An image sprung to Artanthos’ mind the moment he realized he had made a mistake.
Days before the tournament had begun, the Hellknight had sparred with his teammate, Arthur Uskglass, atop a private villa the alchemist had rented in Latent. Uskglass had requested not to cross blades, but to engage in a bout of fisticuffs. Artanthos had accepted readily enough, having been no stranger to the art of Ringen - wrestling, as it were, back in Iltheria. Uskglass had surprised him quickly enough, though, pummeling him with kicks and punches that he had never encountered prior to that moment. Artanthos had held up well enough, but the bout had stuck with him as a vivid memory.
That fight was what flashed through Artanthos’ memory as D’ completed her jumping spin and drove her heel straight at him.
There was a loud crack, and the reverberating hum of steel that vibrated through the air immediately afterward. It was Artanthos’ turn to barely keep a grip on his weapon as D’s heel kick slammed into the chair stuck on his sword, breaking it off of the weapon and sending its pieces flying off to his left. The same attack nearly wrenched Revanchist from his right, and while his grip tightened at the last possible moment to prevent this, his point was now entirely offline from his foe. That, and his shoulder joint was not too thrilled with the turn of events that had just transpired.
He had misjudged D’s measure with her devastating kicks. Moreover, through guile and power, she had put Artanthos at a seeming disadvantage. Some warriors might have balked and been forced into a retreat from being forced into such a position. It certainly would not have been unwise, had they followed up with a plan of action to come back afterward.
Artanthos felt differently on such matters. Having suffered through the rigours of dozens of wars, hundreds of duels, and the bloody struggle of his current quest, the Hellknight had nurtured an instinct that spoke to him in a wholly different manner.
Rather than fully arrest Revanchist’s momentum and attempt to bring the montante back into a guard, Artanthos allowed it to continue as it were -
- right into the awaiting palm of his left gauntlet.
Grasping the montante in half-sword, Artanthos snapped the flat of the weapon up and to his right, just as D’s follow-up attacks came blazing in. Even with the weapon interposed to block the attack head on, it still appeared as though the Hellknight would be at the disadvantage. There was simply too much mass, too much strength, too much sheer momentum behind the woman’s attacks to not simply bowl Artanthos right over into the dirt.
The two blows then struck, hammering down like the blows of an angry god - one retort after the other.
*CLANG - CLANG!*
...And yet, there Artanthos stood. Having not moved an *inch.*
Not even deigning to give his opponent the scantest moment to reflect upon the mistakes that were made, Artanthos thundered forward. The normally-subtle movement of a gathering step became something monstrous as the Hellknight’s feet slammed ahead like pistons. All the while, he lowered Revanchist to his left side, bringing his pommel in line with D’s right side as gravity took hold of her. The gathering step, coupled with a ramming thrust of his nearly six pound weapon, drove the other end of his weapon at her exposed right side. The floating ribs, and the liver nestled comfortably beneath them, would soon discover what it was like to have a hardened steel pommel thrust mercilessly into them with crushing force.
D’s plan might have worked on a foe who could not handle themselves at close range with such a large weapon. Having never fought Artanthos, she could not have known that the man was as comfortable up close as from afar, armoured limbs and improvised weaponry at the ready.
Of course, the Hellknight was perfectly willing to educate her on this.
[4]
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Indomitable Wrote:
> Indomitable: Though the Hellknight's perferred quarry are the corrupt and fell sons of men, he often faces foes that defy the scope of humanity. Trolls, ogres, demons, even dragons and superhuman entities on occasion - such enemies have forced Artanthos to adapt, or die. Artanthos’ training, experience, physical attributes and sheer force of will allow him to stand toe to toe with enemies far larger than him; he is capable of parrying and deflecting blows with his sword that would shatter lesser men outright. He is indomitable in every sense of the word, and few are capable of forcing him to retreat once his mind is set to a fight.
