Sentinel continued to press the advantage, and Mirac was ever there. A wingman with unending energy. Mirac's eyes stayed peeled for any opportunity Sentinel and Vargas' fight brought. And there--a chin exposed. A prime target for striking. Mirac's ranting may have been ignored, but that wouldn't stop him from continuing to do so.

"Feel our WRATH!" He cries, breaking out into laughter once more. The bolt comes once more, the magic less rapid to reply--no doubt a symptom of the lengthy combat. It seemed, despite all his blather about being the best blade, he too had his limits. He strikes again, this time aiming the violet-black lightning at Vargas' exposed chin.

"speak" think

Round: 4/5?
Attempt: Strike Vargas' chin now?
Defense: being held by sentinel
Injuries: none yet

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Perhaps not stopping to take a defensive stance had been a mistake. He'd underestimated the Sentinel before, treating their spars as just that--spars--and he should have known better, by now. He saw the blade snap up toward his chin, and felt the impact of bone in flesh. Instinct flared, reflexes driving him--the last time the sword had come close, magic had followed.

He did not want lightning searing through his head. At best, it would hurt like hell. It might knock him into a fit. At worst it could kill him, or at least throw him into a chrysalis. Vargas twisted back, kicking out one hind foot for the sword--an attempt to knock it back, or at least stun the damn thing, before it could truly jolt him.

He was pretty sure he'd been successful--at least a little bit; he jerked away and lashed out and felt his foot connect with something. The lash of black lightning was barely a braced cut over his face, nothing severe, and he scrambled to try and get more room.

Round: 4/5?
Attempt: Kick Mirac back before he gets void lightning to the face
Defense: -
Injuries: - Wounded arm, void-lightninged

They were doing... surprisingly well. The Master was forced fully on the defensive, their combined attacks unrelenting. Unyielding. Every swing was connecting; and Mirac's magic roared black and corruptive through each strike.

The Leviathan curled away, kicking out with one hind leg, and the Sentinel saw an opening: he brought the sentient blade around, and then down hard, smashing it with all his might for the extended limb. A broken leg would not be fatal, after all; surely it was fair game?

He did not connect--the Leviathan was no fool, and had lashed out and moved away too quickly. The Sentinel was staggered, swinging at thin air--but perhaps Mirac could still reach him?

Round: 4/5?
Attempt: Smash Vargas's exposed hind leg
Defense: -
Injuries: -

@Mirac

Mirac coughs and splutters. The electricity goes long, doing naught but grazing Vargas' cheek. "AGAIN!" Mirac cries. "MORE pain, MORE injury! Let us BLEED until we lack veins!" Mirac's white gummed jaws slam shut with an audible click. But magic doesnt flow out this time--no, he is trying a different tactic this time.

One that immediately fails. A lesson in never trying new things. A puddle of black goo bubbles, and then immediately goes limp. His limb constricts around his hilt, squeezing him instead. "NO!" Mirac cries, enraged. "NO, NO, NO! RISE! DESTROY Mirac's ENEMY, limb." There was no response, the puddle lifeless. "NO! Mirac must serve WIELDER!"

Mirac tugs and strains Sentinel's hand, desperate to attack Vargas himself.

"speak" think

Round: 5/5?
Attempt: Hold Vargas still for an attack
Defense: being held by sentinel
Injuries: none yet

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas twisted again, whipping with serpentine speed back to the two combatants. Both had missed him, and at last he could go on the offensive. With his acidic blood still spattering down, hissing on the rock from his open wounds, he knew he would have to end this quickly.

A straight attack on the Sentinel had somehow been returned on him (and even in the heat of battle he made a short note to ask about that later), and so he determined not to repeat his mistake against an unknown power. He was, even despite the frenzied fight, focused and sharp, and came to this conclusion in the space between two heartbeats.

He would lunge, yes--but it would be to tear Mirac free. To toss it aside or to claim it--at least temporarily--in triumph.

Vargas knew he'd have to be prepared to get shocked, possibly quite badly; but better the sword lay useless on the ground than blast him while being thrust into open wounds. If he tossed it away he could deal with Sentinel quickly-... Do not harm him too badly, Vargas reminded himself. This was only a spar, after all.

His lunge was an impossibly fast pounce, his bad arm snaring for the blade, his other moving to shove the Sentinel down by the chest so he could simply pull it away. The two were smaller than he--he didn't need his good arm for this, and better to get the wounded one shocked by whatever Creator's lash the blade decided to throw at him.

Round: 5/5?
Attempt: Yoink the magic sword
Defense: -
Injuries: - Wounded arm, void-lightninged

Sentinel saw him coming: he knew he could not repel the Leviathan, his pure immensity making his pounce impossible to avoid or to resist. Instinct and void-magic lashed out as one, his free hand snapping up palm-forward as if to ward Vargas away.

Before them, with a flash of black, Vargas simply--vanished.

The spell was difficult to hold, and Sentinel at once felt that Vargas was not a target he could so easily contain. He had only seconds to act.

He pushed more upright, and ran for where he'd seen the Master leaping from; if he could get behind, and prepare, perhaps Mirac could finish this quickly.

"He will return--now," he told Mirac, his guttural voice insistent and loud.

Perhaps to ensure coordination, or maybe to hold off any inevitable screaming about how Vargas had cheated, and disappeared.

Round: 5/5?
Attempt: Just delete Vargas for a sec so he can get away with his nice shiny sword
Defense: -
Injuries: -

@Mirac

Mirac had been snapping, straining to be closer to Vargas. However, he hadn't wanted or planned to get that close, exactly. Mirac quickly found himself yanked from Sentinel's hand, his stinger limb flailing to regain the grip. Mirac clattered to the ground. An indignant cry rose from him.

Mirac floated off the ground, just in time to see Vargas blink from existence with a blotch of black. Mirac stared, trying to process what'd happened to his quarry. But it took mere moments until Sentinel was there. Mirac cracked a smile.

"AH! Wielder is CLEVER!" He said. Mirac gripped Sentinel with his stinger laced bandage. The sword opens his jaws. He did not know where Vargas was. But when he reappeared, Mirac was prepared to lash him with Void-black lightning once more.

"speak" think

@Vargas

Round: 6/?
Attempt: Hit vargas when he appears?
Defense: tentatively attached to Sentinel once again
Injuries: none yet

- THE LEVIATHAN -

He leapt. Muscles surged, bunched, and--

-...he floated, scrabbling for purchase on nothing, consigned to empty black. "WHAT-" he bellowed--or tried to--but his voice was muffled, repressed, no echo as it burst into nothing. He spun but there was no gravity, no place, no nothing; it was... void. Eyes widened, their acid glow illuminating nothing as he reached out-

-and tumbled down, striking rock and stumbling hard, the wounded forelimb giving out. The long spines cracked on the floor, and on instinct he went with the fall and rolled, trying to avoid what would inevitably come next. He felt the crackle of power over his back, cascading just over where he'd dropped, and he could not help but be impressed. They worked together--they worked well together--their cooperative power well-coordinated and--well, powerful.

"ENOUGH," he bellowed, coming upright with a limp, his forelimb held at a pained and dangling angle. "Enough!"

Round: 6/5?
Attempt: Stop the worst of the hit
Defense: -
Injuries: - Wounded arm, void-lightninged

The Sentinel turned, and watched as Vargas dropped--the Leviathan's cunning, experience and lightning reflexes on full display. It was disappointing that their combined attack had not this time disabled the Master: they had planned on the fly, and performed so well, that somehow he'd have liked to see it strike. But there was no bloodthirst in that wish, no pride. It was simply the wish of a craftsman to see his final result.

Vargas was calling for a halt, and the Sentinel stepped back, taking up a defensive stance--to protect himself, and Mirac, and also to protect Vargas (or try to) if the sword refused to stop.

"Enough," he echoed, not a command but an acceptance.

He took quick stock. Neither himself nor Mirac were really harmed in any way--and the Leviathan was bleeding, bruised, and wounded.

That--in the Sentinel's book--was very much a win. He believed them--his new blade, and himself--to be worthy.

Round: 6/5?
Attempt:
Defense: -
Injuries: -

@Mirac

"WHAT!?" Mirac barked. What had been a riveting and entertaining fight had abruptly come to an end. Vargas and Sentinel both agreed to halt. But Mirac hadn't. Mirac was neither bruised nor injured, and Vargas was not on the ground. This was not a win, in his book.

"NO! No, no no no NO! We've just begun! Mirac was not DONE yet! Mirac wanted to fight MORE. WIELDER! He is not dead or dying, but he wants to STOP? This is not fair!" Mirac made a variety of unhappy noises. Growling, whining, very audible complaints. All of it his attempt at a tantrum, with no legs to kick or arms to flail.

An idea entered Mirac's head. Mirac concentrated on Vargas, trying to implant his will once more. It would be a mere suggestion. The fight wasn't done. That Vargas wanted to fight more. But whether Mirac believed it or not, his magic too, was exhausted from the fight. Mirac's feedback came in the form of a splitting headache, instead. "GRAARGH! Vargas! Wielder! Mirac wants to fight NOW! We must go AGAIN! Mirac does not want to talk or be bored!"

"speak" think

@Vargas