," He recited, causing the golden runes on the Sword of Hisou's blade to flash with a brilliant radiance as the Holy Sword shielded his thoughts from the influence of his enemy. "For my cause is pure!"

At that instant, however, another threat made itself apparent. "Firing" his gun again, the enemy now detonated the power held within his sun, much as he had used it to obliterate a large segment of forest during their previous engagement. Instantly, a tremendous wave of heat, light, and power swept across the area surrounding Borogove, reducing what parts of the forest hadn't already been obliterated to naught but ash and vapor. And yet, astonishingly, although his green cloak swept back under the immense pressure and ignited, burning into nothing and leaving him standing in only his combat armor... he failed to disintegrate, for a radiant scarlet light had already begun to surround him as the plasma, the enemy's control on it momentarily reduced during the detonation as its mass expanded wildly, was absorbed by the new concepts of his sword, converting itself to raw power which was then immediately employed to shield him. The Archer smiled amidst the flames, feeling energy surge into him as he was essentially placed at the very center of the sun, allowing him to absorb its entire radiance with his enhanced blade's light concept. The heat contained at its core soon followed, converting to a level of power equivalent to what he'd used to create the base for his anti-matter explosion.

As the light of the exploding sun began to die down, from its center rose a whirling tempest of scarlet light, rising up into the heavens and flashing brilliantly with red lightning as it resolved itself into the shape of a sword, cutting through the flames around it, and then collapsing along with them into the very center of the blast, fading back into the archer's gleaming red sword as he slowly rose, coughing and struggling for breath, but, aside from a multitude of burns, not yet severely wounded.

Tch. This is getting troublesome, He thought, grimacing. I've managed to keep him from landing any game-changing blows, but if this keeps up, even if I don't run out of power before he does, my body might just give out under the strain. What a troublesome ability. Is his power simply the ability to create suns? No, if that was the case, my sword would have assumed the Hou Yi aspect to counter them, wouldn't it have? It must be more versatile than that. Is he creating and shaping star-fire then? But this doesn't feel like aether at all. The only thing I can think of is that his star-fire is based on an entirely different science than my own alchemy? Borogove sighed, and resolved himself to just keep on condensing his power until he had enough energy to execute his plan. If he could just last a little longer, then he'd be able to put into action a conceptual ability so overwhelming that he'd be able to cut off his enemy from his source of power permanently. I can't keep blocking attacks like that, however. Even if it does allow me to power up much more quickly, it's putting too much stress on my body. Even with the reinforcement effects of my water, air, aether, and darkness concepts, and the power of the Holy Sword, I can't withstand firepower of that magnitude for long. Well, annoying though it might be that he just burned up my favorite cape, I suppose that does at least work in my favor. Fighting while wearing a weighted mantle makes it awfully hard to dodge, after all! He smirked slightly, dropping into a combat stance and rising slightly into the air as his enemy continued his charge.

Just a little longer. Then, he'd have what he needed.

(167 Concepts until Borogove finisher is charged.)

[Endless Sea]

A scowl spread over Alaki's face as he noted his opponent's injuries, as usual, were mostly cosmetic. Still, his attacks were dealing some damage, which meant plasma was still a viable option. Besides, telepathy wasn't the only psychic power at his disposal.

Increasing his speed, the Forged dematerialized his blaster and drew his right hand back. Marble-sized spheres of radiant white energy forming at each fingertip, each containing power equal to that of the miniature sun from before. His spear, still clutched in his other hand, swung in an arc to point at the archer, and enormous chunks of earth and rock ripped themselves out of the ground, having warped into molten, flaming masses of superheated material from the energy Alaki was incessantly emitting, and homed in on their target. The plasma marbles were quick to follow, each crafted to detonate based on their proximity to the enemy rather than a mental command.

More power gathered in Alaki's right hand, this time forming a globe as wide as his palm. He would save that attack for close range; it was doubtful Borogove would be able to deal with the plasma so well if the android shoved it in his face.

[AMimsyBorogove]

• Sword of Hisou's Power Level: 35/100 - ACTIVE
  
• Borogove's Starting Power Level: 683 Concepts
  
• Concepts Gained in this post: 1 x 3 x 3 x 2 = 18
  
• Concepts Absorbed in this post: 250
  
• Concepts Added to Weapons in this post: 850
  
• Weapons Created in this post: 0
  
• End Concept Power Level: 683 + 268 - 850 = 101 Concepts
  
• Current Rate of Charging: 18 Concepts per turn.
  
• Current Weapons: Sword of Hisou (Total Energy: Off the charts) bearing Double Masamune, 1 Concept Fire, Water, Earth, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Light, and Darkness concepts and a 2 Concept Aether concept.

............................................................................................................................................................

Borogove grimaced as the enemy began charging up another massive attack, hurling several giant spheres of lava followed by five smaller suns. The spread of the attacks was broad enough to make dodging difficult, and it seemed those suns would follow, just like the last one had done. Which meant, much to his irritation, he'd have to block. But, it seemed like the enemy was charging up a more powerful attack as well, which meant he'd need to make it difficult for the foe to reach him before he was ready to deal with the threat. And, at the same time, he couldn't afford to waste his concepts. Tch. What a bother this was turning out to be. In that case, he'd have to use an alternate power to defend himself. As it was, he had exactly one such ability in his arsenal: the Sword of Hisou.

"Faraway Lands..." The Archer began to chant, his eyes and the runes upon his blade gleaming a vibrant shade of gold as the sky became cast over with surging scarlet mist. "GAZE UPON THIS EARTH!" He finished, bellowing his spell to the roaring winds. And so, as the oncoming wall of superheated rock and plasma came streaking towards its target, Borogove raised his gleaming scarlet sword high over his head, and plunged it into the rapidly melting earth below. Scarlet Temperament surged into the ground, and the stones beneath the feet of the two combatants trembled, suddenly cooling and hardening to a tremendous degree even despite the heat exerted on them. The Archer smiled. It seemed that the Sword's control over the environment, and over the weather, was far greater than the enemy's raw power in the short term. It was to be expected from a divine object, but, at any rate, he had no time to waste. Having spent a fourth of the sword's total power capacity, he now had to make the best possible use of it before the weapon was exhausted.

As the wall of magma came on, it found not the Archer waiting for it, but rather, a sharply rising wall of ultra-hardened stone, which, to the probable surprise of the construct, immediately absorbed the wave of magma into itself the moment the attack connected, then hardened itself to an incredible degree. That wall probably could have survived an atom bomb going off. And yet, even despite its strength, the might of five suns was far too much for it to bear alone. And so, despite the seemingly suicidal nature of the action, Borogove did not move from where he stood, and, instead, simply reinforced his shield of magically hardened rock as best he could, and then reached out with his powers, latching onto all five suns as they exploded, and drawing off as much of their energy as he could to weaken the force of the blast.

The explosion was tremendous. Flames and power erupted in all directions as a wave of plasma washed across the lands, immolating everything in a sea of solar fire. And yet, even as this tide of devastation rushed on, it parted around something, unseen beneath it, and yet still standing against it in spite of its raw might. And, when the flames cleared, in the midst of the destroyed landscape, where all else had been flattered before the might of the blast... stone a lone hill of rubble, from the top of which slowly, tremulously, rose a human shape. His armor was broken and burnt, his body battered and singed. Blood dripped from several wounds inflicted by his own shield of stone as it collapsed in upon him, and, in an ironic mimicry of his last battle, his left arm hung uselessly by his side, most of the bones in it shattered by the shockwave of the impact. Yet, he still stood despite his injuries, his head held high, and a weak, yet defiant smirk playing upon his face as he slowly raised his sword with his working arm and dropped into his usual fighting stance.

This... is it. So were the Archer's thoughts as he set about implementation of his final plan. As the enemy continued coming on, Borogove began the final preparations for his endgame. If he could just survive one more attack, he'd be ready. But, until then, he could only wait, and hope his body held up long enough. And so, as he prayed for his battered mortal shell to last just a minute longer... he broke off 850 concepts from his energy reserve, and began to imbue them all into his sword at once.

(*CAUTION* ONE TURN TILL BOROGOVE LIMIT BREAK. *CAUTION*)

[Endless Sea]

Alaki's smile widened beyond what his helmet exposed of his mouth. Finally, Borogove was showing some major damage- enough damage, in fact, to start preparing another finisher, judging by the look of his sword. If he actually believed a finishing technique would even matter at this point, it was only fair to prove him wrong as quickly as possible.

Leaping forward and letting his momentum keep him airborne as he reached the melting hill of debris his opponent had mounted, the Forged clenched his left hand, and the archer suddenly found his limbs assailed by telekinetic bindings intended to immobilize them for as long as their creator deemed necessary. In the android's right hand, the ball of plasma rippled and brightened as more power was fed into it, and then Alaki was face to face with the enemy once more, the aura of superheated energy around him expanding and intensifying as he swung his volatile cargo directly at Borogove's head.

[AMimsyBorogove]

• Sword of Hisou's Power Level: 0/100 - ACTIVE
  
• Borogove's Starting Power Level: 101 Concepts
  
• Concepts Gained in this post: 18
  
• Concepts Absorbed in this post: ∞
  
• Concepts Added to Weapons in this post: ∞
  
• Weapons Created in this post: ∞
  
• End Concept Power Level: ∞
  
• Current Rate of Charging: IT'S OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
• Current Weapons: Sword of Hisou (Total Energy: Off the charts) bearing Double Masamune, and 100 Concepts Fire, Water, Earth, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Light, Darkness, and Aether concept (50 x 2), as well as an anti-energy and anti-magic concept due to the blade's powers.
  
  Oh, and also? Everything else.

............................................................................................................................................................

BGM: Fuyu no Yosei - Fate/Stay Night OST

As the Archer suddenly found himself bound in place, he was thinking similar thoughts to his enemy. For, by the time his foe scaled the top of the hill, he was already almost finished with his preparations. Even if he could not move, and even if this enemy's attack was more powerful, perhaps, than anything else he had yet been faced with, Borogove still had one last trick up his sleeve. The Sword of Hisou had 35 charges left, and, as the enemy rushed on, that number grew to 45. That much power was enough that, if spent all at once, it could activate one more ability almost twice as powerful as even the sword's normal tremendous releases of power.

However, the Archer's options were limited. Immobilized as he was, Borogove couldn't plunge the blade into the ground to alter the earth, nor could he graft a rune onto a target. Manipulating the weather, he had a hunch, would do very little to stop an incoming punch with the power of several suns headed straight for him. But, there was one other power the Sword had that might just do the trick.

"Temperament..." The Archer gasped as the attack came on, smirking as his words rang out over the force of the incoming gale of raw power. "State of Enlightenment." With those words, a surge of Scarlet Temperament erupted from the sword, wrapping the Archer entirely in a ball of raw divine energy. He disappeared into a sphere of mist, which was swiftly engulfed by the ensuing typhoon of flames.

The inside of the ball was unbearably hot, even to one who was now incapable of feeling pain. The doubled curtain of Scarlet Temperament shielding held through the initial impact, but swiftly began to be overwhelmed as the power of the enemy crushed down on it from all sides. Even with his overwhlemingly reinforced body, Borogove could feel several ribs beginning to bend in a manner they most certainly shouldn't have been capable of. In another few seconds, he realized, his entire body would probably be turned to paste under the strain, if it wasn't disintegrated by the sun wearing its way through his defenses first. But, even as his Scarlet Armor gave way around him, and his body was just about to be consumed, Borogove continued to smile. Even as he collapsed amidst the scattering Scarlet Mist, he merely grinned. Because, as he was crushed down into the earth below him, kneeling and flaring the last of his power to protect himself... the Sword of Hisou fell from his hand, and planted itself in the very top of the hill beside him.

Finally... The Archer thought, smiling as the flames wrapped around him. It's finished. With that thought, the shield of Scarlet Temperament finally gave way, shattering into mist that swiftly scattered in the midst of the flames. The sun collapsed inward upon the kneeling archer, who silently brought his working arm across his chest, placing it over his heart as he knelt at the top of the hill, his sword planted in the ground beside him, emitting a faint scarlet glow. Then, he shut his eyes - they were useless, anyway. The blinding radiance of the flames was all he could see. But throughout everything, he never stopped smiling.

Perhaps I should be regretting this choice of battle a little, now? He thought as the heat surrounded him and his feelings began to return, the searing heat of his own armor burning into his skin the only thing he could perceive. And yet, still he smiled wryly amidst the inferno. No. No, I don't think I regret it after all. The Archer grinned. I am not one who regrets anything, no matter where my path takes me! Then, suddenly... Borogove's eyes flashed open, and everything around him - the flames, the earth, the world itself, even the distant skies far beyond the sun surrounding him... turned first to scarlet, then to brilliant gold.

Besides... How could I be regretting a fight that's only just begun!

BGM: EMIYA

Abruptly, an overwhelming surge of power swept up from amidst the sun, crimson lines appearing across its surface that swiftly grew into gaping cracks as it began to implode inward uncontrollably. The earth itself trembled as, for miles, every last fire burning on the ground, even bit of light generated by the blazing forest, every bit of moisture in the earth below and in the sky above, and every last scrap of power in the drome's workings... were all instantly absorbed into one place: the center of the sun that the construct had just struck Borogove directly with. In an instant, the entire world had just become fodder for Borogove's energy. For, contrary to what Alaki might have expected, the 100 concepts of every element the Archer had just added were not meant for offense, or even defensive use. Rather... they were meant to, in conjunction with the sword's assumption of his weakness, create the single greatest energy absorbing concept of all time. In an instant, the Archer had drained every last scrap of available power from the entire arena, even the heat of the enemy's own plasma. From the moment it came into being, it entered the absolute range of the Sword of Hisou's absorptive abilities, and would begin to be drained.

Just as the sun had collapsed inward, it now exploded outward with tremendous force, an overwhelming wave of flames sweeping across the entire arena. And yet, the construct would find that this fire did little to harm him, for, upon a momentary inspection, he would find that it was in fact the energy of the aether - or something like it. In truth, the power Borogove had now filled the entire drome with was neither of these things. Rather, it was his very soul, grown to mammoth proportions by the overwhelming amount of energy he had just consumed. Spreading it outside his being, he created a Dimensional Hole phenomenon. And yet, so large was his soul now that he could not just be said to be rejecting an area of reality around his own body. Rather, he had just overwritten the reality of the entire drome, replacing it with his own existence.

When the power sweeping across the arena faded, the construct would find the landscape around himself greatly changed. The world was perfectly flat, and, even under the perpetual outpouring of his powers, he would find that nothing ever seemed to heat up, let alone burn, for that heat was already being consumed by the world itself, and channeled into the soul that now constituted the reality the combatants occupied. The ground was devoid of any signs of life, just a blank landscape of dirt and rock, expanding without deviation or endpoint in all directions. And yet, the world was by no means empty. For across the entire battlefield were strewn the manifestations of the Archer's soul.

The reality they now occupied... was a world of infinite blades.



"Welcome," Hailed the voice of the Archer from a point close by. Should Alaki turn to face it, he would find his enemy standing atop a single hill of rubble, the stony remains of the Sword of Hisou's last defense, the sole alteration in the otherwise blank landscape. His blade was planted by his side, just one of countless blades covering the small hill. "I must say, I'm impressed. Never before has an enemy pushed me so far that I've had to resort to the creation of a world hole of this size. Then again, I've never fought an enemy who wields such tremendous power for me to consume, least of all in a place so rich in magic. I would applaud you, but that's a difficult task with only one arm." He smiled, and snapped his fingers. Instantly, all of the swords covering the hill around him abruptly rose up into the air, hovering in a cloud of blades all around their master, their tips all pointed towards the construct. All of the blades directly surrounding him soon followed, filling the air between them with a veritable roof of swords.

The Archer smiled. Utilizing the truly absurd amount of power he'd absorbed to create this place, he'd managed to imbue each one of these blades with 20 Concepts of energy - 1 for their basic structure, but 19 in the form of a void concept. If they hit anything, they were almost sure to break, in which case they would explode with the force of a small bomb, then scatter runes that exploded with that same tremendous power. It was as though every single one of those hundreds of blades that now hovered in the air was a bunker-buster missile. And, as they happened to be on all sides of the target, he'd really like to see the construct try to dodge. Still, he didn't expect that they'd fell the enemy, even in these numbers. That was what his real weapons were for. But, first, he'd force the enemy to use his powers. That would just give him even more energy to absorb!

(OOC: So, as I Shout Out... UNLIMITED BOROGOVE WORKS!)

[Endless Sea]

The grin had faded from Alaki's face momentarily with the change in scenery, but by the time Borogove had finished his posturing and exposition behind him, it had returned even wider than before. The Forged's eyes had closed shortly after the speech had begun, and they remained that way as he took a step forward, emanating brilliant white light clearly even through closed lids. His aura of plasma had disappeared.

As the archer looked on, a field of blades suspended above him, Alaki walked away in silence.

Then the tremors started. They were barely noticeable at first, nothing more than a slight shiver in one foot or the other, but they quickly grew to the point where it was impossible to look anywhere without the world blurring and vibrating like a struck tuning fork. The cracks in the ground, on the other hand, were immediately identifiable with the tell-tale sound of breaking stone, loud and piercing against the low rumble of the quakes. The clouds disintegrated as the light on the horizon intensified and spread, until the entire sky matched the whiteness and luminosity of Alaki's eyes. The temperature of the world had already risen from tolerable to uncomfortably warm, and it showed no signs of stopping there.

The largest crack in the ground, slightly behind and to the right of Alaki's retreating form, suddenly ruptured further, venting white-hot matter that detonated violently as soon as it touched the air. The other cracks were soon to follow suit, and then the plasma began to leak from the skies, staining the atmosphere with radiant splatters of volatile discharge. Hairline fractures appeared floating in midair, devoid of any tangible surface to be located on, then widened and burst, releasing cascades of elemental plasma.

Alaki's eyes remained closed as the air exploded around him and the land boiled beneath his feet. He continued to walk, his aura returning as the fabric of reality shattered at the seams around him, trying and failing to absorb and contain the full power of a limitless source.

[AMimsyBorogove]

• Sword of Hisou's Power Level: 10/100 - ACTIVE
  
• Borogove's Starting Power Level: ∞ Concepts
  
• Concepts Gained in this post: ∞
  
• Concepts Absorbed in this post: ∞
  
• Concepts Added to Weapons in this post: ∞
  
• Weapons Created in this post: ∞
  
• End Concept Power Level: ∞
  
• Current Rate of Charging: ∞
  
• Current Weapons: Sword of Hisou (Total Energy: Off the charts) bearing Double Masamune, and infinite Fire, Water, Earth, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Light, Darkness, and Aether Concepts, as well as an anti-energy and anti-magic concept due to the blade's powers.
  
  Oh, and also? Everything else.

............................................................................................................................................................

So. That was his enemy's plan. The Archer supposed he should have been impressed by the enemy's sheer audacity in summoning a sun inside his own soul when Borogove was already fully prepared to absorb any and all energy he came into contact with. But, unfortunately, although the idea was a good one in theory, the enemy had made several fatal errors in his assumptions.

Firstly, he had assumed Borogove's soul had limits. Sadly for him, this wasn't the case. The endless horizon of the Archer's existence should have tipped him off to that fact, but it seemed that it had not. However, the truth was that Borogove's soul was in his blades, and for so long as he could continue adding concepts to weapons, he could utilize his powers to perpetually expand his own soul to accommodate however much energy he happened to have at the time. And so, as the energy began surging into the Archer's soul, he simply continued to absorb it, converting it into concepts which he in turn used to fuel his sword's absorption powers, allowing them to drain the infinite energy his enemy had essentially handed to him with increasing efficiency. It was ironic, actually. By channeling so much energy into the Archer, the enemy had forced his hand into pouring all of that power, in turn, into absorbing the energy given him with increasing efficiency. By trying to overwhelm Borogove's ability to absorb power, in the end, all Alaki did was make it as efficient as it could possibly be.

Secondly, the enemy had assumed that he could somehow overpower Borogove's ability to control both his own power, and the manifestations of his soul, hoping to overload these and tear them away from the Archer. However, this, too, was a mistake. Inside the world they now occupied, everything, down to the very last scrap of dust on the ground beneath their feet, was a manifestation of Borogove's Temperament, over which he had perfect control to begin with. With the influence of the Sword of Hisou's divine power on top of that, in this world, it would be completely impossible to subvert through sheer power the environment that the Archer had created. Furthermore, even if he did somehow reach a limit to his power, his enemy had given him another means of storing energy by directly connecting the Archer's soul to his own Temperament, allowing him to drain off energy to fill up the Sword of Hisou's own power capacity on top of just adding concepts to the Sword itself.

Thirdly, even if the enemy had been able to destroy the soul-world they now occupied, the only thing that would have done is slightly dampen Borogove's power. For, even despite how much of its energy he had projected outside his body, its core still would have occupied his mortal shell. So, even had Alaki managed to do the impossible to somehow reach some sort of limit to the expansion of his enemy's soul, and even if he had managed to, through some unknown means, overturn the Archer's perfect control of his own Temperament, all it would have done is scratch off the external layer of Borogove's soul. His entire strategy had been meaningless from the beginning.

And so, the Archer smiled, even as his world began to crack and burn, for, in the next instant, the plasma spewing forth from the heavens and from the ground froze, turned to scarlet, and faded into mist as the world of blades returned to its previous state. The wind blew gently across the battlefield as the ground stopped shaking, and the sky's old light returned. The many cracks that had scarred the ground closed, and the swordland was as it had been. This battle... it was no different from any other, after all. Just like his battle with the giant, his enemy had tried to summon an infinite energy, assuming that he could overpower the Archer. But such was foolishness. Borogove's specialty lay in matching the power of his adversaries, and subverting that which his foes assumed was omnipotent. Enemies with infinite levels of power were the easiest of all for him to defeat. This worthy adversary, like so many others, had simply failed to realize that until too late.

The curtain of swords hanging in the sky, like so many blades of Damocles, plunged downward in an instant. Alaki had unknowingly given the Archer the Concepts he needed to absorb the construct's energy nigh instantly from the moment his enemy summoned it into existence. Fueled by Alaki's own power, the Sword of Hisou now held so many concepts that any energy that fell within its sphere of influence - the Archer's soul, that is - would be eaten up in a matter of seconds. It no longer mattered how much power the enemy brought to bear to defend himself. Against the all-consuming strength he himself had just given the Sword of Hisou, his energy would be snatched from his control the moment it left his area of absolute influence, and entered the realm of Borogove. Faced as he was by attacks from all sides, with his abilities to defend himself crippled, the Archer felt fairly certain now. This was checkmate.

(OOC Notes: To me, this seems like an "unstoppable force meets immovable object" type scenario. You're outputting infinite energy at an infinite rate, but Borogove's soul can be as large as it needs to be to contain the power he absorbs - in this case, infinitely large - and can grow at an infinitely fast rate - I.E, what is absorbed is instantly turned into Concepts which (inside of Borogove's soul, at least, where he doesn't have to bother manifesting his soul because it's already everything) are in turn instantly placed inside a weapon. Since inside his soul, he has an infinite number of weapons, and each weapon can store an unlimited number of Concepts, he therefore has infinite potential storage space here, and infinite rate of turnover between absorbed concepts and imbued concepts. Basically, you'll never run out of power, but Borogove will never run out of space to put your power, and outside of your body, he can absorb it at the same rate you output it. The only ways to break the cycle are either to kill Borogove or to outlast him, since the former would destroy his soul, releasing you from the dimensional hole, and in the case of the latter, he wouldn't have the energy to sustain something so large for more than a few turns, if not able to absorb energy in mass quantities even after absorbing the entire energy of the Drome to create his dimensional hole. In short, this ability is actually exclusively efficient against enemies with infinite or near-infinite power and an equally high rate of power output. It's because of this sort of thing that Borogove works best against Tier 3 enemies like Plasma Form Alaki or Four Gods Goliath.)

[Endless Sea]

Alaki's eyes opened an indiscernible amount as order reasserted itself upon the fabric of the universe, which generally turned out to be a good thing far less often than it should have in his experience. Evidently, the pocket reality was learning how to regulate its power absorption, which meant no peals of demonic laughter as he watched the world end. Then again, it didn't quite hurt as much to move or breathe or exist in general as it had before the change in setting had occurred, even though the energy circulating within his body felt like it would persist there for a while longer than it usually did; perhaps he'd be able to use the energy drain to his advantage after all.

A trace of magic from a foreign source caught the Forged's attention, even with his psychic abilities oddly muted, and he glanced around to see the canopy of blades from before descending towards him. The edge of his mouth curled upwards as he detected echoes of his own power stored within them, and he made a tapping motion with his right index finger. The swords halted in midair.

...then immediately resumed falling, the the stolen elemental energies stored inside being too tenuous a link for Alaki to fight off Borogove's control. Each blade struck the Forged head-on, shattering and exploding on contact, the resulting conflagration completely obscuring him from view and throwing up a cloud of dust and flame that harmlessly engulfed his idly watching opponent as it expanded through the plain.

Within the veil of smoke, Alaki inspected the back of his arm, the last few dents and tears smoothing themselves into nonexistence as the last few wisps of energy escaped from the closing wounds. Evidently, regeneration speed was higher than usual as well. In fact, apart from the dampened powers, his body was handling the strain of using plasma form far better in general than it normally did. He didn't bother to wonder why, as that would waste valuable time he could be using to waste Borogove instead, but simply scanned the clearing smoke until his photoreceptors located the enemy, then charged towards him with telekinesis-enhanced speed, arms reared back to strangle or crush or punch, whichever came more easily.

[AMimsyBorogove]

(Forgoing format, since repeating a lemniscate over and over again is kind of meaningless at this point. Sword of Hisou is back to 20% power, though.)

The Archer smirked as the enemy charged forward, emerging unharmed from the explosion just as he had survived the last mass-attack that Borogove had managed to strike him with. Whatever they might have been, this enemy's regenerative abilities were quite impressive. But, Borogove could create weapons just as fast as this enemy could recreate the body parts the Archer blew off. Still, there was the small problem of his vastly increased speed and strength. With his body injured as it was, Borogove realized that he'd no longer be able to match his adversary as he had once done. Well, actually, there was one way...

Picking up the Sword of Hisou with his working arm as the enemy came on, he swept it upward as his enemy came charging up the hill of swords at him, aiming to deflect the punch he had leveled with the nigh-unbreakable heavenly sword at the very least, and, more probably, to sever the enemy's hands at the wrists if he didn't draw them back or otherwise protect them. At any rate, this mattered little, for the Archer was already bracing himself against the ground and hurling himself back, off of the hill of swords, with tremendous force that belied his battered body. He smirked as he left the ground and went soaring back for several dozen yards, flipping over in mid-air and landing amidst his own blades. The ascended Aether concept inside the Sword of Hisou had long since absorbed every last scrap of energy making up the drome. And, as his opponent's starfire was of a distinctly different sort, the Aether concepts were currently going unused. It was a simple matter to set them all to reinforcing his body and beginning to repair it, and, while his own regenerative faculties weren't nearly on the level of his enemy's abilities, their effects were quickly beginning to show themselves in the mere fact that his wounds weren't getting any bigger, and his mind no longer being hindered by his pain, despite the acrobatic feat he had just accomplished.

The sheer shockwave of the Archer's tremendous leap, meanwhile, would likely be causing Alaki a few problems. Namely, Borogove had jumped from the very back crest of the hill of swords, just as the construct began to scale the rubble-pile himself. Consequently, his leap had dislodged the entire top of the hill, sending the multitude of heavy stones, most of which still bore the effects of the tremendous hardening of the Sword of Hisou, tumbling down in a cascade upon him. But this was far from the real threat, for amidst the stones were also several flying swords much like the last few the Archer had thrown, and all of which violently exploded as the rubble touched down upon where the Construct had been standing. But, even if he evaded this attack, it was insignificant. Borogove had just used this as a delaying tactic.

All around the Archer where he now stood, swords were rising into the air, and swiftly changing shape, elongating and rounding out, their hilts broadening out into stocks, their blades dulling and reshaping themselves into barrels. The cloud of swords surrounding the Archer had abruptly transformed into a literal wall of muskets as, gleaming with a brilliant aura, the muskets began to shine brightly as concepts were placed within them.

10 Void concepts, check. 10 Fire concepts, check. 10 Lightning-based magnetic firing and guidance concepts, check. Shells altered to contain void-infused chlorine trifluoride, check. Huh. Railgun Muskets full of one of the most volatile chemicals known to man... Why have I never made these up until now, exactly? Well, in any case, that's irrelevant. Now... The Archer thought, checking his handiwork as he imbued his final concept upon every single one of the weapons floating around him, which were at least a hundred in number to begin with.

"One of a Thousand," He said quietly as golden light carpeted the entire sky, and the heavens were blocked out by a solid wall of guns, the silvery barrels of which gleamed maliciously. The Archer raised his sword, and pointed it at the target area, lining up every single shot upon the enemy - and, in fact, upon the entire area in which he stood.

"Fire," He commanded, and with that word, all sound was drowned out by a single, overwhelming discharge as an unbelievable number of electrical pulses sent countless shells streaking towards their target at inconceivable velocities. In an instant, the entire area surrounding the hill of swords would be a rough replica of the pit of hell itself. Idly, the Archer wondered how long it would take his enemy to recover from that, if it connected. It was fortunate, though, that his absorption concepts wouldn't consume the flames created by the blast unless he told them to. That would maximize the damage.

Maybe I should have added Muramasa, just to be thorough...?

[Endless Sea]

As relentless as his opponent’s storm of blades and stones was, Alaki remained entirely unconcerned about it; the rock was reduced to so much dust by the energies of Borogove’s swords, which themselves were unable to inflict any lasting harm on the Forged’s supernaturally impregnable skin. What little thought Alaki spared the deluge primarily consisted of amusement at how poorly thought-out the attack had been, accompanied by the conclusion that such a tactic must have been a desperate attempt at distracting him while preparing another technique. If that’s true, he thought, then he’s even luckier than he normally would be. Got bigger problems than some random jerk at the now.

There was a crack on the back of his hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYuR6_tF8vs

The fracture was small and thin, barely visible under the cloud of pulverized stone and Alaki’s own aura of plasma, yet his eyes singled it out easily nonetheless. It stood out amongst the rest of his arm’s injuries, refusing to heal even as the surrounding dents and gashes and other deformities folded back into their original status. Also unlike the other wounds, it did not merely leak out elemental essence; translucent rays of plasma shone out from the gaps like sunbeams emerging from a dissipating storm cloud.

Gingerly, he brought up his other hand and traced the crack with his index finger; to his mild surprise, it was wide enough for even his numbed senses to register. He almost absent-mindedly pressed down harder, much harder, and promptly received a jolt of pain as it lengthened by what looked like half a centimeter.

Despite himself, Alaki found a grin unfolding on his face, teething and cartoonishly leery. Finally, plasma form had opted to give him some warning before it gave out on him! And it only took, what, three hundred deaths before it wised up? About freaking time!

…and speaking of time, it seemed he had more than enough left to take his enemy with him. Glorious.
___

Ten seconds to meltdown. Closing his eyes and inhaling, Alaki tensed up. His armor began to bulk up once more, bulging out around his shoulders, abs, and thighs, and his aura brightened and began to writhe with greater intensity. The crack in his hand doubled in length and began to branch out.

Seven seconds to meltdown. The crack spread, opaque white energy seeping out of the gaps. Stray bits and pieces of armor began to flake off, fluttering away in the plasma updraft and crumbling into nothing.

Three seconds. Plasma poured out of Alaki, obscuring the majority of his body. Something within his chest began to glow, light burning brighter than the sun behind his breastplate.

Alaki threw back his head and laughed.

Zero.

The air crackled and split. Everything became whiteness.