Rumia Quest Revival III: Heresy and Magic

[Tom]

> Drool a little at the scent of blood
> Ignore any Youkai killing instincts we might be getting

> Hold the watch like she's telling us to

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Look a little concerned at Sakuya's physical state.
>Do we know any healers?

[Raikaria]

> Drool a little at the scent of blood
> Ignore any Youkai killing instincts we might be getting

> Hold the watch like she's telling us to

> The smell seems a little odd. You can't pin it down.

> You're not getting those instincts due to the difference in smell.

> You hold the watch, taking it off her belt. It feels surprisingly heavy for it's size and is cold in your hands. It also isn't working, it seems.

>Look a little concerned at Sakuya's physical state.
>Do we know any healers?

> Sakuya pays no heed to your concern.

> No, you do not. Daiyousei is smart enough to know rudimentary first aid, but you doubt she knows how to deal with someone as damaged as Sakuya is right now.

> "Be ready to throw the watch to my good hand when I tell you." Sakuya says quietly; her voice clearly showing some pain, even if her face wasn't.

[Tom]

> Wait for Sakuya to signal us
> In the mean time inspect watch

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

> Wait for Sakuya to signal us
> In the mean time inspect watch

>Actually how accurate are we at throwing?

[Raikaria]

> Wait for Sakuya to signal us
> In the mean time inspect watch

> Sakuya dashes towards Elis [You note you can actually see her movements for once, indicating she's slowed down significantly]; dodging several star-projectiles she launches from her wand casually. One of which narrowly avoids hitting you. She then swings the knife, but Elis blocks it with her wand.

> "Oh my, the killer has lost all of her strength. The intent is there but your body is giving out." the vampire teases. "Determination isn't something that transcends reality, but you're welcome to prove me wrong."

> The wand sparks, and a swirl of lights emanates and throws Sakuya back, some small burn marks on her from contacting the lights.

> "What about you Darkling, are you in? Or is it my turn now?" Elis asks.

> The pocketwatch fits nicely in your palm, and is a few centimeters thick. It's face is marked by Roman Numerals [Not that you know what those are]. It has a small button, or some other thing on the side, as well as another one to open and close it. The inside of the cover looks bloodstained.

>Actually how accurate are we at throwing?

> You are confident you can throw it accurately, provided Sakuya dosen't do her teleportation thing out of the way or something.

[Tom]

> "I still have moves to show you!"
> Fake declare Darkness Sign "Dark Side of the Moon" (Defensive card with longest timer)
> Be on he lookout for Sakuya signaling us, throw pocket watch when she does so

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

> "I still have moves to show you!"
> Fake declare Darkness Sign "Dark Side of the Moon" (Defensive card with longest timer)
> Be on he lookout for Sakuya signaling us, throw pocket watch when she does so

>Don't do this

//We should save the longest attack for when the sun rises, and actually declare the card so we can give Elis some decent sun exposure

[Tom]

> "I still have moves to show you!"
> Fake declare Night Sign "Night Bird"
> Be on he lookout for Sakuya signaling us, throw pocket watch when she does so

[Raikaria]

> "I still have moves to show you!"
> Fake declare Night Sign "Night Bird"
> Be on he lookout for Sakuya signaling us, throw pocket watch when she does so

> "Oh?" Elis says, as you begin to throw arcs of danmaku towards her, with slightly longer gaps between them than if you actually used the spellcard.

> Elis dashes around the danmaku up close to you, and taps your nose.

> "Strike two. One more chance." she says, before she knees you in the gut.

> You can tell she was holding back; but it still makes you double over and almost drop the pocketwatch.

> Sakuya attempts to strike Elis in the back; but she turns around and parries the knife.

> "Seeing you fight in this state is almost upsetting..." Elis says, parrying Sakuya's constant attacks without much effort, only a few feet from you, back turned.

> Going from what Sakuya said before; you'd wager you only need hold out for maybe sixty seconds more.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

> Going from what Sakuya said before; you'd wager you only need hold out for maybe sixty seconds more.

>What exactly did she say that implied we had to wait for exactly 60 seconds?

[Raikaria]

>What exactly did she say that implied we had to wait for exactly 60 seconds?

> That's me making a mistake; you figured it was only a couple of minutes *while talking to* Sakuya. Which caused me to get mixed up.

[Tom]

> Look her in the eye and say "I won't give up!"
> Fake declare Night Sign "Midnight Bird"
> Go all out on this one, leave ourselves just enough energy for actually declaring "Dark Side of the Moon"

> Stall as long as we can and wait for Sakuya to signal us

> If Sakuya does not signal us to throw the pocket watch in time and Elis is about to defeat us, click the buttons on it in desperation and hope it does something, if that fails throw it at her even if she didn't signal us.  If it looks like Sakuya is not going to catch it, correct the trajectory using barriers.  Oh and form a barrier around ourselves to block Elis' strike

[Branneg Xy]

> Look her in the eye and say "I won't give up!"
> Fake declare Night Sign "Midnight Bird"
> Go all out on this one, leave ourselves just enough energy for actually declaring "Dark Side of the Moon"

> Stall as long as we can and wait for Sakuya to signal us

> If Sakuya does not signal us to throw the pocket watch in time and Elis is about to defeat us, click the buttons on it in desperation and hope it does something, if that fails throw it at her even if she didn't signal us.  If it looks like Sakuya is not going to catch it, correct the trajectory using barriers.  Oh and form a barrier around ourselves to block Elis' strike

//[EDITED] (Thanks to Raikaria's reminder ) That's right!Friendly fire does not apply in regular Danmaku Duels![EDITED].
Apart from that, I really  think we have Rumia hold back too much and acting too humble,to the point of leaving openings and giving too much free reign to the opponent, with "Fake Spellcards" (except Fake "Midnight Bird "as follow-up to the Real " Dark Side of the Moon") as far as Elis(Heretic or mostly so)and attentive powerful braggarts/challenge&novelty seekers(both enemies and allies) are concerned .

//Next time(s) we should consider,of course in ways adaptable to the situation and character(s),a better equilibrium between Real and Fake Spellcards/Moves/Techniques to gain more advantages and suffer less weaknesses.//

> Before going all out with "(Fake) midnight Bird" and the follow-up to "Dark Side of the Moon",quick and steady breath in and out to regain focus, lessen the pain and shock.

> Moreover quickly get ourselves together and get in a better position and angle to : better see Sakuya and Elis,their movements and be in throwing reach of the first ;  better dodge,parry and react to attacks and stray hits ;adjust the aim and pattern of the (Fake) Midnight Bird in order to be tracking Elis while being an obstacle for her hitting Sakuya .

[Tom]

// The reason we were using fake spell cards to begin with is that when you use a spell card you lose control until the spell times out since you enter a trance.  Elis could have swiped Alice while we were performing our spell

[Hope ♦ Metal]

//Wouldn't it make sense at this point to start using lethal bullets instead of danmaku? Especially since Elis made it clear she was going to actually kill Sakuya this time.

[Tom]

// Lethal bullets take more energy and will make our pattern less dense, she'll avoid it all anyways so it's pointless

[Hope ♦ Metal]

//So we don't use a pattern and attack Elis directly. Or we could wait for Sakuya to signal us. Probably waiting would be better since she did give us one more chance so wasting it would be a bad idea.

[Tom]

// Were using a pattern since Elis is waiting for an attack, waiting will make her bored and KO us.  Attacking her directly would be a really bad idea, having seen how good she is at physical combat

[Hope ♦ Metal]

//Well she's fighting Sakuya now so I don't think she would get bored quickly.

[Tom]

// She will get bored with us, were just a annoyance to her and she doesn't take us seriously, she will KO us and fight Sakuya uninterrupted
// Remember we're using our spells to give Sakuya time and distract Elis from focusing her

[Raikaria]

// Lethal bullets take more energy and will make our pattern less dense, she'll avoid it all anyways so it's pointless

Just adressing this; using actual magic bullets is against the spellcard rules. It's the spellcard rules which limit your 'nonspells'. [A nonspell can't be stronger than a spell in the spellcard rules]

You can use your full power whenever if you're not going to follow the rules. It *will* drain you faster since obviously it's easier to create dummy bullets than ones that can kill youkai and such, but it won't make your patterns weaker. There are exceptions in energy consumption; such as weapon-based attacks that use less energy outside of the spellcard rules because you're not materializing anything... you're just attacking with your weapon. It's easier for Sakuya to throw real knives than make phantom ones and throw those.

Also danmaku dosen't do friendly fire. [See: Primsrivers; Toyosatomimi; and other team fights; even the fighting games like Kokoro's final boss fight in HM] So you wont need to worry about Sakuya. Real attacks do friendly fire.

[Tom]

// Can we still create non lethal bullets while not following the spell card rules?  (Like the "impossible" patterns in ISC?)

> Look her in the eye and say "I won't give up!"
> Fake declare Night Sign "Midnight Bird"
> Try and go all out, leave just enough energy to cast the spell card Dark Side of the Moon

> Stall as long as we can and wait for Sakuya to signal us

> If we see Sakuya with her good arm free (not holding knife) throw the pocket watch

> If Sakuya does not signal us to throw the pocket watch in time and Elis is about to defeat us, click the buttons on it in desperation and hope it does something, if that fails throw it at her even if she didn't signal us.  If it looks like Sakuya is not going to catch it, correct the trajectory using barriers.  Oh and form a barrier around ourselves to block Elis' strike

[Raikaria]

// Can we still create non lethal bullets while not following the spell card rules?  (Like the "impossible" patterns in ISC?)

Just answering the question before bed:

ISC basically has the characters using spellcards they made but don't use due to the 'impossibility'. You don't have any such cards.

[Branneg Xy]

Just adressing this; using actual magic bullets is against the spellcard rules. It's the spellcard rules which limit your 'nonspells'. [A nonspell can't be stronger than a spell in the spellcard rules]

You can use your full power whenever if you're not going to follow the rules. It *will* drain you faster since obviously it's easier to create dummy bullets than ones that can kill youkai and such, but it won't make your patterns weaker. There are exceptions in energy consumption; such as weapon-based attacks that use less energy outside of the spellcard rules because you're not materializing anything... you're just attacking with your weapon. It's easier for Sakuya to throw real knives than make phantom ones and throw those.

Also danmaku dosen't do friendly fire. [See: Primsrivers; Toyosatomimi; and other team fights; even the fighting games like Kokoro's final boss fight in HM] So you wont need to worry about Sakuya. Real attacks do friendly fire.

// Thanks for the reminder !  //

// Well,this could make Elis stumble a little seeing she do not know it first-hand,unless she has experienced it while facing off Sakuya+Remilia , that it is a "defensive bridge cover",without over-estimating it, going to Rumia to Sakuya and back; such a "defensive bridge" could be an outreach for any danmaku in an useful position by Sakuya to Rumia as well .//

// Seeing as Rumia cannot (yet? ) upgrade to Impossble Spell Card , I am inclined to suggest a little inquiry before going ahead with the Final,or next-to-Final, Act  :ohdear: //

> When not using spellcards,do we have a trade-off in a significant boost in mobility,reaction time and more readiness in projecting barriers?

> Would that specific denser pattern of "(Fake) Midnight Bird " build some cover and mobility for Sakuya and us with the respective range of all 3 involved?

> Do not proceed,not yet,if the responses are negative.

>  If instead it is truthful go as planned(Tom's)by track  both Elis with a very dense pattern of "(Fake) Midnight Bird" while allowing both us and Sakuya to use it as a cover and additional mobility,besides the ones granted by not using Spellcards,especially so as an obstacle for her whenever she gets to get too close or have a good aim on Sakuya or even us.

[Tom]

// These are general questions for future reference, unrelated to my actions so don't wait for these
// What exactly is preventing us from going all out with non-lethal bullets?  Are we unable to even create non-lethal bullets without being forced to follow the spell card rules?  Can't we ignore the rules and spam non-lethal bullets until we run out of energy?

// Add quest "Impossible fights require Impossible Spellcards:  Obtain/Create Impossible Spellcards" <- We'll need these if we want to continue dealing with Makaians without risking killing them

> When not using spellcards,do we have a trade-off in a significant boost in mobility,reaction time and more readiness in projecting barriers?

// Spell cards actually restrict movement, and prevent us from reacting to anything or projecting any barriers since we're in a trance.  Basically we lose control of Rumia until the spell ends (aka the game timeskips to when the spell ends)
// So fake declaring them leaves us our usual mobility and let's us throw the watch

[Raikaria]

Nonspells indeed do not restrict movement any more than slowing you down a bit when you fire because you have to focus on doing that. [And that's more because you're not the best at danmaku. Mystia and Cirno can both fire while moving perfectly fine. [[But they're Stage 2 bosses and playable characters and you're not. Also Mystia can fly with her wings while you have to fly via magic.]]]

The idea with the spellcard rules being the one using the more powerful attack has restricted movement while the one limited to weaker attacks can focus on evasion and countering to break the spell. Thus allowing the weak to challenge the strong, if they're skilled enough.

[Tom]

> Look her in the eye and say "I won't give up!"
> Fake declare Night Sign "Midnight Bird"
> Try and go all out, leave just enough energy to cast the spell card Dark Side of the Moon

> Stall as long as we can and wait for Sakuya to signal us

> If we see Sakuya with her good arm free (not holding knife) throw the pocket watch

> If Sakuya does not signal us to throw the pocket watch in time and Elis is about to defeat us, click the buttons on it in desperation and hope it does something, if that fails throw it at her even if she didn't signal us.  If it looks like Sakuya is not going to catch it, correct the trajectory using barriers.  Oh and form a barrier around ourselves to block Elis' strike

[Raikaria]

> Look her in the eye and say "I won't give up!"
> Fake declare Night Sign "Midnight Bird"
> Try and go all out, leave just enough energy to cast the spell card Dark Side of the Moon

> Stall as long as we can and wait for Sakuya to signal us

> If we see Sakuya with her good arm free (not holding knife) throw the pocket watch

> If Sakuya does not signal us to throw the pocket watch in time and Elis is about to defeat us, click the buttons on it in desperation and hope it does something, if that fails throw it at her even if she didn't signal us.  If it looks like Sakuya is not going to catch it, correct the trajectory using barriers.  Oh and form a barrier around ourselves to block Elis' strike

> You can't look Elis in the eye; she's facing away from you.

> You start throwing arcs of danmaku wildly; like a bird flapping both it's wings. This actually seems to catch Elis somewhat by surprise, with her making a sidewards move while turning so she can actually see your incoming attack while fending off Sakuya, who seems to be slowing down.

> Elis forms a barrier to block Sakuya's attack; before she starts weaveing through your danmaku.

> "Oh ho; this is better. Fight like your life is on the line, little darkling!" she says, before she smirks, and points her wand towards you. "But you have had three turns, I think it's time for me to have one... will your darkness withstand my purging light?"

> The wand starts to glow; increaseing in luminosity.

> Sakuya throws her knife; ripping through Elis' closest wing, causing her to tilt just a little, unable to adjust in time to the change in her aerodynamics. Enough to crash into a couple of danmaku and for the star-shaped blast of light she casually fires to veer off course. Her response to this is to chuckle in mild amusement.

> "Now!" Sakuya yells.

[Tom]

> Throw the pocket watch at Sakuya's good hand!
> If Sakuya fails to catch it catch with a barrier for her to pick it up

> Surround ourselves in multiple stacked demarcation barriers
> Keep up Midnight Bird

// Add quest "Impossible fights require Impossible Spellcards:  Obtain/Create Impossible Spellcards" <- We'll need these if we want to continue dealing with Makaians without risking killing them