Armed Knuckle

"Young master!" Walter cried in shock before leaping through the air to attack Roko. But Momo instantly intercepted him, Joseph's broadsword in hand and using the flat of its edge to smash the butler away. As Momo landed back on the ground, Roko walked down the stairs as Kaguya, Corissa and even a resuscitated Helena that Corissa helped carry over.

"Roko!" Helena grinned, "Boy am I glad to see you!"

"Sorry for being late." Roko nodded.

"Did you come from behind the stairs?!" Kaguya cried, "How'd you get there?!"

"Long story." Roko sighed, "We'll talk after we get rid of these guys."

"So you have a plan?!" Corissa asked enthusiastically.

"Long story short, Distol's at the head of everything. So we cut off the head. Figuratively. The problem is that butler."

"Roko." Momo grimaced, "I'm almost out of mana and energy. I can give you all the reinforcement magic I can so...do you think you can beat Distol and Walter?"

"..." Roko looked at Momo, not in thought but almost apologetic, "Sorry but even with enhancements, I don't think I'll be able to beat someone with greater combat experience than me. I was hoping you might be able to hold off the old man while I dealt with Distol."

Momo looked at Roko, her face too tired to give any hints to what she was possibly thinking though Roko could only assume it wasn't pleasant.

"If you can't do it, then I'll manage on my own." Roko added, "There's no point in wasting your energy after doing so much already."

"If I don't do anything, I'm just going to get drained to death anyway." Momo smiled softly, "I'll hold the butler back. I'd rather die on my feet."

"If you ever feel like you can't fight anymore, be sure to tell me so I know to watch out for two opponents."

"Ever vigilant, aren't you Roko?" Momo laughed, "Don't worry, I won't let you down."

"I'll help." Helena said as she pushed herself off Corissa, "I think I feel better after that little nap."

"Given that we still have flowers draining our vitality, I doubt it." Kaguya said, "I'll try and help too. Momo's where's my knife?"

"Oh, I dropped it back there."

"Oh come on!" Kaguya cried as she ran off to pick up her heirloom.

"Roko..." Corissa turned to him with a complicated mix of frustration and shame, "I...I..."

"I know." Roko patted her on the head, "We can talk about it later."

Corissa gripped her arm, the arm where the Parasidea once was. Her emotions not lessened by any comforting degree but she nodded all the same.

"Take care of everybody for me." Roko said as he turned and walked off, "Good luck."

Walking away from the princesses, Roko stood in front of the fallen Distol, still pulling himself up from his painful fall.

"You have a chance to stop this." Roko said, "You don't have to do this."

"You came from the atelier." Distol scowled as he picked himself up, "How?! How did you get there?!"

"Trade secret."

"What did you see?"

"Everything."

"Did you do anything?"

"...No."

Distol's enraged expression softened a notch as he began to look at Roko more curiously, unsure if he's willing to believe him.

"You have the ability to stop all this don't you?"

"...No. Once this has started, even I can't stop it."

"I know that's a lie."

"..."

"Call it off before it's too late. For you and for-"

"I WILL save her!" Distol cried as he glared at Roko, "I will succeed where my father failed, no, where he stopped! I don't care what happens to me!"

Roko looked down at the frighteningly determined man in front of him.

"...Do you know how to fight?" Roko asked.

"...A little bit of martial arts."

"Good. Cause I don't."

Distol and Roko stared at each other, Distol trying to figure out the man in front of him as Roko just waited. Eventually, Distol and Roko both raised their hands, each taking a stance...waiting another beat...before they both threw a punch at each other.

"You think you can hold me off?" Walter said as Momo stood in front of him with Joseph's broadsword over her shoulder, "Is this just foolishness or ignorance?"

"You tell me. Why would a dead man keep fighting?"

"...For someone so young, you've got the eyes of an experienced warrior. Is this just from harsh training or-"

"Look, normally I would be all for this back and forth but I don't really have the energy thanks to your stupid flower sucking me dry so can we skip to the fists already?"

Walter looked at the supremely annoyed princess and sighed. Then, before Momo could even blink, Walter was in front of her and his armored fist inches away from her chin. The butler made impact with a scary crack sound and sent Momo flying into the air. Momo sailed for a few seconds before she twisted her body and swung in midair. Walter grabbed the tip of the blade, inches from slashing his eyes, undaunted from her wild attack. He readied his fist to counterattack but in the corner of his eyes, he saw a flash and instead, he was forced to grab onto the ice spike that Helena fired at him from across the hall. Crushing it in his hands, he returned his attention to Momo who had already landed with both her feet on the ground, her body now positioned to push the broadsword into him. And push Momo did, jabbing the sword at Walter with all her strength. Walter simply slid to the side, sidestepping her attack as he let go of the sword tip and allowed Momo to lunge right past him. As Momo turned to try to attack again, Walter crushed the remnants of the ice in his hands and threw the small shards at Momo's head. Momo yelped and quickly raised the flat side of broadsword to block the ice from her eyes. With his hands behind his back, Walter kicked his leg out, slamming into Momo's sword and sending her skidding back a few meters. While Momo recovered from Walter's kick, the head butler turned his attention to Helena who was preparing another ice spell from across the room again and quickly changed targets to run towards her.

Seeing the old man running at her, Helena smirked and pointed her ice spell at the floor, firing it and creating a giant wall of ice in front of her. Walter shattered the entire thing with one punch and seeing the shadow behind it, he reached out and grabbed onto her neck. Only to discover that it was Corissa he had captured. Surprised by the bait and switch, Walter turned his eyes towards the side where he saw Helena had shifted to the right, her ice spell still pointed at him. However, all Walter had to do was shift his arm, moving Corissa right in front of Helena's spell to stop her. But then, right in Walter's blind spot was where Kaguya approached, flanking him from the other side from Helena, Calcify in hand. Without ever catching the elderly butler's attention until it was too late, Kaguya stabbed her knife into Walter's chest. Of course her knife had no edge so it couldn't do anything more than injure him but it was enough to get him to release Corissa. And as Corissa fell out of view, Helena's spell was clear to fire. And so she did with a triumphant call of,

"Ice!"

Without even being able to turn his head, Helena's spell impacted the side of Walter's head and completely froze it over. Corissa finally hit the ground along with the remains of ice wall. Helena quickly ran over and helped Corissa up before the three shared a high five.

"Yeah, we did it!" Helena cheered.

Corissa and Kaguya smiled but they weren't quite as triumphant as Helena. For despite being his head frozen over, Walter's body remained on his feet, refusing to fall. And it wasn't long until Walter's body moved again, reaching up to the ice covering his head and crushing it apart in its powerful steel grip.

"You girls are too quick to celebrate." Walter scoffed.

"Yeah, but let's be real." Helena replied, unsurprised by this butler's survival, "If I had tried to pierce your head instead of freezing it, you'd be dead already."

"You think you would have killed me?"

"Well yeah. The only reason I didn't is because it'd look bad on my resume."

"...I see." Walter smirked, "Then I believe I need to show you what kind of magic I have at my disposal."

Walter knelt down and picked up two sharp pieces of ice from the ground. Setting one in front of his thumb, he turned to the other side of the room and flicked it. The ice shard sailed across the room in less than a second, piercing a vase with such speed that it destroyed it completely. Walter turned back to the girls who still looked unimpressed until Walter turned back around, sliding the second piece of ice in front of his thumb...and aimed it right at his own temple. The girls' eyes widened as Walter wasted no time in launching this shard at his own head. Only for it to utterly shatter against a sort of magic field. The impact revealed a sort of metaphysical magical armor that was wrapped around Walter's entire body.

"What's...that?" Helena gulped.

"Let's just say it's a step above that simple reinforcement magic you have." Walter explained, "It's called armament magic."

"Guys, run!"

Momo's voice called out from above them as she jumped into the air, pulling her broadsword back as hard as she can. Corissa, Helena and Kaguya quickly stepped back a few steps but Walter only smirked as he let his arms hang from his sides...before knocking into Corissa, Helena and Kaguya so quickly that they were blasted away at instantaneous speed. Walter barely moved from his own position as he raised one hand and without looking back, he caught Momo's sword with two fingers, holding her and the sword suspended in midair.

"Now it seems you're all alone." Walter said as Momo struggled to move her sword, "Don't worry, I only knocked your friends out for the moment."

Walter let go of the sword, letting Momo fall back to the ground where she made a careful retreat as Walter turned to face her again.

"You still intend to fight?" Walter said as Momo glared back at him, "Not that I doubt that you could beat me but in your condition, it doesn't seem likely."

"It's not a matter of beating you." Momo gasped tiredly, "I'm just buying time until Roko wins."

"Hmmm..." Walter glanced towards the fight that was on going between Roko and Distol, "Then how about we finish this quickly?"

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"A simple test." Walter explained, "Armament magic is superior to your simple reinforcement magic. So we let our magic decide. If your reinforcement magic can't beat my armament, I don't see you being able to win against me."

"...I'll bite." Momo said as she leveled her sword at Walter, "All I have to do is beat you once?"

"Indeed."

"Then let's start."

Momo readied her stance as Walter simply stood there, hands behind his back, waiting for Momo to act first. Digging her heels into the ground, Momo took a moment to ready herself. And when the time felt right, she spoke,

"Haste."

"Accel."

In an instant, Momo and Walter disappeared from view and several impacts broke out across the room, clashes that lasted less than a second as the two combatants traveled all over the room trying to outmaneuver each other. After several skirmishes in the span of seconds, Walter finally managed to land a kick on Momo, sending her stumbling back a few unsteady steps before she glared back at him.

"Rally!"

"Fortify."

Momo ran at Walter before making a long jump, swinging her broadsword around as she put her full body into her attack on Walter who stood there with his arms open, welcoming the attack. Momo's attack impacted the invisible magical armor protecting Walter with such force that she cracked the party floor underneath them for several meters. But Walter simply stood there, unfazed by Momo's crushing attack.

"Force."

"Protect!"

Momo stumbled back as Walter drew his fist back that now seemed to be covered in a powerful magical armor. She held her sword up to try and block the attack but Walter's attack sneaked underneath her guard, hitting her square in the stomach. The attack blew Momo back with such force that she hit the wall behind her so intensely that it shook the entire hall. Walter took leisurely steps towards Momo as the dust from her impact settled and he could see Momo was hit so hard that she was now embedded into the wall too deep to even fall back to the ground. Walter reached out one armored hand and grabbed the barely conscious Momo by the neck, pulling her out of the wall before throwing her onto the ground behind him.

"Well? How do you feel now?"

Momo let out small, weak moans as she laid there, unable to move. Walter bent down and picked the broadsword from her grasp, lodging it into the earth as he looked down at his defeated opponent.

"Can you still speak?"

Momo could only let out a few more weak moans.

"...Why did you not use your swordstyle?" Walter asked, "If you used a technique, you might have been able to win at least one of those exchanges. Are you simply too prideful or does your style not have any techniques you can use with a broadsword?"

Momo let out a soft, weak laugh, "My swordstyle...Ichininkami Gari…it means Lone God's Hunt. We're trained in multiple types of weapons. Multiple different techniques. Techniques said to have been passed on from a God of Hunting to slay the rarest and most dangerous myths. It doesn't matter...what weapon I use."

"Then...it's a matter of pride then?"

"You don't use a swordstyle technique...against someone who isn't using one or doesn't know one."

"How foolish." Walter shook his head, "Kids should be free to make their own history without the fetters of the old weighing them down. Had you done so, you might have won."

"I haven't lost yet."

"Give up. Your reinforcement magic can't beat my armament magic."

"There's one thing...I can do that you can't though..."

"And what would that be?"

"Armament magic is a complex armor that lightens, fortifies and strengthens at variable extremes. Because of that complexity...it can't be used on other people."

"What?"

"ICE!"

Walter looked down as his legs were suddenly encased in ice. Turning his head around, he could see Helena, her consciousness regained.

"Now!" Helena called.

From behind Walter, Corissa and Kaguya jumped out and grabbed onto his arms, holding them in place with enhanced strength.

"What the..." Walter scowled as tried to free himself.

"Melia!"

Walter's eyes turned to the young noble that he had long neglected, the girl raising one hand into the air.

"Earth!"

Melia slammed her palm into the ground and from beneath the foundation of the party hall's floor, she pulled a large spear of rock. Breaking through the floor, Melia aimed this spear directly at Walter.

"Now!"

"Hah!"

With a wave of her hand, Melia fired the spear of rock at Walter. The tip of the speak broke upon impact with Walter's armaments but the spear continued to crash into the old butler, breaking into more and more pieces until Walter was completely buried under a large pile of rubble. Momo landed back on the ground, having rescued Corissa and Kaguya before they could be caught up in the attack before she collapsed back on the ground.

"Momo!"Corissa propped Momo's head on her lap, the poor girl running on fumes at this point. Still, she spoke up,

"Someone turn me towards Roko." She said with a soft smirk, "I need to see him win."