Arcana STR+CHR

Matter shifted as he gathered power in his hands and I made my move.

Gritting my teeth as I got my knees under me, I pushed myself forward as hard as I could. I felt Malkuth’s hand tighten on my neck, but he was woefully unprepared for my current strength—all he managed to do was tear my head from my shoulders. An instant later, my forehead hit ground with a crack and—

The earth exploded. A wave of force expanded out from me, pulling up several centimeters of soil as they went, and then the ground shattered violently. A hundred meters, two hundred, four hundred, and then further beyond, everything was crushed by the force of the impact and sent flying into the air. At the same time, my other self left my space and dashed towards Gou, reaching him too quickly for me to register. I had a mental image of Gou being hauled up onto his shoulders, but I wasn’t able to actually see anything until Gou was dropped off on the other side of the crater.

Strength and Chariot, huh…it wasn’t a bad hand, given the situation, but hardly ideal. That was the risk of using the Arcana—I didn’t pick them conscious; they simply rose in accordance with my actions.

But I suppose that was life—doing your best with the hand you’re dealt.

Strength: The Arcana of Strength—the representation of the courage and resolve needed to endure and overcome life’s setbacks. It is the power of understanding and control that temper the triumphant power of the Chariot. When the user is within this state of being, the power of all MP attacks without a physical component drop to 0. Increase the user’s Strength by the combined value of their Intelligence and Wisdom.

Chariot: The Arcana of the Chariot—the representation of the control and willpower needed to assert dominance over one’s own life and reach for one’s dreams. It is where the assurance of youth meets the understanding of adulthood to create crowning achievements and victories, but is still tied down by aggression and impatience. When the user is within this state of being, MP attacks that possess charge times are unusable. Increase the user’s Dexterity by the combined value of their Intelligence and Wisdom.
***

After all, I wasn’t the only one who’d activated the Arcana. Because of the nature of Thaumiel, I effectively had two picks from the deck; one for each of us. It was a bit complicated, because the Arcana simultaneously recognized us as being united and separate, but the results were fairly good so I couldn’t complain. Quite frankly, if I’d been fighting alone, I’m not sure I’d be willing to risk using the Arcana in a real fight; all it would take was a bad draw to shut down some vital part of my strategy and I was screwed. Instead, I was able to draw two cards and we couldn’t—or, at least, had yet to—draw the same Arcana, so we were only truly screwed if we both got bad hand’s, which was comparatively unlikely.

For instance, where I’d manifested Strength, my other had manifested the Chariot, so while I was unable to use MP attacks that didn’t enhance my physical abilities somehow, he was limited to attacks that didn’t naturally come with charge times, thankfully ignoring the effects of Hyper Soul. That meant he could still use things like Longinus, so long as he didn’t try to charge them past their normal limits; it wasn’t ideal, but it was manageable.

Now, had things gone as planned, I’d have continued to keep Gilgamesh—or Malkuth, as the case may be—off balance, controlling the tide of the battle every step of the way and directing the fight. That was the best way to use the Arcana after all; not to let circumstances define you, but to define them instead. Had I been able to go through with my plans for Keter, I should have been able to get at least the Star or the Sun, and maybe both. The World was unfeasible, but if I’d done things right, it might have even been possible to manifest Judgement. Even with how strong Malkuth was, so long as he was limited by Gilgamesh’s body I was fairly sure that would have been enough to decide the fight.

Instead, here I was. If I’d activated the Arcana from the very beginning, I might have gotten the Magician, High Priestess, or maybe even the Hierophant, but it was a bit late to worry about that now. And frankly, it probably wouldn’t have changed anything.

I’d just have to do my best with what I had.

Even before felt my counterpart ready himself, I was moving, rushing towards Malkuth with all the strength I could muster. While the effects of my obscenely enhanced Strength differed from my other’s improved Dexterity, there was always a certain amount of overlap between strength and speed. With every step I took, the ground seemed to ripple beneath my feet, hardly even feeling solid—like I was running over water instead of earth. My feet sank into the ground with each step, breaking through some kind of wall, and each time the ripples expanded far enough, the ground shattered yet again, strained far beyond its limits. As I rushed for Malkuth, anything that could break, broke, but each step pushed me what seemed like leagues forward.

Malkuth lifted a hand to block as I came near—but it was too late for that, now. Just before I reached him, I activated Bai Hu’s Lunge and close the last meter in an instant. The moment my fist struck his guard, a shockwave expanded from the point of connection and flashed outwards at an astonishing speed, destroying everything it touched. The now utterly shattered ground was forced down by the pressure, reducing everything near us to fine powder, and whatever smoke and dust still lingered on the battlefield was promptly swept away.

Though Gilgamesh’s mask reveal no expression, I liked to think Malkuth widened his eyes in surprise. Instead of stopping me like he probably intended, I drove Malkuth back, forcing his feet to drag long trenches in the ground. We went fifty meters, a hundred, two hundred, and then even further, hardly seeming to slow as we passed through the almost frictionless sand. A touch belatedly, Malkuth lifted his other hand in reaction, reaching for me.

I lifted my eyes to his mask and smiled.

A moment later, something tore through the world. My other self crossed the battlefield at full speed, layering all the skills he had to enhance it even further, and his passage caused almost as much destruction as my attacks had. A colossal fireball began to expand from his distant starting point, only the flashing waves of energy out pacing his approach. In almost the same moment I noticed him, he passed fully through my body and struck Malkuth head on, fist hitting the same hand I had. Malkuth abruptly vanished from my sight, the attack carrying him most of a kilometer away from me and leaving me to weather the rest of the fireball.

I braced myself, holding on even as I felt it wash over me—but though the force was unspeakable, I had the strength to stand against it. I felt my flesh burn and my eyes hiss and crackle inside my head, but I couldn’t call to Suryasta, trapped as he was within Keter. Instead, I simply waited and endured, knowing what was to come.

Sure enough, I saw my other return no more than a moment after his departure, hand firmly clasping Malkuth’s head. The Bane of the Prometheans bolstered his already ludicrous speed, aided by everything else he’d been able to bring to bear, and Malkuth’s body was held parallel to the ground by the speed of his retraction. My twin passed through me once again on his way back and we occupied the same space once again—but this time we didn’t separate, and I allowed myself to be reeled in alongside them.

At the last moment, however, I activated the Yellow Path, changing our direction—specifically, straight down. We moved with the full extent of my strength and my twin’s speed and in an instant, I shifted our hold on Malkuth, turning him as we moved.

Truth be told, in the midst of my various musings I’d once wondered how much you’d have to hate someone to try to suplex them to death.

The answer was, of course, ‘significantly less than I hated Malkuth.’

Needless to say, we added another crater to the battlefield—but no one liked Jericho Falls anyway.