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Now, the massive cannibal still wasn't in a rage, but he was most certainly annoyed by this point.

"HRRRRUUAGH!"

He bellowed at the waiting man, slamming feet on the ground in indignation, rising only halfway to a stand, fingers not far above the ground.

"BAH!"

And that was all for now. Instead of itterating further, he approached at a rapid lope, using both legs and one hand on the knuckle, closing the distance with the other forearm held up curiously next to his head, prepared to move to do something.

It wouldn't be hard for a good athlete with a running start and some dexterity to make a jump over someone bent to practically running on all fours, even a someone as big as Alchert.

But this would change as the big man dug his heels in to stop at the leap, slamming his palm into the ground and coming upright, just slow enough that the person sailed up and past him as he came upright, that free left hand gripping the massive blade over his back, which promptly snapped itself free of his cloak.

Swinging it with one arm, not dug in solidly, he careened wildly, the swing hauling his upper body around as one leg went straight and pulled the toe up, the other spinning to turn him around with it, keeping from falling over and looking like some teetering drunk.

The end of it all being that just as the smaller man was about to land on the earth the flat side of a 'sword' wrapped in a thin layer of bandage. Hirashi was 5'8" from just blade tip to hilt's beginning, with no guard, and a good 8 inches at the base, slowly growing smaller as it came down the length.

The massive blade, being swung by the massive man in a full body turn was going to do more than make someone stumble to the side if it struck them.

Swing completed, whether Azmaru went flying like a baseball, managed to avoid it, or compensated somehow, Alchert would continue careening around until he lost speed enough to keep balanced at the ridiculous tilt and fell flat on his back, Hirashi slamming with a resounding -CRACK- onto the earth. The large man could not be expected to remain prone past a second when he landed though, and would immediately begin by rolling over toward the blade, going onto hands and knees, then standing up, simply and traditionally. During the time, he'd be rather vulnerable, even if the span from fall to stand would be all of perhaps 4 to 5 seconds total.

The massive beast of the man paused in midstep forward as the fireworks came, watching as if entranced. And then the arc brought it right to him, and he swung the broad sword up, catching it on the top and breaking the pack in a spray of ashes that fell all over him and the blade.

Alchert blinked repeatedly and waved his head violently, smothering out embers in his beard on his shoulders, the rest dying away fairly quickly. But there was a wild look in his amber eyes.

The sparks on the bandages wrapped around the sword had caught, and begun to slowly burn more and more away, a tiny flicker of flame along the side where long, slightly damp spot stretching down. The bandages burnt to black in a slow, wide sort of fuse, but at the center of the wide side actual flames flickered, growling and snapping. And the center they'd been over began to move in long sweeps, moaning an unearthly sound and rising until it became a high pitch scream of animal pain.

The massive man added a roar of his own to it, swinging the blade at the handle, in wide arcs using both hands, tossing off bits of flaming, saliva soaked bandage and keeping the flame surpressed but not out as he charged the smaller in a fury.

((Go ahead. I'm not likely to call anyone on it unless they're a terrible pain or they're real late. Like a week or more.))

Unfortunately, as Azmaru was assumably facing Alchert, that wouldn't work so well. Mor like sending the smaller man flying at the larger as he lunged over the cloack and blew it up, which would be painful for Alchert, but much worse for the frailer man, both in terms of the explosion and impact. It'd knock Alchert clean over onto his behind, legs sprawled out in front funny, sparking and buzzing sword held up above his head. Which he'd then grip at the edge of the blade and the handle isntead of both hands on handle, and bring it down to crush the man into his lap with a massive blade, that now had very large, savagely thick but curving teeth moving about in the living sword's anguish.

Should Azmaru not be diving forward while forward was towards Alchert, the effect would more or less be as desired; the explosion of various things would put up enough a wall of air and smoke to put out the small flames licking the blade, and Alchert would be tossed forward to land on his belly, concealed and coughing noisily.

Effect?

That couldn't be said without knowing what type of energy it was. But if it was apparantly the right type to make the nerves in the leg jump and jig, then it'd work.

Alchert's legs would go nuts and he's lose balance, pushing against the shield causing his upper body to flop prone on the ground.

Azmaru had his moment to break grapple range, but the man would drop the sword and simply bear-hug crush him if he lingered long enough for Alchert to sit back up, and roll over onto his tomach if the man cleared in time.
The legs would recover more rapidly than he might have expected, but he would have a few decent moments before Alchert's legs were taking any coordinated movement. Mayhaps, Azmaru had his chance to even the odds in the beasts floundering moment of weakness.

The blade, no longer wrapped or flaming, could be seen clearly now. The edges of the 'sword' where a thick sort of bone that almost resembled rock, but near the flat side a sort of moldlike flesh began to creep over, ending finally in brutal curving teeth layered from near it's beginning to near it's tip along the flat, laying together now that they no longer were trying to bite anything. A liquid, not quite clear, dripped slowly from the mouth over the sharpened part of the blade, covering Hirashi in it's own saliva.

The bearded man fairly howled in frustration at the unresponsive legs, grabbing the blade. He jammed the point into the earth with a massive heave, and hauled himself up onto his knees. The legs responded enough that he stayed upright when the blade pulled free from the earth, but they weren't getting him up and walking yet.

The beast man hefted the blade up, jamming it into the ground near where it had been the first time, turned differently. And again. And again if he had time. Using the massive living sword to shatter the rock in one area.


That's right. He was cutting himself loose a rough slab of stone, as well as a lot of consequential chips.

Alchert's legs started to move under him- motion, and motion came back quick.

He slammed the massive blade into the ground once more, straining his legs to get off of them as he bent to grab either side of the span of stone, flat on top at a two foot wide rough circle, and sloping downward gradually into a bottom nearly a single deep. Digging in toes, the man clumsily started to move to upright.

And then was blow over backward, tumbling onto his back again. This time, pelted with his own rough chips of stone bit and rubble as well.

He wasn't slow this time though. The reaction was instantaneous as amber eyes opened again, and the great beast leaned upright, over onto the stone hunk it held, and then dug in it's heels. Ignoring small cuts opened and bleeding all over his hands and face, filled with sand from the ring and stinging, he roared, and rushed forward. Feet hammering the ground, he this time didn't try to cross the distance all the way to the magic user at once.

He slammed a booted foot into the hole in the stone ground where he'd been excavating, and spun his torso full round at the hips, slinging the hunk of rock at Azmaru like a discus.

In all hopes, the man would dive like his life, perhaps no exaggeration, depended on it, and clear the projectile. But it played for enough time that Alchert could grab his sword out of the earth again and charge forward after the smaller man.